Great food. Great drinks. Great friends.

To kick start the bank holiday weekend after a very very long 12 day stretch in the hospital, what could be better than a cosy night in? A tad tipsy night out of course!!

I raced down the A1 back from work and headed straight into Central London. So spontaneous was this last minute plan that I had no time to change or even put any make up on, that I (definitely) spent some of (most of) my drive singing along to some rather female empowering tunes and convincing myself that as the sun set nobody would notice the ever enlarging dark circles under my eyes!

After weaving through the crowds in Leicester Square I finally made it to our first stop of the night. A non-assuming, quiet little Japanese restaurant called Tokyo Diner on Newport Place. 

On first glance it doesn't look like much, and it's a tad ironic that it's in China Town, but trust me- this place is sensational!

Every inch of space in this little 3 floor restaurant is filled with wooden benches for you to rest your weary legs. The lovely waiters immediately bring you out some warm Genmai tea (or popcorn tea as is the Western name) whilst you peruse the menu. Well at least while my friends read the menu - I've been here so many times that I always order the same thing now!

This time was a little different though - 3 bottles of wine and 4 bottles of sake made their way to our table. And I am not responsible for the noisiness that followed!

Realising that it was probably a good idea to eat something, we ordered all our favourite dishes.

Nigiri Set

Udon Noodles

Age-dashi tofu

The chicken kara-agé and Katsu curry also made it to our table but I think I must have been absolutely ravenous at this point and/or slightly merry as the rest of the food photos are a tad wobbly!

Not only is the food so delicious here, that I find myself here at least once a fortnight, there also some other major brownie points for this restaurant.

1. It's really cheap.

2. You can have larger portions for free (what could be better than that)!

3. It's ethical and believes in sustainability. They get all their electricity from natural sources like wind and solar power, and also don't serve tuna so they're not a part of the terrible fishing practices that currently go on.

After slurping our way through bowls of noodles and slightly struggling with chopsticks in our merry states, we made our way through the bustling streets of Covent Garden to Dirty Martini.

Now I'm the kind of girl that usually leaves the alcohol for my friends, just because I really don't like the taste. But I'm always up for trying new things. And boy am I glad I did! 

Welcome to my world you beauty! This Chocolate Martini was life-changing. Creamy, sweet and delicious chocolatey goodness. I couldn't taste the vodka or liqueur, and instead got desert in a glass! Perfect.

A perfect end to a long stint at work and a perfect start to a long weekend.