Greetings from our balcony!

Bo and I have had the most delightful day enjoying the beautiful London weather. It is sunny and about 70 degrees right now, perfect for relaxing on the balcony with a glass of wine, some light appetizers and our iPad which we’ve used all evening to talk with our parents and loved ones.

We are trying to do a good job of ensuring each of our weekends together is balanced. It’s easy to get caught up in the novelty of a new city and living in Europe. But, we’ve promised each other that we will leave time unplanned each weekend for some much needed rest and relaxation. For example, we were busy today from 8-3pm but have been able to relax this evening, ambling around the wharf area, watching the sunset from our balcony, talking to our parents, and cooking dinner in together.

Last night however, we had other plans for our evening which most certainly did not include relaxing at home. Instead, we thought it would be fun to take the tube to Marylebone and spend the evening sipping and tasting our way around our new neighborhood.

We took the Jubilee line from Canary Wharf to Baker Street, which is about a 20 minute ride. This will be Bo’s new commute each day once he moves from temporary housing into the new flat. Bo and I were both spoiled in New York City with very easy, short commutes on reliable lines. Therefore, one of our goals for the new location was that the commute would be pretty easy as we all know that dealing with a long commute after an even longer day is just no fun.

This is the face of a guy who is very happy with his new commute!

Within 20 minutes we were standing at our new doorstep, ready to embark on an evening of fun! Just a few blocks away we found ourselves ordering a bottle of prosecco at our first location for the evening, Coco Momo. The prosecco was 23 pounds, equivalent to $35.

We spent an hour sipping our bubbly, people watching and dreaming about what our weekends spent in Marylebone will be like. It was a great place to start the celebration. As I mentioned on my Yelp review earlier, we will definitely return for drinks but will not order food in the future. The appetizer dish that we ordered was sub par and over priced.

Once we finished our bottle of prosecco we spent some time meandering through the boutiques on Marylebone High Street that were still open and wandering down a few of the side streets. Our next stop was The Fat of the Land, a Mediterranean tapas bar that caught our attention by the crowd outside and the unique name. 

We were able to snag a seat outside and quickly ordered the grilled octopus and their drink special, a Pimm’s Cup.  Pimm’s Cup, a classic British cocktail, is typically made by mixing Pimm’s, a gin based liquor, with lemonade or gingerale. Historically, Pimm’s No 1 liquor is a mix of dry gin, liqueor, fruit juices, and spices. Unfortunately, this girl did not care for it and instead swapped with Bo for his pint of beer.    I’m surprised the Yelp reviews for this spot are so negative as we had a great experience overall. Our grilled octopus was perfectly seasoned and prepared, the service was very prompt even on a Summer Friday evening, the prices were in line with the rest of the area, and our waiter was very friendly. We will definitely be back for a pint of beer and their outdoor seating!

Finally, around 9pm we decided it was time for a proper dinner and ended our evening at Fish Works Seafood Cafe. Bo and I are huge seafood fans so the first time we saw this restaurant during our flat search and heard that their fish monger inside is even better, we knew we’d be trying it soon.

The restaurant focuses on a pairing seasonal, fresh seafood with equally as fresh produce. Everything on the menu sounded wonderful so we spent a few minutes reviewing the menu while we sipped on a glass of pinot grigio. Since we had already had two appetizers, we decided to share a few dishes versus ordering our own meals.  Overall I would say that we were amazed, if not blown away, by the sea bass main course we shared, the sea bass. But, we were underwhelmed by the appetizer (hand picked crab on toast) and pasta course (linguini with clams). They do fish very well and we should have just stuck with seafood all night, in its purest form.

You’ll also notice in the above picture, that there is a green side dish. That my friends is mushy peas. Mushy peas is a traditional English side dish that is most frequently served with fish & chips. It is dried marrowfat peas which are simmered with sugar and salt after being soaked in water overnight. In the past two weeks we’ve both fallen in love with this side dish!

So there you have it, our first evening in Marylebone together, sipping and tasting our way through the small streets.

Question: What is your favorite way to discover a new neighborhood?