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In Amsterdam, the former city glasshouse has been restored and turned into the light-filled, airy De Kas restaurant, with smaller glasshouses around the main room used to grow herbs and vegetables. Book for dinner in high summer and start with a glass of champagne flavoured with a basil leaf, followed by delicious, seasonal food like confit duck, grilled fish, fresh salads and tiny jellies made from fresh berries. They serve one daily, five course menu so all you need to do is book a table, turn up and relax - neatly avoiding both menu dilemmas and dinner envy.
Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3
1097 DE
www.restaurantdekas.nl/4menu_eng.php
Of the listed restaurants in the Christian quarter of Aleppo, this is the best value in terms of atmosphere and food. It has two entrances, one signed from the side of the Armenian cathedral and the other from Qastal Ibshir Pasha street. Beer and wine on offer.
See above for directions. tel 2224462.
Charming and relaxing guesthouse. An authentic Morrocan riad with its courtyard and sunroof terrace.
Ideally based for pedestrians and market lovers due to its central location in the heart of the Medina, just five minutes from the very popular place Djemaa El Fna.
The whole team makes you feel at home: friendly and helpful with good local cuisine.
I particularly enjoyed sauna and massages at the end of day after exploring the city. I am looking forward to going back on October for another break.
Riad Dollar des Sables
13 Derb Deffa Ourbaa
Quartier Esmarinne
Medina
40000 Marrakech
website:
www.riaddollardessables.com
mail: reservation@riaddollardessables.com
Tel/ fax 00 212 (0) 24 44 43 14
portable: 00 212 (0) 71 38 95 35
Pub just off the seafront. Excellent beer, usually busy but with a landlord that has time for anyone coming in, regardless of whether they are regulars or, like me, twice a year visitors on the way to or from the Scilly Isles.
Also worth a try, especially if arriving off the Scilly Isles ferry, is the Dolphin pub opposite the quay. A twice-a-year ritual for me and my friends that go with me to Scilly is the walk from the B&B in Alexandra Road to the Dolphin for a meal along the seafront and then to return to the Alexandra afterwards before returning to the B&B.
Can be beautiful, but can be bracing and hairy if the wind's blowing from the south and the tide's up. Watch the local kids dodging (not always successfully) the waves breaking over the seawall.
Alexandra Road, Penzance TR18 4LY. 01736365165
An Armenian restaurant. The name means "Come, Come". There are two such, and we ate in the ul Dobrudzha branch. Small rooms in what feels like a private house, so a delightfully intimate experience.
The food was delicious, although the service somewhat erratic. Excellent wines - we had the Tcherga white and red, both superb. No holds barred, our bill was about 60 Leva each, but one need not be so extravagant. A very good evening out, if you don't mind it being leisurely.
Booking a must - on a midweek night we couldn't get a table at the other branch, and ours was full.
ul Dobroudzha 10
02 989 33 83
also
ul Sheinovo 18
02 946 17 35
Anyone foolish enough to visit Sunny Beach should jump on the first bus to Bourgas and thence to Sozopol.
Mercifully, relatively few Brits currently visit - but the number is increasing as word escapes re its laid back charms and excellent value-for-money restaurants. Sozopol - the Eternal City - has long been a favourite escape for artists and for the first ten days of September it hosts the acclaimed Apollonia international Arts Festival.
There is a good sprinkling of beaches and Kavatse has a particularly Bohemian character.
The Hotel Diamanti is one of the few hotels located in the historic Old Town and provides a great base for visits south to the semi-tropical Ropotomo River, ancient forests and nature reserves.
Visit this area before it too becomes spoiled.
An excellent source of info is bulgariacoast.info
We visit the Lizard regularly to stay with family and trips would not be complete without visiting Roskilly's Farm once or twice. Lovely walks around extensive ponds, woodland and the coastal paths and a working organic dairy farm. Children love seeing the cows being milked - followed by the Roskilly family's homemade ice cream made from the aforementioned Jersey cows.
The Croust House is their lovely cafe with wholesome food (meringue glace with homemade clotted cream, you can't beat it). We even stayed in one of their holiday cottages for a week one year, homely, comfy and very friendly. Also enjoy the Roskilly (grown-up) children's creative work in the furniture and stained glass that abound. Oh, and you can buy a little book on how to make clotted cream.
Just had a week down in Cornwall and enjoyed it as always (slowly uploading photos to flickr if interested).
I will recommend The Lugger Hotel, a lovely little hotel in the secluded fishing village of Portloe. I had the most fantastic crab sandwich and glass of white wine sitting in the sun on their terrace overlooking the slipway. Beautiful
www.luggerhotel.co.uk/
My pics: www.flickr.com/photos/juniorbonnerphotography/tags/cornwall/
Raadhuskafeen is an old restaurant right across from the city hall which serves traditional Danish food. For lunch, choose from a huge menu of open sandwiches or old-fashioned warm dishes, or go for an evening meal and savour plentiful traditional warm dishes. The perfect way to explore typical and traditional Danish cuisine. Reservation required - it is a popular place!
Sønder Allé 3, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Tel: +45 8612 3774
www.raadhuus-kafeen.dk/
Tiny bistro with tiny menu and huge beer list.
Does the best carbonnade des Flamandes in Brussels by a country mile.
36 Rue Keyenveld
Lovely, lively, mad little cafe with an enormous noticeboard and great cakes and lunches.
Always mobbed and for good reason.
George IV Bridge, handy for the Grass Market and the Royal Mile.
De Bortoli, Tarrawarra and Chateau Yering are three of my favourite. De Bortoli, one of the oldest estates in the Yarra Valley, has a great restaurant for dinner and a cheese room. Tarrawarra has a good lunch restaurant with lovely views of the valley and a modern art gallery. Try their Tin Cows line - it's very good. All do tasting.
De Bortoli
www.debortoli.com.au/
Chateau Yering
www.chateauyering.com.au/
Tarrawarra
www.tarrawarra.com.au/
My partner and I have just finished a five-day tasting trip in the Mendoza region of Argentina. The trip was fantastic, the backdrop of the Andes is breathtaking, and the wines and cuisine really are world class.
We traveled with this tour operator who specialise in luxury wine and gourmet tours. Well worth the cost.
Stay at Cavas wine lodge - it's a real treat.
We also ate at Vistalba's restaurant which was one of our favourite meals of all time.
Hong Kong Island has some fantastic beaches on the south side of the island.
Accessible by minibus, taxi and bus, these beaches can be a fantastic half-day out away from the city.
The beaches, from west to east, include Deep Water Bay, Repulse Bay, South Bay and over the point to Stanley.
Deep Water bay is a great place to enjoy the sun and sand and is connected to Repulse Bay around the point past Middle Island by a promenade (20min walk).
Repulse Bay is fundamentally a high-end residential area with a large beach and shops.
A short taxi ride from Repulse Bay is South Bay beach. This gem is usually less crowded and great for swimming and has a decent restaurant for snacks.
Over and around the point is Stanley (famous for its market) which has two beaches of note – the first is the main beach facing east (a short stroll from the main bus terminus); the second is St Stephen's beach. Facing into Stanley Bay, its a 15min walk along Wong Ma Kok Rd (taking you past one of HK’s many military cemeteries from WW2 – a sombre reminder of what went on here in recent history). Great for picnics and just enjoying the scenery, you can also take part in dinghy sailing and kayaking if you have the energy.
From Central Exchange Square terminus: to Stanley – 6, 6X, 260, 66 (6X, 260 via Deepwater Bay) all routes pass through Repulse Bay.
To South Bay: take a taxi from Repulse Bay (£2).
Jeow Bong is a smoky chilli and garlic paste traditionally made with buffalo hide. But Tamarind cafe - brilliant place - make a non-meat version which you can bring back to the UK without lawbreaking.
I just wish that I'd carried more jars of it home.
Pork candyfloss sounds vile, but is good. It's actually quite like a fluffy biltong. You can't ship it home so eat up while you're in Laos.
Tamarind will also organise morning trips to the market to look at the amazing variety of fruit and vegetables and also be grossed out by pig skin masks at the butchers.
Carolyn (who jointly runs Tamarind with her boyfriend Joy) is a fount of food knowledge.
Ban Wat Nong, Luang Prabang
The Boundary is a pub with a history,
although today it fronts as a pub with decent food, kid-friendly even for those with ankle biters or rugrats who want a meal out and, of course, it has the obligatory pokies and TAB. Oh, and a decent wine list in the dining room.
The history bit? The Boundary pub gets its name from being on East Boundary Rd which gets its name from being the former east boundary of a large farming estate (back in the 1880s through to the 1920s)
Take the kids (leave them in the playroom) and have a meal or play the pokies.
cnr East Boundary Rd and Centre Rd
East Bentleigh
Vic 3165
ph 9570 7044
free on site parking
It's a great place for lunch, dinner or a late drink and watch the world go by.
Good prices and generous servings: seafood, beef and pasta; also a good wine selection from Chile; and friendly waitresses.
Canoa Quebrada is a popular resort for the weekend. It has a very good carnival in nearby Aracati.
Canoa Quebrada is 160km south of Fortaleza.
Nelson Mandela’s favourite restaurant...
I am dragged to Moyo, feeling quite nervous of what I will find. Well knock me down with a feather … Newtown is taking its rightful place as the heart of Josie!
Wheelers is a pub that has gone through a bit of a transformation and turned into a top class hotel with good food, good entertainment (especially Thursday and Friday nights) and a view to die for.
Having a lazy lunch in the fancy class restaurant overlooking the valley is a great way to spend a Sunday. The Wheelers is a fave with locals. And did I mention the views too?
Wheelers Hill Hotel
Ferntree Gully Road (cnr Jells Road), Wheelers Hill (about 20 mins from the centre of the city along the freeway) Tel. 9560 8922
car parking on site is free
www.melbournepubs.com/v/794/Wheelers-Hill-Hotel.html
Restaurant on the North Norfolk coast with superb views of the salt marshes. Delicious fresh seafood served in small portions allowing you to eat a three-course meal without feeling like you're going to burst. I had the salad of cromer crab and quails eggs, plaice for mains with a side of samphire (available from the marshes in season) and an exquisite rasberry brulee for dessert. A perfect way to spend a summer's evening.
Brancaster Staithe on the A149, Norfolk, PE31 8BY.
Tel: 01485210262
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