Eat Like Ushi

Alicante had never appealed to me as a travel destination. Despite my researching Europe trips and looking at the more obscure Ryanair destinations, I only decided upon it at the end of my European life more so because it was an exit terminal after a visit to Valencia. After researching more and more, I began to get more excited. Valencia had the remarkable Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias and paella, there was a lunch time stopover in Denia for the arguable world's best restaurant Quique Dacosta (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/quique-dacosta-denia-09-2013), the possibility of trying the most renowned paella at Paco Gandia (didn't make it though), and finally exceptional award winning tapas in Alicante.

Apparently Ferran Adria regards Nou Manolin as having some of the best tapas in Spain, which therefore means the world. San Sebastian was in my mind the best tapas I've had so it was a challenge to see how they compared.

The setting is warm and lovely. Food surrounds you as do friendly locals. A large jamon leg is expertly sliced and some prawns and breads line the benches.

- boquerones en vinagre €5- tangy slivers of anchovies;
- gambas rojas a la plancha €17pp - prawns from Denia (possibly the best type in the world after this experience and Quique Dacosta) grilled and topped with salt and lemon. Exceptionally sweet and delicious;
- Piripao (6 montaditos) €12 - a collection of little sandwiches with meats and vegetables. After it arrived it seemed like a rash decision with too much carbohydrates. They were quite simple and not overly exciting;
- nuestras fideuas con rape y almejas €14 - after the paella in Valencia, fideua was something different. I had it once back in 2009 and didn't quite recall whether I liked it or not. This dish was tasty with clam meat and vegetables and the noodles resembled thin chewy Chinese type. Overall I prefer paella but this wasn't bad;
- Crema quemada con frutas €8.

I'd be very happy to return back here and would select prawns, just one montadito and an arroz dish with any combination of seafood.

A good article I found with food recommendations was from the Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destination/spain/34915/Valencia-restaurants.html). I was trying to decide upon a place for my last dinner and after scoping out the beach area during the day, it took a monumental dedication to make the 1 hour walk there again and then back just for food.

The beach places I was considering (La Pepica, L'Estimat, La Rosa) didn't seem to intrigue me as much as hoped. Casa Montana is a highly rated tapas bar with a cosy setting, wine barrels and classic posters. Their anchovies (one of my favourites) and michirones (fava beans) are the specialties. The locals chatting inside, the friendly staff and a front seat to the bar made it the right decision in the end.

- V-2 (2 anchoa, 2 boquerones, 2 mejillones, olivas) - a nice cold platter with anchovies and mussels. They went well with the soft bread;
- Habas Estofados (Michirones) platito €1.9 - small plate of thick fava beans cooked with ham hock;
- Patatas Bravas de Secano platito €1.8 - smooth potatoes so good that the sauce and sour cream are unnecessary;
- Sardina Plancha (1/2 docena) €4.2 - grilled sardines are rarely a first choice for me but they were recommended. They were quite good given that, but next time I'd opt for the Clochinas Valencianas or something else.

A great meal, an excellent setting, a quality house rioja, and a 50min walk back to the hostel whilst contemplating.

Horchata is a fantastic drink. I recall my first taste at a small Mexican/Yucatan restaurants in the Mission district of San Francisco (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/poc-chuc-san-francisco-10-2011). Since then I've taken many opportunities from any restaurant, usually Mexican or Latin American and the one Melbourne cafe. The drinks seem to be a creation of rice, milk and cinnamon into a really lovely refreshing blend.

It was with great interest that Valencia was one of the originators of horchata, and it had a very strong presence around town from shops to restaurants, street stalls and even a few at Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias by the watersides.

What's different in Valencia is that they are made from tigernuts and so referred locally as horchata de chufa. The best shop in town is reputedly Horchateria de Santa Catalina and very convenient when passing through to the large Placa de la Reina.

The horchata is refreshing and sweet without any hint of sickliness or syrup. The drink didn't last long.

Once in Valencia, the search is for paella. It is a dish that originated in Valencia and is now probably the most associated Spanish food. It is very impressive to see enormous paella pans filled with yellow rice and topped with ingredients. I think the largest I've seen is the reasonable quality version downstairs in Covent Garden.

Valencian paella is different to those typically encountered elsewhere in the world. Whereas most places serve seafood or chorizo-based types, Valencian traditionally uses chicken, rabbit and snails. The best in the world is supposedly at a place called Paco Gandia in Pinoso, which has a rabbit and snail version that brings people there. It is located about 50km from Alicante and unfortunately, as hard as I tried, I couldn't spare the time to get there.

Surprisingly within Valencia itself, finding good reviews for a paella place is difficult. Most comments seem to be about La Pepica, a place along the beach that has mixed ratings from exceptional to terrible. Also in the area are lesser talked about L'Estimat and La Rosa. Within Valencia main township itself, I asked for a recommendation from my hostel and there suggested Ocho y Medio (which translates to 8 and a half).

The restaurant is set in a nice courtyard where you can enjoy the sun, warmth and people watching. Unfortunately the paella lists per person price and the minimum is for 2, which is very typical at most paella places I saw. For this reason I had to get a double which cost €25.80. It was expectantly huge but what can you do...

- Paella Valenciana (with chicken, rabbit, Perona green beans, white beans & snails) - I managed to finish this behemoth much to the amusement and amazement of the families eating around me. Other than a French pair, the rest all seemed to be Spanish. The rice was well cooked and had that excellent crisp bottom. The meats were fine, a little overcooked (unsurprisingly I suppose) and the white beans were a very nice touch.

All-in-all a good paella. Not my favourite ever, but that may just be because the chorizo and seafood ones are flavoured more to my liking than this traditional white meat type. They have several seafood types including prawns, cuttlefish and squid ink.

Deep in the heart of Africa lies Galito's, their local answer to the Western world's Nando's. I still think London Nando's (tried at O2 arena and Shoreditch) is better quality than those I've had in Melbourne possibly due to them being generally large sit in restaurants complete with table service.

In Lusaka, it is located along a small section of fast food eat-in or takeaways right next to a petrol station. The menu seems identical to Nando's - grilled chicken with a choice of spiciness, chips, bean salad and coleslaw. There are bottles of periperi sauce to lather your food in more flavour.

Compared to London Nando's, the chicken is slightly thinner with similar flavour. Chips weren't as crispy. The salads seemed the same. The price is naturally much much cheaper.

Neither are similar to the periperi chicken I had in Lisbon, but they'll happily do for a tasty meal.

In the middle of the township of Livingstone, directly opposite some of the shopping stalls, there is a big white sign for the Wonder Bake bakery. It's a very large space almost like an auditorium with plain tables and chairs and a long selection of breads and cooked foods. You can select from breakfast eggs, burgers, sandwiches, meals or simple breads.

The addition of free wifi makes it an ideal place to spend breakfast or lunch or breakfast into lunch and choose whatever type of foods appeal and catch up with the world.

Fried chicken, beef curry, rice and a raisin scone completed the very late brunch covering the crispy, soft, sweet, spicy and hot.

Recommended.

After the adventurous buses and exploration of Livingstone and Victoria Falls, there was one more night in the Lusaka Backpackers before flying out to Nairobi. There wasn't much in the way of particular places to eat at and I felt taking a taxi somewhere (which would have been to one of the further away shopping malls if I did), Chit Chat was a close walkable distance and had at least a few favourable comments online.

The evening walk through the streets included past an armed friendly security guard, along dark streets with lights and into what looked like more suburban neighbourhood.

On this evening all the streets and also the cafe was quite empty. Pork ribs ZMB60 were plentiful and had a nice BBQ sauce. They weren't the most tender but satisfying enough. Imported prawn curry ZMB60 were small and came served with mash and vegetables. The food was adequate but nothing more - a closeby meal for a casual evening.

Walking back to the backpackers, the streets had become more populous with women standing under trees and on street corners. It looked as though this was the street area after dark also.

There aren't many food places in Livingstone full stop, let alone the number that interested me. There are a few local-looking places that seemed safe but I think Cafe Zambezi attracts a more tourist crowd simply due to the variety of ingredients and dishes including local and African specialties. Additionally it's a clean place with a nice outdoor area, wooden furniture and plants.

In the early afternoon I stopped by to scope out the menu and couldn't help but try a quick cooling snack of banana fritter and icecream. This proved a good opportunity to read the specialties and be impressed by options such as caterpillars and crocodile spare ribs. It was an easy decision to return in the evening for dinner.

- Peri-peri Crocodile Bites - Zambezi river crocodile in a thin spiced sauce;
- Jollof Rice (rice cooked in tomatoes, spices & with an array of vegetables) - West African version of paella;
- Mbuzi Na Pa Malacha (goat cooked in foil with onions, peppers & spices) - traditional Zambian recipe with tender goat although a bit too many bones. Served with peppers and separately okra and rape vegetable stews.

Overall a good meal with exciting ingredients and many other dishes I'd like to try. Easily a great choice for dinner after a day of Zambezi river rafting or Victoria Falls viewing.

During the first morning in Zambia, we walked from the hotel toward town. Enroute there was a older lady grilling cassava over charcoal and sprinkled with salt. It was a simple introduction to food in Africa. I was hoping this would start a nice trip to the City Market and there would be some nice street foods to sample. Unfortunately the only things I found there were a wide variety of vegetables, fruit, fish and meat but not much cooked things.

A walk back through town led to Fajema which seemed the first opportunity to try a variety of local specialties - nshima and the ubiquitous fried chicken. The place had a simple diner setting and a few people stopped by outside the window to stare or ask for money.

- 2 pieces chicken & chips - chicken not too dry, flavour similar to a mild form of KFC. Standard chips and coleslaw;
- nshima & fish - plain grilled fish, not too dry, served on top of a few stewed vegetable dishes including the slightly bitter rape national dish.

The first experience with nshima was interesting. It takes a particular skill to use one hand to tear and roll a small section, create a pocket in the middle, hold it in your palm and fill it with ingredients. Nshima itself is a very plain flour and water mix like a smooth blend of slightly textured playdough. I can't say I prefer it to rice, but it's different and makes eating interesting.

I'm not sure where I came across this name. It isn't in any of the guide books and looking online now suggests that it is closed. It wasn't a particularly convenient area either, requiring a solid walk west of the city centre. I didn't feel unsafe but I can see how some might wandering through dark streets with only a few strangers and street lights for company.

The place was sold to me as modern tapas and the setting really felt like the downstairs of a family home. There were tables around the sides, a stairs that I wasn't sure where they lead, and a central area where the food was cooked.

- "Calabres" Cheese Croquette €1.5
- Mini Truffled Duck Burger with Caramelised Onions €3
- Coca Pork Tenderloin, Torta del Caser Cheese & Spinach €3
- Galician octopus on mash €9.5
- Tarta de queso €5

Overall the meal was reasonable without being as exciting or outstanding as I hoped. The duck burger was probably the one I was most interested in (during my slider phase) but didn't deliver a strong sense of truffles nor duck meat.