Like I said earlier, the food in Amsterdam isn’t exactly world famous cuisine. They seem to have imported a lot from other countries; for example, there are a ton of hamburger places in Amsterdam. That being said, we still wanted to find a place that had local cuisine. Lonely Planet rarely misses, but in this one case they weren’t up to par.
For good local fare, I would not go with their recommendation of Bistro Bij ons, which is near the Anne Frank House. I’ll just make a long story short, the service wasn’t good. They weren’t mean or anything. Just very, very inattentive. They never took our food order, but when the bill came, they tried to charge us for food. And it wasn’t like the place was packed. It was me, my friend and a couple – that’s it. The waitress was apologetic, but it’s not worth wasting your time going there.
The Pantry had fantastic service, a really cool eating in someone’s dining room feel, and good, hearty food for the chilly Amsterdam weather. The place is small, so there’s a solid chance you’ll need to wait a little while. We ordered some Bitterballen beef croquettes as an appetizer and we each ordered something off the “Traditional Dutch Dishes” menu as an entree. I ordered the “combination” menu which consists of three different types of mashed potatoes (a carrot/onion/beef, a kale, and a sauerkraut) with either a meatball or a sausage. It’s definitely worth trying.
Obviously on a work trip I spent most of the days in a conference room. However, there was still time to explore some of New Orleans and here are a few of the activities that we partook in.
A swamp tour to see the alligators of the bayou is pretty much a must-do if you’re in New Orleans. There are several different tour groups, and I’m here to compare two of them for you. I would recommend both, but there are differences in the experiences depending on which group you go with. Both options are about 30-45 minute bus rides away from the French Quarter, and for the options that I took the pricing was around $75 on average.
We’ll begin with Airboat Adventures. For the thrill-seeking, roller coaster loving types, Airboat Adventures offers a high-octane zip through the swamp. The unique parts of Airboat Adventures?
Obviously racing through the swamp on a tin barge with a giant propeller fan furiously working behind you.
Our crazy-ass driver actually jumped into the water with the alligators and fed them while swimming amongst the animals.
A baby gator is passed around the boat for some pretty awesome selfies.
One thing to note: if you don’t like loud noise, this may not be for you. They give you solid headphones to wear, but it’s still pretty loud regardless.
Cajun Encounters is a bit more of a mellow trip through the swamp. I would recommend paying the $70 because although there are cheaper options, the $70 gets you a ride on a smaller boat fitting 10 people that can go into the smaller canals and river ways. The unique parts of Cajun Encounters?
You do probably see more alligators on Cajun Encounters than you would on Airboat Adventures.
As I mentioned, going through the small canals of the swamp offers some fantastic photo opportunities.
You do get to see wild boars (see video below). These animals come right up to the boats for food and are absolutely adorable/enormous. We just happened to luckily enough (or unlucky to some of the other passengers) almost witness an alligator attack a baby wild boar. The boat captains intervened and used the boats to shoo away the predatory alligators, but the commotion did get a lot of hearts racing.
You can’t go wrong either way, you just need to decide for yourself what kind of adventure you’d like.
This was one of the highlights of the trip. Our department head graciously booked us all for a hands-on cooking class as a team builder activity and it was a hell of a lot of fun. Beer and wine were included, so the libations made it quite an event. Our chef instructor was young, enthusiastic, and had a contagious passion for cooking southern food. We were split up into four groups, each group being in charge of one of the menu items (you can change the menu depending on your dietary restrictions): Gumbo, Stuffed Mushrooms, Jambalaya, and Bananas Foster. Obviously being such a big group, not everyone got to do everything, but I would suspect if you visit, you’ll be more hands-on in making each part of the menu. I was part of the Gumbo team, and specifically helped out in making the roux for the soup. I had never made gumbo before, let alone roux, so it was a great learning experience. After the cooking, we all sat and feasted on our creations, and although the food wasn’t super-duper restaurant quality, we loved it because we made it.
The Garden District
An easy cab or trolley ride away from the French Quarter, this is the area to go to if you want to see some ridiculously nice mansions. The area between Magazine Street and St. Charles Ave holds some of the most impressive houses in such a small area that I’ve ever seen. Guided tours are available, though just walking around and admiring the architecture was enough for me. Magazine Street offers some cool little boutique shops and restaurants to meander in and out of as well. Also located in the Garden District is the Lafayette Cemetery that’s worth strolling into for half an hour to see the traditional tombs and wall vaults made famous in movies and popular culture. Across from Lafayette Cemetery is the famous Commander’s Palace restaurant, which we didn’t actually eat at, but heard from others in our group that it’s excellent.
Don’t do this drunk. I’m serious. Not because it’s too scary or anything like that. It’s just that this walking ghost tour doesn’t mix well with inebriated people. Our tour guide Jack was having an awfully hard time keeping people’s attention and he clearly was getting frustrated by it. His stories were good, but they were far too long and complicated for a group that had clearly had a few drinks in them. And you don’t get to go into any of the buildings he was talking about. I’m not saying I wouldn’t recommend it, but do it earlier in the night and/or on the night off from the bars.
Frenchman Art Market
Located in the heart of the Frenchman Street area, this outdoor market is a great place to find some creative, local art for sale. Most of the crafts range from jewelry to furniture, and clothing to paintings and have an unsurprisingly hipster look to them. Nonetheless, it’s a cool place to take a stroll and pick up a souvenir or two.
I’ve just recently returned from a work trip to New Orleans, LA and needless to say it was quite a week. New Orleans is everything you’d expect from the Mardi Gras capital of the world. With the open alcohol beverage laws in the city, New Orleans can easily cause a few rough mornings. Bourbon Street in particular is as wild as its reputation and I’ll say this right off the bat: It’s not for everyone. Bourbon Street on a weekend night is probably as filthy drunk of an area that I’ve ever seen – it’s neither a compliment nor an insult; it’s the truth. Unless you’re in you’re early-twenties with a fondness for frozen drinks that are really sweet and loaded with the shittiest alcohol, I doubt that you’ll want to spend too much time there. But I do recommend you walk down it at least once to experience the chaos (and the smell you’ll quickly want to forget).
Bourbon Street
Since this was a work trip, most everything was taken care of by the company, so I can’t give you too many specifics on pricing. But I’ll give you my quick thoughts on a several restaurants and activities in the next few posts. We’ll start with food in this post.
The signature cafe of New Orleans, this eatery is open 24 hours a day and tourists and locals flock there for their coffee and signature beignets. For me personally, I think it’s “eh”. You kind of HAVE to go there because it’s such a historical place. But at the end of the day to me it was just a too doughy fried dough and coffee. It’s not bad, it’s just not worth the hype. It also doesnt’t help that it’s usually muggy and hot in New Orleans, which isn’t exactly the climate conducive to me wanting to eat a hot donut and coffee.
This is a weird review because we didn’t eat there. Why didn’t we eat there? Because it was closed when we arrived. Why did we go when it was closed? Oh, it’s because we had a confirmed reservation. So yeah, we were a little shocked/pissed/amused/confused when we saw the place empty and a sign saying that it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. A useful bit of knowledge that they probably could have told us when we made the reservation AND when we called again to confirm we were good to go. The patio from outside the gates looked nice though.
Probably my favorite of all the places we ate, Three Muses is located on Frenchman Street just east of the French Quarter. I would highly recommend going out there if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Bourbon Street. Frenchman Street is still pretty crazy, but it’s a bit more of an older crowd (late-20s, early-30’s) with more venues that lean toward hipster with live jazz music than fratty dance party. On a weekend night, it’s best to make a reservation at Three Muses (and at any Frenchman Street restaurant in fact) because the place is not very large. Our group of 6 just happened to be lucky enough to show up when another party of 6 who had a reservation was late. The hostess ended up seating us because the other group wasn’t on time (they’ll give you a 15-minute grace period). When we were there, a female jazz singer and her trio of instrumentalists were performing music that sounded like it was out of the Roaring 20s; it was a fun, lively atmosphere. The food comes in small sharing portions so it’s best to get a few. My personal recommendations are the Mac and Cheese, Bulgogi, and Tempura Shrimp. My co-worker also said the lamb sliders that I never got around to tasting were excellent. As far as their cocktails, you should have a cool, refreshing “Earl Grey Gardens” with dinner and a “The Other Redhead” as an after-dinner libation.
Works as a good lunch place on Bourbon Street to get a real good shrimp po’ boy or seafood dish. It felt kind of like a chain, though it wasn’t, so don’t expect anything here to blow you away. Keep it as a lunch option and not dinner because it’s solid, not spectacular. The french fries there randomly were really good though.
Domenica was the restaurant our work group went to for our first dinner and I very much enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say you should put this at the top of your least or even to make it a target to rush to, but if you do end up there I think you’ll enjoy it as well. I had the Tagliatelle made up of slow cooked rabbit & porcini mushroom ragu (much to the chagrin of my co-worker who couldn’t stop picturing me eating a bunny) and it was delicious. The Salumi & Formaggi platter they put together for us was spot on and I sampled the Red Snapper which was a popular choice amongst my co-workers. The surprise favorite dish though was the Roasted Cauliflower w/ seas salt and whipped feta. Definitely get that as an appetizer.
If you had asked me two years ago, I would have said Evangeline was a must-do. But after going there this second time around, I would say not a must-do, but a recommend. I want to say that the restaurant was having a bit of an off day, but that’s still not an excuse. Anyone who ordered beer got beer that was pretty warm (not very welcome in the heat of summer), and our waitress while very nice, seemed a bit stoned. At one point, my co-worker asked simply for yellow mustard and the waitress returned empty handed apologetically saying “We’ve run out”. What restaurant runs out of yellow mustard?? The food was fine though, and the patio is really nice with the Christmas tree lights strung up.
The patio is nice, but if it’s really muggy, stick with the A/C inside.
We came here for brunch, and I’ll say off the bat that they did not leave a good first impression. I was running late, so I didn’t see it, but apparently my friends who put our name down on the wait list were treated pretty rudely. That being said, we still stayed and personally, I’m kinda glad we did despite the bitchiness people encountered. I tried their Eggs Cochon, which is their signature dish, and it was awesome. I’m not sure why I was skeptical of a dish that had pulled pork, poached eggs, and hollandaise and cheese over a buttermilk biscuit, but it was really good.
I’m not usually the biggest noodle soup fan, and that applies to Pho, Ramen, whatever. It tends to never give me that satisfying full feeling after I’m done. Toki Underground changed that.
Located on the growing H Street corridor in Washington, D.C., Toki Underground’s entrance is kind of hidden. Look for The Pug dive bar and the door to Toki Undergound will be on the left. Despite the name, the restaurant is located upstairs. It’s not large so there will be a wait; leave them your cell number and they’ll send a text when your seat is ready while you wait with a hipster beer downstairs in The Pug.
When we were seated, our waiter thoroughly explained all the items on the menu and gave us an overview of how each ramen was different (along with his personal favorites). I went for the Taipei Curry Chicken Ramen, and my friend got the Red Miso Ramen. Both were excellent. I preferred the broth in my Taipei Curry Chicken as it was a bit creamier than her Red Miso, which was a little saltier with that miso taste. The pork belly however in hers was a little better than the chicken (though the chicken was still very good and I devoured it happily).
As for the cocktails, you gotta try the Toki Monster if you’re a whiskey person. It’s essentially their version of an Old Fashioned, however they give you a little pork belly skewer to pair the libation with and it is a banging combination of delicious. I definitely plan on going back to try the other items on their menu. Toki Underground — well worth a visit.
Since I’m on a “Quick Hits” roll, here’s another from NYC. Don’t eat at Lazzara’s Pizza Cafe in Manhattan. Based on looking at Yelp reviews, this place had above average reviews mainly saying that the pizza was good, but the service in some cases was so-so. We never even made it far enough to try the food.
My friends and I stopped there for a late-ish lunch and wanted to take a load off after walking around Times Square for a while (which is down the street). It was around 2, maybe 3 in the afternoon. The group of us sat down and because it was a later in the afternoon, some of us had already eaten, while the others just wanted a couple of slices (this was New York City after all). Keep in mind, this place was absolutely empty — we were the only ones in there other than another couple.
The waitress first took a while to come over to us, which in itself wasn’t that big a deal. But then she proceeded to tell us that we had to order whole pies if we wanted to sit at the table. We explained to her some of us only really wanted to have a few slices, and the others were just looking to have a couple beers. Nope, she said we’d have to order at least a pizza per 2 people if we wanted to stay otherwise it had to be takeout. She didn’t even seem that apologetic or willing to compromise for some business! It seemed more like we were bothering her afternoon session of General Hospital.
Needless to say, we didn’t want to order that much pizza and we left. But on the way out, we said it loudly and clearly, “You just lost your empty restaurant some easy business for no real good reason.” If there was a line out the door for people who wanted to sit, then I might understand that policy. But the place was empty!
So, while the food might have been good, we never found out because it looks like those other reviewers who said the service was poor were spot on.
(Note: The Australia posts will continue soon. Up next is the Great Barrier reef, but I need to find a device or store that will let me download the underwater camera memory card onto my computer first.)
Tucked away in the middle of Soho, New York is a little Italian restaurant that makes you feel like you stepped into an Italian dinner party. Piccola Cucina is one of the branches of four restaurants (one other is in NYC, and the other two are in Miami and Ibiza), and this one from what I gathered is the smallest of the branches and has the most “homey feel”.
The food is very good, with the highlights being the Wild Boar Ragu and Shrimp pasta. But since the menu changes constantly, I can’t really guarantee that’s what you’ll have an option of.
But regardless, the food is secondary to the atmosphere — That’s why you should go. The restaurant only sits about 20 people at most, and everyone is shoulder to shoulder like a can of sardines. Now this in general would bother me, but the restaurant makes it less awkward by having a boisterous, inviting feel. Everyone is talking to the tables next to them, inviting each other to try different dishes. The table next to us told us we needed to order a delicious sardine appetizer dish that wasn’t on the menu. They had been told the same thing by the previous table and were paying forward the suggestion. We did the same to the table next to us as we were wrapping up.
The kitchen is practically on top of the dining area, and you can see the hustle and bustle of literally way too many cooks in a small kitchen. Nevertheless, you can tell the cooks are loving what they do, yelling and singing while they make some fine cuisine. The wait staff is super friendly, inviting you to try and speak Italian with them, and blasting Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York (coming from Boston I generally hate this song, but it was too charming not to smile). The restaurant got really rowdy when all the lights dimmed and the entire place sang happy birthday to one poor red-faced customer a couple tables over.
At the end, most checks come with mints, a chocolate, or fortune cookies. This place gives you a freaking cannoli. We were almost too full to eat it, but it was too delicious not to wolf down.
So it’s not a great place for a first date because of the noise, but if you’re in the area looking for a fun place to eat, give Piccola Cucina a try.
I’m going to take a break from the Australia trip to do a quick hit on Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is a great little city with a fun, vibrant wine scene. We took an excursion out there for the weekend during a work trip to L.A. and had the opportunity to stay in one of Santa Barbara’s newest hotels — the trendy, the fun, The Wayfarer.
I’ll say this off the bat, The Wayfarer is not the cheapest place you’ll stay. Full disclosure, we were able to get a great rate for a room because our friend’s husband works for Pacifica Hotels, the company that manages The Wayfarer. Now that being said, you will be able to find a full range of rates due to the fact that it’s technically a hostel. It’s a very, very swanky hostel, but still technically a hostel. Because of this, you’ll be able to get a bed in a male only/female only dorm for only $50 a night. But if you want a private room, it’ll cost more depending on when you stay.
From everything I saw, it’s worth the price no matter what way you want to stay there. The location is fantastic. You’re within walking distance of the beach, wineries and the shitshow that is State Street. The rooms are brand new, and in some of them there’s a great murphy bed that comes out from above the king size bed, making it look like a bunk bed/cruise ship cabin. Yes, I was the overgrown child who got to camp out on it. There rooms also come with free wi-fi and flat screen HD TVs.
The pool area is small, but comfortable enough. There is also a communal kitchen where each room gets their own pantry space with plenty of kitchenware for everyone to use. In the common area, you’ll find giant sized Jenga and Connect Four. Free breakfast is available every morning as well.
Places to go around The Wayfarer? Check out The Lark for the Hand Rolled Pappardelle with Crispy Braised Lamb. For brunch, The Brewhouse is the only place that offers brunch on Saturdays as well as Sundays. The brunch area looks a little like a mess, but don’t be scared off. The food is actually quite good and the chefs make pretty much made-to-order anything. For wine, head out to Kunin Wines for a tasting where they offer a Classic Tasting and a Syrah Tasting. You can also check out O’Malley’s for a good regular bar scene, and the Wildcat if you really want to end your night like you’re still a 20-year-old UC-Santa Barbara student (The Wildcat I don’t exactly “recommend”, but it you’re in that place where you want to be that way, well, then it’s there…).
In the end, with the beautiful 80 degree temps and sunny weather, there wasn’t really anything that you could do in Santa Barbara that’d be wrong.
During one of my work trips to the west coast, I had a chance to partake in a little beach time on the weekend. My friend and I decided to head down to Newport Beach to get away from the hustle and bustle of downtown LA. My friend found the Newport Channel Inn for the night we stayed. It’s located about a quick 5-minute walk from the beach and was a great deal at $159 a night (Note: This was the AAA rate, it would have been $169 otherwise. Prices do vary as well depending on the weekend).
For a little motel on the side of the road, this little inn is a great value and a very good option if you’re staying in the area. As I mentioned before the walk to the beach is 5 minutes, and you’re a 15 minute drive or less to the mall, Crystal Cove State Park, and plenty of restaurants.
Not only is the place in a good location, the staff there is very friendly (I’m pretty sure it’s family run). The inn offers beach towels, chairs, and boogie boards for the guests and the staff are more than willing to help with any needs you may have. For example, I lost my cell phone charger and went to the front to see if there was a Radio Shack nearby. There was one which the staff member told me about, but before I went, he went to the back and came back with a box of chargers and said that I could have any one of them if they fit (A LOT of people leave behind their chargers apparently).
The one knock I have on the place is that the A/C (at least in the room that we stayed in) points right at the bed which is a tad uncomfortable. So you’re either super hot, or have a cold blast in your face. Regardless, I still recommend this place as a good value stay if you’re at Newport Beach. It’s nothing special, but the location and staff make it worth it.
Hey folks. This is the first of my new “Quick Hits” series which I’m going to use for short reviews since I’ve experienced a lot in my travels that don’t really require a full blog post. For this entry, I want to highlight the single best dish I’ve had in Washington, D.C.
Rose’s Luxury in the Barrack’s Row region of D.C. has a changing menu, but the one constant is their Pork Sausage, Habanero, and Lychee Salad. Truth be told, when I went to Rose’s Luxury, we didn’t even order it. They had brought it to our table by mistake, but when they realized it wasn’t ours, in a classy move they told us, “It’s on the house”. I’m glad they made the mistake. The salad, while it does sound weird, was amazing.
It comes in a bowl with all the ingredients separated which you have to mix together. The first scoop I ate blew my mind, it was the strangest mix of flavoring that worked perfectly. Spicy, and sweet. Meaty and fruity. Soft, but a little crunchy as well. It’s worth going to Rose’s Luxury just to try it.
Here and There 