Restaurants

Here you will find local and global restaurants with lots of photos and mouth-watering descriptions. The thing about blogs is that we can include as many pictures as we like! Perfect for showcasing gorgeous dishes and enticing you to visit ASAP!

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Beer and gyoza at Chinmaya

Posted on August 8, 2009

Beer at Chinmaya Tokyo

Gyoza at Chinmaya Tokyo

The perfect pre-dinner snack, afternoon snack, mid-morning snack – the perfect snack full-stop!

I could seriously eat gyoza every day of my life and not get bored with them. I’m completely in awe and amore with the silky noodle casing, fragrant filling and crispy grilled edge. Absolute perfection. (more…)

The best rotisserie chicken in Fez

Posted on August 1, 2009

Something wonderful happened when I tasted this chicken…

I couldn’t identify all the ingredients! Then I went back a second time and still had trouble working out what was in the marinade.

That hasn’t happened to me in a long time. I’ve come across meals where I’m unsure of the technique but not where I couldn’t identify the flavours.

I was actually very surprised to find that I didn’t feel frustrated with my lack of knowledge (being the perfectionist that I am) but instead was genuinely happy to have such an intriguing puzzle to solve.

I’m hoping my third visit will unlock the key… even more so if I can magically learn French or Arabic and ask the nice men that work there. (Google will help me).

But I’ve jumped ahead a bit, let’s go back a few steps. (more…)

Review: Brunells Bakery, Barcelona

Posted on July 15, 2009

A lesson on how to get our attention…

When you pass a shop window display like that it’s very difficult not to stop. You might even forget where you were going in the first place. All you know is that you want that. Want it now.

It happened to us on our way to the Picasso Museum. We were just casually strolling along when our peripheral vision was assaulted – Dillon literally screeched to a dead halt and did a double-take. No joke.

Meringues were piled high (taller than me! But that’s not hard as I’m only 4 foot 10 and 3/4 inches) and dozens of perfectly browned pastries stacked neatly, overlapping. Those were what intrigued us the most.

[Coques de llardons]

It’s quite a site, isn’t it? 100% sugary, nutty, flaky pastry goodness; called Coques de llardons. A bargain at 2 euros. (more…)

Review: Issen Yoshoku, Kyoto Japan

Posted on July 8, 2009

Late night dining in Kyoto – no, it’s not kebabs!

After exploring the fascinating cobble-stoned narrow streets in East Kyoto for a few hours we realised it was quite late and that we hadn’t had dinner.

We turned a corner, passed a few hostess bars, spotted a geisha walking across the road and saw some bright lights up ahead with a queue forming. It looked like the classic late-night fast food place you’d go to after (quite) a few drinks.

There was just one very busy chef making pancake / omelette things on a flat grill out the front and they smelt incredibly good. Without even knowing what it was we gestured to the waitress that we’d like to sit. (more…)

Mister Donut, Akihabara Tokyo

Posted on June 23, 2009

The best donuts in Tokyo?

I didn’t try all the donuts in Tokyo but these are the best I’ve tasted so far – in my life. I’m a fan of the cinnamon sugar donut and I don’t like iced donuts. I might be the only weirdo who doesn’t but that’s OK. I just don’t do super-sweet.

Dillon, on the other hand, has a sweet tooth. I find it strange that I prefer savoury/salty and he loves sweet/chocolatey. Isn’t it meant to be the other way around with boys and girls?

Let’s not dwell on that and get back to Mister Donut. It’s a global chain but is extremely popular in Japan with more than a thousand stores across the country. We stopped for morning tea while checking out a very cool part of Tokyo called Akihabara, or ‘Electric Town‘. It’s jam-packed with stores selling electronic equipment of every variety under the sun and quite frankly Dillon was in heaven.

As someone who’s a keen people-watcher it was really interesting to see the ordering behaviour of customers in Mister Donut. It seemed to be the norm to go there alone, order 3 to 5 donuts and sit and read manga or magazines for hours on end – I guess the free coffee and tea refills has something to do with it. (more…)