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Not famed for its quality Japanese food, London has only a handful of good Japanese restaurants. If you want to step away from the pretentious or expensive, then try Brewer Street, just north of Exit 1 at Piccadilly station. Here you will find a number of Japanese restaurants and a Japanese supermarket. My personal recommendation would be for Ten Ten Tei (apparently one of the first Japanese restaurants in London). The small and cosy interior is supported by good quality food at reasonable prices. Main meals are around GBP10 and set menus from GBP15.
Exit one from Piccadilly station. 56 Brewer Street, London, W1F 9TJ
0871 332 28399
For dining, Caprice is a sure-fire winner. The chef here is Vincent Thierry who used to run the famous Le Cinq in Paris and the food is always excellent. You also have pretty harbour views. It’s quite formal so is a good place to go with clients, but if you want somewhere a bit more laid-back, then try Di Vino on Wyndham Street, which also has an excellent wine list.
There is a bar and restaurant called Weinstube. I found it accidentally and was surprisingly welcomed after listening to the craic going on at the bar by some local expat regulars, while having some really good schnitzel!
Staff are not over-friendly and if you need to know anything they just want to help you, from shopping to directions, or other places to eat or drink! I travel regularly to HK and pop in every time I'm there as it’s like a home away from home for me...hope it’s the same for you!
Weinstube: First floor, Ashley Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), Kowloon (opposite the Gaylord restaurant).
Using fresh, locally-grown ingredients to re-create rustic Andalucian cuisine with a contemporary touch, Al Lago has to be one of the best eating houses in the Sierra de Grazalema area of western Andalucia. If you are in the area give it a try, you won't be disappointed.
www.al-lago.es
Calle Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente, 11
Zahara de la Sierra, 11688 (Cádiz), Spain
phone: + 34 956 123 032
mobile: + 34 662 052 553
It's a small boat operator in Lisbon with intimate boats carrying up to 7 people and very cheap. Lovely music on board and superb service by the skipper.
We tried a Old Lisbon tour and it was very nice. Then the guy suggested us to have dinner in the Atira-te ao Rio restaurant in the south side of Lisbon near the bridge and we went on the boat and had a great meal and came back on the boat to Alcantara. If you don't take the tour, you should try the restaurant and you can go by boat as well.
www.marlinboattours.com, +351 919275509. Departures from Alcantara Docs and Belem, but better to call first.
I lived in Hong Kong for four years and by far the most impressive view of Hong Kong island is from 'Aqua', a bar/restaurant at the 29th floor of 1 Peking Rd, Tsim Tsa Tsui on the Kowloon side. On the floor above Aqua there is a Chinese Restaurant called 'Hutong' that is also very impressive and with dimmed lighting to enhance the view even more.
1 Peking Rd, Tsim Tsa Tsui. www.aqua.com.hk/
Timber Quay is a restaurant which serves good food at a reasonable price. The decor is modern and clean - a great stop for lunch.
100 Strand Road, Londonderry, BT48 7NR
Tel: 028 71370020.
If you go to Hong Kong around December the place is awash with hairy crabs - not an outbreak of unpleasantness, but a gastronomic opportunity. The ones I had were steamed and once one worked out how to get inside them, the ovaries were something between scrambled egg and mashed potato.
In every market, on every street. If your local restaurant doesn't have it on the menu, then buy a couple and ask them to cook them for you - you'll want other dishes too, as they weren't very filling.
When in Hong Kong - check out the Haagan Daz in Lan Kwai Fong, Central, for an Ice Cream fondue. I haven't found this available anywhere outside Asia (although I may be proved wrong). The dish features different flavours of ice cream, fresh fruit and a warm chocolate fondue dip. Perhaps for those with a sweet tooth.
www.haagen-dazs.com
Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong Island
Partake of this for €25 at the Villa Leonhardi – a superb Italian restaurant in an old villa just outside the old city; and once a month they do a seasonal tasting menu for €80‚ which is well worth making the journey for.
Best restaurant in town. Try the salmon carbonara and tiramisu. Superb service too.
Da Vinci's restaurant, airport hotel
My tip for a hotel is the Marriott in Deira. Away from the glitz so that you can concentrate but close enough to everything that you want, first class business facilities and a rooftop pool. The best restaurants are the Sphinx at the Pyramids and Shabestani Iranian restaurant at the Hyatt.
Oriental, seafood restaurant at the Grand Hyatt in Deira. The restaurant location and setting are ideal for meetings, the staff are quietly efficient and knowledgeable about the food, they have a great selection of wines while the signature dish, Pepper Crab, is truly outstanding.
Grand Hyatt, Deira
This restaurant situated on the Chicago River serves great sushi and modern Japanese cuisine. It’s very smart and tends to attract a rather beautiful crowd. You can choose between the red room or the green room, depending on what mood you’re in; or there’s also a wonderful river-front patio.
If you’ve got something to celebrate and feel like splashing out, the 23-course tasting menu at Alinea in the Lincoln Park area is a must. It’s an eye-popping $195 at first glance, but with the exchange rate as it is, it does represent excellent value. Everything is exquisitely presented and tastes wonderful.
If you’re after old-world charm, I can strongly recommend The Peninsula or the Four Seasons. The Peninsula is located in the middle of Chicago’s magnificent mile of department stores and designer boutiques, has a fabulously grand lobby and is home to Shanghai Terrace – arguably Chicago’s finest Chinese restaurant. The lobby lounge is lit by twenty-foot-high windows, and the bar, in contrast, is intimate and low-lit, with a roaring fireplace and a surprisingly hip crowd. Despite its excessively grand décor, I’ve always found it very difficult to leave the Four Seasons – the CEO hotel of choice. The service is friendly, super-competent and never intrusive; the views spectacular – of the Michigans (Avenue and Lake); and the pampering genuinely top-notch.
The New American food at Seasons is delicious and you can easily lose a week at the extraordinary spa and pool. Every bit as impressive as its New York sibling, the Chicago Seasons happens to be cheaper, too.
The Peninsula Chicago 108 East Superior Street (at North Michigan Avenue), Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA Tel: (1-312) 337 2888Fax: (1-312) 751 2888 chicago.peninsula.com
Four Seasons120 East Delaware Place, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. 60611-1428 Tel: 1 (312) 280-8800 Fax: 1 (312) 280-1748
Website: fourseasons.com/chicagofs
If you’re looking for food with a view, try The Signature Room at the John Hancock Centre. With better views than the building’s observation deck, this is Chicago’s brunch centre. The prices are reasonable and you’re guaranteed to wow your colleagues/clients. The service can be a little variable – it took the waitress 15 minutes to find me a fork – but the weekend live jazz more than makes up for the occasional shoddiness.
The Signature Room at the 95th® 875 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60611 Tel: 312.787.9596
signatureroom.com
For something completely different, try X/O in Boys Town. This ultra cool spot dishes a delightful variety of creative eclectic small plates – including tapas with a twist – and offers some of the city’s best cocktails. The champagne concoctions and martinis are as spectacular as the atmosphere – fuelled by a DJ with a Hoxton haircut at weekends. If you can, try to sit on the patio.
3441 N Halsted Street Chicago, IL 60613 Tel:(773) 348-9696
Le Bier Circus - fantastic beer list (look at the vintage beers) and typical hearty Belgian food.
www.bier-circus.be/
Rue de l'Enseignement, 57 Brussels, 1000 Belgium
Google map: tinyurl.com/nppzrp
Aux Armes De Bruxelles is a long-established restaurant near the Grand Place with an excellent menu and good beer and wine list. The moules are to die for. I ate there every evening on my last trip.
Address: 13, Rue des Bouchers - 1000 Bruxelles; Phone: +32 2 511.55.50; Website: www.armebrux.be/
Google map: tinyurl.com/mhoh6p
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