Tag Archives: food

Top Food Experiences from Our Milan to Barcelona Trip

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Our holiday adventure started with 4 nights in Milan. Staying at the luxurious Excelsior Hotel Gallia, right across the street from the Milano Centrale turned out to be the perfect choice.

We used the train from Malpensa airport and walked across the street to the hotel.

Milano Centrale is a great station with excellent food choices. We had a fabulous seafood dinner at Bistrot Pedal the first night, did a day trip to Como from there and took the train to Rome too. I had wanted to stay near the Duomo but the Excelsior was perfect and easy to get to and from the city centre.

The food highlights of Milan were Mercato Centrale and Peck, a food store operating in Milan for 140 years. It has an amazing kitchen. Pick up a great meal if you want a picnic or night off in your room and bring home some culinary treasures.

We came home with these two small jars, tiny baby artichoke hearts and anchovy fillets.

From Roma Centrale we had a car booked to take us to Civitavecchia where we boarded Windstar Cruises Star Legend, our home for the next 16 nights.

New Year’s Eve with Nanda

Our dining on board was good, the service was outstanding. Nanda took great care of us.

Our first port was Livorno where we visited Fattoria Il Poggio in the Tuscany countryside for a tour of the vineyard and a seated tasting with lunch.  The wines flowed and the food was delicious.  

The olive oil and tapenade came home with us.

 The Syrah, Merlot blend and the Chardonnay earned 2 of the 4 spots in our suitcases.

In Barcelona we took a tour to Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, Cava country to visit Vilarnua, a very pretty estate.  We tasted 3 cavas, 2 earned the last 2 spots.

Vilarnau entrance and 3 wines in our tasting
Vilarnua Water Reservoir

I made a wine friend at the Vilarnua tasting who had brought some wine with him on the cruise and shared this very special Riesling with us that night.  A good wine day.

The best meal of the whole trip was at Kraken in Malaga, Spain. I love tapas, you get to try so many things.

Best Sangria ever Kraken, Malaga
Fried Black Cod with Aioli
Pil Pil Shrimp Croquettes
Grilled Scallops with Spiced Gazpacho
Patatas Bravas
Tacos with ‘Ajillo’ Shrimp

The cod bites should have been all mine. Patatas Bravas were excellent, although they didn’t look pretty. The shrimp tacos were so good we had seconds. The beef mini burger with truffled mayo was a hit with my meat eating friends.

I hope to go back to Malaga sometime.

We ended our trip back in Barcelona and managed to fit in a couple of meals starting with a lunch at La Taperia Barcelona for a traditional tapas. Pick from the display.

We booked dinner at Canete before we left home. It was a busy place with a happy atmosphere full of locals. Check out the uniforms. Great service.

I take no responsibility for the sign overhead but the sentiment worked for me.
White uniforms and black bulls.
Lobster Croquettes – Cravable
Shrimp Tortas – We had to order a second helping
Fried Artichokes – Seconds on this too.

And so ends our winter holiday vacation in Europe.

Discover Colonel Saab: A Must-Visit Indian Dining Experience

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Your spoiled for choice when it comes to great Indian restaurants in London. We wanted something that was walking distance from our hotel and the theatre for our show that night. Colonel Saab in Trafalgar Square fit the bill nicely. A colourful and cosy room. Very friendly service.

COLONEL SAAB TRAFALGAR SQUARE

We decided to go with the tasting menu and enjoy the surprises.

RASAM

Rasam is a South Indian tomato and lentil soup simmered with healing spices and said to have medicinal qualities. Served with mini idli (fried rice cakes) and puffed pastry bites.

MARWAD’S RAJ KACHORI

Spiced chick peas & potato, a trio of sauces, pomegranate seed boondi, savoury crisp, herbal jam and black lime chaat masala. We’d never had anything like this and would never have ordered it. The chickpeas, potato and sauces were all in a crisp shell. Fantastic.

KANDHARI PANEER TIKKA

Like no Paneer Tikka I’ve ever had this one was stuffed with prunes and pomegranate in tomato, garlic mustard salsa.

A mango sorbet was an excellent palate cleanser that was followed with a fish curry and an amazing cheesecake.

We’d go back to Colonel Saab. Yums Up!

Discover Colonel Saab: A Must-Visit Indian Dining Experience

Uncategorized, , ,

Your spoiled for choice when it comes to great Indian restaurants in London. We wanted something that was walking distance from our hotel and the theatre for our show that night. Colonel Saab in Trafalgar Square fit the bill nicely. A colourful and cosy room. Very friendly service.

COLONEL SAAB TRAFALGAR SQUARE

We decided to go with the tasting menu and enjoy the surprises.

RASAM

Rasam is a South Indian tomato and lentil soup simmered with healing spices and said to have medicinal qualities. Served with mini idli (fried rice cakes) and puffed pastry bites.

MARWAD’S RAJ KACHORI

Spiced chick peas & potato, a trio of sauces, pomegranate seed boondi, savoury crisp, herbal jam and black lime chaat masala. We’d never had anything like this and would never have ordered it. The chickpeas, potato and sauces were all in a crisp shell. Fantastic.

KANDHARI PANEER TIKKA

Like no Paneer Tikka I’ve ever had this one was stuffed with prunes and pomegranate in tomato, garlic mustard salsa.

A mango sorbet was an excellent palate cleanser that was followed with a fish curry and an amazing cheesecake.

We’d go back to Colonel Saab. Yums Up!

Unforgettable Dinner: Whole Turbot & Burnt Cheesecake at Brat, London

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Brat, an old English word for turbot, is a casual restaurant with good service and fantastic Basque inspired food that earned a Michelin star in it’s first 6 months.

The specialty of the house is whole turbot, slow grilled over charcoal embers and the reason we were there.

The restaurant is upstairs over a pub and at the top of the stairs the first thing that gets your attention is fire and the busy, exciting kitchen.

WHERE IT ALL HAPPENS

A whole turbot is a lot of fish and it takes awhile to cook so we surrendered to the temptation is try a few starters. The oysters and bread with anchovies were so good, if we didn’t have that turbot coming we’d have had seconds of both.

OYSTERS WITH PLUM AND SEAWEED
GRILLED BREAD WITH ANCHOVIES
ROASTED SCALLOP

When the chef presented the fish we were so excited we didn’t get a picture. We had watched them turning and spraying the fish for the last 45 minutes. The fat from the fish and the vinaigrette make a delicious sauce. We cleaned it to the bones.

A side of potatoes are a must. Even better than at Rovi, roasted over embers and drowning in hay smoked butter.

The burnt cheesecakes were temptingly on display at the kitchen when we arrived and impossible not to try. Another winner.

BURNT CHEESECAKE WITH PEAR

Brat served us one of the best meals we’ve ever eaten. Until next time, goodbye.

Exploring London’s Best Eats: First Night Dinner Review

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We finished our Ireland and UK trip with 4 nights in London. We had 3 dinners and 3 plays booked well in advance, starting with dinner at Rovi by Ottolenghi.

Yotam Ottolenghi is Israeli-British and the menu is middle eastern with many ingredients I’d never heard of. Fortunately Google knows everything. Following are some of the best things we tried.

Msabahha is tahini sauce, this was probably the best chickpea dish I’ve ever eaten.

WARM MSABBAHA CHICKPEAS, confit garlic, tomato amba

No explanation needed but I’ll try to be a bit fancier with my corn next summer. Loved the combo of pumpkin seeds and spices.

SWEETCORN lime miso butter, pumpkin seed dukkah

Gurnard was new to me, also known as soldier fish or sea robins they are from the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. Firm, white and inexpensive. Carli peppers are a Turkish variety that is sweet and tart. Tatbelah is a middle eastern sauce made with green chilis, garlic, lemon and spices, often used to top hummus.

RED GURNARD SKEWER, carli pepper, tatbelah, fennel chili salt

Pink Fir potatoes are a heritage variety that has a nutty, earthly flavour and were great for mopping up the delicious butter bean aioli and slightly spicy vegan njuja.

PINK FIR POTATOES, butter bean aioli, vegan nduja

Every dish was delish but the fish and the potatoes were craveable. We could have had more potatoes for dessert but had to leave for the theatre. Big Yums UP!

Ireland – Dublin

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It’s not just the butter, which is truly delicious, it’s the bread, chowder, cheese, whiskey and so much more that makes up the excellent culinary scene in Ireland. And the topper is the hospitality, consistently warm and welcoming.

Our first dinner in Dublin was at Sole featuring a great sole meunière but we remember it best for the first of many seafood chowders. Great potatoes, bread and butter. Expensive!

Delahunt was highly recommended. Unfortunately our server made several biggish blunders. The chef was particular about fixing a problem but we let most of the errors slide. Remembered best for the cheese plate with house made fig mustard. If they sold it by the jar my suitcase would have been full.

First vegetarian dinner was at was Glas.

Chestnut Parfait with walnut bread and preserved grapes was a nice little starter for 2.

Chestnut Parfait, Walnut Bread, Preserved Grapes

The Jerusalem Artichoke with goat cheese frittata and mustard sauce was tasty but not pretty.

Jerusalem Artichoke and Goats Cheese Frittata

The Flamed Red Cabbage needed a sharp knife but the potato and truffle accompaniment was a winner.

Flamed Red Cabbage

The polenta fries with kimchi aioli, a side dish, stole the show.

Polenta Fries w’ Kimchi Aioli

Glas is a comfortable restaurant with a good wine selection. The food is tasty but lacked colour. Possibly just our choices. Those polenta fries though, well done .

On a great day trip up into Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains we had a remarkable pear scone in the cafe at Powerscourt while we looked at the splendid gardens in the rain. Later we had an excellent lunch at Lynham’s in Laragh. David still claims it the best fish and chips of the trip. I had an excellent salad. The warm and welcoming room and hospitality were outstanding.

Lynham’s home of a good Fish & Chips

A visit to the Guiness Storehouse was better than I expected but at the end of the day the rooftop bar was too busy to enjoy. Go early, it’s a good spot to see Dublin.

Dublin was lively and inviting with great food everywhere. Our best meal was on a later one night stay at the Mayson Hotel in the Docklands a hip and vibrant area. Ryleigh’s Rooftop Steakhouse served these 2 pescatarian’s very well. Best truffle fries ever. The included breakfast was pretty fine too.

We didn’t go near the Temple Bar but really enjoyed the Lincoln’s Inn a good spot after a visit to the National Gallery of Ireland.

The Palace Bar across from the very excellent College Green Hotel was another great spot.