Restaurant reviews from our travels
A unique mixture of sweet and savory made everything we ate in Morocco delightful. Most dishes are spiced with cinnamon, ginger, cumin, paprika and saffron. The combination was one I had not tried anywhere else, and it made my pallet rejoice! Our Moroccan Foodie Guide shares all of our favorite Moroccan treats! Andrea Josefina Leblang click here to read the complete guide.
While visiting in Lisbon, I was delightfully invited as their guest to Jose Avillez more casual patio part (The Páteo) of Bairro do Avillez in Chiado where fish and seafood are said to be king. Their bread service (~$4 per person), not to be missed, of crisp olive bread, corn bread and the chewy-crusted Alentejo region bread comes with marinated Galician olives plus both Azorean and smoked butter. With that, we ordered a selection of three cheese that they picked for us (~$11.25), one cow, one goat and the other sheep. Do not miss the giant coal-grilled tiger prawn with a Bairro's special pepper-spiced butter sauce ($17.50). I also liked [...]
On my recent visit to Lisbon, my son Bryan wanted me to try the beef "picapau" at Pinóquito in the heart of Praça dos Restauradores. We stopped in one night at this bustling restaurant where seafood is purportedly king. The beef is better! We were able to get our drinks, some olives and bread service fairly quickly. But other than that be prepared to wait as service is quite slow. The bife de lombo "picapau" ($24.60) was amazing — so flavorful and tender I could almost cut it with a fork. The garlic shrimp (~$17) was fine, but couldn't rival the garlicky prawns I served atop homemade risotto the night before. [...]
On my way back from Time Out market, I stopped in one of the many restaurants lining Praça do Comércio for a happy hour nibble. My daughter-in-law mentioned that she had sampled many of them and preferred the food at Can the Can. That and the inviting chalk-written sign offered happy hour margaritas at 5 Euros (~$5.50) and free wifi! How could I resist? The exceptionally friendly servers helped me decide which of their food offerings to sample with my margie. As an octopus fan, I leaned toward the salad -- yet they suggested I try the croquettes. "Octopus croquettes?" I queried. She highly recommended them, saying that they were made [...]
After our first day soaking in as much of the city as we could, we ended up at Lamparilla, a fairly new small, funky-decorated paladar in Old Havana. We were seated on the second floor teeny balcony overlooking the open dining area below with a ceiling so low our waiter needed to stoop over whenever he came upstairs. Whimsically, our table was topped with old records, the walls with ’50s memorabilia and other vintage goods. The delicious squash soup amuse surprised us all with its well-seasoned butternut flavor. Also tasty are the light crispy chicken croquettes ($3) served in a little basket and the ceviche ($4) served with plantain and [...]
San Cristobal restaurant is the paladar where Obama ate when he was in Havana. Like La Guarida, it's one of the few Cuban places recommended with good food. We dined at this eclectically appointed restaurant in the downstairs floor of an early 20th-century mansion for lunch midday when we had dinner at La Guarida. We had told our waiter Ray, that the three of us planned to share everything. Loved how the restaurant handled this: he placed a cucumber, tomato and herb pre-garnished plate on the table in front of each of us. Made us smile for sure in anticipation of what was to come. When the grilled lobster ($20 [...]
Do not miss a meal at La Cubita if you visit Trinidad in Cuba. It's decorated with quirky whimsical artwork and often offers music while you eat. Once we placed our order, the restaurant sent out an amuse bouche that matched each of our orders. One of our four had ordered a vegetarian entree, resulting in a squash-based starter; the rest of us received a fish-mouse atop the cucumber cup. Nice touch that we enjoyed with their refreshing signature sangria ($9). Meals in Trinidad certainly won't break the bank. Each of ours came with a flavorful soup to start, bread and butter, sauteed veggies, rice and a fresh tomato, beet, [...]
Most everyone I spoke to who had been to Havana recently recommended the upscale paladar La Guarida for dinner — the place where Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea filmed Strawberry & Chocolate. It's one of the few places offering elegantly served quality food; we learned they send their chef to France to learn to cook. We walked up the crumbling grand staircase to the restaurant above and — since it was raining — skipped the new rooftop bar. Our starters from the varied menu included thin slices of fresh snapper carpaccio with a pepper sauce and citrus vinaigrette ($8), an unusual seafood "lasagna"with "noodles" of thinly sliced papaya garnished with [...]
For our last day in Peru, we headed to Rafael Osterling's eponymous restaurant in the Miraflores section of Lima, listed on one list, as the #30 best in Latin America. We selected a local white wine to accompany our meal, the Tacama Blanc Blanc ($30). The waiter placed a basket of their homemade bread along with fresh butter topped with sea salt, "pastrami" made from pig's feet and a goat cheese cream with caramelized onions. The bread and accompaniments were so good, we had to stop ourselves from finishing it! The Emperor tacos alone were worth the visit with crisp sea grouper and prawns, shredded cabbage and radishes on small [...]
Thought in addition to telling you about the amazing chef-driven meals that I experiences that I'd share about quick meals in Miraflores. That includes breakfast at La Paz Cafe and a sandwich at La Lucha. Our flight from NYC arrived at 6 am, so we dropped our bags at our hotel and went off to discover Lima. When asked, a hotel staff member suggested breakfast at La Paz Cafe, a small cafe only minutes from the hotel where we could dine outside — a must for East Coasters getting away from the winter chill. I tried the local mashed Andean corn stuffed with pork served with some fresh greens and shredded [...]
Standing outside Santa Isabel 376 in Miraflores, we met a young man in his 20s who had just flown in from Taiwan to also experience the food of Virgilio Martinez Véliz. I had read and heard about Central as it is on many best restaurant lists. He had too. Few meals I've had rival this one. Backing up. When we made our reservation four months in advance, we had to select our menu — regular or vegetarian? full 17-course tasting menu or abbreviated 11-course one? Since our dinner was the day we arrived in Lima, we opted for the abbreviated version of the "Mater Ecosystems" (~$115), the inspiration for the menu [...]
One free evening in Cusco, a group of us headed up to the main square where Limo, also part of the Cusco restaurant group, is located. While perusing the menu, our server placed a sampling of three sauces for dipping the french fries they offered as a starter gratis. One sauce was chili peppers with tomato sauce, another pepper with ricotta and mint, the third garlic mayo. All so yummy, I was addicted! My first taste of alpaca (~$20) was Limo's tenderloin, served medium rare with an elderberry sauce, accompanied by cheesy quinoa "risotto." The meat is tender, a bit chewy but not gamey at all. I'd order it again, if [...]
I'm just back from my second trip to Peru, with visits to Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu and more... My first trip in the 70s was not on a tour; this time I joined one as a friend really wanted to go. I realized Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trips are not for me; the food served on the two trips I've taken has been mediocre when best. I experienced the only inedible Italian food on my first OAT trip Sicily; the Peruvian food was even worse. What I like the most about the OAT trips are the people who take them — interesting, friendly and fun travelers. With food paramount, the [...]
While in Cusco, we visited Inka Grill, part of the Cusco restaurant group, for a light bite. The meal wasn't the best place I ate in Cusco but was mighty good compared to what we'd been served at Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) chosen restaurants — the tour I was on. Inka Grill, which is ideally located center of town at the Plaza de Arma, offered free Wifi and had an international menu. The friend I was traveling with was in a burger mood, so we ordered that along with some fries (~$10.75). We shared that and the perfectly cooked langostinos in a white and black quinoa wrapper accompanied by a spicy passion [...]
Before heading to Peru this winter, I — like a typical food professional — researched restaurants where I wanted to dine. Word had it that the country has some of the best in the world. The Latin American's 50 Best Restaurants for 2016 lists Andrés Rodríguez's La Mar as the 12th best, featuring ceviche along with fresh, sustainable Peruvian fare. I went there to lunch one day, going a bit late to try to avoid the crowds since it's a "no res" place. Wrong. There were lines out the door, yet the friendly hostess explained for two, we'd only have a 30 minute wait. With drinks offered while we anticipated [...]
The Dutch aren’t exactly known for their cuisine. I’ve heard many tourists complain, and have read many articles expressing displeasure in the Amsterdam food scene. Most of these travelers came for a few weeks, stumbled into random cafés, tried a few extreme examples of local foods and left in utter disappointment. When compared to countries like Italy or France, where every café serves phenomenal food ensuring, without a doubt, that you can pick a restaurant at random and avoid disappointment… sure, the Netherlands doesn’t really compare. But there is quality food in Amsterdam! The difference is, you have to know where to go and what to eat. It’s imperative to [...]
Before heading to the winery Cooperative of Carpi and Sorbara, I met with representatives of Lambrusco for a wonderful meal at Clorofilla Wine & Restaurant (via Vittorio Veneto n.2 Carpi, Italy), where we had about a dozen choices of their fizzy wines. The majority of Lambrusco (meaning wild grape) is produced in Italy's culinary mecca, the Emilia Romagna region where I was visiting. Lambrusco can be either a refreshingly fizzy slightly sweet or a dry wine. Because of that fizz and its acidity, Lambrusco is traditionally served with salumi, sausages and rich meat pasta sauces that the region is also famous for. We happily sampled all of those pairs during lunch. [...]
Owner Antonio Capelli greeted me as I arrived in December at Corte D'Aibo, a rustic farmhouse located in Monteveglio not far — a short 30 minute drive — from Bologna. Their rooms (only 12) are quite spacious with views of the organic vineyards and surrounding hills. Each morning Louisa served me breakfast with yogurt, granola, fresh fruit and a tray of homemade cakes. Dinner at Corte D'Aibo was much more extensive with regional specialties and, of course, wine produced directly on the farm. The night we dined together, we began with an aperitivo of fried bites plus sliced meats with some Pignoletto Doc Frizzante. After that a delicate homemade onion soup [...]
Upon arrival in Italy after checking into Corte D'Aibo, Monteveglio, owner-winemaker Antonio Capelli suggested we go out for lunch to an enotoca con cucina La Zaira in Valsamoggia (Emilia Romagna) Italy short drive from the farmhouse. We started with a small salad of streccapogn (wild chicory) with scrambled egg, baby onion, crisp pieces of wild pork cheek drizzled with balsamic vinegar and served with a basket of warm tigella, round flat bread that originated from the Apennines in Emilia Romagna region, Northern Italy). With that we sipped an Orsi Vigneto San Vito, a pignoletto frizzante.. Since I couldn't decide which pasta to have, owner Belinda Cuniberti offered us smaller portions [...]
Visiting Havana, Cuba is like riding a time machine back to an era of vintage muscle cars and crumbling colonial buildings, before there were cell phones or Internet. For budget travelers, finding a high-quality paladar (privately-owned restaurant) without overpaying can be a daunting task. Enter Doña Eutimia: a well-known yet authentic restaurant in the heart of Old Havana. Hidden down a cobblestone alley off the regal Plaza de la Catedral, Doña Eutimia boasts consistently-superb Cuban cuisine at surprisingly modest prices. If you can stand the heat, outside seating provides the occasional stray chicken circling your feet while street musicians perform popular Latin tunes. The shrimp appetizer ($5) is simplistically grilled [...]
