A great new Indian restaurant at 90 Luntmakargatan. We had more than we could eat for about £12 each and the daily house recommendations are good value. The food was freshly prepared and delicious and the staff very friendly.
In a county replete with astounding cream teas, Primrose Cottage in Lustleigh serves the best.
Set in the wooded Dartmoor village famed for its Cleave, Lustleigh avoids the worst of the tourist influxes suffered by Widecombe and Haytor. Its thatched cottages centre around the church and its neighbour Primrose Cottage. As well as astoundingly good cream teas (served since the 19th century) the tea rooms also have an incredible selection of homemade cakes.
Work it all off with a walk along Lustleigh Cleave, a steep wooded valley through which the River Bovey bubbles.
Lustleigh is a 10 minute drive north of Bovey Tracey and about 45 minutes from Exeter.
During a trip to Australia in 1997, I was lucky enough to have been invited to have dinner at Doyle's on the beach in Sydney.
One of the enduring images and impressions I have of that very warm February evening, was to see the sun set over the harbour looking towards the city far away in the background.
The sun was sinking fast behind the skyscrapers - it was an amazing sight, and at that moment I had the urge to call home. I took the mobile out of my pocket, and rang to speak to my mum and brother. It was early in the morning in the UK (11 hours behind Sydney at that time of year) and I said to them, "Has the sun come up over there yet?". They replied: "Yes, just about. Why?"
My response was: "I just realised this is about the only time of the day we can see the sun at the same time from opposite sides of the world."
www.doyles.com.au/
11 Marine Parade, Watsons Bay
Google map: tinyurl.com/lmym9c
After an energy-sapping morning soaking up the rays on Valdevaqueros beach - one of the best along the Costa de la Luz - try lunching at the minute hotel perched on the dunes behind a surf school and shop. Enjoy the typically Tarifan hippy-chic vibe, sitting at oversized wooden tables under generous shady bamboo cover and their delicious array of hearty, green salads and fresh fruit juices make a welcome break after a night of tapas indulgence.
Great views from the hotel, ask beforehand, and a quiet but excellent museum of art with some stunning paintings. Dine in the sqare, view the fountain and leave. A pleasant stay, half day tour and move on. Take a taxi from the railway station. Do not walk or you will regret the decision.
This is a very impressive building and equals the best in Italy although the museum does charge entrance. Take a train from Rome to Florence, 2 class, stop off at Orvieto station, take the Finucola and the bus picks you up at the top and takes you to the Duomo. There is a cheapish Enoteca to the left on the corner as you stand facing the Duomo. Orvieto is a very pleasnt place but touristy. Worth a visit as access is so easy. It is a day trip with evening meal if you wish.
This B&B is charmimg and on the web (phone as they speak English) but out of town where it is quieter. The breakfast is excellent and drinks during the day are very cheap. The rooms are remarkably good and there is a small pool. A great relaxation venue.
You could walk up the hill (an hour is fair and it is pleasant in the evening) but take a taxi down. Dine, sightsee and come back down for a quiet sleep. There are no taxis around for some reason so do not get stranded in town at night.
The restaurants are OK but not that impressive if you eat a great deal in Italy. This is a very pleasant but tourist saturated town made famous by a novel and romanticism. There is no fountain, OK!
www.ilsoledelsodo.com/index_eng.htm
Ring from the train as they will book a taxi (10 Euros). You cannot walk from the station to Cortona or the B&B.
This is the first pub to open its doors in Chiang Mai and was voted one of the best bars in the world. It is an olde worlde English pub in the true tradition. Has a great selection of food and drinks including roast dinners on Sundays.
It recently had a makeover and extended the bar and the restaurant but has kept its old charm. There is also an outside area where you can sit and enjoy the tranquility of a tropical garden. And now has new bungalows added for those wishing to linger a while. A must to visit when in Chiang Mai.
Great place, wrong location, Joe's cafe bar on Oldham Street is a little gem lying in the mud.
Decked out in leather sofas and dark wood tables it could fall into the trap of being yet another Bar 38 or Pitcher & Piano but it's all saved by well cooked food and service that just falls neatly into place.
Get in there and pretend you're in St Anne's Square. It's just as far, as owld Will Mossop would no doubt pipe up.
Oldham Street
Make like the Spanish and enjoy a beer and tapa in the bars in Granada. Most places give you a free tapa when you buy a drink - spend an evening wandering from bar to bar in this beautiful city and you won't need to find a restaurant for dinner.
Most squares in Seville have got nice old fashioned bars, where eating and drinking is cheap. Santa Maria La Blanca is not an exception, and it is close to the gardens (Jardines del Murillo) and the beautiful building of Universidad de Sevilla.
I recommend trying as many varieties of tapas as possible, always keeping in mind, or at hand, a nice beer to chill out.
The city centre.
Mashed potatoes in all sorts of varieties. Comfort food at its best; very filling, and very cheap.
4a Forrest Road, Edinburgh
Tel : 0131 225 7069
www.monstermashcafe.co.uk/
A new trendy Edinburgh restaurant in the Bruntsfield area.
They do some great traditional Scottish food and have been awarded an AA rosette for food and service quality.
69 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh EH10 4HH
Tel : 0131 622 8163
www.thebruntsfield.co.uk/CardoonRestaurant.asp
Restaurant Istanbul serves delicious traditional Ottoman kitchen and is one of the few really high quality places in Marmaris harbour. They serve everything from cocktails over traditional Turkish meals to cigars.
The restaurant is designed with much attention to detail and particularly beautiful are the fish tanks. A highly recommended place to sample traditional Ottoman cuisine in a stylish environment.
Barbaros cad No 155 Yat Limani (in the harbour of Marmaris towards the Bar Street rather than the Ataturk Statue)
Tel 0090 252 412 0097
If you're downtown in the Brickell area, check out Provence Grill. It is hard to find good food in Brickell, but this is an exception. Lunch was about $35 per person. Service was great.
Family run and friendly. The food was delicious. Mixed grill is enormous. Seafood freshly caught.
Also they don't tout down the main drag!
Kovačka - a tiny sidestreet next to the Sponza Palace
After a few hours strolling around Lucca taking in the sights, nothing beats some proper gelati.
The best place is Caffe di Simo in Via Filungo, undoubtedly the best gelati I've ever had, in wonderful fin-de-siècle ambience and with excellent coffee too.
Pistachio was my favourite flavour.
Via Fillungo 58, Lucca
Telephone: 0583 496234
www.in-lucca.it/ristoratori/disimo/index.htm
Vivaro is a new bar on the main Amalfi coast road as it passes through Praiano.
It opened at the beginning of June 2007 and specialises in Italian wines.
It is contemporary rather than traditional in design, more like a bar in Milan or Florence in looks but much friendlier.
The English-speaking owner Gennaro is very welcoming and enthusiastic in sharing his knowledge of regional wines, of which he has many examples.
The food is simple (panini, torte etc) but tasty. We popped in for one drink and ended up staying the whole evening and going back the next evening as well. We got talking to one of the regular customers, Sylvia, who, it turned out, had once worked in Ipswich. It is indeed a small world.
Highly recommended.
Via Capriglione, Praiano.
Telephone: 3355624805.
No train station.
Sita buses pass through Praiano.
A fabulous restaurant, which - despite its name - serves superb modern Spanish food.
Don't go during the Feria (roughly mid August), as you will be whizzed through because the staff want to join the festivities. At all other times the service is flawless and the food imaginative and well executed. Try the prawns in kataffi pastry with lettuce soup.
Vélez Málaga 8 E - 29016, Málaga
Telephone: 95 222 50 43
Fax: 95 260 38 64
E-mail: cafedeparis@rcafedeparis.com
Website: www.rcafedeparis.com
This place is a real gem. It's a cosy restaurant with the most extensive menu i have ever come across. The food is exceptional and the service, friendly and economic. My wife's a vegetarian and very rarely satisfied by the choice of veg dishes on offer. Here she was spoilt for choice for a change!
Shanaz restaurant
83 High St Lewes E Sussex
Tel: 01273 488 028