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We took one look at the restaurant prices in central Masaya and were heading back to the hotel when we found Mariskeria, a permanent kiosk in the Parque octobre 17. Their ceviche was A1 and the prawns a plancha were the best we'd eaten since being in Spain in the 70s. The proprietor let us try a concha negra for free as we'd never eaten it before... more like a clam than an oyster, but we'll include them on our menu next time we visit Masaya.
Parque de octobre 17
Masaya
A spotlessly clean, reasonably priced hotel in the town centre. Nothing is too much trouble for the owners or staff.
It is well sited for exploration of northern Nicaragua by bus and, being in town, means you are not hostage to some over priced so called eco lodge or hotel miles from anywhere and can take full advantage of local restaurants and food stands.
Great little town with superb Sandinista memorial.
Frente Supermercado Matagalpa
Avenida Central
Matagalpa
tel 00 505 772 3140
Southeast 82nd Avenue can be a pain to navigate (many stop lights, insane traffic) but it is worth the trouble for the Asian restaurants, from Chinese to Vietnamese, that populate the strip. However, one of my favorite Asian spots is Xuyen Bakery, where you can grab a heavenly Vietnamese sandwich for two bucks and a scrumptious apple turnover for a buck.
This tiny establishment, which is easy to drive right past, is on Foster Road, between 52nd and 82nd Avenues.
ast Burnside is home to my favorite southern style restaurant, The Screen Door. I always get the NC style pulled pork with some greens and hushpuppies, but everything else is excellent. They also feature local organic salads.
For seafood, I recommend Jake's Famous Crawfish on SW Stark. Oyster lovers will enjoy the Kumamoto Oysters fresh from Netarts Bay. The crawfish boil features creatures caught in Lake Billy Chinook, south of Portland on the Warm Springs Reservation. Anything with Dungeness crab is going to be tasty and the fresh fish is mouthwatering. The prices are moderate here.
On SW Stark401 SW 12th Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97205
(503) 226-1419
1-888-344-6861 toll free
Portland is called 'bohemian' by some or just plain 'weird' by others - neither is terribly accurate or honest. Portland is as much a corporately-run, high traffic, New York borough-wannabe as it is home to the truly strange and offbeat - like Voodoo Doughnut.
A literal 'hole in the wall' - located off of 3rd Avenue in what is typically considered a gregarious garage of grunge, VD is the home of the most freshly-made, oddly named, uniquely indescribable fast food ever.
Try the bacon-maple bar - a generously rectangular confection of maple and a slice or two of crispy American-style bacon; the Dirty Ol' Bastard - fat, round and smashed with Oreo cookies; the Dirty Snowball - a chocolate doughnut with a pink glaze and mystery creme inside; the Voodoo Doll Doughnut - chocolate with an oozy blood red center. VD specializes in the bizarre and untried (the Nyquil-filled doughnut is currently on hold) and the unnameable: 'specialty' doughnuts are made to order and may closely resemble the body part of your choice.
Thinking of tying the knot in Portland? VD is also known for the weddings - held in front of the "Holy Doughnut under the Cruller Chandelier of Life". Cockfights and contests are also known to be held there.
Expensive it is not - always entertaining - as they say, the 'magic is in the hole.'
22 SW 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97204
www.voodoodoughnut.com
Powell's is a Portland landmark - though there are several outlets around Portland, the main attraction is the mother ship located at 10th and Burnside - it takes up an entire city block and five floors to house its beautifully eclectic and sometimes chaotic collection of literary beasts and local ephemera.
There is a genre to suit every taste, from Science Fiction (take a moment to gawk at the walls - you'll find some famous autographs scrawled there) to Gardening to Graphic Novels and even a Rare Books Room on the top floor that smells almost as antiquarian as it looks.
Powell's also boasts a small art gallery and cafe with the best local coffee. If you want a seat in the crowded cafe though, get there early.
A typical visit to Powells will set you back at least two hours. Wear your best walking shoes. Bring a backpack too - you'll need it to carry all the heavy second-hand tomes you find.
People watching is encouraged: if you want to know what real Portlanders are like, this is the place to go.
www.powells.com
10th & Burnside
Toll Free: 800-878-7323
This is a really great neighbourhood pizza place with the best dough and sauce in Portland. They only make a certain amount of dough every night and when it's gone they turn people away. These guys are serious about pizza - not only do they not deliver, they don't even allow you to call in and take out. Only warning, it can sometimes take up to an hour to get in... but, once you try this amazing pie, you forget all about the wait.
4741 SE Hawthorne. www.apizzascholls.com. 503-233-1286. 14-Hawthorne bus.
A great oasis in the busy and fascinating medina, roof terrace with views over Bou Inania, great selection of snacks, meals, teas and coffees, cakes, and excellent lamb patties etc. Cheerful young local staff and an enthusiastic English patron. Restored courtyard house up a tiny alley by the waterclock, close to Bab Bou Jeloud Gate. Given the lack of eating places to occupy the gap between very cheap traditional cafes, and upmarket gourmet restaurants, this is a very welcome place any time of day. But the best thing is that the owner is determined to run a rare local cultural programme of arts and music with something on several evenings a week. And then there are the camel burgers, fresh from the camel butcher over the street...
off Tala Kebira under the water clock opposite the Bou Inania Medersa(a must visit)
www.cafeclock.com/home.html
Sobrenatural is located in the heart of Santa Teresa, right next to handmade arts and crafts stores and local artists’ workshops. The neighbourhood’s very famous and charming tram passes by a few feet away from the restaurant. I was served well - the waiters were all very friendly and patiently taking their time to clear any of my doubts on their exotic seafood menu. I highly recommend their coconut surubin with brazilnuts and plantains: a blissful must-try!
Rua Almirante Alexandrino, 432 Santa Teresa
Phone: 55 21 2224-1003
Brasileirinho is a nice Brazilian country cooking restaurant just one block away from the beach. The food was good, but what I really enjoyed was their décor: it’s got this idyllic countryside atmosphere, with bucolic handmade arts and crafts. They sell take away home made typical Brazilian desserts as well. I recommend guava (a Brazilian fruit) sweet with cheese – so scrumptious I bought some to eat back at the hotel!
Rua Jangadeiros 10-A, Ipanema
Phone: 55 21 25135184
Rundles is one of the best restaurants I've dined at in the world. (Sorry Mr. Ramsay, but you have a lot to learn from them.)
Minimalism and understated elegance is best how to describe this spot.
The cuisine is thoroughly grounded in tradition yet playful and forward-thinking all the same. Service is spot on, with no flaws. Wine list is exceptional (i.e. affordable bottles from worldly modern wineries are represented with no rip-offs).
The architecture is completely modern and minimal, the atmosphere is so serene. I’ve recently discovered that Canadian super-star architects, Shim-Sutcliffe (based in Toronto), are behind the re-design of the restaurant, as well as the making of the Rundles-Morris House, a stellar pad located next door.
For $595.00 CAD, one can rent probably the most wonderfully designed accommodation available for rent in the world - the Rundles-Morris House.
This space is thoroughly modern, and filled with every luxury you can think of, from designer furniture to expensive Irish linens, to breakfast cuisine that is unmatched anywhere else I've stayed.
Every Pound spent here is worth it. All things considered, Rundles restaurant, and staying inside their one of a kind, Rundles-Morris House, is a total deal, or, steal!
Rundles
9 Cobourg Street,
Stratford, Ontario
Canada N5A 3E4
t.: 001.519.271.6442
f.: 001.519.271.3279
rundles@cyg.net
www.rundlesrestaurant.com
It is a sandwich/cake shop selling wonderful slices of pizza. If you are staying at Porta San Mamolo hotel and arrive in between meal times (which appear to be fairly rigid in Italy!) go round the corner and experience very delicious sandwiches & pizza (which they will warm up for you).
From Hotel Porta san Mamolo it is 1 minute walk. From hotel door turn right, at the end of the street turn left along Via Paglietta and then right and it is on the corner of Viale Enrico P and Via Massimo.
It's a stylish cafe/bar/cake shop in the centre of Bologna and at around 6pm they put out a mouth-wateringly delicious free buffet. It starts with tempting canapes, and after a bit they bring out warm things. The drinks are not cheap (it was 6 euro for a glass of wine) but as you can eat all you want for the price it is brilliant. It is also fascinating watching the bar staff prepare and serve cocktails with aplomb, and watching the other customers.
Piazza Galvani (web = caffezanarini.com)
Cantina Bentivoglio in Via Mascerella is a wine bar that serves brilliant food. The pork in balsamic vinegar sauce is meltingly tender, and the beef in red wine on polenta - so delicious. I finished off with lemon sorbet with "wodka" (the English translations in the back of the menu provide a few laughs). Plan to eat at 9 or 9.30 and you get to listen to live jazz - makes for a great evening!
Via Mascarella (round the back of the Palazzo Bentivoglio)- look up "Cantina Bentivoglio" on the net for more details
Italian chain that allows you to see what dishes are being prepared before you choose food. Always full of locals rather than tourists. Great opportunity to get a hang of Italian food habits. Padua Brek is slightly better if you're travelling.
Main square outside opera amphitheatre
A laid back, funky hostel in the seaside village of Punta del Este.
Mixed or female dorms, private singles, doubles or four person share rooms and lovely lounge area surrounded by 16 foot high windows, with a massive hearth and fireplace.
The owners also run a bar, located on the beach just one block from the hostel.
A great place to stopover for a few days en route to Brazil and recharge those backpacker batteries, come rain or shine.
Brian Meissner,
Owner & Operator
Tel / Phone
Uruguay: 0477 2647
Lovely little place, located between Kaeo and Mangonui. Run by Lyndsey and football fanatic Stefano, on their fifth-generation Northland family farm. Dorms, singles and doubles with a warm homely feel.
After a trek over the farm to historic Kauri dams where you can bathe in natural rockpools or a day at the beach in beautiful and remote Doubtless Bay, treat yourself to one of Stefano's legendary homemade pizzas - yum yum.
A cut above any other hostel I've ever stayed in - a real gem.
Kahoe Farms Hostel, RD 2 Kaeo, New Zealand. Tel: (09) 4051 804
Email: kahoefarms@xtra.co.nz
A great restaurant just off the beaten tourist track. It's hard to pick a winner where there are so many places to choose from. Booking recommended, open every day. Hotel too.
15 Place Saint Jacques, 76200, Dieppe
Telephone +33 02 32 14 61 10
Palaphita is a very pleasant restaurant with a splendid view of Lagoa (a big lagoon in the middle of the city). I suggest you go around dusk, for the view of the sun setting behing the hills is simply breathtaking!
Address:
Avenida Epitacio Pessoa 20, Lagoa
Phone: 55 21 22270837
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