Welcome to Newsletter #4.

This week we have a pseudo-restaurant review along with a look at the second season of an American comedy crime drama.

Food

Over the long bank holiday weekend we opted for a fancy dinner at the Cherwell Boathouse in Oxford. This place has sentimental value for us and so it's no coincidence this is the venue we've chosen for our wedding party next year, but was a coincidence that a wedding party happened to be taking place as we arrived. It was fun to see how guests interacted with the space (it's situated by the river, where members of the public can go punting) and imagine how ours might play out. We even managed to sneak some pictures of the space.

For the meal, I had the slow braised Lamb Henry, which is a half shoulder of lamb, cooked so slowly that it falls away from the bone. Delicious! It was accompanied by mashed potato, beans and spring onion. Everything was cooked to perfection, but my only criticism (and I can't believe I'm even saying this) was I could have done with less lamb and more veg! The lamb was such an intense flavour that it needed some green to help cut through and balance. My partner had the roasted butternut squash which came with hazelnut, chard baby carrots, all sitting in a well of a tasty onion velouté.

Film

No films this week, but I watched more of the second season of Only Murders in the Building, (available to stream on Disney Plus). Having watched the first fairly recently, I wasn't completely hooked or super keen to jump straight into its successor, but my other half loves it and so here we are!

Only Murders in the Building is a mystery-comedy series, following three strangers who bond over a shared obsession of true crime podcasts. The unlikely trio start their own podcast when a murder happens in their luxury apartment building, working together to investigate and ultimately serve justice to the perpetrator.

We haven't completed the second season but so far feels like a step up from the first, with each episode acting almost as a short film, wrapping up just in time to leave a juicy cliffhanger for the next. The chemistry between the three leads (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) works surprisingly well as each character has their flaws, but can pull them back when needed to avoid putting the case in jeopardy! With no idea of who committed the latest dastardly deed, I'm looking forward to seeing how this mystery pans out.

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If you have any feedback, please get in touch and I hope to see you again for next week’s newsletter.

Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Adam