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Eating Hoi An – Riverside

Apr15

Location: Hoi An

Date: March 25, 2014

Cuisine: International

Rating: Great Location

Our second hotel, in the scenic “ancient city” of Hoi An is the Anantara Hotel (a great hotel in general). Like most resort hotels, it features a buffet breakfast.

The second floor setting is amazing. A lovely breeze blows off the river beyond.

Various (semi) exotic juices.

Including this one I’ve never tried.

Lots of fresh fruit. Vietnam is a very wet and green place, and full of silty rivers, which means its fabulous farmland.

Fresh rambutans.

And Dragonfruit!

Not your everyday fruit salad.

The bananas here are little, but tasty.

Fresh yogurts.

Salad.

Cheese.

Cold cuts.

Packaged yogurts.

Cereal.

Pad Thai. On different days, this was different noodles and the like.

Congee again, and the requisite toppings.

Chicken.

bacon (two kinds).

Baked beans again, I guess for the Brits. And chicken sausage.

Pork sausage and pancakes.

An omelet bar.

Pickled vegetables (very good actually).

The Pho station! It’s never too early for Pho.

Here is the result.

Oh, and being a former French colony, Vietnam has great pastries.

And coffee.

Overall, this was a pleasant breakfast. If we hadn’t just come from the amazing Saigon Intercontinental one, it might even be great.

For more Vietnam dining reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Asia, eating-vietnam, Hoi An, Travel and Tourism, Vietnam

Good Morning Vietnam

Mar23

Restaurant: Hotel Intercontinental Saigon

Location: Saigon

Date: March 22-24, 2014

Cuisine: Vietnamese / International

Rating: First rate buffet

Having arrived at 2am, my first meal of the trip was breakfast, in this case at our hotel, the Intercontinental Saigon. Right off the bat the buffet looked impressive.

Fresh squeezed juices.

Cane sugar syrup for sweetener!

The French presence in Vietnam may have been miserable for the country, but it did leave them an excellent baking tradition. The custard stuffed beignets on the left were particularly delicious.

Cereals.

Bread.

A selection of nice meats and cheeses.

Including pate (at least two sorts).

Smoked fish.

Various salads, including kimchi.

And exotic (and not so exotic) fruits.

Stewed fruits.

Enough with that healthy stuff, onto the seared pork products.

And the omelet station.

But it’s really the Asian fare I came for.

Baked beans!

Two kinds!

Then corn and chicken.

And Vietnamese beef stew.

Indian curry.

Stir-fried noodles.

Veggies and Char Sui (fatty BBQ pork). Great pork BTW.

Chicken and veggies.

Special coconut sticky rice.

Glazed ham.

Every Chinese’s favorite breakfast: congee (rice porridge).

With the toppings…

like thousand year old egg.

And this other pickled egg.

Or pork bits. No grubs though (a favorite in China).

Pork meatballs with fish sauce (excellent).

Condiments for this soup station.

And two kinds of noodles for the soup.

And wantons.

Which all combines like this. Really nice.

For the Japanese, some sushi (mostly various pickles).

And chicken teriyaki.

Tamago (Japanese omelet).

Then a build your own miso station. This buffet loves soups!

Tofu with mince pork.

And various trimmings.

The result tasted lovely, Very interesting blend of fresh and savory flavors.

Condiments for beef rolls.

More.

And more.

The actual beef rolls themselves.

And assembled with all the trimmings on the plate. You pour fish sauce over this and eat.

because we haven’t had enough soup (or choices), the Pho station.

Which comes out like this. Fresh noodles, beef, and lots of sweet and sour flavor!

If you’ve any room left, there is always some dessert!

What you can only partially tell from the photos is that this is a buffet managed with meticulous care. Everything tastes great!

For more Vietnam dining reviews, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Asia, eating-vietnam, Ho Chi Minh, Ho Chi Minh City, Hotel Intercontinental Saigon, Travel and Tourism, Vietnam

Cocoa Island – Decadent Dinner

Apr24

Restaurant: Cocoa Island

Location: Maldives. Tel +960 6641818 Fax +960 6641919 Email res@cocoaisland.como.bz

Date: March 16-22, 2012

Cuisine: International

Rating: International Flair

We head back to Cocoa Island (and its single restaurant) to cover the last meal of the day. If you missed the endless breakfast, find it here or the spectacular Languorous Lunch.

Usually we ate on the beach. Even at night the temperature hovered around 80.

This is our jumbo long table.

For dinner, the restaurant has two common configurations. Seafood BBQ and ala carte. The BBQ isn’t available every night but the menu is.

The BBQ consists of a number of stations plus the above grilling station. You can order up as much of whatever variety of sea creatures you can stomach.

There is also a “salad” table.

This includes basic sushi. The variety might not be up to LA sushi standards, but the quality of the fish was very high.

Oysters on the half shell.

Various oyster sauces and little shooters of ceviche.

Crab shooters.

A seafood salad.

Papaya and mussel salad.

Another seafood salad. In general these were very light.

Broccoli and almonds.

Potatos.

Grilled vegetables.

Greek salad.

A grain salad.

Raddichio salad.

Classic prosciutto and melon — and this in a country that is supposed to have no ham.

Cheese and fruit.

Crackers.

Then we come back to the seafood grill. There are fish, lobsters, big prawns, tuna slabs, etc.

Any of them could be grilled up on command served with various sauces.

Then there was the regular menu.

This was a gazpacho.

Served with avocado.

“Cold smoked yellowfin tuna, oyster cream, apple & mint.” Lovely presentation.

“Duck liver parfait, spiced oranges & toasted brioche.” This was as good as any chicken liver I’ve had. Yum.

They had lovely breads here, particularly the naan.

“Black ink noodles with sautéed squid, chorizo & chili ink sauce.” Good stuff!

“Roast tomato, buffalo mozzarella & basil risotto with lemon & shaved fennel.”

“Baby chicken Biriyani with mint raita, tomato & red onion salad.” Chicken pot pie, Indian style. Inside, under the crust, was a a mixture of rice and chicken. It was pretty delicious.

“Basil oil poached snapper, bean, olive, caper, lemon & dill salsa with Jerusalem artichokes.”

The dessert menu.

This is actually a kind of flan with spiced pears and a homemade ice cream. It was darn good.

Homemade ice cream, always good.

One of us wanted some whipped creme, so they whipped it up to order.

It’s pretty amazing that a restaurant can do this breath of styles with such excellent execution, but they did. Everything I had was great, and the same 2-3 guys in the kitchen did it all (even the breakfast, lunch, desserts, and baking!).

For more dining reviews click here.

dec

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Barbecue, bbq, Cocoa Island, Dessert, Maldives, Restaurant, Salad, Seafood, Sri Lanka, Travel and Tourism

Cocoa Island – Languorous Lunch

Apr21

Restaurant: Cocoa Island

Location: Maldives. Tel +960 6641818 Fax +960 6641919 Email res@cocoaisland.como.bz

Date: March 16-22, 2012

Cuisine: International

Rating: ?

We head back to Cocoa Island (and its single restaurant) to cover the second meal of the day. If you missed the endless breakfast, find it here.

Here in paradise the view from the lunch table doesn’t suck. One could eat outside there too, but it was pretty hot, like 94 degrees and humid. The food, however, was anything but tepid. It’s highly varied and international with an Indian slant fitting the location.

Tuna carpaccio with arugala and olives. Like nearly everything at the restaurant this was impeccably fresh and tasty.

Caprese salad.

Salad with beets and mozzarella.

An amazing “squid salad” with light fresh squid and a zesty vinaigrette.

Caesar salad with anchovies and spec.

Raddiccio salad. As you can see, there are a few salad options!

This typical frozen mock-tail was amazing for those with a sweet tooth. Strawberry passionfruit!

Spider roll. Fried softshell crab roll.

Some dipping sauces and ginger. The left is soy, the right a spicy mayo.

California roll made with shrimp. I like the wasabi balls.

Grilled blue fin tuna and potatoes. Sort of deconstructed salad niscose. The tuna was again perfectly fresh.

Fried calamari. Crisp and succulent.

A lot of folk went for the burger which had a kind of curried caramelized onions on it and came with salad and fries.

Goan fish curry. Local “job fish” stewed in fresh curry with Naan (house baked) and bismati rice.

Nasi Goreng. A kind of Indonesian fried rice with egg, chicken satay, mixed seafood, cucumbers, and a spicy peanut sauce. Not light, but it sure was good!

Chicken Tikka Masala. Also awesome.

We caught some local fish and they grilled them up.

And steamed some with ginger, garlic, and scallions.

Even this ugly barracuda.

And made these into fresh fish curry!

The bread was great too.

And the fries.

Plus one, day, I ordered this passionfruit semifreddo which was superb.

For more dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Asia, Cocoa butter, Cocoa Island, Cocoa IslandLocation, Cook, Indian cuisine, lunch, Maldives, Resort, Salad, Sri Lanka, Travel and Tourism

Cocoa Island – Endless Breakfast

Apr17

Restaurant: Cocoa Island

Location: Maldives. Tel +960 6641818 Fax +960 6641919 Email res@cocoaisland.como.bz

Date: March 16-22, 2012

Cuisine: International

Rating: Mindblowing Hotel Breakfast in paradise

One of my oldest and best friend’s wedding brought us literally across the world to Cocoa Island in the Maldives. This little slice of paradise is an atol about two feet tall in the Indian Ocean not far from the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka.

As you can see, it was hardship duty. Completely equatorial the weather is about 88 degrees day and night year round. The ocean is about 18 inches deep and around… you guessed it… 88 degrees. Above is the view from the restaurant, which brings us to my favorite topic, food. The food at this resort was incredible, and best of all was the breakfast. It was included with the room and you could order as much as you liked. This led us to term it “endless breakfast.”

There was a cold buffet plus this menu. Again, you could order one thing, two things, or ten things.

But one must begin with a cappuccino. Or three.

The cereal section of the buffet.

They had great baked goods.

And jams.

And fruit.

The yoghurt with fruit was incredible. Rich and unpasteurized. The fruit juice was pretty spectacular too.

We’ll start with some classic Indian breakfast. Potato masala dosa (below) with daal (lentil curry) and some kind of creamy sauce.

The ultra crisp potato filled fried crepe.

Maldivian egg curry. You spoon it out onto the crepes. There is coconut on the side too.

A fantastic egg’s benedict.

And a frittata.

Or straight up eggs, bacon, and hash browns. This ain’t no MacDonalds.

They had these amazing flatbreads. This is cottage cheese, tomato, arugala, and avocado.

Or this one with top grade salmon and cottage cheese.

Or this meet and cheese plate.

Or a bit of fresh sliced mango.

Then come the starches. These incredible waffles.

Or French toast. You can see what I mean when I say the food was fantastic.

One day I spent nine hours (no exaggeration) at the table. Not only was the food continuous and great, but so was the ever changing parade of dining companions. Truly, the ultimate endless breakfast.

A review of lunch can be found here and dinner here at this incredible resort.

For more dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Asia, baking, Breakfast, Cocoa Island, India, Indian cuisine, Indian Ocean, Maldives, Resort, Sri Lanka, Travel and Tourism

Eating Cinque Terre – Gianni Franzi

Jul28

Restaurant: Gianni Franzi

Location: Vernazza, Italy

Date: June 27, 2011

Cuisine: Ligurian

Rating: Solid local lunch

ANY CHARACTER HERE

We took a little train ride down to Cinque Terre, a very pretty region of five small towns clustered by the sea.

The second of these is Vernazza, which is accessible only by train or boat. Picturesque as you can see. In typical Italian fashion transport doesn’t really run during lunch so we were forced to stop and eat. I just chose a likely looking place by feel.

The menu.

The patio looks back on the harbor in the above establishing shot.

A caraffe of local white was totally drinkable.

This place puts the pesto on top, which is unusual. This is spaghetti genovese (known here as pesto).

Trofei Genovese.

Seafood ravioli. These were stuffed with fish and in a tomato based fish sauce. Very tasty actually, but not for the landlubber as it had a bit of a briny flavor.

This is minestrone Genovese. The waitress scolded me for ordering it with a pasta dish as there are technically pasta bits in here — but who cares. In any case, this is a very pesto minestrone, and pretty typical of the dish. Good though, as I LOVE pesto and could eat like 10 pastas in one meal.

Overall, a totally satisfying quick little lunch.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cinque Terre, eating-italy, Geographical Areas, Gianni Franzi, Italian cuisine, Italy, Liguria, pasta, Pasta Genovese, Pesto, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Travel and Tourism, Vernazza, Wine

Eating Santa Margherita – Miramare Breakfast

Jul26

Restaurant: Grand Hotel Miramare (Breakfast)

Location: Santa Margherita, Italy

Date: June 26-29, 2011

Cuisine: Ligurian

Rating: Mid level Italian breakfast

ANY CHARACTER HERE

As I’ve written about earlier, almost all hotels in Italy include buffet breakfast. The Grand Hotel Miramare is no exception.

This is the same dining terrace as we ate dinner at on the previous evening.

And the view still doesn’t suck.

The have cappuccino and juice as always.

Various sausages, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes.

Italian bacon. Eggs.

Breads.

Juices.

Yogurt.

Cereals.

A few cakes and jams, although nothing compared to the cake selection at the Adriatic beach hotel.

Fruit and cheese.

And a closeup of the cheese. Missing here, oddly for Italy, were the cured meats like Prosciutto.

My plate. A bit of protein, a bit of cake.

This local cake was really interesting. Not only did it have various dried fruits inside (raisons and some other stuff), but it had fennel seeds!

Overall this breakfast, while totally fine, was a bit of a disappointment considering the level of the hotel. The more commercial Palace Hotel (here for breakfast) we stayed at earlier in the trip had a much more extensive buffet, with even a slightly higher ingredient level. Even the Real Fini (here for breakfast) may have had a few more options, although the breakfasts were fairly comparable.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Adriatic Sea, Breakfast, Brunch, Cake, Cinque Terre, eating-italy, Hotel, Italian cuisine, Italy, Liguria, Prosciutto, Santa Margherita, Santa Margherita Ligure, Travel and Tourism

Eating Florence – La Cantinetta Antinori

Jul10

Restaurant: La Cantinetta Antinori

Location: Florence, Italy

Date: June 17, 2011

Cuisine: Modern Tuscan

Rating: Slick and tasty

ANY CHARACTER HERE

On our first trip to Florence (we went thrice) we met up with an Italian friend and her family and they brought us to the Antinori wine empire’s casual enoteca, where they combine slick modernized Tuscan food with a large selection of excellent wines.

The lovely room in Palazzo Antinori.

A nice light quafable mineral laced white. We went through about half a bottle a person at lunch!

The menu. Sorry the meat courses are out of focus.

Assorted bruschetta, Tuscan standard.

Insalta Caprese. Tomato and buffalo mozzarella. Basil and olive oil.

Panzanella. Traditional Tuscan salad of soaked stale bread, tomato, basil, onions, olive oil.

The ubiquitous Insalta Misto.

Taglierini agli scampi freschi. Thin noodles with tomato, basil, garlic and you guessed it, a giant crayfish creature.

Fagioli. Tuscan fava beans and olive oil.

Sea bass, capers, sun dried tomatos, potatoes.

Pounded veal in mushroom sauce.

Filetto di manzo. Beef filet and potatoes.

Almond semifreddo with caramel. This is SO up my dessert alley. Creamy and sweet. Oh yes. Oh yes.

Expresso, to counter the copious amount of wine I consumed.

This was a nice place. Not radical, not staid. Fitting of a hot spot in Florence, it’s basically traditional Tuscan fare with 10% modernization. Given the quality of the ingredients and the base cuisine, this is more than enough for a great meal.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Antinori, Bruschetta, Chianti, Dessert, eating-italy, Florence, Food, Insalata Caprese, Italian cuisine, Italy, La Cantinetta Antinori, Olive oil, Panzanella, pasta, Pasta e fagioli, Tomato, Travel and Tourism, Tuscany, Wine

Eating San Gimignano – La Griglia

Jul08

Restaurant: Ristorante La Griglia

Location: San Gimignano, Italy

Date: June 16, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan Tourist

Rating: Mediocre

ANY CHARACTER HERE

We visited San Gimignano, as nearly all tourists in our part of Tuscany do.

This is an interesting town, fairly unique in that it is filled with medieval “skyscrapers” (watch towers) which seemed to have been some kind of antique masonry version of keeping up with the Joneses (or Jocominis in this case). Because of this unusual attraction the town is a bit over touristed, but it’s still worth visiting.

We chose a lunch place at random, which did in general work very well on this trip, but in this cast ended us up with the second worst genuine lunch of the month. I’ll exclude a couple of quickie stops at Panini places to grab a ham and cheese that are not worthy of the Eating Italy blog.

Here is a tuna salad, more or less a kind of Salade Niçoise. With anchovies too.

Pizza Margherita. Probably frozen, the crust tasted like cardboard.

A salad with ham.

Minestrone soup. Not even close to as good as the one at Trattoria Pepei or Pizzeria Il Rifugio (another random lunch pick).

Spaghetti pomodoro. Looks like what it is, mediocre.

Meat tortellini in ragu. This was tolerable, but fairly uninspired.

Pizza fungi (mushroom) with ham/prosciutto. Mediocre crust and ingredients.

Overall, this place was just mediocre. Not that it was even really that bad, but considering the sea of excellent meals over the month, and the fact that many random lunch picks were very enjoyable (like Lo Sfizio di Bianchi) it was just catering to tourists and weak.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chianti, Cooking, Italian cuisine, Italy, Pizza, San Gimignano, Siena, Travel and Tourism, Tuscany, Vernaccia

Eating Modena – Real Fini Breakfast

Jun12

Restaurant: Hotel Real Fini Via Emilia

Location: Modena, Italy

Date: June 5-8, 2011

Cuisine: Breakfast Buffet

Rating: Typical Italian Hotel Breakfast

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Italian hotels almost always include breakfast. The Real Fini in Modena’s is extremely typical of mid range hotels.

Cappuccino is always available, and unlike in the states is free and not $8. Plus, they know how to make a decent one at nearly any place in Italy.

There are very few hot items, just some scrambled eggs and a meat or two (sausage or ham). But there are lots of typical dry northern Italian cakes and cereal.