Fantastic restaurant on Cerro Concepcion - all pasta and gnocchi dishes and a great wine list. Highly recommended.
Corner Templeman/Abtao
corrugatedcity.blogspot.com/2008/04/restaurant-review-pasta-e-vino.html
Beautiful, stylish and the best hangover curing breakfast I've ever had... that could be because it included Buck's fizz in the buffet.
It's walking distance to the centre of the city but secluded enough within its diplomatic quarter to be quiet.
One of the best organic farmer's markets I've ever been to. Amazing cheese, bread, vegetable stalls, even a stall selling all sorts of mushrooms in season (bought some chanterelles and a black truffle last time). Smoked mozzarellas, huge focaccias, stunning veg - a truly superb market. 9am - 4pm Saturdays (the rest of the week it's a flea market).
Noordermarkt is in the shadow of Noorderkerk, about 10 minutes' walk from Centraal Station, on the edge of the Jordaan district.
Great little burger bar on the Rathmines Road, great selection of organic meats, three different types of veggie burger and great imaginative and tasty options for the garnish.
There's a DJ booth in the corner and the crowd is young and hip. Alcohol is available and they have a great South African beer. Costs around €12.50 a burger and €5 a beer so not cheap, but is good value. Open quite late on the weekends.
Rathmines Road,
Dublin 6
www.joburger.ie/
Charlies popped up a few years ago as a sort of fast food Chinese restaurant and there are now three or four of them about the centre of town. The food is standard Dublin prices, or in other words a bit more than it should be, and is all right if you get it when the place is quiet. Other than that stay the hell away from them. It's a magnet for the drunk and serves up the vilest food when it gets busy. I've been ill the last two times I've eaten there, and won't be returning.
The main problem is that for the same money you could get a decent enough meal elsewhere.
Around Temple Bar
Friendly and smart snack bar and restaurant a short walk along Lille street from the Gros Markt square. Fresh food, well cooked and good value for money.
Rijselstraat 49
www.hetzilverenhoofd.be
057 360367
Google map: tinyurl.com/ly7hyx
Eiper station
Moet Champagne brunch that, in my opinion, is the best Friday brunch in Dubai. More expensive than most, but worth it. Food cooking stations of all types from Indian to Thai to Japanese, plus oyster shots and a cheese room. And the Champagne just keeps flowing... and flowing. I've been several times now and I never get tired of it. Plus the desserts are to die for. It gets very busy, so reservations are a must.
P.O. Box 97555, Sheikh Zayed Road
Dubai,
United Arab Emirates
P.O. Box 97555,
T.(971) 4-332-5555
F.(971) 4-332-4555
email:dubai@fairmont.com
A fantastic venue for a wonderful lunch. I highly recommend this award-winning cafe, run by 'The Modern Caterer'. The menu is packed with a number of mouth-watering choices, all of which are home made. A main course plus a drink will cost around £5-£6 so not expensive for good food. Great to call in just for a coffee to take in the pleasent atmosphere. Also during fine weather outside tables are available to enjoy your meal alfresco.
Located inside the Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6ER and opposite the MRI Hospital
Opening times:
Mon to Sat 10am till 4.30pm
Sun 12noon till 3.30pm
I visited this diner in Leicester yesterday lunchtime and was really looking forward to it. I ordered and received my meal - the burgers were awful and tasted like a burger van burger. The burger was a chargrilled cardboard brown disc - you will not attract return visits serving burgers of such a low quality.
I then paid £1 each for two toppings - cheese and pineapple (one four pence cheese slice and one small slice of pineapple) - a topping should cover the top of the burger not just the centre of the burger.
My wife had a steak wrap! Soggy wallpaper wrapping up gristle and boiled, not fried, onions!!
The standard of food is without doubt the worst I have ever experienced.
This sweet and chocolate shop on the main street of Chamonix is delightful with free chocolate samples and gorgeous-tasting white and black chocolate, fill your bag with as much as you want - it's all good, but be warned it's not cheap!
Avenue Michel Croz.
This is a little gem located in Morley Green just outside Wilmslow and a short distance from Manchester Airport. I recommend the all-day brunch. Not exactly cafe prices but this is not your average cafe, it's an upmarket version. Good service and excellent home-produced fayre.
Morely Green, Wilmslow, SK9 5NU 5mins drive from Manchester Airport, 10 mins from Hale Barns
The most succulent Patagonian lamb grilled to perfection asada style, or huge tasty steaks. The pampas-reared animals taste a world away from northern hemisphere fattened stock. This is a stylish large modern restaurant with expert staff full of banter to guide you through the menu. You may need to book.
28 Coronel Rosales, by the river at east end of the main street, Ave del Liberador.
tinyurl.com/mse4s7
For quick and tasty street food on the go, try Sur La Pouce.
The moustachioed owner is friendly and chatty - go a second time and chances are he'll remember you.
To get a real taste of classic Nice food go for the assiette Nicoise. It gives you all the classics on one plate: stuffed vegetables, courgette flowers, sardines etc.
On Rue St Francois in the Old Town
It is one of the recommendations on this site: www.nice-city-vacation.com/nice-restaurant.html
The old square in Patan is beautiful. The museum is tranquil and a nice place for food. There are many cafes on the rooftops around the square for drinks/meals in the evening.
www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/south-asia/nepal/kathmandu/patan/map.html
In Hope Street just off Great Victoria Street. It is a lovely bistro, serving a small menu of local produce. Fish always on the menu. Staff are helpful and pleasant. I have never had a bad meal there.
Ginger
7-8 Hope Street Belfast BT12 5EE
Tel:+44 (0)28 9024 4421
How many of you know that Goa was a part of Portugal until 1961? To get a true flavour of Portuguese Goa head to the state capital of Panjim. Apart from the Portuguese promenade, the churches and the ruins in Old Goa, you can savour the true taste of Portuguese colonial India in Venite reataurant. Set on a balcony overlooking 31 Janeiro Street, I had the crab and the Goan sausages.
My family hails from the Konkan coast and I grew up eating this blend of European and Indian food. When in Goa make sure you sample the region's true cuisines - my personal favourites are pork vindaloo, a dish flavoured with vin (red wine vinegar) and alho (garlic) and the xacuti.
Venite's is on 31 Janeiro Street, all the cabbies know it. It's in Panjim's Sao Tome neighbourhood. I don't have a phone number I'm afraid, but it's easy to find in a taxi and you don't need reservation
The Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale is a romantic little restaurant in the old town of Ostuni being opposite the beautiful cathedral. There is a really nice walk up the hill to get there through some little whitewashed streets.
This restaurant was top class, with delicious antipasto, amongst other dishes, really friendly service, nice decor with murano glass chandeliers and also very small and cosy, so perhaps it would be a good idea to make a reservation first. One of the best restaurants in Ostuni.
Via Arcidiacono Trinchera, N. 7, Ostuni
Phone: 0831.335026
I went to this restaurant while in Rio about a year and a half ago (2007), really enjoyed the food, met the lovely owners (friends of the locals I was visiting) and then promptly forgot the name of the place to write a review.
I heartily recommend this restaurant - one of the best in Rio (in Botofogo) but also one of the most laid-back and, having just looked on their website, it seems to be winning lots of foodie prizes.
Rua General Góes Monteiro
Botafogo
Tel (21) 2244-0125
miammiam.com.br/
Staying at The Big House was one of the highlights of our holiday in Cuba. Why? Because the host Arturo is one of the coolest people you could wish to come across.
He is fun, warm and friendly - undoubtedly you will end up chatting and laughing over a late night beer with him and his friends in one of Vinales' simple but welcoming bars. If you’re not a Spanish speaker the most important thing is that Arturo has excellent English, so you can really connect with your host - something that frustrated us on our travels as we met so many lovely people who we struggled to communicate with using our paltry Spanish!
He has two rooms both with a private bathroom and a lovely outside area - perfect for pre-dinner drinks and some of his delicious home made potato chips. Dinner was a tasty, extensive spread of fresh fish, chicken, great rice and beans and plenty of fruit and veg and salad. Oh, and flan for pudding - not what we’d call flan in the UK - more like a creme caramel (which normally I hate but this I loved!). He'll also take care of ensuring the fridge is always full of beer and water. Breakfast is typically Cuban - coffee, fresh juice, eggs, bread and fruit.
The house is literally the Big House, dwarfing all the neighbours thanks to a capacious roof, and it's located in a quiet road just off the main drag. Vinales is well worth the visit as all the guidebooks say, sweet little town in stunning scenery with plenty to do nearby or a reasonable drive away - walking, horseriding and an hour away from the beautiful, unspoilt Caya Levissa beach. Arturo can help organise and pre-book these for you.
The Big House Rafael Trejo #33, Vinales Pinar Del Rio Cuba CP 22400 Tel: 048 793342
Email: lusien@correodecuba.cu
This restaurant was recommended by a Valencian friend and it is a great place to go for traditional Spanish home cooking and great value.
Inside it's decorated with painted Spanish tiles and you can see the food being prepared in the open kitchen. There's a range of typical tapas, seafood and meat dishes - it was good for children as they had some plain dishes like steak, grilled chicken or fish and also some more adventurous things including Paella.
It's tucked down a small street behind the ceramics museum in the Palacio Marques de Dos Aguas but is worth hunting out.
You can see my review and photos on my blog; heatheronhertravels.blogspot.com/2008/04/evening-out-with-angel-in-valencia.html
Restaurante La Utielana, Plaza Picadero de Dos Aguas, San Andres 4, Valencia, Tel 963529414 (The road is just behind Palacio Marques de Dos Aguas)