The restaurants I've been to!

[Joanbunting Profile]

Coconut Ice Gill? My Gran used to make it

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

That's the stuff. Well done Joan.
I used to adore it when mum and dad came back with slices upon slices in folded wax paper.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Coconut ice Gill

I remember coconut pyramids made to use up egg white but we didn’t chocolate dip

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Well done, Sue.
I've never heard of, nor seen coconut pyramids tho. I'd probably like that too - even your mum's Sakkers.

[Amyw Profile]

I'm not over keen on coconut and chocolate together although like them both individually. If I'm having the count as part of a dessert, I'd much rather have it with fruit of some kind. Have had a lovely coconut pannacotta before with a mango purée. Absolutely gorgeous and the two are a great combination

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Coconut pyramids...…………..now there's another blast from the past - along with bread pud………...lovely little pyramids with a glace cherry 'nose' on top - another after school treat!

[Binky Profile]

Haven't been here yet, but we are booked into TAS Turkish Restaurant Bloomsbury (London) on Sunday at lunch time. Round the corner from the British Museum, scores 5 on the Food Cleanliness board and serves lots of veggie options. I have high hopes for this and will report back.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I quite like Tas generally, though given the chance I go to my neighbourhood independent Turkish restaurants

However, in my experience is that’s by far the best branch of Tas, and I’ve twice been there with a vegetarian who has done well (or it would have been once!)

Enjoy.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Enjoy that lunch, Binky.
On the way from the train station to a Bristol art class this week, there was a super veggie place for lunch. Tutan-Come-In.
I usually take my own lunch in, but did have the tofu with cabbage one day.

Delicious, I still cannot identify the leafy herb.

[Binky Profile]

TAS was excellent. Lovely ambience, snow white linen on the tables, tables not too close. We ambled down from the British Museum (5 mins walk) and were seated straight away. Very nice staff, efficient service and would heartily recommend.

Not having tried Turkish food before, we opted for the meze menu for 2. Lots of lovely chickpeas, bulgar salad, mushroom and tomato dish, yogurt, hummous, stuffed vine leaves, borek and a basket of bread.

The only slight disappointment was the Turkish wine. A bit too strong tasting for me, and I will stick with the Pinot Grigio in future.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Sounds great, Binky.
We had Lebanese once, which was headache inducing forrus.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

How was Lebanese food “headache inducing”?

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Ah, the wine, not the food. I wasn't clear,
just trotting on from Binky's comment that the Turkish wine was strong tasting.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Ah, yes, I can understand that
Spent a week in Lebanon and 10 days in Syria (essentially the same cuisine) and ate very well but much as I like Musar and some of the Ksara wines the reds can be heavy duty

Binky, in my experience Turkish wine is generally drinkable but unexceptional I like the best known, Yakut Kavaklidere because I first drank it on the beach watching a spectacular sunset after spending the day going round Ephesus. I think without that association, not so special!

[Alexandria Profile]

Wednesday.

Last night we had an extraordinary dinner at:
FRADES LA SARDEGNA IN BOTTEGA
Porto Cervo, Sardinia

The incredibly enchating seaviews of the Cala di Volpe, with
the spectacular blue green sea are breathtakingly beautiful.

The cuisine, is regional Sardinian.

The main course, Cassola, a seafood stew, is traditionally prepared with at least six different fish and shellfish. It is traditional, that fisherman devises a récipe for cassola as he preuses the day´s catch .. This is a slow flame cooked ancient coastal dish.

Highlights:
A Vernaccia to start off with ( local White wine of Porto Cervo )
Prosecco to accompany our dinner
Crisp Pane Carasau or Music Paper bread
Cassola: a seafood stew prepared with fresh clams, red ripe tomatoes, Evoo, fresh squid, garlic, White wine, chili pepper, fish stock broth, assorted fresh fish and jumbo sized prawns.
Sardinian artisanal cheeses and fresh seasonal summer fruits served
Sardinian Port

Definitely, an evening to remember ..

[jeral Profile]

Member 461, sounds wonderful I notice very fishy though and reminded me that I didn't give an update on my vegan friends' visit to a Greek Island.

They were fine for food in shops to cook at home but regrettably had to revert to vegetarianism when eating out as dairy was such an integral part of the cuisine. It didn't stop them thoroughly enjoying their visit and waving a tearful farewell while wishing they could stay for longer.

[Binky Profile]

The Sardinian fish stew sounds lovely. Am I right in thinking that nearly all Mediterranean countries have a version of 'fishermans stew'? We have been making a similar dish ourselves for years, lots of white fish, prawns, garlic, tomatoes, onions and fish sauce. Tastes wonderful (and can't wait for the cooler weather to make the stew again).

We went to Sardinia a long time ago, in our early twenties. In the hotel, a waiter came round asking if we wanted parmesan on our pasta. OH had never tasted proper parmesan (we nearly all bought those drums of ready-grated parmesan that smelled like horrible old socks). The fresh parmesan was a total revelation for him, and he's been an enthusiastic grater ever since (even bought himself a microplane to do the job).

[Alexandria Profile]

Jeral,

Pleased to hear that your Friends had a lovely time in Greece,

You had never mentioned exactly where they went as you know there are 2.000 islands in addition Greece is quite a
large country stretching from the northern frontier of Macedonia, all the way close to Romania and Turkey.

So there is a wide regiónal
as well as the Aegean and Ionic Islands ( by ferry 50 minutes by Ferry from Bari, Puglia ) food cultures.

Dolmades = grape leaves filled with long grain Greek rice and currants, and herbs with lemon and Evoo are a national Mezze.

Olives, salads galore, tomatoes, hummus, aubergine .. Tons of fresh fruit .. Flat breads as well for the Mezze.

Have a nice summer ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Binky,

There are millions of variations of shellfish, finned scaled fish and seafood stews in Italy, Marseille, coastal regions of Spain, The Basque Country and Portugal.

The main similarity is the earthenware vessel or terracotta (cazuela in Spanish ) that the dish is prepared in ) ..

1 ) Brodetto = It is what they call an Abruzzo Bouillabaisse .. These are the ingredients: John Dory fish or similar, Monkfish, Rougette, Ray fish, Squid, Norway bay lobsters, tomatoes, red and Green bell, chili pepper, garlic, White wine, salt and fresh ground black pepper.

2) Cacciucco di Pesce = Livorno, Tuscany (coast) Sword fish, eel, tomato, garlic, parsley, salt and black freshly ground pepper, Evoo of course, fish broth from fish stock, White wine, basil and onion, carrot, celery.

3) Sardinian Cassola ..

4) The Marseille Provençal Bouillabaisse.

And there are uncountable seafood stews in Galicia, Northern Costa Brava, Cádiz, the whole coast of Portugal, Greece, Croatia etcetra ..

Have a lovely evening and Thank you for sharing your time in Sardinia. I shall write more about our trip from Porto Cervo to Costa Smeralda and our dinner later. Still very early ..
We never eat dinner dinner before 21.00. We shall head down to the Hotel Bar for a wine and a walk on the beach before dinner ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Thursday.

LA GRITTA
Porto Faro, Palau, Sardinia ..

Firstly, this is absolutely one of the most amazingly impecable pristine and stunningly gorgeous regions of Sardinia that we have visited.

The location is breathtakingly beautiful. Located on the Porto Faro, where the ferries take one to the Archipelago Maddalena, where there are two incredibly amazing islands, Maddalena and Caprera. The restaurant, spa hotel is positioned with priceless seaviews, and one can actually see Corsica.

The specialties are very simple, what ever is freshly caught .. Today, it was splendidly superb fresh mussels in a Tagiliatelli Pasta di Mare and an antipasti consisting of a wide variety of local artisanal products.

The main catch of the day was the John Dory (Saint Pierre) which this archipelago is renowned for.

My dear had the John Dory and I tasted a forkbite, and it was exquisitely sublime.

If ever in this área, just a few kilometres from Costa Smeralda, (approx. 20 -30 minutes north on coast ), this is truly unforgettable.

Have a lovely weekend.