Eating Across Europe (Part 3 - Final One)

Our last two stops on this European food tour are Barcelona and Prague. Although I spent the same number of days in Barcelona as Madrid, I actually didn’t have much of a foodie experience. I don’t think Barcelona’s food scene is any less awesome than Madrid, but I think I got distracted by all the fantastical Gaudí architecture. I even asked a walking tour guide what dish Barcelona was known for and she only talked about bread with tomato spread. Hrm. Nevertheless I loved Barcelona. The first night at Casa Gracia, which is an awesome hostel despite all the reconstruction that’s happening in it right now, Samantha and I got a free dinner ‘cause we had to wait so long to check in (darn you reconstruction). We got tapas and sangria for free, so we didn’t complain. Typically a dinner at Casa Gracia is €8 so it’s a bit expensive, but I think it’s all you can eat. As for the other picture, it’s of an apple and goat cheese salad I had at Caputxes. I ended up eating there just ‘cause Sam and I were hanging out with some other travelers and they just chose the place. It ain’t cheap, but this is the most impressive goat cheese salad I’ve ever had. I mean, c’mon there’s a crème brulee like caramelization on the goat cheese. Impressive.

I’d also like to bring your attention to Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria. Although this market is pretty popular with tourists, I had no idea of its existence until I stumbled upon it (Sam and I might have been lost for a bit and wandered the streets). We only ended up getting juice (I had a coconut and dragon fruit juice that tasted like vomit to me, but I can assure you that Sam enjoyed her strawberry and banana juice), nevertheless I really enjoyed the market’s atmosphere. It was such a feast for the eyes! One of my favorite stalls was the candy stall (as you can see from the pictures) ‘cause there were so many different kinds in different shapes and colors.

One last place I’d like to mention in Barcelona is Santa Gula (sadly no pictures). This adorable café is kind of hidden and Sam and I only found it ‘cause we got lost trying to find our hostel (seems like getting lost leads to great discoveries). The food is tasty and I especially loved their freshly squeezed orange juice. Pamela, who seems to always be there, is a fantastic server and just a lovely motherly figure. She was so sweet to us and made us feel at home. The décor is very minimal with some fun black and white cartoons drawn on the windows and entrance. This is a great place to read or write ‘cause of its environment and soft jazz playlist. If I lived in Barcelona, Santa Gula would definitely be a café I’d frequent.

Now to our last stop: Prague! Samantha and I had only one full day to explore the city (poor planning skills), so we wanted to take advantage of everything—I ended up limping by the end of the day. Anywho, we got to try Trdelník. As we were walking down from the royal palace (located conveniently on a huge hill), we stumbled upon a little café that was baking these fun pastries and decided to have a taste. There’s apparently almonds, cinnamon, walnuts, coconut, and peanuts in its crunchy crust. I just loved how it was in the shape of a giant tube. As for the taste, it tasted like a soft pretzel with sweet, crunchy crust. It’s very simple and fun to pull apart and also very cheap!

We also got to have a full traditional Czech meal thanks the wonderful recommendation made by our walking tour guide, Chris, at Krčma. I had the kravi platek na smetane celtovy knedlec lesnie bobule. Translation: marinated beef roasted with root veggies in creamy sauce, dumplings and cranberries (Chris recommended that dish). What an interesting and tasty dish! When I got my plate, all I could see was sauce. There was meat and “dumplings”, but they were drowned in this lovely sweet and savory sauce. Oh, and apparently the Czech version of dumplings looks and tastes like soft white bread. Who knew? The food was decently priced, which was also a huge plus. I loved the tavern-like décor of the whole place and felt like I should have ordered a huge pint of beer just ‘cause of the environment. They also serve absinthe here, but as curious as I was I wasn’t in the mood (then again, I’m never quite in the mood to drink alcohol… My liver loves me for that).

So that pretty much sums up all my food experiences in Europe (not including London). It was really fun trying new things and I know I’ll be traveling in Europe in the future and have opportunities to try more. When I finally go to France one day, you can expect a crazy long entry for sure.

Eating Across Europe (Part 2)

Madrid, Madrid, Madrid. To be honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Madrid—one of the factors being that it was so modern. Whenever I travel, I like to be in cities or towns where I can feel and see its history and culture. Madrid felt too similar to a generic western city. Sure, you can spot bits of history here and there, but the architecture doesn’t scream individuality to me (like Lisbon did). With all that being said, it is still a very lovely city and, to my surprise looking back, I ate a lot of wonderful food! I actually have to write an entry on Madrid alone because I have so many pictures just from this city!

One of the first restaurants I had the pleasure at eating at was Fatigas del Querer. One of the guys working at our hostel (“Way Hostel” for those who wanted to know) recommended it and I’m glad he did. The price was decent (€6-7 for an entrée) and everything was served in a generous size. I think the dishes were meant to be eaten family style, but Samantha and I didn’t know that at first. I had the huevos estrellados con jamon, which was basically two sunny side eggs over cured bacon and a heap of fries. I didn’t expect the fries. As tasty as it was, it was extremely rich and heavy. I didn’t do my arteries any favors that night. Samantha had a chicken dish with thick cut bacon on top and a salad on the side. Although the restaurant gave us a breadbasket and olives, we were wary about having any because of our past experience in Lisbon and being charged. Our last meal was also eaten at Fatigas and we shared a paella and tuna salad. The paella was okay. The chicken was overcooked and hard and the seafood wasn’t particularly fantastic, but the rice itself was cooked well. The restaurant’s environment was really nice though and I loved the tile work on the walls.

Enough talk about decently priced food and let’s move onto cheap food! My friend, Jessyka, took Sam and me to El Tigre for some tapas and sangria one night and everything was only €5 per person! WHAT?! I’m talking a giant mug of sangria and three large plates of tapas. I got my fill and the sangria, which was my first ever, was fantastic. It wasn’t that boozy, which I actually appreciated. The place was packed and rightfully so.

Another savory place I visited was Charcuteria Desde, which Sam and I passed by on our walking tour. There’s nothing really special about the place other than it’s 176 YEARS OLD! I just snagged a simple baguette sandwich with chorizo ‘cause I just wanted to say I got food from such an old shop. What’s really cool about Madrid is that there are plaques on the ground honoring restaurants and shops that are more than a hundred years old and Desde is a proud owner of one.

Our last savory stop is someplace I didn’t eat. It’s Mercado de San Miguel! This fantastic market is bursting with fresh food, especially seafood. I didn’t eat here ‘cause frankly everything was out of my price range, but maybe in the future I’ll be back. It’s also a fun place to be to see the hustle and bustle.

Now for something sweet! Good ol’ Jessyka took Sam and I to Café de la Luz after El Tigre. This lovely café is kind of hidden, but that’s what makes it THAT much more special. The atmosphere is cozy and cute with an array of seats and couches. I love the gigantic blackboard they had where people just doodle. There are also weird-but-awesome paintings scattered here and there. We all got wonderful chocolaty drinks, but I think the winning drink had to be Jessyka’s bon bon drink which consisted of espresso and condensed milk. I got a thick hot chocolate, while Sam drank a hot chocolate that she got to make herself (as in she got to decide how much cocoa to put in). We also shared a lovely warm carrot cake that didn’t make the picture cut ‘cause frankly it was a blurry picture (I try to only show the nice ones). The waiters at the café were also extremely sweet (pun not intended) and I’d actually like to give a shout out to Paula! Hola!

Another place I got some lovely thick hot chocolate was at Chocolatería San Ginés. This joint is known for their chocolate con churros and Sam and I decided to try the fat churros rather than the skinny ones we’ve been eating every morning at our hostel (no joke, that’s what Way Hostel calls “breakfast”). As messy as it was, it was great. The fat churros reminded me of Taiwanese yo-tiao’s (fried batter that is typically eaten with breakfast). I finished the hot chocolate as well. No one should leave that much chocolate to waste!

I saved my favorite for last: La Mallorquina! This shop is a pastry lover’s delight (so of course I loved it). Right when you walk in, you see shelves of pastries on display. They come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Some are garnished in nuts, other in sugar. It really doesn’t matter because everything looks delicious. Samantha and I decided to try three of them in one sitting, so we had a Pepitos de Crema, Negritos, and Napolitanas de Chocolate. My favorite out of the three had to be the Pepitos de Crema because I love custard. It basically tasted like a sugar donut filled with rich custard. The Negritos wasn’t that good, but it looked impressive ‘cause of all of that homemade marshmallow inside. Sam personally loved the Napolitanas de Chocolate and it tastes like a chocolate croissant… with more chocolate. On our last day, I also got a Torrijas (while Sam had another Napolitanas de Chocolate). It looks like cinnamon French toast and kind of tastes like it, but I think there was less bread or pastry and more custard. Very good, but very filling and fattening.

If I got to stay in Madrid any longer, I would have caused future-Cindy a lot more health problems. I think the great food made my stay better and I’m so grateful for having other friends studying abroad (yeah, I’m talking about you, Jessyka). After this, I have one more entry about food outside of the UK. I only have three more weeks in lovely London, so I better make the best of it. 

Eating Across Europe (Part 1)

So when I said I was going to blog all about my foodie fun when traveling Europe, I didn’t realize that I had so many pictures. I thought I could fit everything in one entry… silly me. Not every meal was something worth remembering or photographing (one night I just had strawberries for dinner… yay to poor college student living!), but many were. I mean, c’mon you’re in a foreign country and there’s new goodies to be had. So I’m covering half here and then half later, so deal with it ‘cause I have to (you have no idea how much I want to just blog everything at once so I’m all caught up).

Edinburgh, Scotland:

I have a lovely friend, Hannah, who’s studying abroad in Edinburgh and so Samantha and I decided to visit her. Two big things I wanted to check off my list when I was there were: 1. Eat Haggis and 2. Drink Whisky. And yes… both got done! Before I go into that, I want to highlight two places Hannah took us to. First off is The Elephant House. This great café was “the birthplace of Harry Potter” (as they so coyly advertise on their windows, shirts, and business cards). Nevertheless, it was a great café. The food was tasty (got me a brie and bacon jacket potato) and the chai tea was awesome. I may have gone back two more times later. Despite being pretty crowded, it is pretty chill and a great place if you want to write (wink wink) or study—though they don’t have free Wifi. Bummer. The girl’s bathroom has Harry Potter references (one of my favorites was that a toilet had “This way to the Ministry” written on it) and thank you notes to J.K. Rowling scribbled all over it. Pretty awesome. I can’t say the same for the boy’s bathroom ‘cause I didn’t dare to peek inside, but I’m sure it’s just as awesome.

Later that night Hannah took us to Ciao Roma. It’s a cute Italian restaurant on South Bridge and it has pretty spectacular desserts. We all individually got a sundae (mine was new on the menu—popcorn sundae) and Sam and I didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. It was MASSIVE. The “gelato” tasted more icy and not as creamy, but I can’t complain. You get this massive decadent tower after all! That was our dinner for that day.

And finally for the haggis and whisky… so I had haggis and tatties (that’s what they call mashed potatoes with boiled potato bits on top) at a local pie shop in Grassmarket Square. The place was cheap and it had haggis, so why not! I have to say, haggis ain’t too bad. It’s like peppery ground meat. Maybe I got lucky. As for the whisky, I stopped by a café that served whisky right before my train back to London. After talking to the server (she kind of laughed when I told her it was my first time drinking whisky), I got 25 mL or Jura whisky. Oh my goodness. The alcohol hits you like a wall… a wall of fire. I can’t say I enjoyed it. It was so overwhelming. I’m glad I tried it though (I had to eat carrot cake in-between sips to make the whole process better… barely better). I can say I had whisky in Scotland! Aw yeah. But never again… (enjoy the sequence of pictures of my reaction).

Wales:

So I got to a wee bit of Welsh food (I took a bite out of my friend’s faggot—that is the name of a minced meat dish), but not much so I don’t have any fun pictures to show other than some from DeGrey’s Café, which was a little afternoon tea spot we stopped by during our drive to northern Wales. I had a strawberry-mango tea with Shropshire Apple Cake, which was just a simple apple and cinnamon flavored cake. The café was cute and all the waitresses were dressed in old-fashioned outfits. The décor was quaint and traditional too.

Lisbon, Portugal:

I love Lisbon. I wish I got to stay longer. It’s such a beautiful city full of color, art and history. Anyways, I’ll blog about it more on my personal blog… this one is for food! So I believe Portugal is known for their pastries. Sam and I shared Brisas. A woman at a bakery recommended it to us and it basically was like a donut, but with this interesting glaze on top. It was thicker than what is typically on an American donut and there was this yellowish coating between the glaze on the pastry bit. I wish I could have tried more, but I can’t live off pastries (or can I?).

Another delectable pastry is Pastéis de Belém! SO GOOD. It’s like custard in a pastry cup, but this simple description doesn’t do it any justice. There’s a similar Chinese dessert that has a more eggy taste, pronounced dan-ta. Pastéis de Belém is much creamier and its pastry crust has this lovely crunch. To add more pizzazz, shower the beautiful dessert with powdered sugar and cinnamon. I had two… I wanted more. It was so cheap too! Just over one euro. Only three people know its original recipe… I want to be number four!

As for food and liquor, at 10:30 am I had a shot of cherry liquor called Espinheira. No, I’m not a drunkard (I have two shots in my hands because I’m holding Samantha’s). On our walking tour, our guide Goncalo thought it would be a good idea to get everyone awake and friendly. It wasn’t too bad! It tasted like cough syrup and there was a surprise sour cherry at the bottom of the cup.

And lastly, let’s talk about Portuguese food as a whole. I got to have two simple but delicious dishes. The first was a calamari dish at Bacalhoeiro and the beef dish was at this little joint hidden in an alleyway (sounds sketch, but we were told those restaurants serve authentic homemade dishes). In general, it seems like Portuguese food is simple, flavorful and healthy. I loved it! Out of all the European countries I traveled in, I have to say that Portugal has the most healthy options.

Oh! One last tip… if you got to Portugal or Spain, do not assume that the bread or whatever appetizer the waiters put at your table is free. They actually charge you if you touch and eat it. I learned the hard way, but I can’t say it wasn’t tasty.

Anywho, Life is calling. I have to apply for internships (sob)… Until next time. 

Top o’ the Mornin’ to Ya

Well it was just a happenstance that I went to two nifty breakfast joints before my travels through the rest of Europe, hence the title. I decided that I’d leave all my other food adventures for the next entry and keep this one short and sweet.

So let’s start with Bill’s! On the chilly morning of April Fool’s Day, my friends and I decided we wanted to go see Peter and Alice, a play starring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw. Now we expected a crazy line and we knew there were only a few day tickets (for all you non-theatre going folk—which use to be me so I know this little tidbit is helpful—day tickets are tickets you can get in the morning on the day of the show for cheaper) so we got up really early. We left campus at 5:30 am. Oy. After getting our tickets (we were first and the line soon grew crazy long after us), we decided to reward ourselves with an American breakfast. Thalia, a USC friend I made here, suggested Bill’s and I’m sure glad she did! Bill’s is a hipster restaurant nestled near Oxford Street (I later learned that there are multiple Bill’s after spotting one in Cardiff). There were dried peppers dangling from the walls and the furniture all looked beautifully worn down. I had Bill’s Breakfast which included Cumberland sausage, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, and toast! Talk about hardy. One of my friends got the vegetarian option and another Eggs Florentine. I also got Bill’s raspberry, peach and mango juice ‘cause I stayed there for another couple of hours journaling. I have to say the service was EXCELLENT. Super friendly servers who gave me a larger drink for free. There is a shop attached to the restaurant, but there’s nothing much there. Bill’s really focuses on good quality products (yup, I’m talkin’ about the big O—for organic!) and everything was quite tasty (admittedly anything is tasty when you’ve been waiting more than four hours in the cold for theatre rickets). As I mentioned earlier, I journaled here and that’s ‘cause I loved the environment.

As for The Breakfast Club, my friend Karisa brought this place to my attention. We’ve been planning on meeting up all semester (she was on a different program with the British American Drama Company) and finally got to it! There are multiple Breakfast Clubs in London, but we went to the one is Soho. We got half an hour after it opened so we didn’t have to wait to long to get seated (well… we waited like half an hour, but that’s relatively short seeing that a long line formed right after we arrived). We got served by two guys—one was sweet and the other more rushed. The service was okay, but the food spoke for itself. I had the All American, which included pancakes, eggs, sausages, fried potatoes, bacon, and maple syrup (which is oddly hard to find in London). Karisa got vegetarian version. To top it all off, we also had Affogato, which is espresso with vanilla ice cream. The food was delicious. If you don’t take my word for it, you can read thank you notes tucked away in the drawers of the tables and on the walls. Karisa and I left a little note and haiku with a drawing too. They didn’t quite get the American pancake fluffiness right, but I can’t blame them ‘cause UK pancakes tend to be flat and thin. I loved the Affogato and have been wanting to try one, so you can imagine I leapt out of my seat to order one when I saw it was available on the menu. The potatoes were crispy and lovely seasoned as well. I plan to go back before I leave, even if it’s just for another Affogato.

Oh, how I love breakfast. I was never a big breakfast person growing up—I think it has to do with being Taiwanese and the fact that Asians don’t really do big breakfasts—but once I hit college, I saw it’s beauty and possibilities! If you’re ever in LA or San Diego, I have multiple breakfast joints to suggest. Maybe I’ll do an entry in the future featuring SoCal breakfast joints. Only time will tell.