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Archive for May 2024

Republique Latour

May30

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]

Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115

Date: July 12, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service

_

I haven’t been back to Republique in a while, but this special Latour dinner was a great excuse!

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Still doing great even years later.
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We are, of course, in the private room. Way better than downstairs at this very loud but very good restaurant.

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The menu.
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The trio of amuses.
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They came on these little trays.
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BLUEFIN TUNA TOAST. kaluga caviar, smoked tomato. Nice smokey taste, almost like there was some lard in there.
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TAYLOR KUMAMOTO OYSTER. champagne granité, kaluga caviar.
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KALUGA CAVIAR. potato chip. This is a republique classic.

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Lovely and quite fresh for its age.
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Sadly lightly corked.

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KANPACHI CRUDO. weiser farms melon, cherry tomato, lemon cucumber, coconut thai curry, peanuts, basil. Great. Very “Thai” with a strong coconut flavor and great textures.
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The infamous bread and butter. So addictive. Knocked me right off the no carb wagon.
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WILD PORCINI MUSHROOM SOUP. maine lobster, black truffle. A very nice creamy soup with big chunks of lobster.
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CHARCOAL-GRILLED SANTA BARBARA PRAWNS. jus de tête, sauce vin jaune. Great char on the shrimp plus a nice bite and potent sweetness. Tons of acidity in the “shell based” sauce.
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Walter visits.
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DOVER SOLE À LA MEUNIÈRE. potato gnocchi, sauce matelotte. Fabulous soft fish. I do really like sole done in this classic way. The sauce had a lot of acidity too.
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PORCINI TARTE FINE. eggplant, brown butter. Very crispy. The tart base, while it looks like a pizza, was a laminated buttery dough. The combo of the hazelnuts really took it up a notch too.
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MEZZE MANICHE. morel mushroom, black truffle. Perfectly al dente with nice bite and a great cheesy truffle vibe.
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WOLFE RANCH QUAIL. anson mills polenta, chanterelle mushrooms. The quail was extremely nice and the jus even better!
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MIYAZAKI WAYGU. potato mousseline, black truffle. So rich and delicious. Almost too rich for me and that’s saying a lot!
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Cheese plate. We had so much wine we needed a bit of cheese.
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TIRAMISU. harry’s berries strawberry, white chocolate sabayon. The only thing tiramisu about this was the layers with cream, as it was essentially just a strawberries and cream parfait. But woah was it good. Super fresh and intense berries and a wonderful sweet creamy sabayon.
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Lotsta wine!
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Another incredible dinner. Even though this was more or less the “default” private room tasting menu, Republique hit it out of the park. Wines were amazing too. haha.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Republique of Old Nebiolio
  2. Third Republique
  3. Family République
  4. Trimbach Republique
  5. Sauvage Republique
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bordeaux, Foodie Club, latour, République

Brothers Shunji

May28

Restaurant: The Brothers Sushi Santa Monica — but not — Shunji Hashiba

Location: 1008 Montana Ave #1, Santa Monica, CA 90403. (424) 330-0270

Date: July 8, 2023

Cuisine: Toyko Sushi

Rating: Awesome — maybe the best sushi I’ve had in the states

_

Our Foodie Gang has been going to the incredible “The Brothers Sushi” in the valley for some time now, and it was with much glee that we welcomed in the brand new (and somewhat delayed) Montana Santa Monica location. Now it’s become a bit of a staple spot for us.

This meal was special, with Brothers owner Mark hosting Shunji Hashiba, the No.1 Protégé of Tokyo’s world-renowned 3 Michelin star Sushi Saito.1A4A2024-Pano
The space used to be the repulsive Louise’s Trattoria, serving not exactly Italian for decades. But Brother’s has given it a major new makeover.

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The build out is gorgeous. Here the bar is for omakase only and the tables are for à la carte only.
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More details.

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Shunji Hashiba, the No.1 Protégé of Tokyo’s world-renowned 3 Michelin star Sushi Saito, came to Los Angeles for a special pop-up event. July 8th, 9th and 10th. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Angelenos to experience one of the most exclusive introduction-only sushiya in the world on US soil.
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Of course I’ve eaten at Brother’s itself countless times and really enjoy the cooking of chef Mark O — who was hosting Chef Shunji for this special event.
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The menu.
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Welcome glass of rose champagne.
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The first of our Otsumami dishes, a “welcome dashi.” I small glass of unsalted perch bone stock. Mellow, fishy, delicious, and a perfect cure for any common cold.
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Chef Shunji at work.
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Kinmedai Sesame Tofu.. Homemade sesame tofu, Goldeneye snapper, Seaweed. Warm sauce, cool fish. Lovely. Salty. Very savory. Had one of those delectable soft squishy textures that many Americans might find “odd.”
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Steamed Grouper Sushi. Sushi rice, peas, nori, ginger. Really incredible textures and subtle flavor. The fish was cooked but incredibly moist, like it had been oil poached. The overall blend was just very comforting.
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Incredible sake. One of the most fruity I’ve ever had.
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Sea Urchin Corn Chawamushi. Sweet corn, Hokaido Uni, Purple something. An absolutely stunning custard. Sweet (from the corn) and salty, with this incredible soft texture puncuated by bits of slightly chewy. There was also a stachy gooey texture not unlike that produced by cooked okra.
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Tuna Cheek Tamayaki with Shunji’s special blended Shichimi salt. Two chunks of cooked tuna: kama toro and cheek. One was darker are even more meaty than the other. But were so rich, almost beefy, and very clean tasting. Just perfect with the salty & limey special salt. Or the wasabi. Or both. Or the sunomono style cucumber pickles. Awesome dish.
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You can see the special salt better here. It was so good I was eating it plain after I finished the fish. There was some kind of ground citrus rind in there, probably one of the Japanese ones like Yuzu or its cousins. Awesome.
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Simmered Octopus. So ridiculously tender. Slightly sweet. I drank the sauce (which was the sweet part). Softest octopus I’ve ever had by a large margin.
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Pickles and pickled ginger. The ginger was very mild and didn’t really have any sweetness. There was also cerely and some other bit. I love pickles. Unfortuantly they didn’t refresh them as I could have eaten several containers.
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White Baby Shrimp. Every fish tonight was from Japan. This was super soft. Slightly bitter (but good) finish.
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King Salmon Nigiri. Shunji marinated it in a soy based solution for a few minutes before forming the nigiri. The fish was melt in your mouth soft.
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Bigfin Reef Squid. A bit of yuzu juice and super tender.
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Mackerel. Super soft and not very “pickled” (if at all). Formed into one of those little nori “pinch rolls.”
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The second amazing sake.
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Chutoro. A cloud-like texture.
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Kohada Gizzard Shad. Strong in a great way with a bit of a ginger bite.
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Otoro. What can we say? Richer than the chutoro, but I actually prefered the cloud like texture of the latter.
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Akami Zuke. Amazing.
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Trout Caviar Sujiko. These are only available for 2 weeks a year! It’s basically like “underipe” Ikura. I’ve never had any type of trout/salmon roe as a nigri actually. Pretty awesome.
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Pink Unicorn sake!
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Hamaguri Clam. Sweet sauce like a great eel sauce.
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Sea Urchin Roll. Hokaido uni. I’ve never had an uni cut roll. Pretty awesome too.
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Whole abalone.
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Abalone nigiri. I didn’t know this was a thing. So tender. Definately the most tender abalone I’ve had, and I’ve had some pretty great ones.
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Futomaki Roll. Sort of a fancy eel and “new style” futomaki. The composition is traditional but it didn’t have that pink sugar stuff that they have in Japanese train stations. Delicious and more savory than the pure classic, but highly evocative of same as well.
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Miso Soup. Super nice.
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Tamago Sweet Egg. Not very sweet. Perfect texture.
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Special Melon. It’s been a while since I had one of these perfect Japanese melons. They really are THAT good. Soft, complex sweetness. Lovely.
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This was an incredible sushi meal and one of the best I’ve ever had. The style is more Japanese and subtle than we can usually get in LA. My current favorite here is Takeda, which is also amazing, but this reached a new level of textural mastery. Everything was just so ridiculously tender and perfectly balanced. Amazing!
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Chefs Shunji (left) and Mark (right)!
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The whole gang tonight. We had the entire resteraunt and I was a singleton in this group that all knew each other. One guy knows Erick indirectly, but not in person. They were incredibly nice and “took me in.”
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For more Sushi dining reviews click here.

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A different Eric who in that small-world way knows “my” Erick.

Related posts:

  1. Brothers Dom
  2. More Shunji Omakase
  3. Coche In at Brothers Santa Monica
  4. Food as Art – The Brothers Sushi
  5. Shunji Super Omakase
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Brothers Sushi, sake, Shunji Hashiba, Sushi

Eating Dutch – The Seafood Bar

May26

Restaurant: The Seafood Bar

Location: Amsterdam

Date: July 4, 2023

Cuisine: Seafood

Rating: Pretty similar to a San Francisco style seafooder

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Our final meal of the trip (not including bad plane food).
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It’s always hard to find somewhere that will please our entire large group and so we tried pretty hard to get into this small chain Amsterdam seafooder — which would.
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The menu.
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This lovely Sancerre that birthday girl Emma chose.
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Fried calamari rings with mayo — nice.
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Bitterballen. The classic Dutch croquette and I was told an excellent one at that.
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Sea bass ceviche.
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Salmon tartare with avocado.
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Oysters of several types.
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This epic plat du mer had lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, salmon, crab (two types), crab salad, Dutch shrimp (the tiny ones), lagostinas, clams (2 types), mussels and more!
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Cesar salad with salmon.
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Cod filet with pumkin and beurre blanc.
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Dover sole.
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Fish and chips “kibbeling” style (in small peices).
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Fish and chips “whole cod” style — like in England.
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Extra fries with mayo because it’s Holland.
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Chocolate ice cream.
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Chocolate bavoroise with chocolate ice cream. A bit dry.
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Lemon meringue pie.
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Expresso martini.
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Expresso.
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A fun and tasty end to our epic trip. The Netherlands part of the trip wasn’t food focused — nor actually was any of this trip — but we did have some really nice stuff. This place is fairly similar to Santa Monica’s Watergrill or many California-style seafooders, but it had a Dutch bent and was quite delicious.

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Maasbree – Gemeintehoës
  2. Eating Amsterdam – Dignita
  3. Ocean Avenue Seafood
  4. Eating Grubbenvorst – Clevers
  5. Eating Maastricht – Spice of India
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Amsterdam, Eating Amsterdam, Eating Dutch, Eating Netherlands, Seafood, The Seafood Bar

Eating Amsterdam – Dignita

May24

Restaurant: Dignita

Location: Amsterdam

Date: July 4, 2023

Cuisine: Cafe

Rating: Solid

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On our final day in the Netherlands we shuffled west to Amsterdam.
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We stopped at this hipster spot in central Amsterdam for a quick lunch.
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Attractive outdoor space. For a country with far worse weather than LA, they sure have a lot more nice outside dining — boo on you LA regulators!
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Salmon Benny — aka benedict but over hash browns. Cute!
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Dutch pancake.
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Avo Toast or similar.
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Cilbir. Turkish eggs and yogurt with a side of bacon.
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Bacon does make everything better.
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Shakshouka with yellow tomatoes.
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Cappuccino. Dignita would do well in LA — it has a similar hipster/international vibe going on and very good “all day brunch.”

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Maasbree – Gemeintehoës
  2. Eating Maastricht – Spice of India
  3. Eating NY – Baker & Co
  4. Eating Grubbenvorst – Clevers
  5. Eating NY – Sarabeth’s
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dutch cuisine, Eating Amsterdam, Eating Dutch, Eating Netherlands

Eating Grubbenvorst – Clevers

May22

Restaurant: Clevers

Location: Lottumseweg 1, 5971 BT Grubbenvorst, Netherlands. +31 77 366 1459

Date: July 2, 2023

Cuisine: Ice Cream Parlor

Rating: Over-the-top sundaes with awesome Ice-Cream

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Clevers (pronounced Cleavers) is a local institution in this land of excellent dairy.
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For a town of just a few hundred it’s huge!
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They have a book-like menu, but here was just a relevant page. They serve a vast array of sundaes.
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Mixed berry.
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Strawberries and Cream.
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Mango Sorbetto.
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Pineapple (served in the special pineapple cup).
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The backside.
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A slightly different berry sundae.
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Hazelnut Crunch.
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Chocolate Fantasie. Mousse and brownies adorned with ice cream.
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Another view.
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Chocolate, Vanilla, and Straciatella ice creams.
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The Punaise. Hazelnut, walnut, cookies, praline, chocolate, straciatella, truffles, whipped cream and more. This was being bad, really bad. The ice cream was excellent — not gelato — but very creamy soft regular style ice cream. Lots of good stuff in here.

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This was a great ice cream place and while the flavors weren’t particularly exotic, the milk quality and soft creamy style of ice cream was first rate.

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Milano Marittima – Lo Sporting
  2. Eating Boston – Juicy Spot
  3. Eating Florence – Gelateria Santa Trinita
  4. Eating Maastricht – Spice of India
  5. Eating Maasbree – Gemeintehoës
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dessert, Eating Dutch, Eating Grubbenvorst, Eating Netherlands, Ice cream

Eating Maastricht – Spice of India

May20

Restaurant: Spice of India

Location: Achter Het Vleeshuis 27, 6211 GR Maastricht, Netherlands. +31 43 321 6375

Date: July 1, 2023

Cuisine: Indian

Rating: Slow, and too much sugar

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I was excited to get some Indian as I’ve had pretty much nothing but Turkish for 3 weeks. This place in Maastricht is a favorite of my friend Gus’.
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The town of Maastricht is super cute and lively — it’s been a bustling trade city since Roman times.
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Cute interior.
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We had as huge table.
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Perfectly pleasant petite chablis.
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My cryptic notes.
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Papadum. These were good.
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The chutneys didn’t look like much but the raita was great and the red one had a nice complex sweet spice. There was also a super hot one (not pictured) that was the only really hot thing of the night.
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Fried Shrimp. Very panko fry.
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Samosas. We had veggie, chicken, and lamb. The shells was nice and thin and crispy, more phylo, but the interior was dry.
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King Prawn Kashmiri. Very creamy and mild. VERY creamy as in about 50% heavy cream.
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Chicken Tikka Masala. This was the palest creamiest CTM I’ve ever had. Flavor was nice, buit it was really sweet and very mild (and creamy).
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Saag Paneer. This had a rougher texture which I liked.
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Vegetable Korma. Again super mild and creamy.
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Lamb Vindaloo. Supposedly spicy but it wasn’t. At least it wasn’t mostly cream.
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Daal.
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Fish Dhamask. Nice and garlicky. Fish was scarce.
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Lamb Korma. You guessed it: mild and creamy (but nice).
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Basmati Rice.
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Naan.
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Mixed Tandoori Grill. Not enough real meat here.
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Ganesh supervises. The food was tasty but WAY WAY too creamy and sweet. Almost dessert like. Also, we had a massive service gap. The apps took awhile and then there was a 2 hour gap between the samosas and a sudden drop of every other item simultaneously. We ate all the papadum and chutneys during the wait! Still, it’s interesting to see Indian in different countries. Still, the company was so good we enjoyed ourselves.

I always find trying “3rd party” national cuisines abroad very interesting. By 3rd party I mean that this was Indian food (3rd party), in the Netherlands. Trying Dutch food in NL or Indian Food in India would of course be more direct, but here it’s Indian filtered through a Dutch lens: in this case a mild and creamy lens!
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For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. A Spice Affair
  2. Hills of Gold and Spice
  3. Eating Philly – Tiffin
  4. Eating Maasbree – Gemeintehoës
  5. Posh Spice
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Eating Dutch, Eating Maastricht, Eating Netherlands, Indian cuisine, Maastricht

Eating Maasbree – Gemeintehoës

May18

Restaurant: Gemeintehoës

Location: Dorpstraat 20, 5993 AN Maasbree, Netherlands. +31 77 850 9553

Date: June 30, 2023

Cuisine: Dutch gastropub

Rating: Solid

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Our first night in the Netherlands we went to this local place in Maasbree. It’s basically contemporary dutch.
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The building
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The menu.
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Vino.
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Tuna carpaccio. I think this might have been beef with a tuna sauce. It was good regardless.
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Beef Carpaccio.
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Beet Carpaccio.
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Burrata Salad.
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Salmon and Shrimp.
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Tom yum soup.
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Tomato Soup.
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Mustard soup. Yeah, cream and mustard!
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Bread.
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Simple pasta. Not simple enough for the boy.
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Shrimp “Asian style.” Maybe Indonesian.
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Shrimp chips.
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Salmon.
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Sea bass (crusted).
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Bacon burger.
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Beef short ribs.
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BBQ ribs with mayo. These were pretty good, actyually. Covered in sauce.
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Side salad.
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Fries with mayo. The dutch way — but not drowned in mayo in this case.
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Vlaai (pronouced closer to Fly) is the dutch word for pie — they have a lot of it. I suspect they brought it to American in the 18th century.
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A chocolate flourless cake.
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Some other dessert with a lot of ice cream and whipped cream.
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The local specialty vlaai.
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Basically custard tart with whipped cream and chocolate. Yummy!
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Ice cream sundae.
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With the chocolate sauce.
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Coffee.

This wasn’t a highly specific cuisine but it was a very enjoyable meal.

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Senigallia – Taverna Porto
  2. Eating Rosh Pina – Auberge Shulamit
  3. Eating Senigallia – Uliassi
  4. Eating San Francisco – Absinthe
  5. Eating NY – Waffle & Dinges
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dutch cuisine, Eating Dutch, Eating Masbree, Eating Netherlands, Gemeintehoës, Holland

Eating Dalaman – Tao

May16

Restaurant: Tao

Location: Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme Resort & Spa. Sarıgerme, Tourism Center, 48610 Ortaca/Muğla, Türkiye

Date: June 29, 2023

Cuisine: Tepanyaki

Rating: Hmmm

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Tao is the “Asian” restaurant at the Dalaman. They have this pan-Asian menu and a separate sub section for Teppan-Yaki which is what we did.
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The menu.
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Teppan-Yaki was outside at these grill tables.
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Micro sushi-sahimi app.
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Miso soup.
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This Turkish white table wine was fine.
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Our grill-master.
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Prepping the grill.
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Starting the egg fried rice with egg — and some various egg tricks.
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T
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Fried rice almost ready.
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Fried Rice. They used Turkish long grain rice instead of Japanese rice. It was plesant, but a bit different.
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Terrayaki sauce on the left and “yum yum” (sweet mayo) on the right.
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Beef.
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On the plate. Certainly not A5, but plesaant.
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Veggie volcano. I didn’t photo these on the plate or the shrimp.
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Terrayaki salmon.
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Chicken.
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Dessert flambe.
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Banana, ice cream, and chocolate sauce.
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This was a pretty basic “Japanese” meal by my standards, but it was clean and enjoyable.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Dalaman – Vela
  2. Eating Dalaman – Sarigeme
  3. Eating Dalaman – Alize
  4. Eating Iznik – Nihat’ın Yeri
  5. Eating Kuşadası – Oksa
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Eating Dalaman, Eating Türkiye, Tao, Tepanyaki

Eating Dalaman – Alize

May13

Restaurant: Alize

Location: Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme Resort & Spa. Sarıgerme, Tourism Center, 48610 Ortaca/Muğla, Türkiye

Date: June 28, 2023

Cuisine: Vaguely Italian restaurant

Rating: Great Hotel restaurant

_

Alize is the Italian restaurant at the Hilton. Over in the main part of the complex they have the big buffet restaurant, Sarigeme and a number of more specific cuisines.The format at the non-buffet restaurants is a bit more gentile. There is a very small “supplemental” charge (beyond the baseline all-inclusive rate), and you order off the menu instead, but they are also AYCE. So they have a format a bit like a cruise ship where you could just keep ordering stuff. In practice, you would become quickly full.
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The menu.
IMG_8585
Lovely patio.
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Bread.
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Amuse plate.
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Another amuse of bruschetta, Turkish style. No pork, of course.
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Buratta Cheese. Truffle, Warm Tomato Pestil.
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Summer Breeze Salad. Stracciatella Cheese, Peach, Strawberry, Colourful Baby Tomatoes Basil and Pomegranate Seeds with Olive Oil Vinaigrette.
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Caesar Salad. Shaved Parmesan Cheese, Caesar Dressing and Focaccia Croutons.
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Pumpkin Ravioli. Sage, Pumpkin, Cream, Parmesan Cheese and Roasted Peanuts. Very cheesy! Couldn’t really taste the pumpkin, but I liked the goopy sauce so it was nice.
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Pomegranite sorbet.
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Plain pasta.
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French fries.
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Pan Seared John Dory. Potato Gnocchi, Spinach, Marjoram and Porcini Mushroom Ragout.
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Mushroom Risotto. Porcini Mushrooms, Heavy Cream and Parmesan Cheese.
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Osso Buco alla Milanese. Milanese Style Osso Bucco with Saffron Risotto. Not bad, although the risotto wasn’t perfect and was perhaps undersalted.
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Tea.
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Chocolate ice cream.
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Tiramisu. Baileys Syrup and Tiramisu Cream, Lady Fingers, with Coffee and Cantucci Biscuits.
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Crème Brûlée. Thyme and Basil, Milk, Cream, and French Merengue.

Alize was a substantial cut above the dinner buffet. And to start with, the buffet food was actually quite good, with tons of options, but a have my particular “beef” with the buffet forma. It’s not about food quality or taste, but about the pacing of the meal. They are great for breakfast, but particularly on a vacation, buffets aren’t very fun for dinner. The pacing is way too fast — after a quick trip you are stuffed — and half the time half your table is up and away so any attempts are conversation are foiled. Everyone seems to be on their own pacing.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Dalaman – Vela
  2. Eating Dalaman – Sarigeme
  3. Eating Santa Fe – Sassella
  4. Eating Hawaii – Macaroni Grill
  5. Eating Majorca – Casa Michaela
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Alize, Eating Dalaman, Eating Türkiye, Turkish cusine

Eating Göcek – Güverte

May11

Restaurant: Güverte

Location: Göcek, Turgut Özal Cd. No:13, 48310 Fethiye/Muğla, Türkiye. +90 530 626 17 25

Date: June 27, 2023

Cuisine: Turkish Fish restaurant

Rating: Cats!

_

This was a recommended fish restaurant in Göcek Turkey.
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Outside patio by the water of course. It was “plagued” by kittens.
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Yacht club view.
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Usual giant cabinet of mezze.
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Olives.
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Yogurt with tomatoes and eggplant.
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This yogurt had tahini in it. I’m not as big a fan of it that way. It can be hard to tell all the yogurt platters apart by visual inspection.
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Marinated anchovies are always great.
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Artichokes.
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Eggplant baked with shrimp and seafood with cheese. Quite good, if slightly over baked. A kitchen may have shared this dish with me.
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Red Snapper. Meatier than the usual sea bass.
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Fish restaurants have a very “tried and true” formula — and they really sort of get you on the price of the fish.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Tel Aviv – Onza
  2. Eating Kuşadası – Oksa
  3. Eating Dalaman – Vela
  4. Eating Istanbul – Pandeli
  5. Eating Iznik – Nihat’ın Yeri
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Eating Dalaman, Eating Göcek, Eating Türkiye, fish, Turkish cusine

Eating Dalaman – Sarigeme

May09

Restaurant: Sarigeme

Location: Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme Resort & Spa. Sarıgerme, Tourism Center, 48610 Ortaca/Muğla, Türkiye

Date: June 26-30, 2023

Cuisine: Giant buffet

Rating: Bigger than a Vegas buffet!

_

Sarigeme is the massive full service 3 meals a day buffet at the Hilton Dalaman — and the go to spot for breakfast.
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Breads.
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Pastries.
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Savory pastries.
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Gluten free.
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Sandwich station.
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Cheese.
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Cold cuts and fish.
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Fried donut like things and accompaniments.
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Fries and other fried pastries.
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Honeycomb station.
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Olives.
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Salads and mezze.
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Beans, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. Aka hot breakfast veggies.
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Salad greens.
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Yogurts.
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Toppings, perhaps for yogurt.
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Even more toppings. The Turks sure have a sweet tooth.
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Cereals.
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Oatmeal and other similar hot cereals.
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Omelet station.
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Eggs.
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More eggs.
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Egg’s Benedict station.
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Compared to everything else, the meats were scarce.
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Chicken nuggets (presumably for kids).
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Fruit.
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Dried and canned fruit.
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The desserts and pastries were epic. I didn’t photo all of them.
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Some desserts. I missed photoing many of the desserts.
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Turkish delights.
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This was a vast buffet and certainly had about 20 somethings for everyone. Quality was medium high and it was very strong in the carbohydrate department. Given its size it was extremely well run and efficient with constrant replenishment.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Dalaman – Vela
  2. Eating Cappadocia – Nahita Breakfast
  3. Eating Bodrum – Sofra
  4. Eating Santa Margherita – Miramare Breakfast
  5. Eating Istanbul – Manzara Breakfast
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Breakfast, Eating Dalaman, Eating Türkiye, Turkish cusine

Eating Dalaman – Vela

May07

Restaurant: Vela

Location: Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme Resort & Spa. Sarıgerme, Tourism Center, 48610 Ortaca/Muğla, Türkiye

Date: June 25, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish Fish restaurant

Rating: Great Hotel restaurant

_

On the final phase of our Türkiye trip we stayed at the Dalaman Hilton Resort, which is owned by friends of ours.

It’s is a true gem nestled in the heart of Turkey’s breathtaking landscape. With its luxurious accommodations offering panoramic views of the majestic mountains and the serene Aegean Sea, it’s a paradise for those seeking relaxation and adventure alike. Its close proximity to some of the most stunning beaches in the region adds to its allure. The resort’s world-class amenities, coupled with the vibrant local culture and cuisine, make it a perfect getaway for creating unforgettable memories. It truly encapsulates the magic and beauty of Turkey.

On our first night at Dalaman we went to a big group dinner with our friends at the hotel’s fish restaurant, Vela. This is an updated take on the familiar — if you’ve been reading these posts — “fish restaurant formula.”

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Bread.
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Humus, yogurt. starting out a monster wave of mezze.
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Artichoke.
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Yogurt with tomatoes, peppers, and onions.
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Sea Bass. Avocado and Salsa, Mustard, Truffle Oil, Lemon and Basil.
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Marinated Shrimp and Roasted Aubergine. Strained Yogurt with Tomato and Tapenade.
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This was some kind of unusual “meat.” I can’t remember what, but it was good.
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Fried Calamari.
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Shepard’s Salad. Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Walnuts.
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Greek Salad. Tomato, Ezine White Cheese, Red Onion with Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing
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Aegean Style Shrimp Casserole. Mushrooms, Tomato and Peppers.
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Grilled Rock Bass. Arugula Leaves, Roasted Potatoes, Capers and Lemon Dressing.
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Fruit.
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Birthday cake.

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This largely thick whipped cream icing cake was pretty delicious, actually. I do like whipped cream. It was super light and refreshing.
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Tea.
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Cucumbers with lime. Interesting finish — but actually worked very well.
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Very solid update take on the classic fish restaurant — and our massive group had a blast.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Kuşadası – Gio
  2. Eating Bodrum – Maçakizi
  3. Eating Kuşadası – Old Town Tanneries
  4. Eating Tel Aviv – Onza
  5. Eating Istanbul – Manzara
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dalaman, Eating Dalaman, Eating Türkiye, Turkish cusine, Vela

Eating Bodrum – Maçakizi

May05

Restaurant: Maçakizi

Location: Göltürkbükü, Narçiçeği Sokak, 48400 Göltürkbükü Bodrum/Bodrum/Muğla, Türkiye

Date: June 24, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good

_

Macakizi is another top rated hotel resteraunt. We picked it because of the Turkish inspired modernist menu — I can have international anywhere.
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1A4A6741-Pano
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Gorgeous view. The party below at the bar was really hoping, including the pounding EDM.
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The menu. Unfortunately again I can’t do the tasting menu because it’s a whole table sort of thing.
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Wine of the night.
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Macakizi culinary garden salad. tomato, fennel, squash, fresh herbs.
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Cheese pizza-like bread.
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Sea bass Crudo. Compressed melon, buckwheat, yuzu vinaigrette, radish sprouts. very nice light acidic salty sea bass crudo. The cubed melon leant some nice texture and a hint of sweetness.
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Calamarata Pasta Cacio e Peppe with Blue Crab Meat. Crushed black peppercorns, parmesan, butter. Interesting combo which was effective. I might have liked the emulsion of the sauce a touch thicker, but the pasta was perfectly al dente and the pepper butter paired perfectly with the crab.

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Summer Tomato Risotto. Stracciatella, basil butter. Very nice “tomato sauce” flavored rissoto. Proper mancurata and starchy emulsion on the rice.
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Fire roasted sea bass. Wild greens, miso & smoked aubergine broth.
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Aged day boat Grouper. Morel mushroom, roasted chicken jus. The broth was a touch thin, so it didn’t cling to the firm meat like I might have liked. But overall pretty good.
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The dessert menu.
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Pavlova / Strawberry Compte / Buffalo Milk Yogurt Ice Cream / Yogurt Foam. The best of the 3 desserts and a quite lovely mix of sugary merignue and fruit.
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Creme Brulee / White Chocolate & Walnut Cake. Sort of halfway between a pastry and creme brulee, but very tasty.
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Pistachio & Dark Chocolate Bar / Bodrum Clementine Sorbet. The weakest of the 3 desserts, but still very nice. Good mix of soft and crunchy texture with the dark chocolate, pistachio, and orange tones very effective together.
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Overall, a great place. Atmosphere was lovely and the food was in the top 3 or so meals we’ve had in Turkey so far. One of us rated it their favorite, the next their second favorite. I think the desserts were the best we’ve had for sure. Apps and pastas were a bit stronger than the fish mains.

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For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Bodrum – Kitchen Bodrum
  2. Eating Bodrum – Blue
  3. Eating Bodrum – Sofra
  4. Eating Istanbul – Manzara
  5. Eating Istanbul – Pandeli
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Eating Bodrum, Eating Türkiye, Maçakizi, Turkish cusine

Blast from the Past

May04

Here is a serious blast from the past with an episode of Electric Playground I and the Naughty Dog team filmed over 25 years ago!

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Eating Bodrum – Sofra

May03

Restaurant: Sofra

Location: Mandarin Oriental. Gölköy Mahallesi, 314 Sokak No.10, 48483 Muğla, Türkiye

Date: June 24-25, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Turkish

Rating: Hotel restaurant, but good

_

Sofra is the Mararin Oriental Bodrum breakfast buffet — it’s pretty epic!
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The view.
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Breads.
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More breads.
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Pastries — they love pastries.
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Bready pastries.
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Donuts!
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Pide.
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Honeycomb.
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Zoom!
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Jams. Turks love sugar too.
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Not sure what these spices go on.
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Cheeses.
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Butters, etc.
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Meats.
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Quesadilla-like things.
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They are made here on the fly.
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Fried filled things.
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Fruits.
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Nuts.
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Milks.
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Cereal.
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Olives. They actually have few mezze here — which is an odd ommision.
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Salads.
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Greens.
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Cured fish.
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Lemon & lime.
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dumplings!
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They weren’t that great.
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Vegetarian dumplings.
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Miso soup.
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Omelet fillings.
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Haloumi cheese.
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Veggies.
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Snausages.
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Mushrooms.
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Different Snausages.
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Potatoes.
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Coffee.
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Gluten free bread – sad.
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Supposed ketogenic GF pastries — but they actually use date syrup and maple syrup so they are fully sugared.
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Juices.
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Yogurts.
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Scrambled eggs.
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Omelet.
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Turkish Eggs!
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Pancakes.

Pretty awesome buffet breakfast.

For more Turkish dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Bodrum – Kitchen Bodrum
  2. Eating Bodrum – Blue
  3. Eating Jerusalem – Inbal Breakfast
  4. Eating Kuşadası – Oksa
  5. Eating Ephesus – Local Lunch
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Eating Bodrum, Eating Türkiye, Sofra, Turkish cusine
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