Electric Cinema (Date spot review)

Electric Cinema
http://www.electriccinema.co.uk

020 7908 9696 

191 Portobello Road
London
W11 2ED

I first saw this place advertised on "I know a great little place in London"'s Facebook page. I lot of people I mentioned it to knew said they had heard of it many moons ago but then it closed down for quite a while (I think there was a fire). But now it is open again, flourishing and it is absolutely amazing!

Ideally situated on Portabello Road it is a very short walk from Ladbroke Grove tube station, but also not too far from Notting Hill Gate and a variety of other stations.

Top tip: Do not miss the opportunity to walk along the market singing "Portabello Road...Portabello Road. Anything and everything a chap can unload" from Bedknobs and Broomsticks

If you love old school glamour this is the place for you. We arrived, and even though I knew where we were going I was blown away with the beauty. From the old school pick n mix in glass jars to the retro till, to the red velvet curtains everything was glamorous and beautiful.

While we waited for the curtains to open (and there was me worrying about being late) we bought some fresh warm donuts. Now I never thought I'd say this but "Krispy Kremes...move aside! We have a new winner! I wont say much more - just experience the delight for yourself!

I had booked us one of the sofas at the back, but we have already decided that we will be returning at some point to try out the full length beds at the front! It was lovely being able to watch a movie (especially one as long as 'The Hobbit') in the same luxury you would at home. Actually more so....I know my sofa isn't velvet and I certainly don't own a cashmere blanket!

We decided to pass on the bar as it was fairly early and instead I snuck off to the corner shop to bring back some coke and popcorn. This is when we learnt we physically cannot watch a movie in the cinema without popcorn! A bit cheeky but they didn't seem to mind, especially as we had no option to buy popcorn there.

Overall a beautiful date that I was really pleased to have organised. If I had been taken there as a surprise or on a first date I would have been SERIOUSLY impressed.

Pros

• Add a feeling of luxury and specialness to the traditional cinema date
• None of this "armrest in the ribcage" nonsense when you try and snuggle up to your date
• Distinct lack of children - almost purely an adults only venue (or at very least well-behaved children!)
• The donuts!

Cons

• Pricey
• Distinct lack of slurpy drinks, hotdogs and popcorn

Great date for?

• Special occasion
• Impressive first date
• Cosy couple date

Cost

Approximately £30 per person including the donuts, a drink and some sneaky snacks bought from the corner shop.

Romance rating

Our First Awesome Giveaway!

Giveaway now closed and winner announced. Thank you to everyone that participated! 

It's January. It's cold. It's a long time until payday - you were hugely generous to everyone over Christmas, don't you deserve the chance to win something lovely just for you?

Enter our giveaway and one lucky person will get some awesome FREE stuff (who doesn't love FREE?) and we will hopefully gain a some lovely new readers. We do love our readers!

So first - the good stuff. What will you win?

Awesome Night In Kit!
This was originally going to be a "date night" kit, but we advocate the "not needing a date to have a good time" way of life. So grab a date, grab a mate, or just grab your own hot ass (hmm...) and have a lovely night in with these great goodies!

Popcorn Holder and authentic American Microwave Popcorn.
How cute is this plastic popcorn holder? And trust us when we say "Movie Theatre Butter" is the best flavour- ever.

Tangfastics
"Kids and grown ups love it so...."

When Harry met Sally DVD
Ah the immortal question - can a man and a woman ever be friends? Watch the comedy greats and think about it for yourself. Always a great discussion to have with the girls or to suss out a potential new partners opinions on the subject.

Soap and Glory Candle
Who doesn't love Soap n Glorys gorgeous branding and beautiful scents? Fill the room with the smell as you relax and watch the movie.

Cupcakes provided by Cakings
We've teamed up with the Cake Engineers at Cakings to provide you with not one but two personalised cupcakes to our lucky winner! Sponge with buttercream (and an optional filling of jam) and choice of the following personalised topper:

• Your initials
• Hearts and / or stars
• Glitter and / or sprinkles
• All of the above!

*Cupcakes will be sent via Royal Mail First Class post, and although we cannot guarantee the cupcakes will arrive in absolute perfect condition, they will be packaged professionally in recommended cupcake packaging. 

Whew! What a load of lovely goodies. Perfect night in we think. Everything offered in this giveaway has all been purchased by our hard earned income and we can't wait to send it out!


So now - how do you win? 

For 1 entry

1. You must be following us with "Google Friend Connect" that's the little blue "Follow" button on the right hand side of our blog.
2. You must be following us on Twitter - @Grabaspoon 

Leave us a comment on this post with your GFC name and twitter handle so we can check. No comment, no entry.

For an additional 2 entries

Linking to our giveaway by writing your own blog post about it, or popping our button and link in your own blog sidebar and you will gain you another 2 additional entries!

Please make sure you include a link to your site in your comment.

Each of the following will gain you 1 extra entry:

1. "Like" us on Facebook
2. Follow us on Pinterest
3. In your comment tell us what your favourite post has been so far. What else would you like to see us write about?
4. Tweet about our giveaway using this button or copying and pasting the following
   
   
   I've entered @Grabaspoon's 'Night in' #giveaway  http://owlandpandabear.blogspot.com/2013/01/giveaway.html Visit their blog for your chance to win an awesome #NightInKit!

Tweet to @GrabaSpoon

Again in your comment please let us know if you have tweeted, followed and liked us. Depending on entries we may not be able to check all of these so we are relying on the honour system. Remember cheaters never prosper and that is just not playing by the friendly blogging rules if you do. 

So there you have it - a potential 7 entries to our giveaway! As we have cupcakes that need to be sent first class this is a UK only giveaway. Sorry overseas readers - but if this giveaway is successful we will look at doing more giveaways; bigger and better ones that will fly further!

The winner will be selected at random and this giveaway will run until Midnight (GMT) on Feb 1st 2013 so what are you waiting for? Go and enter! (Pretty please?)

Christmassy dates

I have been in SUCH a Christmassy mood this month! WAY more so than I normally do. Not sure what it is this year but I'm feeling so festive.

And this has definitely shown in the amount of festive y dates I have had with ELB this month. However we are both on super tight budgets, so a lot of these have also been frugal festive fun. (What was that writing rule about alliteration?)

So as I'm sure you are all dying to know - here is my brief rundown of what we've been up to, and how it has been just so Christmassy!

Putting up the decorations

This has always been a big Christmas thing for me. Since moving out, it's been weird to now have to create my own traditions, and not always be at home to share in the old ones. Especially when you live alone and Christmas is generally a time for company. I was over the moon when back in the beginning of November ELB said he would love to put my decorations up with me. I was literally counting down the days!

I can often be quite Monica about my decorations too. But this year it felt so refreshing to just watch him delight in my various decorations (especially the ones bought in America) and decide on places to put them.

And I dont care what any feminists say - getting a man to do the difficult bits of climbing up high and hammering in nails is WELL worth it!

Walks around London

We spend an entire day walking from Liverpool Street to Surrey Docks farm where we'd heard there was a Christmas Fayre on. But we spent a blissful amount of time walking through the city, seeing the lights, drinking mulled wine in pubs and snuggling up against the cold of the Southbank.

When we got to the farm it was the teeniest little thing ever, but eating chestnuts as we walked around and took silly photos of the animals was very pleasent and reminded me about how much we need to value the simple things in life.

Christmas movies

How have I not watched Gremlins at Christmas for goodness knows how many years? How had he not watched the Muppets Christmas Carol since he was little? We don't know but we both quickly resolved those issues!

Mulled wine/Mulled cider

If you're having to spend a lot of time indoors because of the cold or lack of funds, make sure it smells festive - and also get drunk into the bargain! Nice one to combine with Christmas movies. Check out our Mulled Wine recipe here.

Lattes and last minute shopping

We took the bus into town purely to go to Starbucks and sit and enjoy the festive drinks. Starbucks obsession much? Nah surely not... Then we wandered around picking up a couple of last minute family bits before going for a last minute Chinese. The best bit? They gave us crackers and we got to sit there wearing the crowns! (Well I think he only did because I made him...)

Winter Wonderland

I had never been before, ELB could hardly believe his ears and immediately had to take me. Even though we're both broke it's well worth going if you are in London to soak up the Christmas atmosphere. My top tips:

• Take sandwiches and possibly take a thermos if you're really broke. Sit either in the carousel bar or by the firepit to enjou them.
• Invest in the ferris wheel - it's the best thing there! 
• Take loads of photos - especially by the polar bears.
• Don't get sucked in to making him win you a teddy because all the games are fixed.

And finally for the ultimate in making any date a Christmassy date...

Wear Christmas hats! 

(Even if he does protest a little...)