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Situated on the edge of Peckham Rye Park and right in the middle of Peckham Rye Common, this cafe is a fantastic place for a bite to eat, an ice cream or a sit down in the shade. Gone are the days of stale, curled up sandwiches and lukewarm coffee, now there are pitta, ciabatta, all-day breakfast butties, Rye burgers and tasty wraps. The ice cream comes from Jude's in Hampshire and I tried a divine blackcurrant crush sorbet. Very refreshing.
Strakers Road, Peckham Rye Common, London, SE15 3UA
+44(0)208 693 9431
www.cafeontherye.co.uk
Open Mon-Thur 09.00-17.30, Fri-Sun 09.00-18.00
Bus 12
Greensmiths is an amazing food emporium, café, cheese heaven and bakery.
The aroma from the cheesemonger’s section reminded me of old fashioned speciality shops last smelt in my early childhood. So evocative. I was offered a tasting nugget of Coolea cheese made by a Dutch couple who moved to Cork, Ireland, it is a bit like a hard, tangy Gouda, and very moreish!
Fresh meat is delivered from the Ginger pig farm in North Yorkshire, while bread, pastries and cakes come from the superb Old Post Office organic bakery in Clapham’s Landor Road.
The Waterloo wine merchant provides the bevies, and the Solstice fruit and veg department looks like something out of Harrods food hall, with every aubergine polished to within an inch of its life and every grape gleaming in the sunlight.
The café is located upstairs and outside on the pavement. My friend enjoyed the all-day veggie breakfast and I wolfed down a roast beef and horseradish ciabatta sandwich, refreshed with specialist coffees and other brews from Caffe Antica.
www.greensmithsfood.co.uk
27 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RG
+44(0)207 921 2970
Google map: bit.ly/lv6Hte
Open Mon-Fri 08.00—20.00, Sat 08.00—18.00, Sun closed
Overground train or Northern Line underground to Waterloo, Bakerloo Line underground to Lambeth North, bus 12, 53, 148, 159, 453, N109, 171
Excellent Indian restaurant serving all the favourites in a stylish yet casual setting. The lamb chops malai and tandoori chicken are particularly tasty. Plenty of vegetarian and seafood options. Take away also available.
22 Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8QU
+44(0)207 701 6004
hungryhouse.co.uk/safa
Google map: bit.ly/mROqhj
Sophocles is one of the best bakeries in south London and knocks all other Camberwell cakey places into a cocked hat. Where else can you try a kolokotes: a Cornish pasty-shaped sweet pastry case hiding an unusual and surprisingly tasty mix of pumpkin, raisins, cous cous and spices? It sounds strange but one of these is worth a journey on the number 12 bus alone. This Greek-owned bakery and patisserie tempts me inside daily, with its irresistible, fresh bloomers, whose fluffy white (or brown) bread, with a crisp sesame and aniseed dusting, cries out to be slathered in butter. There is a vast range of sweet pastries, creamy cakes, fruit tarts and almond pies dripping with honey. I only recently spotted the savoury section at the back, hidden behind the small café area, where elderly Greek gentlemen sip sticky coffee. However, I’ll be back soon to try a feta and spinach pastry, a crimson slice of pizza or a made to order sandwich. Tasty.
Sophocles Bakery
24 Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8QU
+44(0)20 7252 6316
Bus 12, 171, 345, 36, 436 to Camberwell Green
Google map: bit.ly/lF8fAn
Liszt Ferenc tér (or Franz Liszt Square) is party central in Budapest. It is a tree-lined pedestrianised area in the heart of Pest, located in the VI district by Oktogon.
During the warmer spring and summer months, the square is packed with beautiful people and tourists sitting in the bars, cafes and restaurants and filling the terrace areas. You can do this in winter too, as all the cafes have huge heaters. Every kind of cuisine, cocktail and coffee is served here from pizza at Pompeii to retro Magyar dishes at Menza to French style at Cafe Vian to Cuban at Buena Vista cafe. There's also an Incognito jazz cafe, Karma restaurant for good vibes and a late night drinking den at Mediterran.
Liszt Ferenc tér
VI. Budapest
Metro No 1 (little yellow underground - Kisfoldalatti) to Oktogon, tram 4 & 6 to Kiraly utca or Oktogon.
Google map: bit.ly/hRTKZE
The Cambria is one of the best pubs in south London. Located on a quiet back street, it would be easy to miss on a bus ride from Brixton to Camberwell, but it's well worth making a short detour for the fabulous food, live music and magnificent chandeliers.
40 Kemerton Road, Camberwell, London SE5 9AR
+44(0)207 737 3676
www.thecambrialondon.com
Google map: bit.ly/e4L1s8
Getting there: overground rail to Loughborough Junction or Denmark Hill, buses 35, 45, 345
Petitou is a little French cafe/bistro with a huge green terrace on Choumert Road.
Choumert Road seems almost totally French: at the corner with arty Bellenden Road there's a French bistro and towards Peckham's Rye Lane there's the great Montpelier pub, recently refurbished and serving scrumptious organic Sunday lunch roasts. Even the name suggests a Gallic cabbage, and the street market at the Peckham end is a good place to pick up fruit and veg. The menu at Petitou is wholesome: salads, quiches and fresh juices as well as cheesy Marmite crumpets. The terrace is shaded by trees and a lovely place to while away a morning. It's out of the way for public transport, but that's part of its charm.
63 Choumert Road,London SE15 4AR
+44(0)20 7639 2613
Google map: bit.ly/geAZA7
Open: Mon-Sat 9am-5.30pm, Sun 10am-5.30pm
Getting there: overground train to Peckham Rye
No.67 is a really great cafe, serving snacks, full meals, home made cakes, fresh lemonade, unusual beers, wines, you name it, in an arty setting. It's very, very hip but also very relaxed and friendly (these two are not exclusive, I suppose!) and a great place to chill out on the Peckham Road. The cafe takes up most of the ground floor of the uber cool South London Gallery and in warmer months, the terrace is a great place to sit and soak up the sun under the ancient 'tree of heaven'.
The lunch menu changes daily - today's offers included venison bresaola with rocket and parmesan, fish stew, celeriac soup or fennel marinated pork chop. I had a home made apple crumble tart (£3.75) - yum. The Spanglish breakfasts are legendary, but get there early at weekends as it's very popular.
South London Gallery, 67 Peckham Road
London SE5 8UH
+44(0)20 7252 7649
Google map: bit.ly/gC2LxH
Open Tue 10am-6.30pm, Wed 10am-9pm, Thurs-Sun 10am-6.30pm, closed on Mondays
Buses: 12, 36, 436, 345, 171 to Southampton Way
An old style Hungarian restaurant located at the start of Raday utca, a semi-pedestrian street in Pest, crammed wall to wall with restaurants.
Named after Gyula Krúdy's book The Red Post Coach the whole restaurant oozes the turn-of-the-twentieth century atmosphere of the book.
The eclectic building was built in 1876 and housed a coffee house at one time. Since 1970 it has housed the Vörös Postakocsi where a mixture of authentic and modern Hungarian cuisine is served.
Traditionally heavy dishes are rendered light, courtesy of organic meat, dairy products and vegetables.
The menu offers several game and vegetarian options. The restaurant's wide selection of modern Hungarian wines is a treat for all. There is also an extensive range of pálinka.
Raday utca 15, IX Budapest
+36 1 217 6756
www.vorospk.hu
Google map: bit.ly/ecjQUq
Open daily 11.30-24.00
This is a fabulous place down near the Old Harbour. Service is semi-canteen style in a slightly industrial setting. There are burgundy tables and chairs, velvet curtains, dark grey stone counter, daily fish offerings and specials all chalked up on the blackboard.
The ingredients are all organic.
Haddock 1290ISK, garlic chips 450ISK, tap water is free (as always), tzatziki skyronnaise 250ISK. My meal came to 2000ISK (£12.50) for three huge bits of fish in a really nice light batter, the fish was perfectly cooked inside. The chips aren’t French fry matchstick style, but potato wedges, and a little oily.
The skyronnaise (the bistro’s own mayo/sauce made with skyr instead) is really great:
the price for all skyronnaise sauces is 250ISK and you can choose from lots of different ones such as basil and garlic, coriander and lime or rosemary and green apple.
Yum!
Icelandic Fish & Chips, Organic Bistro
Tryggvagötu 8, 101 Reykjavík
+354 511 1118
Google map: bit.ly/g170qV
www.fishandchips.is
Tamil Nadu, home of India's most ornate temples, is also a mecca for vegetarians, as its population is largely Hindu. King of all veggie dishes is the humbly named 'meals'. Order a 'meals' in any non-tourist restaurant in Tamil Nadu and you will be served a feast on a banana leaf! Waiters ladle steaming curries and rice from large buckets, accompanying the main dish with smaller measures of delicious dhal, pickles, coconut chutney and spicy sambar. Refills are always offered. Knives and forks are not, so enjoy eating as a tactile experience. Your leaf will be folded and thrown away at the end of your meal, which should set you back around fifty pence!
Available in any walk-in-off-the-street restaurant in Tamil Nadu
Tomato is a cool salad bar, bar, tea and coffee house, is a breath of fresh air among the carbohydrate-laden eateries of Budapest. It's a beautiful traditional corner cafe, black and white tiled floor, soft lighting, good wine and the best salads in town. So when you've had your fill of goulash, i'd highly recommend this little gem. Friendly staff all speaking good English.
www.tomatosalatarbar.com
+36 (1) 782-1661
Hungary 1053 Budapest, Veres Palne str. 33
Google map: tinyurl.com/365h979
Copyright, Tomato Saladbar, 2010 - All Rights Reserved!
We stumbled across this lovely restaurant when wandering the back streets in the old Venetian quarter of Chania and ended up eating there almost every night of our stay.
It's located in what was the plunge pool of an old Turkish bath. Ignore the main courses on the (Greek) menu and go for a selection of the mezedes. There's a huge variety with generous portions at only a few euros each. Our favourites were the horta (steamed wild greens served with olive oil and lemon juice), the favakeftedes (split pea croquettes), and the lovely local sausages.
Two people could happily eat their fill and wash it down with a carafe of local wine for under thirty euros.
49, Zambeliou, Old Town, Chania
Tel : +30 282 109 6080
The wonderful Neszmely Vineyard is now Hungary's most successful wine producing estate with 560 hectares of grape vines.
It still retains the family business atmosphere and we stayed in the delightful 'Borhotel and etterem' (wine hotel and restaurant) with views of the mighty Danube.
The Hilltop company only started in 1991 but already produces some of the best whites in Hungary. The Neszmely Irsai Oliver 2006 is an absolute classic: crisp, fruity, all those cliched white wine flavours really do come true with hints of straw, spice and summer.
The Irsai Oliver grape is a relatively new hybrid and a relative of the Muscat grape.
It's eminently quaffable and very good to drink on hot summer evenings by the Danube!
Also recommended are the:
Neszmely Olaszrizling 2006(Italian riesling) and the Premium Neszmely Grigio 2006
Situated 75km east of Budapest, near Tata.
Contact through:
1024 Budapest
Ady Endre utca 11-13
Tel +36 1 336 2220
Web: www.hilltop.hu
Great food at a great price. No main was more than €10! Wine was about €8-€9 a bottle.
We don't normally go to the same restaurant twice when we are on holiday, but we came here three times when we were here in Madrid in summer 08.
There were queues into the place on some evenings.
Plaza El Ángel 12
28012 Madrid, Spain
+34 913 691 059
Bar Ochoa is a beautiful, friendly family run traditional tapas bar in Alhama de Granada , Andalucia. Paco, his wife Josephina and daughter Pilar offer a warm Andalucian welcome. The food is exquisite, try the gambas a la plancha (tiger prawns fried in olive oil and garlic) or setas (wild mushrooms in herbs and olive oil.) Jamon Iberico hangs above the bar and is a wonderful compliment to the large selection of local wines and beers. In the summer sit outside and watch the Alhamites stroll about their day. In winter get cosy at your table with a brasero (tray of burning olive wood under your table to keep you warm). Alhama is a beautiful little town with stunning countryside views and a very relaxed pace of life. Enjoy and relax.
Independence Plaza
ALHAMA DE GRANADA
ANDALUCIA
Possibly the best Tapas Resturant in Andalucia!
If you want a 'real' local tapas experience look no further than Los Diamantes in Granada. Standing room only, this gem is packed to the rafters with locals who come in their droves for great value seafood, a sure sign of a good thing! An assault on your senses that's too good to miss! Order a 'cana' (small beer) from the super efficient bar staff to top of your meal.
Calle Navas 26, (nr Plaza del Carmen), Central Granada
Classic Andalucian tapas bar with a great atmosphere, Ochoa serves great rustic plates of food, local wine and draft beer. A plate of tapas is free with every drink you order. In the summer the tables spill out into the narrow street and in the winter they close the big wooden doors and place trays of burning olive wood (Braseros) under your table to keep you warm. Try a media plate of the Setas (fleshy mushrooms) and the calamari plancha (grilled squid) - both incredible. In summer the tinto verano (red wine and lemonade cooler) hits the spot. In winter the local full bodied red wine is ideal.
Independence plaza, Alhama de Granada, Andalucia, Spain
A lovely, friendly, inexpensive rural hotel and restaurant perched right on the edge of the gorge in the spa town of Alhama de Granada, Andalucia. The owner Paco is an ex-flamenco singer who often takes guests down to the hot springs and serenades them under the stars.
Don't miss a night in this lively bar. Rio Scenarium is a fabulous place for a night out in Rio where you can get a bite to eat, have some drinks and dance. It's a hit with the locals who seem to use it as a meeting place. Book if you want a table. Don't go too early, go after 10pm when the atmosphere is more lively.
www.rioscenarium.com.br/
Rua do Lavradio, 20- Centro Antigo – Rio de Janeiro – RJ (próximo à Praça Tiradentes) - Tel:(21)3147-9005
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