Eat Like Ushi

I don't get out for breakfast these days nearly as much as I'd like. Perhaps it is laziness, perhaps it is the weather, or maybe I just don't have as many mornings to myself as I used to. Back in Melbourne I lived near one of the city's top rated cafes, and so a good brunch and fantastic chai latte only required walking downstairs or home from work after a night shift.

London has some great breakfast places which I am going to slowly get around to. But more often I seek out cafes when I travel overseas, considering my mornings are often fast paced and a solid breakfast is the perfect way to fuel yourself for a day of sightseeing.

Avoca has an excellent reputation for being one of the best in Dublin. The shop has a few floors of homewares and cool-looking knick-knacks, but the top floor is where the food action is. Cookies and cakes adorn the benchtops as you pass towards the tables to indulge yourself.

Avoca Full Irish Breakfast (crockers free range scrambled eggs, field mushrooms, crispy American style bacon, jumbo hand-made sausage & roasted cherry & vine tomatoes) was the typical breakfast you'd expect from any cafe. The superlatively crisp bacon and flavoursome juicy mushrooms were the highlights.

Also a namesake, the Avoca Fish Pie (organic salmon, natural smoked haddock & cod in a creamy dill sauce with cheesy mash, baby leaves & char-grilled lemon) had a lovely seafood filling, rich in smokey flavour and dill like an excellent soup or chowder. Lemon and mash topping complemented the smokiness allowing balance.

Pasta of the day was a crab-filled ravioli with tomato in a creamy sauce. What you'd expect - rich, thick, tasty.

We can never avoid the temptation of Chunky Chips (cooked in duck fat and horseradish mayonnaise); whilst Chocolate Meringue Roulade (with vanilla cream & fresh raspberries) and Rhubarb & Apple Crumble (with a custard centre & honeycomb ice-cream) also sounded too good to pass up. I think these speak for themselves.

Next time I would order any of the Irish Breakfast, Fish Pie or the delicious-sounding Herbed Wild & Field Mushrooms (on toasted cheese bread with roasted cherry tomatoes). Cleanse it with a fresh orange juice, smoothie (unfortunately premade only) or coffee and prepare yourself for a day of wandering (although there isn't a lot to see in Dublin...) or a relaxing morning yarn with friends.

Who doesn't like the Jamie Oliver brand? Some professional chefs may feel that his methods lack true high-end restaurant skills but he has always been one to appeal to home cooking and more accessible food. Barbecoa is his version of a good old American steak house.

The restaurant also fronts as a butcher which helps guarantee the quality of meat served. If I was to be very particular, I'd have to suggest the meat quality at Hawksmoor (sourced from The Ginger Pig) is slightly better and more tender. However the chefs at Barbecoa clearly know how to cook to order (see my Hawksmoor experience for further details).

One thing Barbecoa does have over the other steakhouses in London is a good selection of starters and sides to keep things interesting.

Starter favourites were Pit-Smoked Baby Back Ribs (with coriander & chilli) and Lyme Bay Crab Plate (with avocado, chervil & tomato) - tasted as expected, just great flavours. Crispy Pig Cheeks (with piccalilli, chive & lamb's lettuce salad) weren't as good as I'd hoped - I suppose I prefer them nice, plain and simply roasted. Crispy Calamari (with smashed avocado, lemon & rocket) was decent but the serving size was quite small for the price.

Sides of Creamed Spinach and Coleslaw were as expected. Baked Beans had a nice smoked essence that separated it clearly from the breakfast canned variety. Duck Fat Chips (with Volpain vinegar, salt) were nice and crisp, although short of those from Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

Lastly the steak - honours to the cow. APL Rib-Eye for Two and a special of the day Picanha (top sirloin cap) were wonderfully cooked to a medium-rare to rare perfection. Easy to cut, easy to chew, gentle beef flavour with optional sauces for variety. Similarly a Short Rib (with Worcestershire glaze, Irish champ & watercress) was fall-off-the-bone tender, as it should be.

Desserts included an Apple Brioche and Cheese Plate, neither of which were for me. The Ultimate Sundae was a sickly sweet combination of peanut butter, caramelised popcorn and chocolate. Something decadent to share just to make sure you leave the restaurant feeling additionally fat.

Next time I would order an entree of Lyme Bay Crab Plate (for meal balance over the Baby Back Ribs), a nice rare Sirloin (if it was just for myself), a side of Baked Beans if I was extra hungry, and an Ultimate Sundae provided a minimum of 3 other people were sharing it with me. It is a great meal fit for Death Row.

You may find yourself in East London, particularly around Shoreditch for one reason or another. Perhaps it is for the pub and club atmosphere; perhaps you have strayed a bit too far from Tower of London; perhaps you are looking for other well reputed food experiences in the area such as Hawksmoor or Tayyabs or Sunday Upmarket. If you are just passing through for any reason looking for somewhere nice to eat, Boho Mexica may appeal to you. It isn't a particularly well known place, and is located in an area only really frequented for Hawksmoor or to go between Spitalfields and nightlife Shoreditch.

It isn't a ground-breaking place but has a menu of expected Mexican dishes done well.

- Guacomole Tia Patty (served with homemade tortilla chips)
- Cocktail de Camaron served in a glass (prawns in a chilled Mexican spiced tomato sauce, with fresh coriander, chopped onions & diced avocado served over coconut milk jelly)
- Elote de Domingo (traditional corn on the cob, a bit of chilli, mayonnaise and lime sprinkled with cheese)
- Tostadas Ceviche (crispy tortillas topped with sea bass marinated in fresh lime & herbs, tomatoes, Serrano chile & a bit of mayo, topped with lettuce and avocado)
- Tacos El Pastor (succulent pork marinated in a mix of chiles & grilled pineapple)
- Alitas Pa Volar (chicken wings marinated overnight in a mix of chiles and a bit of lime, served with chipotle & tamarind salsa)
- Pulpos Encebollados (sauteed calamari & baby octopus with Chipotle chile & onions; served with fresh corn tortillas & moros con Cristianos)

The dessert-happy people I was with picked two to finish off with:
- Las Dos Fridas (hibiscus flower and chocolate pie & coconut foam with a pineapple jelly)
- Pastel de Tres leches (homemade traditional 3 milk Mexican cake covered with meringue)

Wash it all down with a classic horchata (rice milk drink with cinnamon) or a Bohito for a great all round meal.

Next time I would order the Alitas Pa Volar - who doesn't like fried chicken wings? All the other dishes were excellent without any being spectacular. Eat whatever you feel like, you'll be safe.

I've had this restaurant on my London list since finding out about the San Pellegrino Top 50 restaurants in the world list several years ago. St. John peaked at number 10 several years back, was rated 41 in 2011, but sadly didn't make the final cut in 2012. Perhaps the cuisine doesn't figure in the recent trends; nonetheless the reputation built upon modern British cooking prevails.

The notion of nose-to-tail cooking is highlighted here - respecting an animal enough to use the whole beast for food. The menu therefore reads as exciting to someone like me, and simultaneously potentially disturbing for less adventurous eaters.

On our visit, the daily menu tickled us with less common dishes using pig's skin, duck hearts, trotters, ox hearts and other ingredients I hadn't come across before such as pink firs (a type of waxy potato), sea aster (an ocean plant), and damson (a type of plum that tastes like a prune) amongst others.

- Devilled Pig's Skin & Smoked Cod's Roe - akin to smoked pig flavoured prawn crackers
- Brown Shrimp, Artichoke & Boiled Egg - simple and tasty, although the prawns didn't seem to have strong intrinsic flavour
- Roast Bone Marrow & Parsley Salad - lusciously soft marrow (ie. fat) spread upon toast and brought to life with a sprinkling of salt flakes and an optional topping of parsley and raw spanish onion. Fat never tasted so good. Ever.
- Razor Clams, Pink Firs & Sea Aster - nice ingredients obviously notably the clams with good texture and mild flavour
- Snails, Duck Hearts & Trotter - a rich buttery sauce soaking the ingredients nicely. I don't think I paid enough attention to the heart and trotters as I should have. Will have to try it again next time and be more awake.
- Ox Heart, Turnips & Mustard -  ox heart is one of my favourite ingredients from any restaurant and this was a quality specimen cooked to a light red inside and the excellent characteristic texture and flavour I expect from it.

We finished off the meal with some nice sweets including Baked Cheesecake & Damson, which is made with a goat's curd that makes it unusual but also a bit strange having such a prominent curd-flavour as a dessert. Raspberry & Almond Eclair looked like a fat kid's dream with raspberry sauce dripping from the pastry, and Treacle Toffee Ice Cream was as rich as it sounds. Good but I wouldn't say any were necessary if you aren't a dessert person.

A great meal, long overdue, and such an impressive collection of ingredients.

Next time I would order Roast Bone Marrow and Ox Heart as my favourite dishes of the night. Snails had a lovely sauce and I particularly want to try the duck hearts & trotter again. Of the rest of the menu the Venison, Prune & Trotter Pie looked great on another table and would be a definite order if I had more appetities for company.

Polish food become an unexpected victory surrounded by the (as I found at least) boring productions of Germany and Czech Republic.

The basic soups and dumplings concept is taken a step further into the future at Metamorfoza. Perhaps location is the enemy of this place (which I was the only diner on a Thursday evening and there are currently only 4 TA reviews) as it isn't along the main nightspots near the river and main pedestrian roads. Additionally the food is expensive by Polish standards, but I wouldn't have expected that would deter overseas visitors.

Metamorfoza prides itself on quality ingredients, minimal additives to natural flavours and a scientific molecular base to its productions. It is somewhere to go when the food around you seems to blend into each other.

An aperitif of Molecular Goldwasser Jelly (with orange powder, lemon foam) ended up being a not liquid at all - a jelly of very potent Gdansk vodka that made my headspin and would be in the dreams of gourmet alcohol parties.

Complementary starter of Smoked Pork with crunchy crumbs made from bread (I am very reluctant to call them simply breadcrumbs) came with a few drops of citrus and raspberry (I think) sauce. Beef Tartare PLN40 (with molecular yolk, pine cone flavour) looked classic, with good quality finely chopped (not minced) beef served at room temperature, but with a "yolk" which was actually made of mustard locked in a thin film. Impressive skills. Raw onions, pickles and small mushrooms added to impressive presentation and allowed a variety of flavour combinations each mouthful. I didn't taste any pine cone flavour so I'm unsure what I missed.

Next came the masterpiece of the evening - Zurek PLN24 (Gdansk spherical malt rye soup) served in a method similar to soup at The Fat Duck and Martin Berasategui where the ingredients are presented in the bowl before boiling hot broth is delicately added. I tried zurek in a more traditional Polish milk bar and this was of another planet. Delicious slightly sour soup with a mild sweetness surrounded a nice selection of sausage, soft tender pork belly and mildly flavoured roe. Fantastic.

The main dish of Veal Shank PLN54 (with beef fond, pierogi with wild mushroom's, wild garlic) was slightly disappointing unfortunately. The veal was cooked too much for my liking and thus lacked the tender fall-off-the-bone qualities. The pierogi (ie. Polish dumplings) were decent but I couldn't taste enough mushroom flavour. The beef fond have the whole dish a standard beef gravy flavour that didn't stand out from what you'd get elsewhere.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Spherical Apple Pie PLN19 (with cinnamon sand) but I'm a sucker for any kind of apple crumble/pie/tart dessert. It ended up as a sand-textured base of cinnamon with crumbs, layered under chopped apricots, soft cooked apple both with and without a brown sugar coat, and topped with an apple foam. Interesting concept with the standard flavour from an apple crumble.

Next time I would order the Zurek - my goodness. Hopefully the other soups may be of the same creativity. The other four dishes were decent but not necessary to try again. Pick whatever interests you - I do find it odd that none of the dishes on the set course menu are available a la carte. They didn't sound as interesting to me as the others, but you may think differently.

German cuisine isn't particularly well regarded. Further still, Berlin isn't known to be a food town especially for what can be respected as German style cuisine. Thus searching for somewhere to eat for the only dinner on a weekend trip actually proved to be quite difficult.

Eventually (exactly how I can't recall) came across the name Dos Palillos - an Asian/Japanese-style tapas place originally based in Barcelona and relatively recently expanded into Berlin. Although it doesn't have the most universally favourable reviews online, itcertainly sounded interesting and more appealing to most of the other considerations in Berlin.

The menu is basically limited to a set course - the longest journey is about 19 courses, but you can choose shorter ones should you feel less gluttonous.

Naturally, I was glutton-full and ordered the menu Dos Palillos Festival.

- Aperitif - orange & mango sake, alcoholic & refreshing shot;
- Tsukemono (marinated vegetables) - mountain potato & yuzu and marinated spring onions;
- White Aspargus topped with miso, mayonnaise & soy sauce - really nice, clean asparagus without the powerful flavour of the common green variety;
- Namban Zuke with Red Snapper - red snapper, carrot, asparagus in a tangy rice vinegar marinade;
- Sunomono (Japanese salad) - two types of seaweed with mussels complete with rich seawater flavour;
- Crab Salad with Pomelo & Roasted Peanuts - great texture combination with nice sourness cutting into the crab (my peanut-free friend received a salad of octopus, cucumber & sesame seeds);
- Navajas (razor clam thai style) - really really delicious razor clams with curry oil;
- Kimchi cabbage, radish, salted octopus;
- Shabu shabu of octopus, enoki mushroom, squid & Wagyu beef in light soy flavoured soup;
- Anchovy Tempura filled with umeboshi topped with yuzu powder - unusual and great flavour combination of salty anchovies, sour umeboshi and citrus yuzu;
- Grilled eggplant with dark & light miso and shiso leaf - fantastic texture with strong miso similar to the well known black miso cod variations around the world;
- Prawn-Steamed Dumpling (Chinese dumplings made with potato flour & filled with fresh small prawns & Iberico pork belly) - looked great, but not particularly different to usual yumcha other than an added bacon-ish edge;
- Eel Temaki with Nori - self-wrapped, crispy nori and melting quality roasted eel;
- Baby Vegetable Wok - standard stir fry vegetables, but a good change during the course;
- Meat Gyoza (pan-fried crispy Japanese dumpling with minced pork & nira) - decent, but not as juicy inside as the best I've had;
- Japo Burger (homemade bread, beef, cucumber, ginger, topped with shiso leaf) - pattie with ketchup & shiso marinade mixed into it and lots of flavour; sadly too small;
- Grilled Pork Rib Cantonese-Style - Iberian pork rib roasting over fire all night in front of us. Not as tender as it looked but still tasted great as expected;
- Fruta Cru - Melon soaked in Chinese rice wine, pineapple soaked in sambuca, apple soaked in sake, pear eaten with spearmint; strong and refreshingly alcoholic;
- Japanese mochi cakes with strawberry filling topped with strawberry jelly, strawberry cup filled with strawberry vodka.

All-in-all a nice set course meal. €70 for 19 fusion Japanese-Spanish courses really isn't that much. Good to see the finest cuisine in the world being fused into European kitchens.

Next time I would order the same 19 course extravanganza. Even if you aren't as hungry, don't skimp on the experience. You'll regret it later when you walk around Berlin searching for something else decent that isn't a wurst.

Wandering through the lovely town of Valletta in Malta, I had my usual list of places to try. Because it was an early evening, they were all closed. Searching for somewhere to eat, we came across many places in great locations all which looked too touristy to be decent. Eventually we settled upon Kantina Cafe located beneath a pretty cathedral (turns out to be St. John's) and a spot to watch people walk by and relax.

Exhausted we stopped here as the menu was nicely written on a chalkboard, the food looked good and it had a outdoor seating to enjoy the weather.

Since Malta has quality seafood given its island location, we naturally selected the dishes which highlighted these ingredients.

Ravioli (crab & lobster with prawn bisque) had a beautiful combination of flavours of all the wonders you'd expect from shellfish. Crab & lobster meat wrapped in delicate ravioli skins and soaked in a rich prawn sauce. Pasta is rarely this good.

Mixed Seafood Platter (mussels, vongole, king prawns, octopus, langoustines) served with a big bowl of fries was fantastic also. Butter, garlic and chives dressed the delicate ingredients and had me savouring every bite and licking my fingers at the end.

A great place to stumble upon. If you're in the mood, there is a cheap cocktail menu to help time pass peacefully.

Next time I would order the same two dishes. Rabbit is another popular ingredient in Malta, but I don't think it can ever beat good seafood.

Known to be one of the best breakfast places in Santa Monica (although not particularly walkable from the beach area) and rightly so.

While in the USA, I missed the fantastic cafes of Melbourne which serve wonderful coffee and other morning drinks as well as good combinations of breakfasts. I was very happy to come here and experience some of that familiarity and relaxing culture.

The Green Eggs & Ham (with La Quercia prosciutto, pesto, arugula on English muffin) was fantastic. An exceptional combination of fried eggs, salty prosciutto, peppery greens and rich pesto. Equal to the best breakfasts I've had at home.

House Cured Salmon Platter (with sliced red onion, arugula, cucumber, cream cheese & country toast) had an incredible amount of delicate smoked salmon that went well layered on top of the cream cheese and toast. The options of onions, arugula and cucumber meant you could make a variety of sandwich flavours to keep the meal interesting.

I wish I had more breakfasts available to come and try the rest of their menu. Bakery good line the front to make easy snacks and takeaway.

Next time I would order Green Eggs & Ham - the staple at this cafe. Any of the other choices (whatever they may have changed to) would be a great way to start your morning. Wash it down with a coffee of your choice.

One of the great things I really enjoyed about staying in Santa Monica was the selection of quality cafes in the area. A visit to Venice Beach allows the opportunity to brunch in this place along a nice selection of shopping street.

I came here mainly for reputation of their Pretzel burgers (with Swiss cheese, caramelised onion & french fries). The meat is fresh, without being spectacular, but the main draw is the pretzel "bun" which was baked to a light, crisp and tasty form. Also famous are the Avocado Fries (with fire-roasted salsa) which are nice slabs of avocado, crumbed and fried - certainly different and worth trying.

I visited on two separate occasions, trying a few of their other menu items. Shrimp & Crab Tater Tots (with orange-horseradish jam) and Nicoise Salad (with seared albacore, egg & tater tots) both of which were good dishes.

There is nice coffee to be had here and also down the road. Come here before heading off for a shopping browse and a beach visit.

Next time I would order the Pretzel burger and Avocado Fries just because they are the reputed selections from here. Like all good cafes and bakeries, there are a multitude of selections which I'm sure would make you happy.

Attended the Santa Monica location after reading some reviews of the quality of the seafood here. In particular I was interested in trying what is reputed to be the best sea urchin (uni) in the world, from Santa Barbara.

It is a slightly difficult restaurant to get to - the roads have strange turns and barriers making direct access not as easy as it seems on GPS. Not a big deal, just give yourself time to get there.

As much as I would have liked to order The Hungry Cat fruits of the sea platter, it was a little too imposing for just two of us. A one tier platter came with lovely fresh oysters, clams, mussels, boiled scampi and grilled prawns. We added the Santa Barbara sea urchin as a central masterpiece.

Sadly the sea urchin is quite disgusting. I've eaten uni in Japan, Melbourne, Morocco, London and New York - thus I know the creamy texture and sweet ocean flavour well. The Santa Barbara version unfortunately had a disturbing aftertaste I can only compare to the time I accidentally ate a millipede. The restaurant was gracious enough to open another one for us to sample, with similar taste. With great courtesy, the restaurant took it away and removed it from the bill.

The rest of the seafood was very tasty, no complaints about quality.

To supplement the meal, the Local Squid (stuffed with pine nuts & currants, spiced kabocha, farro verde, saffron aioli) was a nice combination of sweet and salty, crunchy and soft textures. We topped this off with a nice creme caramel dessert to complete the meal.

Next time I would order another fruits of the sea platter, and any of their delicious fresh seafood dishes. Be aware that the prices are reasonably high and that the main reason I came here was specifically for Santa Barbara sea urchin (which should be avoided). You may find similar quality seafood around Los Angeles at a lower price, but without the lovely atmosphere and the faultless service.