Between tightened budgets, crossed schedules, health concerns, and never-decreasing study piles, Chiara and I haven’t been getting out much. Certainly not together.
Then yesterday afternoon Chiara was in central London doing some learning. I was in Central London having a Roman-themed photoshoot. Our schedules crossed, our timings dovetailed, and we managed to enjoy some not-in-the-house-time together .
Seizing the opportunity with both of our hands, we tried a new restaurant. As you know, this can be a risky business. Fortunately the restaurant was Yalla Yalla. It was speedy, cosy, cheap, and delicious. Their website is full of pull quotes from reviews. I can confirm that these are thoroughly-deserved pull quotes.
We had hummus, grilled halloumi and spinach/feta pastries. The spinach pastries were a little on the heavy side, but the portioning was perfect. Then we shared some eggplant moussakka, and then rounded the meal off with some baklava. The only problem with the meal was trying to spell it just now.
As if this excitement wasn’t enough, we scooted up the street to the storied Dog & Duck pub, where we enjoyed some sidewalk pints with the wonderful Dave, Girish, and Rob; giving a strong Vancouver/UBC flavour to our evening.
It was like sunny cheersing should be: full of shot breezes, swapped stories, and downing pints in shirt sleeves.
And then we went home and got right back to studies and procrastinations.
