Eat Like Ushi

Other than a steaming bowl of bun bo hue, the only specific thing on my list to eat in Hue was to sample the royal cuisine. There's two places that seem to specialise in this - Hoang Vien and Tien Gia Vien. Tien Gia Vien seemed to have reviews that seemed more favourable to me and so it was on my list. Funnily enough during a private tour of the city, our driver decided to take us somewhere for lunch - which happened to be Hoang Vien. I was a little skeptical at first as the first table I saw were an all middle-aged European tourist group. As the next 5 tour buses of the same arrived, it was decided this was not the place for lunch. The surprised driver couldn't understand why we didn't want to eat here, but after some negotiation took us to a little cafe in a side street behind a petrol station, the place he eats lunch. That was a great meal.

The next evening dinner was booked at Tien Gia Vien. The neighbourhood was quiet and the place is in a little side alley. During a January night, the place was relatively empty with only a few couples there. I can imagine this wouldn't be the place, the type or food nor the price for any kind of locals, but there was refreshingly no tour groups.

The staff spoke English well enough to explain the dishes to me.

- Bunch of carrot & papaya flowers
- Dance of the Phoenix
- Pineapple Lantern of Assorted Appetisers
- Surprise Soup of Hue
- Vietnamese Spring Roll in the form Peacock
- Big Steamed Prawn
- Sweet & Sour Papaya in the form Dragon
- Meat, Pork with Potatoes in the form Elephant
- Cantonese Rice in the form Tortoise
- Dessert: Dragon Boat includes Fruit

The setting is lovely, the food artistry is beautiful and the flavours themselves are fine. I prefer the street tastes generally but this is something a little more refined, a little less heavily flavoured and nice as a change. And you get to play with the food to create new hybrid beasts!!

Nha Trang is one of the cities that seems to have a particular reputation for food. The seaside location lends itself to fantastic seafood from ladies selling lobster on the beach (which I didn't get to have unfortunately) to little stalls dotted with buckets of live fish and crustaceans cooked to order by weight.

Travelfish had one very enticing suggestion - Lac Canh. It was a peaceful evening stroll to get there and to be sat amongst nothing but locals all enjoying the charcoal BBQ brought to the centre of each table. The food is great, the flavours lovely, and the condiments make it a fun and tasty meal.

I'd recommend ordering the plates with the Lac Canh name in it - the only dish I regret not getting is their signature beef. And the one on the table next to me made be pine.

I can't quite remember how I heard about Bobby Chinn's restaurant in Hanoi, it may well have been seeing his name attached to a TV food show and researching from there. A couple of blog reviews made the place sound interesting in its quirkiness and good in flavour.

The restaurant setting is beautiful, a quiet area in north Hanoi accessible by taxi. The entrance and the downstairs bar are very warm and welcoming, and it would have been nice to have more time to rest here and enjoy the hookah and a few cocktails.

The quirks start with the illuminated magnifying glasses to read the menu. The menus themselves are written with hilarious banter and make for good entertainment. The next quirk (should you choose to accept it) is the "you are beautiful" sidedish, that comes as menus to take home and the staff regularly telling you (or your partner should you order it for them) that they are beautiful, right up until the written form with dessert and the final goodbye gesture at the door on leaving.

The food itself is delicious, and I had no faults. If you want something special to end your trip in Vietnam/Hanoi, I recommend this place very highly.

12-2016

In cleaning up very old collections of travel documents, I came across the menu...

It's a shame this Hanoi restaurant is closed in favour of a (not well rated) London version.

I didn't realise Amorino was a worldwide chain (until just now). I happened to stumble across this gelataria in the middle of Lisbon's pedestrian street - which made the quality of this even more exciting given the convenience. I went twice in 2 days and even considered a third had I not been leaving town.

The process is simple - you pay for a cup, they fill it with as many flavours as you like. That's right - as many as you like. The other thing that hooked me was the presence of two different types of thick light brown pistachio flavours, one sweet and one more nutty. They are both good and I recommend them, amongst everything else. The nutty one is very intense and probably only can be eaten in small amounts, so much to my surprise I liked the sweet version more overall.

Sit outside, eat the gelato, watch people and the world walk by.

It simply translates into "Once upon a time in Paris..." and the cool lounge atmosphere of the dimly lit bar is certainly reminiscent of a place you'd travel back in time to see.

Despite the Parisian name, I stuck with the local port and didn't regret it. The red was delicious, sweet and a pleasure.

It does have my reminiscing about once-upon-a-time just thinking about it.

The last meal in Porto was always going to be a big one. I'd actually tried to come here two nights earlier but unfortunately it was closed at that time of night. Solar Moinro de Vento is best known for local cooking, and the lunch session here was eventually made up of Portuguese families. It lies towards the north-west end of town near a lot of other restaurants and cafes, the Livraria Lello, some churches and on the lengthy walk to Casa da Musica. So there is no reason to not come into this area. The restaurant itself is a little further out on its own perhaps making it less frequented by people not in the know.

- Caldo Verde (green soup)
- Sopa de Peixe (fish soup with mint)
- Tripas a Moda do Porto (typical Oporto-style tripes with beans) - it was a daring day to try a local specialty of tripe. I can't say I especially like the texture of tripe (as confirmed with this dish) but the flavours are very nice, warming and homestyle;
- Filetes de Polvo (octopus fillets with today's rice) - this was an enormous serving (for one) of beautifully fried octopus tentacles with an even larger pot filled with a tomato rice stew. Fantastic.

I was actually in the area considering brunch at Miss'Opo (which has a great reputation as a cafe and guest house) but the menu didn't seem particularly exciting or local. Nonetheless the place looks cool, but I'm sure I'd prefer eating at Solar.

Next time I would order the tripe (for tradition) and the octopus again. I still think those are the two best-looking options on the menu. Skip the soup/entrees/sides as the servings are large (unless you happen to be in a decent sized group).

Considering Lisbon had one of the finest gelatarias in the middle of town that I've ever been to (complete with large servings and unlimited number of flavours even for a small cup), it was surprising I didn't see many in Porto.

I actually had to specifically look online to find one in Porto. Sincelo came up and happened to be very near a food destination I was planning (Solar Moinro de Vento) and so it seemed the perfect dessert follow-up. The gelato is fine without being overly memorable. It's nonetheless something to look forward to.

The ribeira riverside is an enchanting place to be at night. I'm sure it's busier, more atmospheric but less charming in summer. In the cool slightly rainy evening of October, the embankment was quiet and the illuminated bridge, signs of the port companies and reflections of lamp lights off the rio douro river made it excellent for a stroll.

The cafes along the ribeira itself are supposedly best avoided (as seems to be the case in every major city), but A Grade is on a little street off the main area and reputed for simple home-style cooking. The walk from the Se cathedral down to the embankment is probably the best way, alleys and winding cobblestones leading steeply downwards. Just be aware you'll have to walk back up... in order to not get lost the easiest way is the stairs near the base of the bridge (there's also a funicular if you are there early enough).

- Caldo Verde (cabbage and potato soup)
- Salada Portuguesa (mixed salad with cod)
- Cabrito Assado no Forno (young goat roast in the oven)
- Rojoes a Grade (A Grade pork crackling)

For some reason I had forgotten the main intention there was to try the seafood casseroles and sardine stew. That will have to be the plan for next time. The servings are very generous so I'd skip the soup and entrees and stick to the lovely mains.

Very nearby on the same street is Adega Sao Nicolau, which is supposedly reputed for no frills seafood. Maybe next time.

Next time I would order any of their seafood stews, the reliable roast goat or perhaps try the rabbit stew.

Saying this is possibly the nicest bar experience I've ever had would sound like an statement difficult to qualify. I'm not really one that frequents bars too often (other than when I'm dragged there by a few enthusiastic friends), but for a cool evening walking along the ponte de Dom Luis promenade around midnight, the enigmatic vocals of middle-aged Portuguese crooner filled the air near the base of the bridge. Traversing around opened into a little platform nestled under the bridge, along the water, in front of the live singer. The wait staff brought me a blanket to shield from the cold, some port (because that's what happens in Porto) and a simple dessert I don't remember too well.

What I do remember is the atmosphere, the clear sky, the illuminating bridge reflecting off the river surface and the warm singing that accompanied.

Many classic cities have the well-adorned cafes where even regardless of the need for food or drink, the agenda is just to be there and stay for a bit. It may be a mixed clientele of curious tourists, cool locals and richer people who are willing to pay to be there, but there's no point avoiding it just to stay away from the other tourists (keep in mind being away from tourists comes more down to season and day of the week rather than where you go I think).

Majestic Cafe is indeed majestic. Regal and beautifully decorated (on the inside at least) and with more history spanning back to 1921 than I could ever appreciate it for.

Coffee is coffee - I'm not an appreciator; it was something appropriate to have. However the Rabanadas Majestic-style was a wonderful sweet snack of warm bread cooked with honey and wine and topped with cinnamon sugar, nuts and dried fruit. An unexpectedly fantastic treat for any time of day or night. I didn't try this anywhere else, and from photos of other versions online, I think this is quite an immaculate and upmarket version. Would go back for this any day.