About once or twice a year, we exclaim 'wow' when consuming food at a restaurant. On this trip, we were saying 'wow' almost every day.
The WOW highlights:
Often the setting added greatly to the experience. We did try to keep it short - too hard.
Dubai –This is where it started - The bread basket as part of our lunch - Paul's Boulangerie , Dubai Mall (It is hard to find bread like this in Adelaide)
Turkey
Fish sandwich - simple, cheap and very tasty - under Galata Bridge, Istanbul
Turkish breakfast - 6 types of olives, 3 types of cheese, cured meats, boiled egg, salad, bread and jam
Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice
Turkish Delight from the Spice Bazaar, Istanbul
Slow cooked lamb, Kiva, near Galata Tower Istanbul
Dessert at Gunlukluk, Dalyan - set among trees near a fast flowing canal - The dessert was Kunefe - This sweet and savory Levantine cheese pastry is hard to avoid in Turkey; you can smell the street vendors frying it up from blocks away. Kunefe is made from a stretchy, unsalted fresh melting cheese called hatay found only in this region. The cheese is coated in sugar syrup-soaked phyllo shreds called kadayıf (the same ones used to make some varieties of baklava, as described above), and fried until crisp. Its appeal is the contrasting textures of the crunchy exterior against the soft, melty interior. It can be topped with pistachios, kaymak (clotted cream) or ice cream—or simply eaten on its own, preferably while still piping hot.
Trout lunch at Yesil Vadi this mountain restaurant is situated near a fast moving mountain spring. The water is the clearest we've ever seen. Magical, the water splashes down over small weirs. Seating is on wooden platforms over the water. We had salad, sweet potato chips, followed by a freshly caught whole trout. So delicious.
Hunkar Begendi (Sultan's Delight), a lamb stew served on a bed of creamy puréed eggplant at Remzi's Dalyan
Stew called Testi cooked in terracotta pots which are broken open in front of us, very dramatic.
Savoury and sweet Pancakes, on the other side of the river, Dalyan
Sunset Special House overlooking Aegean sea and distant islands. A garden restaurant in owner's front yard. Food was fabulous, succulent grilled chicken, carrot salad, Hacapuri (cheese pie), pepper Meatballs. Plus impromptu music from Irish trio, Life O'Riley.
Seafood platter for lunch, Mama Miki, Rhodes Island, (scampi, whitebait, mussels, octopus, calamari and salad)
London
Porridge with stewed fruit, soft boiled egg, bowl of coffee for breakfast, Le Pain Quotidien
10 Greek Street, Soho - Hake with crab stuffed zucchini flowers, lamb with veges
Tapas-like serves at Gail's Kitchen, Ortiz sardines and tomato aioli, squid and chickpeas with Persian lemon stew, Sticky chicken, porchetta with broad beans and anchovy cream.
Cotswolds, UK
Whitebait, Two Brewers, pub in Marlow
Hand and Flowers 2 star Michelin Pub - Smoked haddock omelet, Crispy Pig's Head warm pie, slow cooked duck breast with peas, duck fat chips, and herb baked Scottish halibut with crab Hollandaise sauce, toasted cucumber and garden salad. Dessert - bitter orange soufflé with sweet toasted orange cardamom and ice cream.
12 hour braised brisket with root vegetables, mash and greens, Salthouse Dun Cow, N Norfolk
Entree of smoked haddock on toast, grilled whiting, pork chop at Wheatsheaf Pub in Northleech
Paris
Street market French Nougat - 10 different types.
Chez Jaafer- Tunisian restaurant, great home cooked food. Their home made Harissa is The best. Chicken and lamb with figs - Tagines are full of flavour while the couscous is light and nourishing
Le Comptoir 5 course set menu.Started with Parmesan gougere, savoury biscuit, curry bread (crunchy and delicious), crab dish, octopus dish, duck, round of cheese with chilli jelly, berry conserve or honey - decadent and delicious, dessert of strawberries, meringue, sorbet.
Berthillion ice cream - Rue Saint Louis en l'ile Paris- it was worth queuing for half an hour for this creamy, mouth watering ice cream.
Umbria (Italy)
We were impressed with the fresh local food, in season available in the local delis and restaurants. Many restaurants included how many kilometres their food had travelled, 0 in most cases.
2 visits to Il Gallo nel Pozzo, a delightful restaurant in the piazza of the beautiful hilltop town of Panicale. We ate here twice and on both occasions the food was delicious and the service friendly and helpful. The food has a Sicilian influence from Chef Lorena. Simone, front of house offers great suggestions and excellent service. We felt part of the family, which also includes Aldo who runs the Bar Gallo just across the square.
Dinner at Il Casale, just out of Pancione. Another private house in the hills overlooking the plain and lake.
Antipasti of salamis, prosciutto, truffle cheese; secondi of pastas (bean gnocchi with asparagus and small shrimp; tomato and bacon, ravioli with spinach and sage); main wild boar. Lovely setting with sunset, sitting on the patio with young couples and large families and children running around.
Pizza with Thin layered base - simple and tasty topping at L'Oca Bruciata (The Burnt Goose) in Paciano. The owner even drove Joel back to Panicale to collect the car.
Lazy lunch at Coccorone, in Montefalco - Ancovies on toast, prosciutto with buffalo mozzarella, 2 pastas, melt in the mouth rabbit, 3 people shared a huge steak cooked on open fire. And washed down with a Montefalco wine.
A lunch at La Porta restaurant in Monticchiello - on a hot sunny day we sat on the balcony at La Porta restaurant and ate an antipasto of cold meats which included a brawn and melted sheep cheese with shaved truffles. Risotta with smoked goose and pici pasta with duck ragu.
The 3 local delis in Panicale were stocked with local cured meats, cheeses and the local unsalted bread. They were extremely generous in providing tastings from their extensive larder. The porchetta from the local butcher was incredible.
