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This seafood restaurant is about fifteen miles from Galway. It's in a wonderful location and is a superb place on summer evenings for a pint and some smoked salmon.
Moran's Oyster Cottage, The Weir, Kilcogan, Co. Galway.
Tel : +353 91 796 113.
www.moransoystercottage.com/
Maison Blanc is part of Raymond Blanc's culinary empire but this Oxford cafe is the original. A small patisserie, boulangerie and cafe at the top of St Giles, it is perfect for Saturday morning breakfasts or cake and coffee. Everything is beautiful and scrumptious, from the almond croissant to the tarte au citron and the pain rustique. It is also surprisingly family friendly and we always see toddlers in here.
3 Woodstock Road, at the corner of Little Clarendon Street.
Tel: 01865 510 974
www.maisonblanc.co.uk/oxford.html
Inside a rather dour, grey building is The Grill House, a bright and vibrant Mexican-influenced restaurant.
The Grill House is always full - they do a fantastic £4.95 lunchtime menu which changes regularly and their evening menu is crammed full of delights such as pizza, chilli, fajitas, steak and Mexican stew ranging from £6.50 to £14.00.
The atmosphere is friendly and informal and the decor is warm amd inviting so it can't fail to cheer you up on a dark and dismal winter day.
The Grill House, Inchcape House, St Mary's Place.
Tel : 01334 470500
www.grillhouserestaurant.co.uk
A St Andrews institution. Jannetta's is an ice cream shop dating from 1908. They make fifty-two flavours of ice cream and they are all wonderful, so much so that people queue along the pavement at the first sign of warm weather in early Spring.
31 South Street, near the corner with Abbey Street.
www.jannettas.co.uk
George and Davis' is situated on Little Clarendon Street in Jericho. It is something of an Oxford institution with quirky cow-themed pictures on the walls and a studenty appeal. It serves great ice cream in an array of wonderful (and sometimes weird) flavours and customers can start a petition for a flavour of their own design
to be made. If 30 signatures are collected the management will consider making it.
The cafe also serves great pizza bagels for those who need a savoury snack. It is open until midnight and, although there are plenty of students in term-time, it's worth making a visit.
G&Ds Ice Cream Cafe, Little Clarendon Street.
01865 516652
This restaurant is situated near the Grand Théatre, off the place de la Comédie. It is popular, often with queues of customers waiting outside the door at busy times. They will eventually be shown to a table on one of four floors of the restaurant. There is only one main course available - steak with fries, salad and the famous l'entrecote sauce at sixteen euros. And diners only choice of wine is between red and rosé - something of a relief if you're a little tired of being pretentious about wine.
This isn't French dining for the purists - there are plenty of wonderful restaurants in Bordeaux to try, and if you're only going out for one meal in Bordeaux please go to La Tupina. It is, admittedly, part of a very small chain of restaurants throughout France. However, it is affordable, fun, very popular and the steak is yummy.
L'Entrecote, 4 Cours du 30 juillet.
Tel : +33 5 56 81 76 10.
www.entrecote.fr
If you have a car do not miss a trip to Franschhoek, the gourmet capital of South Africa. Enjoy a great lunch in the Cellars Restaurant after a wine tasting. Each course is accompanied by a different wine and it is a delightful experience.
Go through the village of Franschhoek, take a right at the monument and follow the road up the pass for approximately two kilometres.
Situated in a boring and slightly scruffy building, this place is a real find. The three-star Longchamps Hotel is on one of the upper floors and, with two large terraces, is one of the most relaxing places in Cairo. Its decor could be described as a mix of elegant, Bohemian and ethnic. But what most people find surprising is the food. Menus are simple but dishes are invariably delicious to the point of being memorable. If you are looking for somewhere inexpensive, quiet, clean and pleasant to stay in Cairo, this is it.
Hotel Longchamps, 21 Ismail Mohamed Street, Zamalek. 3409644
Tel : 00 20 2 735 2311/12.
www.hotellongchamps.com
This is the place to eat out in style. Rossini is a sophisticated Italian seafood restaurant in Heliopolis with a piano bar upstairs and a garden at the back. It has great food, excellent cocktails (which are difficult to find in Cairo outside five-star hotels) and top service.
Rossini, 66 Omar Ibn el-Khattab Street.
Tel : +20 2 291 8282
Sangria is a cool restaurant and bar built around an old tree on the banks of the Nile. Enjoy a view of Zamalek from the open terrace, which during winter months is well heated. The cuisine is mostly South-East Asian and the crowd tends to be mainly young and wealthy, judging by the posh cars in the restaurant carpark. It's a great place for a beer.
Sangria, Corniche El Nile.
Tel : +20 2 579 6512
On the opposite side of the road from the Conrad Hilton towards the Arkadia Shopping Centre.
Once the home and garden of a wealthy Swiss businessman, the Swiss Club was donated to the Swiss community of Egypt. Today, however, it is open to all for a small fee, although it tends to be an expat hangout. If the bustle of Cairo becomes too much to bear you can bring your family to this green oasis and enjoy reasonably priced good food and a relaxing atmosphere. Other activities include barbecues, car boot sales and bazaars.
The Swiss Club, Villa Pax, El Gihad Street (off Sudan Street), Kit Kat Square.
Tel : +20 2 314 2811
www.swiss-club-cairo.com
A Syrian kebab cannot be beaten. They are available in jaaj (chicken) and lahme (lamb) varieties, including the wonderful local garlic mayonnaise.
Also look out for tabbouleh, the wonderful parsley salad, hummus bi lahm (chickpea puree with meat and pinenuts), felafel and labneh (a yogurt dip).
The Parsi Dairy Farm just around the corner from the Fire Temple is a shop that sells all manner of dairy products that are hard to find elsewhere. Think proper cream that whips, fresh milk, delicious kulfi, superb yoghurt and lassis.
Parsi Dairy Farm, 261-63 Princess Street.
Tel : +91 22 201 3633.
www.parsidairyfarm.com
Memorable dining experience in a very comfortable atmosphere with attentive service and excellent eclectic cuisine.
Widdergasse 5
Tel: 41 44 211 56 65
www.restaurant-lumiere.ch
A typically smart, hip and upcoming TriBeCa ethnic restaurant, the food isn't half bad either. Also worth checking out for the backroom display of Asian artefacts. It doesn't feel anything like Vietnam itself, but that's not the point.
345 Greenwich Street
212-431-5888
www.viet-cafe.com
The clue is in the name - it's a smoky jazz club! Sometimes playing jazz (not often), but usually with a band (of sorts) making music. It gets really packed on the weekends so don't even bother trying to order food even if you do manage to get yourselves a table, but it's quiet during the week and the food is worth it. To make sure that you can actually get in, it's usually best to phone beforehand, they can be a bit picky on the door.
Also, most taxi drivers won't know what you're talking about if you ask them to take you there so make sure you know how to get there yourself or take someone with you that does! All said and done, usually a sterling night out of debauchery and fabulousness.
197, 26th July Street, Agouza, Cairo.
Tel: 02 345 9939
Mohandessin is an area close to Zamalek but on the east bank of the Nile. In general it's a good place to explore, with various cultural centres and cafes. But most importantly, it has the restaurant Cedars, near Lebanon Place - you should absolutely eat there. It's fantastic Lebanese food, the best I've ever had, and probably on a par with some places in Beirut. It's a great big restaurant (be sure to eat on the terrace) and I remember eating so much that I really couldn't move for a couple hours. Truly, it's the best Middle Eastern cuisine I've ever had, and that's saying something.
42 Geziret Al Arab Street, Mohandiseen
Tel: 347 2537
Near the American University Cairo (AUC) dorms, there is a great cafe with an outdoor terrace called Cafe de Paris. It's popular with the Zamalek crowd, open late, does good shisha and food. A great, relaxed place to spend an evening.
18 Yosef al-Gindi Street, Bustan Center
A lovely fishing village near Inverewe Gdns, also has an ATM, rare in this area! And a fish and chip shop selling locally caught fish. A good selection of shops for a small village, and incredible beach nearby. Nice youth hostel called Carn Dearg.
On the coast road.
www.syha.org.uk/SYHA/web/site/Hostels/GairlochCarnDearg.asp
Abou El Sid is a restaurant close to the Marriot Hotel in Zamalek, popular with the young and hip, middle class, and expats. Try and book a table, sicne it is always busy.
They do an amazing stuffed pigeon! When you want to treat yourself, go to this place. Pricey for Egyptian standard, but the food is a cut above the rest and much more authentic than in tourist restaurants like the Naguib Mahfouz in the Khan el Khalili market.
Abou El Sid, 157, 26th of July St, Zamalek (+73 59 640)
For cheap and good takeways, try the area around Midan Talat Harb!
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