Tag Archives: The Travel Group

Montage Los Cabos 3 nights of fabulous food.

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We spent 3 nights at the Montage Los Cabos, an ultra luxury resort in Mexico. Our room was beautiful and full of delightful treats.

Fruit tray refreshed daily.
Make your own margarita and guacamole kits.

We went all in with the Agave Experience and learned a lot about tequila tasting five different styles paired with creative bites including crispy scorpions, a tasty, salty snack.

My Dinner companions at The Agave Experience
Scorpions and Tequila

They have 3 great restaurants: Talay, with Thai food; Mezcal, featuring gourmet Mexican food; and Marea, Mediterranean seafood in a beachfront setting.  A 4th night would have presented a quandary.  I loved all 3.

Talay at Montage Los Cabo

Our first dinner was at Talay. I loved the setting under the trees and string lights.

Two highlights were the pad Thai and the whole deep fried fish. The ceviche and poached lobster were great too. A very green vegetable curry wasn’t pretty but surely the best vegetable curry I’ve ever tasted.

The pad Thai was not only delicious but beautifully presented. Check out what looks like a basket covering the pad Thai. Start tossing, add the lime and peanuts. The grilled prawns take it up a notch or so.

Pad Thai

The whole deep fried fish was my favourite. I didn’t like sharing.

Whole Crispy Fish & Chili

Coconut Ice Cream with traditional Thai Toppings and Fried Bananas with Sesame Ice Cream were both very popular.

Talay would be a contender for a 4th night visit.

Our next dinner was at Mezcal. I’ve loved Mexican food since the first taco at some through in California in the 70’s. No comparison to this meal. I think my palette has matured.

Organic Tomatoes, Watermelon and Poblano Peppers.

The ceviche was almost too beautiful to toss and eat.

Ceviche Navarit Style
Rocket Fish Ceviche Nayarit Style with Seaweed Crisps
Seaweed Crisps to scoop up Ceviche

I’m crazy about Mole and once thought I’d make it at home. Then I found out about the 26+ ingredients. This corn tamal doesn’t look that pretty but tit tasted great. The mole was so good I was finger licking the plate.

Corn tamale with mole queso fresco

Chocolate clams are native to the Sea of Cortez, large, sweet and tender served with creamy rice, lemon aioli and purslane. Yums Up!

Clam Rice

The set menu featured beef tenderloin this sea bass replacement made me very happy.

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I didn’t try the wafer and vanilla parfait but I recognized the white chocolate tacos from our Agave Tasting Experience and couldn’t resist.

Layers of wafers and ice cream,

Our final dinner was at Marea, overlooking the beach. Any dinner that starts with a seafood tower is going to make me happy. There was a lot more to love in this meal.

I will be making the roasted tomato and feta at home. Simply delicious.

Roasted Tomatoes with Feta and Tapenade

Branzino is a popular in Vancouver. They aren’t all created equal. This was perfect.

Grilled Whole Branzino with Beurre Blanc

The lobster wasn’t overcooked. Nothing else needs to be said. Craveable.

Lobster Risotto

Dessert’s not my thing but I heard lots of murmers of approval.

Pavlova, Olive Oil Cake & Chocolate Everything

All 3 restaurants were excellent but Mezcal would win if I had another night. Mexican food this sophisticated is not easy to find. I was especially impressed with the regional Mexican wine pairings and the 2 moles.

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

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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!

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.

A Taste of Ireland: Dingle Peninsula and The Wild Atlantic Way

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The Cliffs of Moher

A few days on the Wild Atlantic Way including the Dingle Peninsula, County Clare, the Cliffs of Moher and Galway.

Dingle Peninsula

Dunmore Head on the Dingle Peninsula is 3,021 miles from Cape Spear Newfoundland the closest points in North America and Europe. I feel the connection in my bones like I feel my connection to cod fish. The bounty of the sea makes it onto the plate, but sadly the fish & chips is usually Hake, decent and usually well prepared but a sad replacement for Cod. However Newfoundland can’t compete when it comes to the chowder. The Irish make the most of the variety of seafood available and then perfect it with their amazing butter and cream.

We had the best mussels ever at John Benny’s Pub Dingle. Local Cromane mussels in white wine garlic cream sauce with more excellent brown bread. Order a side of fries too. Thumbs up for the fish pie.

A night at the Dingle Skellig Hotel and dinner at their Coastguard restaurant was very good. A spectacular setting with great views.

It’s not often you get a restaurant this good in a hotel.

Pear and Walnut Salad
Salmon Croquette
Turbot Grilled spicy Prawns, Celeriac, Asparagus and Cafe de Paris butter.
Monkfish, Celeriac, Broccoli and White Wine Cream.

The salad was perfectly fresh and surprisingly delicious with a mustard seed dressing.

I’m not a fan of monkfish but David enjoyed it. I’ll take turbot any chance I get and I wasn’t disappointed.

We loved our day on the Dingle, the scenery, the people and the food.

On our way to Ennis we stopped at Bunratty Castle highlighted by a stop at Durty Nelly’s for our first and best Irish coffee.

Durty Nelly’s
Durty Nelly’s perfect Irish coffee

We spent a Sunday night in Ennis at the Temple Gate hotel, home of Preachers Pub and another great chowder. There was traditional music from 8-10 musicians, including a young lass of about 12 and an older woman of about 75. Another great night.

Onward to the Cliffs of Moher with a stop in Ennistymon for a coffee and found The Cheese Press. Flat white coffee is the order of the day in Ireland and at the counter they told us the milk came from a cow that morning.

We also purchased a very stinky wash rind cheese that we carried with us the rest of the trip.

Gubbeen Cheese

It was trouble, emptying minibars and requesting fridges in hotels but a few weeks later we finished every bit of this delicious stinky treasure.

A couple of nights in Galway and proved why everyone loves it so much. Great atmosphere, great food. We couldn’t resist dinner both nights at The King’s Head. More great chowder and mussels. Live music in the pub if you have to wait for a table in the restaurant.

The King’s Head Galway.

A day trip to the Aran Islands and we said goodbye to the Wild Atlantic and headed north to Belfast.

Rainy Saturday morning

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7:45 Workout done.  Coffee in hand.  Nothing I HAVE  to do until afternoon.

A lighter workout this morning.  15 minutes bike but no sprints and no weights.

We had dinner at Lin’s last night and though I love their hand made noodles and the honey prawns are amazing, the Tan Tan soup wasn’t the best.  Peaceful may be.  We’re going to have to try them all again soon.  A week of Tan Tan.  Chongqing’s sauce is sometimes fantastic and sometimes too hot and they don’t make the noodles.  Peaceful adds some nice crispy tofu.

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The Bok Choy with 2 kinds of mushrooms was pretty great.

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At The Travel Group’s Friday Winedown we opened a bottle of Sandhill 2011 Cabernet Merlot from Vanessa Vineyards and it disappeared so fast I barely tasted it.  We toured the vineyard just before they picked the grapes so I’m quite partial to the wine.

I ate 2,700 calories yesterday.

Saturday morning and it’s a winter wonderland

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I love Saturday morning workouts, there’s no rush, the day seems endless ahead.  15 minutes bike ride with 2 – 2 minute sprints.  Lots of physical work ahead around the house and I love it after a week of sitting at my desk.  I counted my workouts this year and I’m up to 134.

Friday is always an eating and drinking day with lunch and dinner often a challenge. Yesterday I made grilled cheese on Pure Breads Old Stumpie Rye with grated 2 year old PEI cheddar and Maasdam.  The George Foreman grill at work is one of our most useful appliances.

Winedown at The Travel Group can be quite an affair this time of year and this week I had some leftover Hinterland Rose and wanted to see how it had held up for 5 days.  That lead to picking up some Oyama Truffled Duck Breast Salami. Available for a limited time each year, it’s perfect for starting a party with sparkling wine.

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A match made in heaven and the wine held up well with a proper stopper and refrigeration.

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We’re also helping Les Amis du Fromage finish a wheel of Pepper D’Affinois so opened a bottle of Syrah from Vanessa Vineyards by Sandhill.  That was a pretty fine match up too.

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Dinner was curry from Desi Turka so I went hunting for a riesling and found this Orofino 2013 Old Fines . Pale gold colour, heady aroma, mouth watering and enough acid to cut through the curries.  Saved some for a repeat performance.

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I ate about 2,800 calories yesterday.