London New Girl and Over Under Coffee, Earl's Court

Friyay: a day to discuss all things food, film, fashion, friends and general fun. All the fs we love to love.

The population of London stands at approximately 10,657,000. Over 10 and a half million opportunities to meet new people and yet there I was, racing to get home after work, actively avoiding human interaction. I'm certainly not shy when it comes to making friends but I foolishly lived for a good 4 months assuming everyone had all the pals they needed. I hate to plug social media but the minute I got the notification 'your request to join London New Girl has been accepted', Facebook reminded me of its true value.

The group is essentially a platform to bring like-minded females together in a non-preachy, non-crimewatch episode way (fingers crossed). You're free to post about yourself, upcoming events, flat vacancies but mostly, just to see if anyone fancies hanging out. It's essentially Tinder for girlfriends and it's bloody marvellous.

A few weeks ago, a girl posted that she had split with her boyfriend and wasn't coping well with the whole thing. It goes without saying that I am a boy expert and my abundant knowledge of their habits must be the exact reason one has not come within a 100m radius of me in precisely 7326261 days. Despite my ignorance, I tried to reassure her that it was probably his loss and sent her in the direction of the nearest Ben & Jerry's promotion. Before I knew it, I was in a Whatsapp group entitled 'all the single ladies' (I'm not even sorry, Bey would approve) and was sharing anecdotes about workplace blunders and my favourite cocktail bars. I'd made what felt like 8 new friends in as many minutes and I hadn't left my office walls.

With the Whatsapp group in full-swing, the conversation rarely faltered and no one hesitated in ranting there if they'd had a bad day. Last week, it was my turn to have an absolute stinker of a Thursday and took to the group to express my dismay at the daily events that had put me in a tizzy. I asked if anyone was keen for a coffee and a wonderful Aussie called Errica was speedy in agreeing to try out a café in Earl's Court that Instagram had lured me in with when I first moved here. We agreed on today's date and both popped it in our diaries. Easy.

Over Under Coffee is your typical Instagram hotspot; its white walls are splashed with locally-sourced pieces of art and you can bet your life avocado features heavily on the menu. What sets this place apart is the coffee. These guys work with the roasters, Assembly Coffee based in Brixton when sourcing their beans, so you're pretty much guaranteed a decent cup without too much hit or miss. As a self-confessed coffee snob, I had few complaints about my latte nor the very average London price of £2.90. After tapping someone I assumed to be Errica on the shoulder and introducing myself only to find out it wasn't her, my now sufficiently flushed-self sat and begged the earth to swallow me whole until she arrived. Thankfully, she didn't take long.

We chatted for a good couple of hours before she had to dash to work in South Kensington. It was great hearing why she'd chosen to move to London, her current lifestyle and I somehow managed to agree to a Bikram yoga class tomorrow. After she'd left, I ordered a salad which I hate to say was pretty average for the gut-wrenching £9 I paid for it (that'll teach me for buying a bowl of leafy greens) and typed up this post. It was at that point I discovered this particular Over Under Coffee didn't have WiFi *READER GASPS IN SHEER HORROR* so I popped to my favourite people-watching Starbucks in Piccadilly to exploit their free internet for all its worth.

While I'm not sure I'll be returning to Over Under Coffee anytime soon, I'm glad I finally got round to scratching that particular café itch. London New Girl, however, will continue to be my absolute go-to for all things social whilst I'm living in the city. Whether you're an Espresso Martini addict looking for a drinking partner (me) or a Tae Kwon Do Blue Belt with a penchant for black & white films, I guarantee you'll find someone on the same wavelength. And if you can't? It might be the excuse you need to try something completely different.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LondonNewGirl/?ref=br_rs

https://www.overundercoffee.com/