Alex Gladwin Blog

On Thursday Adam and I stayed in London and went to watch Derren Browns' live show, Infamous at the Palace theatre. It was Adams' surprise anniversary gift to me and it was amazing. If you haven't seen him live, you must, he is mind-blowing!

Before hand we were invited along for drinks at one of Londons trendiest cocktail bars; Dirty Martini, located within Covent Garden - the heart of London's vibrant night life.

We struggled to find the bar to begin with; it appeared to be below a restaurant and I found the signage for the bar to be rather small. Both Adam and I had never before been into a cocktail bar, so we really had no idea what to expect. I am not really an alcohol drinker and a rather odd fact about myself is that I've never ever been into a club or gone on a 'night out'. So just going for cocktail drinks, for me, was brand new. 

On arrival inside of the bar, I was pleasantly surprised. I had expected that the bar would be quiet, after all it was 5 o'clock on a Thursday and the bar, to me, seemed to be hidden away from the hustle and bustle of London life. But no, I was wrong. The bar was busy, but not too busy, looking around I saw after-work drinkers, party goers, couples, groups, a whole mix of people with a range of plans for the evening to come. I instantly felt relaxed. The music that was played was completely to my taste, it was loud but not loud enough to not be able to hear the people around you. The bar itself is trendy and contemporary and once I was settled inside, the outside world almost felt like a distant memory; I nearly forgot that I was in the middle of London. 

The staff were very quick to serve us and I found them to be very friendly. I was particularly impressed with one member of staff named, 'Alex' (great name!). I felt that he brought a lot of energy to the bar - his cocktail-making skills were just simply mesmerising and his personality shone through as an un-beat vibrant character. The manager, Ezio, served us, he was totally professional and nothing was too much to ask for. The staff are very busy and must get tired quickly especially with such low lighting, but as a customer, this was never apparent. 

The cocktails were bloody fantastic! I could have sat there and drank the night away. The only negative thing I have to say about them was there were just so many to choose from - I wanted them all! :) We tried the chocolate martini which was our absolute favourite, we also tried the passion fruit martini and also the apricot and grape fruit martini. They were absolutely fabulous. Dirty Martini also sell bar food, and we went for the hand cut cajun wedges; they were unbelievable - we eat every single one and didn't need a starter when we moved on to our mail meal at Zizzi.

The prices look steep on the menu (though I actually don't know what the going rate for a cocktail in a cocktail bar is), but actually, their happy hour prices are great with half price...

MON - THU 5pm-10pm 

FRIDAY 4-8pm

SATURDAY 12-8pm

SUNDAY 1pm - ALL NIGHT

I'm really pleased that we went along, it's not something I thought I'd ever really do, but my experience in Dirty Martini was so good that I can't wait to go back and Adam feels exactly the same. It was the perfect way to start our evening before our main meal and watching Derren Brown - even if I did get quite a bit tipsy! ;)



Our whole time in London was just absolutely fabulous! We both really missed Ethan whilst we stayed away for the night, but it was good to let our hair down and enjoy a 'night off' together. We stayed in an ultra trendy hotel in Canary Wharf and the next day we went for brunch at Giraffe in Marylebone and visited a Waterstones to pick up a few books to read to Ethan as a little 'souvernier' before heading home. My review of Giraffe will be up in a few days for those that are interested to find out more about that.





Today, we have had another awesome day. Adam finished work at 12 and came home with a box of 12 Millies cookies (he knows me too well) and a beautiful card. We watched our wedding video together and then spent some time ordering fancy dress outfits for a superhero themed party we have coming up, I'm going as cat-woman (obviously). Ethans Nanna and Grandad took care of Ethan at their house, whilst Adam and I tucked in to a chinese take-away, sipped red wine, cuddled up and watched a movie together. It was a bliss.


Look out for my Giraffe restaurant review and wedding anniversary presents blog posts coming soon!