World Restaurants

///World Restaurants

Restaurant reviews from our travels

Breakfast in America (BIA) Diner in Paris, France

Breakfast in America (BIA) is not your typical place to stop for a meal in Paris. It's famous for the classic American diner breakfast where the server comes by and continues to fill up your mug with drip coffee.  Occasionally x-pats do yearn for a good ole' American diner breakfast like this. I stopped by the original location with my son and granddaughter one day for eggs  (7.95 €) over easy, crispy bacon (+ 1 €), pancakes with real maple syrup (7.95 €) and constantly refilled coffee.  We so enjoyed those eggs that came served with home-fries or tomatoes and toast. While there you can purchase founder Craig Carlson's book [...]

By |2019-04-15T12:27:50-04:00April 2nd, 2019|World, World Restaurants|0 Comments
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The Hereford Arms, South Kensington, London, England

After wandering the shops of London on a rainy day, we went for a late lunch at the Hereford Arms a block from our Hotel, making it convenient to grab our carry bags before heading to Saint Pancras station to board the Eurostar back to Paris. I had no idea which brew to select from the lists. Our server  — who interestingly was from the States on work-study to England — assisted by bringing me four samples to taste: a lager, two IPAs and an ale. I chose the Fullers Bengal Lancer IPA (£ 4.80). My dining partner started us on hot, crisp lightly coated fried onion rings (£4) served with cumin-spiced [...]

By |2018-12-08T16:47:30-04:00January 14th, 2019|World, World Restaurants|0 Comments
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Middle Eastern Meal at The Palomar, Chinatown, London + Company

I had been hearing about the new London production of Company — the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical comedy about life, love and marriage — from my NYC theatre friends who are producers of the show. Company opened at London's Gielgud Theatre in November to rave reviews. And so, while across the pond during the holidays visiting family, I took the Eurostar to London to see it. What a delight! Marianne Elliott’s new production stars Rosalie Craig in the central role of Bobbie, Patti LuPone, Mel Giedroyc and Jonathan Bailey. Before the show, we stopped in at the Palomar for some small plates, each meant to be shared. Once ordered, the food arrived quite quickly [...]

By |2019-01-07T10:37:13-04:00January 6th, 2019|Theatre, World, World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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Cafe Gourmand at Le Sancerre, De Marais, Paris

After lunch, we walked around going in and out of the shops then headed to Rue des Archives to sit outside under the heat lamp to keep warm while sipping an espresso. Not just for the coffee, but for a special cafe gourmand that's served with treats. The one at Le Sancerre is served with four mini desserts and a chocolate along with the beverage. Ours had a mini muffin, an apple pie, chocolate mousse, a chocolate-covered almond and — my favorite — the crème brûlée (€9). A lovely way to people watch in Paris. Le Sancerre 3rd arrondissement 87 Rue des Archives 75003 Paris, France +33 1 42 72 [...]

By |2018-12-31T07:02:31-04:00December 31st, 2018|World, World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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Lunch at Jaja, Le Marais, Paris

While my granddaughter was at Creche, we stopped for lunch at Jaja a restaurant in Le Marais described as "a piece of countryside in the heart of Paris." It's a small bistro offering creative house-made dishes using regional produce and serving ten grand crus by the glass. My favorite of the three dishes we shared were the tender scallops, grilled and served with slices of Granny Smith apple and blood sausage topped with crunchy fried Tuscan black cabbage (€15) chips. Also delicious was the thick slice of roasted cauliflower tandoori style, first marinated in yogurt and spices, topped with sliced pear and served with tahini (€19). Along with those, we [...]

By |2018-12-20T14:46:17-04:00December 25th, 2018|World, World Restaurants|0 Comments
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Lisbon, Portugal Round-Up of Restaurant Recommendations

Last year when my granddaughter Delilah was born in Lisbon, I spent time eating my way around the city. (You may be one of those following her growth on my daughter-in-law's Instagram @TheBestWorldYet.. if not click here to check it out.) I'm sharing a few recommendations that include all of Jose Avillez restaurants. I wrote up a couple that have links to those post but not all of them, as I was off to Peru before I had the time. If you're a foodie who travels to experience starred Michelin restaurants, do make a res at Jose Avillez's two-star Belcanto. It's listed as one of top 100 restaurants in the [...]

By |2018-06-08T10:36:34-04:00June 13th, 2018|World, World Restaurants, World Travel|2 Comments
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Chez Marianne, The Marais, Paris

A foodie friend had suggested a visit to Chez Marianne, located in the Marais district in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, for their Sephardic food. My son and I went one evening and shared the dégustation (tasting for €30) where we got to select 10 elements from their buffet of appetizers, plus warm pita (€ 3) and a half bottle of Château de Pizay Morgan (€ 14.50). The only one of our ten elements neither of us really liked was the pastrami as we're used to NYC style deli. To us, this meat had odd texture and flavor. All the others — falafel, hummus, feta, tahini, eggplant, tzatziki,, kefta, fromage [...]

By |2018-04-05T11:08:29-04:00May 13th, 2018|Bites from the Road, World, World Restaurants|0 Comments
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Café Marly, The Louvre, Paris, France

When in Paris for my granddaughter Delilah's first birthday, I dined at brunch at Café Marly at the Louvre with the other family that was in town. They were heading to the museum after lunch; I headed back to go  ingredient shopping for the cake I planned to bake for the birthday party. Having experienced some of the rudest behavior ever at Chez Denise the night before, we were all thrilled with our amazingly professional, helpful and oh, so friendly server at Café Marly. Four of us had the classic croque-madam, a ham and cheese sandwich topped with a runny fried egg and served with a small mesclun salad (17 [...]

By |2018-04-20T02:31:39-04:00May 1st, 2018|World, World Restaurants|0 Comments
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Chez Denise, The Marais, Paris, France

Chez Denise in the Marais area of Paris gives new meaning to the stereotypical French attitude. Don't even think about going there unless you want a big serving of attitude. This restaurant was recommended by a friend who frequents Paris and it was nearby where we were. I had thought it would have been a good recommendation. Not. First we were lambasted about our coats, then about asking to share. No matter what we asked, the waiter scuffed. We thought it was the waiter who was being rude, but then the owner came by and his attitude was even worse. Let me back up. Five of us wanted to be together [...]

By |2018-03-29T12:21:32-04:00April 17th, 2018|World, World Restaurants|0 Comments
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Les Chouettes, Paris, France

Earlier this year when I was in Paris, I stopped at Les Chouettes in the Marais area as it was recommended by a friend.  The restaurant is quite bright as the main dining area is under a high glass ceiling. The friendly wait staff is quite helpful and did speak more English than I spoke French. I ordered the reasonably priced menu (24 €) and a glass of rosè (7 €). The waiter places a basket of irresistible fresh bread — the kind with the chewy crust with a slightly sour chewy inside. Although I did my best to resist, I had a couple slices. My waiter placed a bowl [...]

By |2018-01-20T10:21:26-04:00December 2nd, 2017|World, World Restaurants|0 Comments
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Marius a la Plage, at the beach of Gigaro, La Croix Valmer, France

In a small corner of paradise at the beach of Gigaro in La Croix Valmer, we stopped in at Marius a la Plage for lunch earlier this fall. I hadn't yet had the classic fish soup with a side of garlic rouille on this trip to France, and so I ordered that (14 €) plus an octopus salad (15€) that came with fingerling potatoes. The thin fish soup was too fishy for me, while the octopus salad was perfectly cooked resulting in tender chunks of my favorite cephalopod served with arugula, shredded carrots atop potato slices. My friend's Thai Filet de loup (fillet of seabass) came over long shreds of [...]

By |2017-11-10T10:37:59-04:00December 1st, 2017|World, World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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Grizzli Cafe, Paris, France

My kids moved into The Marais area in Paris a couple days before I arrived, so they were not yet familiar with the restaurants nearby.  We chose one with spacious outdoor seating so that we had room for my granddaughters stroller. As always, we selected a few dishes to share and told our waiter to bring them in no particular order whenever ready. The free-form ravioli had some prawns between two large square pasta pieces with a bland tomato sauce (9€). The three chicken spring rolls were a bit better with a sweet-spicy Thai dipping sauce (8€). Although the gnocchi looked good, they were chewy and tough even with the [...]

By |2017-11-06T09:22:51-04:00November 25th, 2017|World, World Restaurants|0 Comments
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L’Eden Plage, at the beach at Ramatuelle, France

On our first drive to the beaches in the St. Tropez (France) area we ended up L'Eden Plage, at the beach at Ramatuelle. My friend ordered the scallops Saint Jacques (36 €); the flavor was fine but the scallops were neither seared well or cooked through, resulting in a lackluster dish. My selections were much better, including a fresh green salad (6 €) lightly dressed garnished with cheese pieces and a creamy risotto (31€) with lots of truffles in and around the rim. We washing that down with a glass of vin au verre rosè (8 €).     L'Eden Plage Boulevard Des Tamaris 83350 Ramatuelle France 412 047 094 [...]

By |2017-11-19T09:01:22-04:00November 21st, 2017|World, World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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Best World Yet: MOROCCAN FOODIE GUIDE

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.

By |2017-11-06T09:04:13-04:00October 14th, 2017|World, World Restaurants, World Travel|1 Comment
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Páteo at Bairro do Avillez, Chiado, Lisbon

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 [...]

By |2017-09-03T09:05:35-04:00July 26th, 2017|Bites from the Road, World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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Pinóquito Restaurant, Lisbon, Portugal

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. [...]

By |2017-09-02T14:34:40-04:00July 25th, 2017|World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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Can the Can, Praça do Comércio, Lisbon, Portugal

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 [...]

By |2017-10-24T07:56:45-04:00June 29th, 2017|World Restaurants|0 Comments
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Lamparilla, Havana, Cuba

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 [...]

By |2017-09-01T17:08:31-04:00June 13th, 2017|World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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San Cristobal, Havana, Cuba

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 [...]

By |2017-09-01T17:09:45-04:00May 31st, 2017|Bites from the Road, World, World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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Cubita, Trinidad, Cuba

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, [...]

By |2017-09-01T17:10:38-04:00May 15th, 2017|Bites from the Road, World Restaurants, World Travel|0 Comments
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