A Date in the Restaurant from 'Listen'

It was back in February when I last did some Doctor Who location hunting during Valentine's weekend. This is part one of what's going to be a three-parter blog post.

Luke took me out to a restaurant of my choice down in Cardiff Bay. I wanted to do something different than our normal Zizzi's meal so we decided on Mimosa, which happens to be a key Doctor Who location from Series 8.

Mimosa was the location of Clara Oswald and Danny Pink's dinner date in the hauntingly popular and personal favourite episode from Series 8: 'Listen'. After requesting ahead of time the same table sat on by the two characters, we soon realised when we arrived that the restaurant is laid out slightly differently when not being filmed, so we were shown to a table elsewhere. However, I did my best to capture some of the interior to give you a good feel of the location itself. See if you can recognise some of my amateur (badly taken) shots from the episode...

Notice the blinds behind Clara in the second image, our table was located just behind Danny Pink

The key part of the shot to look out for is the white railing. It looks as if the furniture was changed for the actors, but we can still work out the position of the table in regards to the bar behind located in the back of the shot.

Again, notice the position of the white railing as Clara steps up to meet her date. Orson Pink emerges from the back of the shot in the first image

 Told you they were badly taken! However, you get the feel for the restaurant I hope, and I am glad I went so I could see what the place was really like. Mimosa is a lot smaller than it looks on screen. In fact at first, I thought we may have arrived at the wrong restaurant. It is also very busy on a Friday night as we found out, and popular with students and couples. Not our usual romantic valentines day meal, but me and Luke aren't really into the lovey-dovey stuff anyway.

Here's the trailer from the episode 'Listen' as a reminder...

In reality, the only downside of our evening was the pouring rain outside which can't be helped - typical UK!! But also the wait for our first drink - it took 20 minutes to come to the table, and we were so thirsty after running through the stormy weather!

We finally ate and to be honest the food was delicious, paid, and headed on to Eddie's Diner for a cocktail. After all, I can't have a trip to Cardiff without stopping off here.

If you haven't already, check out my latest YouTube video which incorporates everything I did this weekend for a sneak-peak of whats to come in part 2+3....

I hope you are all having a relaxing summer. I have just got back from an amazing two week holiday in Cyprus, but its back to reality now, and back to being super busy at work. In other news, I have just booked a weekend away in August. I will be heading down to the glorious Valleys in South Wales yet again on the hunt for more Doctor Who locations. If you have any ideas or requests please send me a comment below, tweet or ping me across an email.

Who's heading to the Doctor Who Festival in November?? I managed to get myself a ticket and also a photo opportunity with Peter Capaldi, I can't wait to meet the man himself. Are you going? What are you most looking forward to? Are you team Dalek or team Cyberman?

I look forward to writing parts two and three for you shortly - hopefully before series 9 starts! In the meantime, tweet/facebook/email me, I'm always plugged into my phone even if I am super busy!

Blog to you soon...

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"What’s that in the mirror, or the corner of your eye? What’s that footstep following, but never passing by? Perhaps they're all just waiting, perhaps when we're all dead... out they'll come a-slithering, from underneath the bed."