Date Night Spesh

What makes a city feel like a city? It’s the ability, if you wanted to, to dry your duvet at a laundromat at 2am. It’s having a pharmacy that’s open til late. Or maybe it’s waiting less than 15m for a double decker bus, with a paperback folded into your trenchcoat pocket. Or, the ultimate test, is it having enough of a mainway so that now you have laneways?

If you’re single and dating, all you might be interested in is heading out the door with a handful of back-up conversation topics in your back pocket and knowing that whatever way it turns, you’ve got options. I met my boyfriend on a tinder date at Lazat, and the walk from upper Victoria Street to Wonderhorse, where we decided to take our night next, were the most blissful, exhilarating, easy 20 minutes of my life. Both of us have lived in bigger, more built up cities - but all that matter that night is that there was a place to go to next.

We all know the Wonderhorses, the Ernests, and the Duck Islands - all of which are reliable date-night fodder. But one of our single readers asked us for date ideas that weren’t a certain ice cream store (as much as we love it). And so we have a date night special - not just for singles, but all sorts of different interludes. We reckon we’ve got at least six weeks’ worth here, and after that you’re on your own; at least until you meet someone new and then you can roll the dice all over again.

Best sporty date: Callum Brae Pitch and Putt. More than minigolf but no where near an actual real golf course, it’s fun and not a big commitment if you don’t click with the person or if you turn out to suck at golf. We’ve heard that people bring along own drinks there, which sounds perfect on a sunny day.

Best guys/girls night: Shanghai in the Sky City complex. Zhejiang and Sichuan classics done well.

Best view of the river: Sure Gothenburg is beautiful, but have you see the balcony at Bowl and Social? Reasonably priced pints and surprisingly solid bar snacks available.

Best wholesome date: Rüdi’s (as we said earlier, are taking the old Duck Island’s place in Riverbank Lane) run sourdough workshops - they’re all sold out for now but keep an ear to the ground for more, especially given their new digs.

Best Vegan date: Hello Rosie in Casabella Lane.

Best smarty pants date: Poppies book store. Ask for Infinate Jest, or maybe some Joan Didion, in a loud, performative voice. Next door to the above.

Best Wine Bar: Lol, just kidding, we still don’t have one yet.

Best date night transport: Lime bike, obviously. You can flirt with the bell.

Best off-piste dumpling house: We might have to return to Dumpling King, in Silverdale, in another issue, because their dumplings are the business. Cheap, plentiful and an extremely moreish.

Best eat big date: Korean BBQ at Family House. Appetites are sexy and nothing quite breaks the ice like a beer, a soju, and a tableside grill.

Best to-go date: Crust is serving some of the best pizza in the city, but, alas, has precisely zero ambiance. Not to worry - grab a pizza and take it to one of the many secluded spots around the city, including the slopes around the water tower up high by the lake, or behind The Little Bull, by the glasshouses at the gardens, or one of them many park benches along the river.

Best other lake: The university grounds are beautiful and underrated. There’s no a whole lot else there unless you catch something at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts. A winner if your crush likes fancy music.

Best cinema: The Tivoli, in Cambridge, with a licence to booze and plenty of pretty.

For the morning after: Easy. Browsers, with coffee at Café Kopi.