Archive 2017 | A Travel Foodie's Journey

Kasbah

We opted for dining at Kasbah because it was next door to our hotel, had been recommended by several websites and they had two soups which I thought would help our colds go though our systems faster. As I anticipated, both soups, were perfect and delicious. The harira was a vegetable soup with lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, onions and garam masala. It had a complex and robust tomato flavor with little bites of lentil and onions. The chorba was a roasted vegetable soup of puréed tomato, zucchini, squash and chayote. It was the perfect combination for a soup. It was hot piping goodness for the soul. Invigorated, we were ready for our main dish. We got the mixed platter which had a chicken brochette marinaded in chermoula, beef tenderloin brochette, Merquez sausage which is a Moroccan spiced lamb sausage, harissa and lemon marinated tiger prawns brochette and a fish brochette which is a seasoned mahi mahi with chermoula. The prawns were the star of the platter as they were perfectly cooked and seasoned. The fish was slightly over cooked and the chicken and beef were quite dry. The couscous which came with it was perfectly seasoned and moist though it was quite a small serving. Luckily I ordered a small plate of crispy fries which were seasoned and fried to perfection. My recommendation would be to order the soups and seafood only plus the couscous and fries and that would be a magical Kasbah experience.

Boracay Island, Station 1, Malay, Aklan

Dos Mestizos

Exquisite. Intoxicating. Mesmerizing. Three comprehensive words to describe our dinner experience at Dos Mestizos. Chef Andre Malarky is a true talent with skills that would challenge any Iron Chef. Several travel bloggers and ex-pats had written positive reviews of the restaurant. Since it’s not exactly a stone’s throw away from our hotel in Station 1, I hadn’t originally planned to visit but on every “best Boracay Restaurant” search, Dos Mestizos kept reappearing. We bit the bullet and decided to head south. It took a bit of time to hail a tricycle as the clouds and rain had disappeared and it was one day closer to Christmas so the island was busting at the seams. After maneuvering through some crazy chaotic street traffic, we arrived in Station 3 and headed down a narrow alleyway. A few minutes in, our driver stopped and said we arrived. Looking around, I saw the restaurant “Hangover” with Dos Mestizos nowhere in sight but figured we would eventually find our way. A few steps later, we were in front of our destination. My husband saw that the restaurant was nearly empty and said “no one’s eating here.” I responded “all the reviewers can’t be wrong.” We entered and asked to be seated in the bar area with the musical entertainment. Our server was fantastic. Super attentive and communicative. She advised us that our entrees would likely take 30 minutes but that the soups would arrive shortly. We started off our evening with a Stoli up, no vermouth, lemon twist for me and a Mojito, light syrup for my husband. We thoroughly enjoyed having an acoustic guitarist play while we unwound from our day/year. Then our soups arrived. To say they were fantastic would be an understatement. My Sopa de Ajo aka garlic soup was ordered because all the back and forth between the humidity and heat outside combined with sudden shocks of steely cool air conditioned interiors has been a shock to my system which has been attempting to grab onto a cold since our arrival. My soup was peppery, had little pieces of toasted garlic floating about and had an egg drop soup appearance. The hearty stock appeared to have simmered with a bountiful number of ingredients over a long period of time as it had quite a rich, complex flavor combination . My husband’s cold gazpacho was crisp, clean, tangy, thick, rich and hearty. It was a beautifully condensed flavorful soup perfectly chilled for the humid conditions. While we waited for our entrees, we were entertained with another musical group. We requested “Girl from Ipanema” as that song seemed to be in line with their light airy repertoire. A song or two later our entrees arrived. My husband’s chicken paella was served and shortly thereafter my half garlic chicken followed. I ordered my dish because of the garlic which I’m hoping will ward off any evil cold spirits but my husband ordered the paella because it was a specialty, he loves chicken and rice so it was a trifecta of a good omen. His reaction to the flavor, texture and experience of the dish is similar to that if somebody who just won the lotto. It was a complete disbelief, shock, amazement and extreme happiness at the ridiculously and fantastically flavor explosion that was his chicken paella. There were numerous chunks of chicken throughout the dish but the tender rice that was saturated with all the complex flavors completed the needs of all of his palate requirements. With each bite, he commented on how amazing it was, how great it tasted, how he’d never had anything like it before. Though the chicken paella was a plate for two, his addiction to the saturated flavors would not allow him to exercise any self-restraint and he accepted with humility that he was powerless against the forces of flavor against him. He happily acquiesced to filling up with the paella in lieu of any desserts. I had the half garlic chicken which was delicious, moist and satisfying. It was served with some thin green beans and a few sliced roasted potatoes. I ate every piece but the leg. The drumstick has always freaked me out because of that weird tendon. Our takeaway from this evening is that we hope our dining experience in Spain in the future be at least on par with our evening at Dos Mestizos.

Exquisite. Intoxicating. Mesmerizing. Chef Andre Malarky’s ability to infuse complex and rich flavors in each bite would challenge any Iron Chef. Such a find! Our best meal in Boracay!! #dosmestizosboracay #boracay #station3boracay #boracayeats #stolimartini #mojito #sopadeajo #garlicsoup #gazpacho #chilledtomatosoup #chickenpaella #paella #polloajllo #garlicchicken #boracayisland #foodie #foodfest #foodporn #foodpics

Remedios Street, Sitio Manggayad, Boracay Island, Malay, 5608 Aklan

Home

Pig Out Bistro

I had seen the restaurant driving in when we first arrived and remembered chuckling as my friend Ron loves torturing our friend Yelena with all sorts of pig roast and pork photos since she’s a vegetarian and Ron believes life isn’t worth living without the crispy skin and moist tender meat of piggies.  In my search of locating the best restaurants that suited our taste and budget, Pig Out Bistro kept coming up on the short list. We finally decided to try it. We walked down the beach and cut through the Astoria Boracay Hotel and the restaurant was across the street and a bit to the right. It had a lush serene patio area with greenery that shielded its patrons from the street. The interior of the restaurant was contemporary minimalist in style to mirror the look of the hotel adjacent to it. We ordered the pea soup with Parmesan crisp, beef togsilog with garlic rice, green veggies and a sunny side up egg and spicy chicken inasal with a red hued garlic fried rice and sunny side up egg. The soup was piping hot, thick and hearty. It tasted as the only ingredient used we’re peas which had been puréed. Perhaps a bit of salt and pepper and a dash of some dairy product were added but only for flavor and texture. The only suggestion is to perhaps place the parmesan crisp away from the steam of the soup as it was no longer crisp. My initial bite of the beef dish was disappointing as it tasted as if the meat had not been marinaded enough or perhaps was sliced with the grain as it was a bit tough. The rest of the slices were much better in texture, subtly seasoned tying perfectly with the garlic in the rice and the sautéed greens. The inasal had a bit of a kick that had saturated the entire piece of chicken so the flavor was far more consistent throughout that dish. The rice was thick, fluffy and moist. All in all, it was a solid meal. The price point of $20 with one bottle of beer for lunch made it a good option for lunch. And as mentioned in an article about the chef and restaurant, there were several Koreans dining who were taking photos of the food as they were in fact “Instagrammable.

Budget foodie heaven for $20 @thepigoutbistroboracay #peasoup #parmesancrisp #beeftapsilog #chickeninasal #filipinofood #cheapeats #boracay #boracayeats #foodie #foodgram #foodporn #foodpics #sunnysideupegg #garlicrice #rice #egg #beef #peas #soup #yummy #delicious #vacationfood #travelingfoodie

Boracay Tambisaan Jetty Port Road, Malay, 5608 Aklan

http://thepigout.restaurantsnapshot.com

D’Talipapa and Plato D’Boracay

Having been born in the Philippines, I recalled outdoor food markets being the norm during my time there, but having lived in the U.S. for many years, I’ve grown accustomed to the niceties of purchasing my seafood in tightly wrapped styrofoam containers. D’Talipapa is the one place I read about on every blog and in TripAdvisor so it was a must do. We had a tricycle drop us off at D’Mall as we thought that’s where it was located. It’s actually further south, about a 10 minute walk, but luckily there was a sign right outside its entrance according to photos from other blogs. On seeing the sign, we turned right into the alley and it was on the left-hand side just a few feet from trim the alley entrance. Truthfully, it was smaller than I had anticipated. There were lots of prawns, crabs, fish, sea urchins and lobsters for sale by aggressive vendors who shoved live lobsters in your face in an effort to get your business. We delved further into the stalls and found a not so aggressive vendor who had red snapper and sea bass displayed. The latter seemed the perfect size so we bargained down for the 1/2 kg fish from 700 to 600 pesos. We turned around and another vendor offered to sell us 1 kg of huge prawns for 800 pesos. We countered at 700 and a deal was struck. We took our lunch to Plato D’Boracay which was listed online as the place to have your seafood cooked. The menu photo I had seen on a blog from 2014 seemed to be the same menu we were presented so it appears that prices remained fixed. We asked for the lemon butter garlic sauce for the prawns and the fish was pan fried. We also ordered egg fried rice, 2 bottles of water and Dark Horse beer. We sat dumbfounded that a whole fish cost $12 and $4 to cook and 13 huge prawns cost $16 and $5 to cook. Even more impressive was the cook. He was ensconced in a confined small rectangular space in front of our table. How he was able to bang out such flavor and cook each dish with utter perfection with so limited means was astonishing. With each bite, we developed this fervent desire to consume more and more at a rapid pace. Silverware was forgotten as the hands are the best and most efficient methods to eat purely and efficiently. Tons of napkins later and all the food was decimated. The setting of our best meal in Boracay was humble to say the least but that is the lesson we learned. Astonished at the value and quality of the food, we realized that simple truly is best.

Day One in Boracay

After 3 flights, 6 TSA/customs lines, 6 airline meals, 2 foreign country airport snacks and 26 hours later, we finally reached our destination! Feeling dizzy and bedraggled, we checked into our resort. After a quick unpacking and request for ice, we unpacked our home purchased vodka, toasted and headed on our way. I had read about Smoke Resto on many travelers’ blogs and it was highly rated on TripAdvisor. The challenge was finding it. After asking several people at D’Mall, we found it down an alleyway by a grocery store where we later purchased large bottles of water for our room. As the bloggers reported, it’s very understated but every table was filled which is always a good sign. We waited about 10 minutes and scored a seat at a four top on the left hand side of the restaurant, against the wall, next to a small door heading up to the restaurant’s supply room. Equally important to note is this table sits directly in front of the fan. The chairs were either rustic wooden and backless or plastic chairs with backs. None of that mattered because the vibe was pulsating. As exhausted as we were, the excitement of those who were waiting to order or be served their food was palpable. Those who were eating were in the throes of slurping, devouring and inhaling what was in front of them with complete disregard for grace and your standard social decorum at any fine dining restaurants. At the start of the meal, you’re given a fork and spoon each separately wrapped with one thin napkin. There are small square cocktail sized napkins on the table. We ordered the chicken noodle soup to start which reminded me of the flavors of my childhood. The broth had a sweet tangy taste perhaps flavored with some ginger or tamarind. The chunks of chicken with thin noodles mixed with thinly sliced carrots, cut green beans and cabbage mixed with the tongue burning smoking hot broth was truly a magical potion for our weary bones. It gave us the energy to stay upright for the rest of our meal. We ordered a grilled fish and grilled chicken which both came with rice which were coincidentally or deliberately shaped like a perfect shapedly breast, nipple tip included. Of the two, the thigh and leg combo were a bit more moist, likely as a result of the BBQ sauce marinading the meat. My favorite was the garlic butter shrimp. It came with a dozen perfectly flavored bites of heaven. I found myself going primitive and using my hand to twist off the heads to suck down the meat and trying to quickly devour each and every bite I could separate from its skin. In hindsight, we probably should have ordered two of those dishes. It was that amazing! The chicken noodle soup and the two grilled entrees were each around 250 and the shrimp was 450. We also ordered 2 bottles of water and 3 beers. On the drinks front, they have bottled water, soda and beer only. The grand total for dinner with our usual 20% American tip was $30! Bottled beers were each 50 pesos ($1) and I don’t even drink beer but for a buck, why the hell not?! Unbelievable!! After that, we got one big jug of water and 2 medium sized bottles of water for our room for 150 pesos. We ended the evening by having one of the Smoke Resto guys who happened to be hanging out on the street help us find a reasonably priced tricycle which cost 100 pesos and we tipped our guy 40 pesos. The tricycle ride was an adventurer in and of itself. For those not in the know, it is a 100 cc motorcycle on the left powering a small open air carriage with covered cushioned seat for two alongside the rider and two long cushioned bench seats facing each other, parallel to the rider which could each seat two, totaling six riders on that tricycle. It felt like Mr. Toad’s wild ride, maneuvering the chaotic street traffic and wet roads of Boracay. All in all, it was a fantastic and adventurous start to our trip.

#smokeresto #boracay #dmall #station2boracay #chickennoodlesoup #garlicbuttershrimp #grilledfish #bbqchicken #redhorsebeer #motherland #philippines #cheapeats #foodie #foodgram #foodporn #foodpics #vacation #vacationtime #willtravelforfood #travel #travelgram #traveller #worldtraveller #travelblogger #thirtybucks #yummy #delicious

El Cholo DTLA

El Cholo has been one of my favorite and easy go-to restaurants since college. It’s consistent in quality, lively and very reasonable considering the large portions of food. Tonight was the first foray to the downtown Los Angeles location. I had seen it in passing many times on my way to the Staples Center. It looks smaller than the Santa Monica and Western Avenue location but by no means is its charm any less diminutive. I had tried to find them on Open Table but only the Pasadena location was listed. I went on the main website and through that there is a link to the reservation site. As a side note, I had previously spoken with the owner and chef of Charcoal and Melisse, Josiah Citrin, earlier this year about online reservations. It appears that Open Table charges the restaurant an additional fee for reservations made through their site so restaurants are now veering away and using Rezy, Yelp, Foursquare or others of the like. Back to the restaurant. For over twenty years, I have ordered the same thing at all of the previously mentioned location: the Sonora style enchilada. The only deviation is whether I order it with shredded beef or crab. Tonight I ordered shredded beef. As always, one side of the dish had a bit more kick and spice but the broth and the savory sauce countered it. Looking at the dish and eating it reminded me of the yin and yang Chinese symbol. The red and green sauce are opposite each other in flavor but together help create that nice balance. Also any dish with a huevo will always get my vote. I’m sure the other dishes on the menu are equally spectacular but for me, the Sonora style enchilada will always be my entree of choice because it is perfectly balanced and timeless.

#elcholo #dtla #mexicanfood #dinnerout #sonorastyleenchiladas #shreddedbeef #foodie #foodgram #foodpics #foodporn #losangeles #losangeleseats #egg #huevo

1037 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90015

http://elcholo.com/location/downtown

Lunetta All Day, Everyday

My husband and I had met Chef Raphael Lunetta at a friend’s surprise birthday party earlier this year. On meeting Raph, as he is known to his friends, I found him to be a positive force of energy, full of joy and earnest. He seemed very grounded and shockingly self-effacing. I mentioned how a friend was upset about the closing of Raph’s longtime restaurant, Jiraffe, as it was her favorite special occasion restaurant whereas I had been a more frequent visitor at his casual cafeteria-style restaurant, Lemon Moon. My favorite dish was the half chicken with salad and fries. It was the perfect combination: protein, greens and crispy potassium. I was saddened to hear that Jiraffe was closing its doors but even more surprised that Lemon Moon followed shortly thereafter. That is when he mentioned that he had two new restaurants which were set to open before the summer. 
Last night we had the great fortune of dining at Lunetta All Day which is the more casual establishment of the two. We put our name on the list and headed to the beautiful bar. The wait wasn’t long. Chef Lunetta surprised us with two amazing treats: grilled octopus salad and mussels which I believe were two of the specials of the evening. I had never had octopus before and was apprehensive eating anything with suction cups. I removed the feared circles and took the plunge. I took a bite and was surprised that it had the consistency of chicken that had been grilled to a moist, smoky perfection. It sat on a bed of greens with red peppers and tomatoes. The salad dressing was subtle and perfectly complimented the heart of the dish. The mussel appetizer was the second delicious addition. Neither my husband nor our friend were fans of mussels like I was but my husband took the plunge and removed the mussels from their shells and placed the meat on the perfectly toasted sourdough bread. He was sold. I went paleo style and practically inhaled the flavorful mussels that had been sitting in a white wine lemony broth. The rest of our dining experience was nothing short of spectacular. Highlights were the carnitas which shockingly was not shredded like at other establishments. This one was a filet and like the grilled octopus, it had a smoky flavor but was tender with a hint of citrus accent. The lemon ricotta pancakes that my husband ordered as his dessert were a very pleasant surprise. I had read some of the Yelp reviews but until I tasted it for myself, I wasn’t quite sure of their accuracy. Each bite had a consistent but light combination of the tanginess of lemon combined with the creaminess of the ricotta topped with the tartness of the blueberry butter and the sweetness of the maple syrup. The flavor combination was exquisite. However, the dish that stole my heart was the sticky toffee pudding cake. The only way to describe it was….it tasted like heaven. The ice cream melting into the toffee oozing into the moist, light crevices of the pudding cake was the trifecta of all things good in life. If a dessert could channel the sweet perfection of happiness, this would be it.
Lunetta All Day will definitely be in our regular restaurant rotation. Everything was reasonably priced, the space is light and airy with a Cape Cod feel and yet it still felt intimate. You can dine here with friends and still be able to carry on your conversations. I cannot wait to try out the rest of the offerings on Chef Lunetta’s menu as the experience is certain to be a sensory adventure and journey that will be infused with unique, refreshing and sophisticated fusions of flavor. 

2420 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405

https://www.lunettasm.com

Grace Gambin

A Travel Foodie

Get latest news and updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 788 other subscribers