Category: Review

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Porto, Portugal Part II

If you plan accordingly, you can definitely do Porto in a couple of days, and a must-do is to  dedicate at least a few hours to visiting the port wine caves across the river.  You should also take the time to visit a few of the churches as well, each costing only a few euros to enter.  Here’s what we covered on our second day:

– Torre Dos Clerigos is the highest point in Porto and on a nice day, for great picture opportunities, take the 225 steps to the top for a fantastic panoramic view of the city.  Once again, if you’re injured, I would avoid this attraction.  The stairs get very, very narrow as you get to the top, and people coming up and down have to negotiate their way awkwardly by each other.

– Just down the hill from Clerigos is the Igreja de Sao Francisco.  On the outside, the church looks like an austere, boring fortress; don’t let that fool you.  Once inside, the church interior is made up of intricate gold columns and altars.   Don’t miss the catacombs if you’re looking to really freak yourself out.  If you go in the catacombs, it’s doesn’t like like anything totally crazy at first, but find your way to the back and you’ll see a part of the floor that’s clear plastic.  If you look down – look closely and you’ll see that the entire level below is FULL of bones.

– The port wine cellars are the highlight of any trip to Porto.  With over a dozen port wine cellars in the city, you have plenty of places to choose from.  They’re all easily accessible from the river, where their mock 18th-century port wine boats stay docked (for decoration, not actual usage).  Along the river are several maps of where each company is located and there are tourist booths with guides to tell you where to go.

Now I’ll be the first to tell you, you only really need to do a few of the wine cellars because they’re all very similar.  Each guide book will tell you different must-do places, but you’ll get to a certain degree the same thing.  All the port wine caves offer tours and tastings; some are free and some require a small fee (Truth be told though, the more expensive the tour, the better the quality of the tour), and you do need to look ahead for the hours because the times they give tours vary.

The first port wine company we went to was Ramos Pinto, but they were under construction so they weren’t offering tours.  Apparently, Ramos Pinto is the port wine company that many of the native Portuguese drink, so if you’re in Porto give this place a try.  So instead, we walked over to Taylor’s.  Just FYI, Taylor’s is located probably the furthest from the water, and it is a little bit of an uphill to get there.  But they do offer a free tour which offered probably the most bare boned info of all the tours we did that day with a free tasting at the end.  It was also an hour wait before the next English speaking tour when we arrived, so we had to eat lunch in their dining room, which was “okay”.  Their ruby port sangria was very good though.

Our second port wine cellar was Offley, which was 2.50 Euros.  The tour was longer than Taylor’s and the guide spoke far better English, making the tour much more interesting.  It was a little longer too, with a little more information on the history of port in general and not just about the company.

Our final port wine stop was Sandeman, probably the world’s most recognizable port wine brand due in part from their recognizable ads.  This tour and tasting costs 4.50 Euros.  Sandeman’s wine cave is easily the most modern looking, and the tour guides are dressed like their signature Don from the advertisements.  The tour winds through their barrels like all the other port wine caves , except in this cave you can see the bottles that have been aging since the early 1900’s.  Another addition to this tour is that it finishes up with a 10 minute movie showing where the grapes grow and the actual fermenting process in the area of Portugal that’s about an hour away from Porto.  If you want, Sandeman also offers more expensive, individualized tours with more tastings.

– If you’re looking for a nice afternoon tea, take a stop by Cafe Majestic (which was right down the street from our hotel).  It can get pretty crowded, but the the service is fast and efficient.  The food is so-so, but they offer all that you could want from a cafe including sandwiches, milkshakes, pastries, and all kinds of teas, coffees, and libations.  But most don’t go just for the food; the atmosphere and architecture has an old-school, late 19th/early 20th century feel that makes it worth a visit. Grade: B

– Real Indiana.  We had a craving for Indian food and Lonely Planet suggested this place, but it really wasn’t that good.  It was a little overpriced, and we were all pretty sure that what we were eating probably couldn’t even be considered Indian food in the U.S. or India.   The one thing they did get right was the naan, which was actually pretty good.  If we had known that though, that’s all we would have ordered.  Unless you have a HUGE craving for Indian, give one of the other restaurants in the city a try.  Grade: C

– La Ricotta Ristorante.  Like the Indian craving, this place you should probably only go to if you’re really, really in the mood for Italian food.  While the food here was better than at Real Indiana, it wasn’t really anything special either.  The menu consisted of the typical pizzas and pastas and they were well prepared and tasty.  But certainly nothing special to write about.  Grade: B-

Recap:

What I saw:

Torre Dos Clerigos
Rua dos Clerigos

Igreja de Sao Francisco
Praca Infante Dom Henrique
Rua de Ferreira Borges, 4050 Porto

Ramos Pinto Port Wine
Avenida Ramos Pinto 400
4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

Taylor’s Port Wine
Rua do Choupelo 250
4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

Offley Port Wine
Rua do Choupelo, 54
4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

Sandeman Port Wine
Largo Miguel Bombarda 3
4400 Vila Nova de Gaia

Where I ate:

Cafe Majestic
Rua Santa Catarina 112
4000-442 Porto

Real Indiana
R. Particular do Castelo do Queijo, 395 – Lj. 23
4100-429 Porto

La Ricotta
Rua Passos Manuel 18
4000-381 Porto

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Porto, Portugal

After Lisbon, we took the CP train up to Porto, in the northwest section of the country.  The train ride took about 3 hours and was around 30 Euros (Note: Getting your train tickets online in advance is recommended.  You can print out your tickets in advance and you won’t have to be concerned about not having a train ride.  Be sure to sit in your assigned seat though – the conductors do come around to check and will make you move if you’re in the wrong place).  The ride up was comfortable and fast, like most European train services.

When we first arrived in Porto, it was like landing in a fairytale.  Porto is much quieter than Lisbon and has a more romantic feel to it. The city is on the side of a valley going down towards the Rio Douro below.  Porto is definitely the home of port wine, as evidenced by what we could see; on the other bank of the river – the port companies line up like sentries and you can watch the heavy river traffic going back and forth between the banks.

Here are the highlights from the first afternoon:

–The Grande Hotel do Porto was the hotel we stayed at during our time in Porto.  After staying in a bare-bones apartment, it was certainly a flip of the switch to this classy, Victorian style hotel.  With a tea parlor, library, and study on the ground floor, each with old-school furniture, artwork and books, it makes one feel like they just warped back to the mid-1800’s.  Reasonably priced at around 103 Euros ($150) a night for a very solid, clean three bed room, it’s actually a pretty cool place to stay win a good location without burning a hole in your wallet.  The complimentary breakfast in the morning is served in a highly ornamented dining/ballroom and was one of the more extensive free breakfast buffets offerings that I’ve seen.  (Note: This hotel is at the top of the hill and while it’s a very easy 15 minute walk to get down to the main sights, the walk back up the hill to get back to the hotel can be a bit of a challenge after a long day.)

-We grabbed lunch at O Escondidinho Restaurante which was a short walk from our hotel.  The walls of this relatively homey feeling restaurant are covered with the famous azulejos and each table is almost regal in manner with each chair feeling more like a throne than a seat.  The menu offers an extensive menu and I had probably one of the best fish dishes of the trip here (Grilled sea bass).  The apple pie/strudel that I had for desert looked better than it tasted however, having the right flaky crust, but not nearly enough apple filling.  The service was solid, but there was no A/C so it got a little warm in there.  Regardless, all in all it’s a good, solid place to grab a meal.  Grade: B+

-If you are like us, you probably don’t know that much about port wine, which makes going to Vinologia as one of your first stops a must-do.  Located near the river, this rustic, oak barrel looking venue provided us with a great crash course on port wine because the menu offers several different tasting samplers at different prices along with a lesson from the waitress.  With hundreds of different types of port wine to choose from, the lesson helped us understand the differences between each type of port and what to pair it with (the tastings include different types of fruits, nuts, and chocolates that match best with the different types of port we tried).   Collectively, our favorite combo was the white tawny port with apricots.  Aside from the tastings, we ended up being there for a few hours just because we enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere (and admittedly, we all were sort of in love with our waitress).

Recap

Where I stayed:

Grande Hotel do Porto
Rua de Santa Catarina 197
4000-450 Porto

Where I ate:

O Escondidinho Restaurante
Rua Passos Manuel 144
4000-382 Porto

What I saw:

Vinologia
Rua de Sao Joao 46
4050 Porto

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Lisbon, Portugal Part III

We slated three days to explore Lisbon, and while that was certainly enough time to see a lot of the city, four days probably would have been the perfect amount.  On our final day we took a short bus ride over to the area of Lisbon called Belem.   To get there, all you need to do is walk down to that main road by the river (see the entry in the last post about the road to find if you get lost), and hop onto the Number 28 Bus going west.  (Note: Don’t confuse this with getting onto the streetcar Tram 28.  The Tram is a popular attraction for tourists – one that we unfortunately didn’t get a chance to ride on, but if you get that 4th day in, it sounds fun.  It looks kinda like riding the San Francisco streetcar).

The bus fare to Belem is only about 1.50 euro (which you can pay on the bus) and the ride takes about 15 minutes depending on traffic.  The buses are also really comfortable. Once you get to Belem the first thing you’ll notice is the serenity.  Coming from the hustle and bustle of downtown Lisbon, the peacefulness was a welcome break for us.   Here are the three stops we made while we were in Belem:

-Portugal is famous for its pastries.  In particular, the Pasteis de Nata is world famous and originates from Lisbon (there are variations of this desert in Chinese and Southeast Asian restaurants).  This egg custard pastry is pretty much one of the main reasons people come to Belem.  You can get them from any pasteleria in Lisbon, but if you want them fresh from the oven you’ll head straight to Antiga Confeitaria de Belem – which is exactly what we did once we got off the bus.  Located just down the street from Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, you’ll see it right away because of the crowd congregated outside of the cafe.  You have the option of waiting in line and getting it to go, but my suggestion is take the time, get table service, and have a seat inside (Note: There’s WAY more seating than it looks when you first walk in – just keep going back and back and you’ll find a huge room full of tables).  While their menu is pretty extensive, the must-do is you have to order some fresh pasteis de belem (same thing as the pasteis de nata).  They come out warm, golden brown, with a flaky crust, and a smooth, eggy, sweet custard inside.  Covered with a little cinnamon, they are quite heavenly.  Ignore the fact that eating them packs on the calories and justify crushing a few by telling yourself you’re getting a workout walking around Lisbon.

-The don’t miss landmark of Belem is the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos which is where we headed after stuffing our faces with pastries.  The Jeronimos Monastery costs 6 euros to enter, but is free on Sundays.  When you walk in, the first thing you’ll see are the coffins of Vasco de Gama, the man who navigated the route from Portugal to India, and Luis Vaz de Camoes, the great Portuguese poet.  While the main nave of the church is quite amazing – the highlight of the monastery is the cloisters.  As you walk around the cloisters, the plaza like area has highly decorated columns and an elaborate fountain in the middle.  Within the cloisters are several exhibits including a room with a great timeline of the history of the monastery superimposed over the history of Portugal and the history of world events.

-After the Monastery, we decided to go down the street to the Museu Coleccao Berardo.  Now this museum is free to all and houses an extensive collection of modern art.  There’s not really a whole lot I can tell you about it (because I’d be describing a bunch of lines across a piece of paper), but it’s worth checking out if you have a couple of hours.  However, if you’re pressed for time don’t bother. Modern art is modern art, and the exhibits there are things you could see easily in any U.S. modern art museum, and you won’t miss any “masterpieces”.

After spending our day in Belem we took the 28 Bus back downtown to grab dinner and head out for a fun filled evening.  For dinner we grabbed a bite to eat at Solar dos Presuntos.  Located north of the Rossio, to get there you have to walk by several tourist traps. Once you get clear of those, you’ll see the place.  The restaurant has a vibrant feel to it, with photos of celebrities (mainly Portuguese ones we think, but Ted Kennedy was definitely up there) on the all the walls (for you D.C. people – think Mei Wah.  For everyone else, just click on the link) and the hustle and bustle of the coming and going of waiters carrying whole fishes to tables left and right for customers to inspect.  Once we were seated, they immediately placed on the table a delicious array of chorizos, cheeses, olives, and breads (which they refilled consistently).  The wine list was handed to us – on an IPAD (yeah, that was pretty cool) and we each ordered a dish that was very good (grilled squid, goat, and shellfish bean stew to be exact).  Be warned: the menu may not reflect what they have on that day.  My buddy wasn’t able to get either the scallops or the pork on the menu because they were out of it for that day.  It’s also not the cheapest place in the world, you’ll pay a pretty penny for a good meal, but you’ll leave more than satisfied.  Grade B+

To top off the night we headed to the Bairro Alto.  This area is hopping with clubs, bars and restaurants.  On Friday and Saturday nights, people spill out into the pedestrian only streets and mingle with their libations.  There’s a bar scene for each kind of crowd, but it all becomes loud and jovial as the drinks get consumed.  It’s not as crazy as Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but there’s plenty of ridiculous drunkenness to be seen as the clock hits the early morning hours.  We had a great time and went to far too many bars for me to remember specific ones (that and the several Super Bocks, Sagres, and Caipirnhas lead to that memory loss).

Recap

What I saw:

Mosteiro dos Jeronimos
Belem, Portugal

Museu Coleccao Berardo
Praça do Império
1449-003 Lisboa

Bairro Alto

Where I ate:

Antiga Confeitaria de Belem
Rua de Belem, 84 84
1300-085 Lisboa, Portugal

Solar dos Presuntos
R. das Portas de Santo Antão 150
1150 Lisboa, Portugal

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Lisbon, Portugal Part II

On our second day in Lisbon we got another day of beautiful weather (actually we pretty much had mid to high 80s and sunny the entire trip) and our day consisted of even more walking around and sightseeing.   Here are a few of the highlights:

A good starting off point for a day in Lisbon should probably begin at the central area of Praca Dom Pedro IV or better known as the Rossio which is what we did.  Located in the heart of the city, in between the historical Alfama region and the restaurant/bar scene called Bairro Alto (I’ll talk more about this area next blog post), the main square is loaded with shops and cafes.  Walk down the pedestrian street Rua Da Augusta towards the water and you’ll find even more outdoor restaurants and pastry shops.  Most are touristy and you’ll be hounded by restaurant workers left and right trying to convince you to stop and eat, but it’s a pleasant walk nonetheless.  Note: Although safe, keep an eye out for the numerous shady characters trying to sell you weed and cocaine on the street.  Once you get near the water, you’ll end up at Praca do Comercio where we just happen to luckily come upon a free Joss Stone concert.

Note: The best way to get your bearings back if you get lost in Lisbon is to just head towards the water.  With all the unmarked crisscross streets, and maps that aren’t able to label every little alley, it can be easy to lose your way.  But if you head down towards the river, you’ll eventually end up on the main road along the water and that can guide you to where you need to go.

You’ll notice very quickly that the city has an admiration for blue tiles or Azulejos, as you’ll see them on several of the churches and government buildings throughout Lisbon.  One place to see one of the more impressive arrays of Azulejos is at the Monastery of Sao Vincente de Fora (Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Walls) in the Alfama (It’s a bit of a hike uphill to get there FYI).  The entrance fee is  4 Euros (Note: Cheaper if you’re a student, but you have be under 25 years old) and once you get inside you’ll be struck by the mass array of blue tiled artwork.  In particular, check out the exhibit upstairs displaying the azulejos of La Fontaine’s fables.  There you’ll see depictions of 38 of the fables, along with the actual fable written next to it in English and Portuguese, including: The Donkey and Dog, Hawk and Cockerel, Upbringing, and Bear and Man Who Loved Gardens.  Make sure also to see the remains of the 7 Portuguese and Spanish missionaries that were martyred in Morocco and the crazy, freaky mausoleum with a marble cloaked woman weeping over a coffin in the center.  It’s really, really creepy – like hairs will stand up on the back of your neck creepy.

Here are a few more places to check out:

-If you’re looking to get a peek inside what life was like in the Middle Ages you should definitely check out the Castelo de Sao Jorge.   Located at the top of the hill in the heart of the Alfama and overlooking Lisbon, this medieval fortress costs 7 Euros to enter.  On a good day like we had, the castle provided some fun, childlike behavior as we bounced from tower to tower and the views from the top were more than camera worthy.   If you’re lucky enough you’ll also notice the several peacocks that have taken residence in the courtyard and roam around with their baby birds.

-Although Lisbon is known more for its seafood and desert pastries, if you can find it there’s a great steak house to try.  Located near the Parliament building, this local place is so hidden it blends right in with the residential apartments – you have to know the exact address.  The place is called Cafe de Sao Bento and it’s on Rua de São Bento 212, north of the Bairro Alto.  Now this place is old school – you actually have to ring the doorbell to get in.  We actually rang the bell on accident not knowing for sure if someone would answer.  We were more than a little stunned when we were greeted by a man in a tuxedo who led us into the small restaurant.  The place has a weird mafia hideaway feel to it and we definitely felt awkward the first few minutes we were there.  That feeling quickly subsided however when we saw several other “normal” looking groups of tourists, families, and local businessmen.  The wait staff was very kind and hospitable and the seats were plush and comfy.  The steak was phenomenal as well, plated in a no nonsense way – just the meat and sauce with a bowl of either fries or homemade chips.  The steak melted in our mouths and was reasonably priced at around 14-20 Euros.  For vegetarians, the only other thing on the menu besides steaks were small sides of creamed spinach and salad.   One mark against the place however was their ant problem – we had a few of the critters crawling around our table.  For that, it gets bumped down from an A- to a Grade: B+

Recap

What I saw:

Praca Dom Pedro IV aka Rossio

Monastery of Sao Vincente de Fora
Largo de Sao Vincente

Castelo de Sao Jorge

Where I ate:

Cafe de San Bento
Rua de São Bento 212

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Lisbon, Portugal Part I

Before I got on the plane with my two friends to Portugal a few weeks ago, I had really no real idea what to expect; because of work I didn’t really get to do much research beforehand.  I guess my impression of Portugal was that it was like the forgotten middle child of the European countries, with no defining landmark like the Colosseum, Eiffel Tower or Buckingham Palace, or signature food such as Pizza or Paella, or even a reputation for vices like what you would find in Amsterdam.  But even so, I jumped at the opportunity to visit the country that I knew probably had a lot more to offer than what I imagined.

Our trip took us to three parts of Portugal – Lisbon, the capital of the country on the southwestern coast, Porto, up in the northwest, and Lagos in the beach area of Algarve along the southern coast.  We flew a red-eye flight on TAP, the Portuguese national airline, which was to be honest not the most comfortable ride in the world.  Expecting the plane to have the amenities of most European airlines (with cushioned seats, and video on demand screens on the seats in front of you), instead we had an older airbus with extremely worn seats and no movie/music options.  Needless to say, I was underwhelmed and feared at the end of the trip having to fly home on the same old creaky plane (Luckily for us, we had a much more normal/modern plane on the way back with all the comfortable amenities).  So just be warned if you fly TAP, you might land on an older plane.

Once we landed in Lisbon, we headed to the apartment we booked through Airbnb.  (Watch out for the cabs from the airport – they will cheat you.  The cab from the airport to our apartment cost us 28 Euros.  The cab back going the same distance at the end of the trip – 7 Euros)  The apartment we got was fantastic.  It was clean, in a great area right in the historical region of Alfama, and our host Ema was super helpful in getting us settled with tips about taxis, telling us where the closest supermarket was, and giving us advice on good places to visit.  If you’re planning on visiting, please get in touch with me and I’d be happy to give you her info.  The rate for her two bedroom apartment, one bathroom, living room with kitchen/laundry was 60 Euros a night ($85 a night).

Here’s an outline of some of the things we did the first day:

-After walking around the city we quickly figured this out so be warned – the city is extremely hilly.  Make sure you know that before you come to visit if you’re with the elderly or injured.

-Several of the sights in Lisbon are free to all and/or free on some days (usually Sundays) making the trip very affordable if you plan ahead accordingly.

–Igreja de Santa Maria Maior Se or Se de Lisboa (Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mary Major): One of the first of many churches we visited on the trip, the fortress looking building was free to enter.  Several of the parts of the church you should check out are the room with the high adorned papal robes and hats and the gargoyles patrolling the church.  Other parts of the church such as the cloister and treasury cost a few Euros to enter and I hear are worth seeing if you’re a history buff (we unfortunately didn’t make it in, opting to save the Euros for other parts of the trip).

– Fado – One of the quintessential Portuguese arts is Fado, a traditional singing performance consisting of a singer and a guitarist or two.  You can’t visit Lisbon without going to a restaurant at least once with a Fado performance.  Although you probably won’t understand a word their saying – much like opera – the delivery of the singing is what makes the music so moving.  Times vary and there are definitely tourist traps that lure visitors in with their Fado.  But we did find one small place with several locals called A Tasca do Chico in the Alfama.  The food wasn’t great to be honest, but the atmosphere more than made up for it.  There were rotating male singers (all of whom looked like regular schmoes off the street) along with two very talented guitarists.  They sang three songs each with a half hour break in between, the time we spent talking to the others we shared a table with.  It’s definitely a relaxing time and a good way to unwind after a long day of sightseeing and meet some locals.  Grade: B-

– Pois Cafe: For a laid back, coffee house experience with a staff all fluent in English check out Pois Cafe.  Just down the street from Se de Lisboa (see above), this bohemian style coffee shop offers a venue where one can lounge around in their cushy sofas and grab any of the books or periodicals along the walls – think of it like an Urban Outfitters with food.   With a menu of sandwiches and salads, the place hits the spot if you’re looking for a quick respite.  Try the Mozart Sandwich (Cheese, Prosciutto, Salad, and Balsamic Vinegar) and their flaky apple strudel.  Grade: B

Recap

Where I stayed:

Emanuela Pendjer Mendes’s apartment through Airbnb.com
Beco da Lapa
Lisbon, Lisbon 1100
Portugal

What I saw:

Igreja de Santa Maria Maior Se or Se de Lisboa (Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Mary Major)
Largo da Sé
1100 Lisboa, Portugal

Where I ate:

Pois Cafe
R. de São João da Praça 93
1100 Lisboa, Portugal

A Tasca Do Chico
Rua do Diário de Notícias, 39

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Avalon, NJ

Ah, summer time has arrived.  As we head into the Memorial Day week, left and right BBQ grills are getting fired up, pools are opening, and as my one (female) friend mentioned, “Time to break out the white pants”.  The summer season also obviously marks the beginning of the beach season as well.  Luckily for me, a buddy of mine has a family home about 400 meters from the beach in beautiful Avalon, New Jersey.

Now let me say off the bat – this is not your MTV Jersey Shore type location.  If you want to see Ed Hardy shirts and trashy college students, head 20 minutes up the road to Wildwood, NJ or go to Dewey Beach in Delaware and you can see that sort of foolishness there.  Avalon is much more family friendly, with several locally owned restaurants and shops, mini-golf, and bike rental places.  There are people of all ages, but can’t say of all races (I have to report that in the weekend I was there, including myself, I counted a grand total of 9 minorities). I also don’t think the LGBT crowd would have any problems on Avalon beach, but I’m pretty sure when we went on our day trip to Rehoboth beach in Delaware, they were all there.

Getting to Avalon is easy, but getting in isn’t.  If you try and go on Friday night, you’ll hit a one lane traffic jam getting in that can last miles and take up to a couple of hours.  Same goes for getting out of the town on Sunday night.  But once you get over the bridge into Avalon, the town is a welcome sight and is such a great place to relax.  You’ll quickly forget your stress from the traffic.  I’ll go down the list of the things to see and do.

The beach is easily the highlight of the town.  It’s not usually too crowded, and is clean and family friendly.  Make sure when you head to the beach, you go there with cash because unless you have a pass that residents pay for, it’s $6 a day, $12 for the week, and $26 for the season.  They don’t want you bringing booze on the beach, but you can get away with it if you’re not being too rowdy.  Watch out for the seagulls dive bombing down to get the food though; they’re aggressive and relentless.  And finally, the lifeguards are pretty strict about staying near the lifeguard seats and not swimming out too far.  You’ll hear a whistle on average every 10-15 minutes.  The pictures below were taken at around 11 in the morning; the crowds really rolled in about an hour after that.

If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat head to Nemo’s Pizza.  It’s a local family restaurant only open during the summer season.  There you can get your pizza, pasta, or Italian sub fix for a decent price.  I’d say the pizza is pretty close to the kinda you can get a Papa Gino’s for you New Englanders reading this.

If the fun and sun on the beach gets a little boring, there’s a fun local mini-golf (or Putt Putt if you prefer) place called Pirate Island Golf.  Get the last shot in at Pirate Island and you win a free game.  And next to Pirate Island is the Avalon Freeze, a small, local ice cream shop with the usual soft serve offerings and their version of the Dairy Queen Blizzard called the Avalon Freezer.   Watch out – the Avalon Freezer is as filling as a meal.

For breakfast food, Avalon offers two family breakfast joints.  The first is Uncle Bill’s Pancake House.   Open from 7 AM- 1 PM, this place will always hit the spot, with every type of pancake, waffle, egg, breakfast meat combo you can think of.  I personally love the Special Combo that is 1 egg, 3 butter pancakes, bacon, and toast.  I usually also get a side of home-fries because I think they’re some of the best.  If you get a fruit pancake (bananas, blueberries, whatever) keep in mind they don’t make the pancake with the fruit in it, they put it on top.  Now the place is probably a little overpriced, you’ll end up spending at least $10, and it’s cash only.  And don’t be surprised if you have to wait for a table – the place is big, but everyone in Avalon ends up there around brunch time.  One final thing that you’ll also probably notice is that the dozens of waitresses running around are all high school girls.  Just saying, it’s kinda weird.  Here’s some pics of the food there:

The second place is the Pudgy Pelican.   Much smaller, and a little less high school cheerleader with their employees, the Pudgy Pelican is a solid diner style back up for breakfast with pretty much the same breakfast offerings as Uncle Bill’s, except that it’s open longer for the lunch crowd with more sandwich offerings.  I also personally think their omelette is far superior than the one you can get at Uncle Bill’s as well.

The one exception to the quaint family feel is the one bar in Avalon called “The Princeton“.  Located at the end of the main drag in the center of town, the Princeton is one of the few, if not the only, bar in town that’s big enough and loud enough to draw a crowd that includes undoubtedly the college, underage drinking posse.   Since it is the place to be, and pretty much the only one in town, you’ll pay a pretty penny to get in on a weekend night, and you probably won’t find that many great drink specials once inside.  That being said, if you are looking for a place to drink, dance, have a good time with a group of friends and want to find someone to hook up with – The Princeton is probably your best bet.

Avalon, NJ is a great place to go for a long weekend beach outing.  It’s clean, safe (no joke, you can literally leave all your stuff on the beach for hours and nothing will happen to it) and you’ll no doubt get your relaxation in.

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DC-3

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423 8th Street Southeast
Washington D.C., DC 20003

Open Mon-Thu,Sun 11am-9pm; Fri-Sat 11am-10pm

Anyone living in the D.C. region knows that hamburger places have been popping up left and right the past couple of years (Next post will probably be on that new Shake Shack Burger joint opening up in Dupont).   But even more recently, the culinary entrepreneurs who own the popular restaurants Matchbox and Ted’s Bulletin (see previous post) have moved away from the burger craze, but not too far to its backyard BBQ cousin – the hot dog.

DC-3, named for the restaurant’s theme of a Douglas Commercial 3 aircraft and I would have to guess the play on “DC”, is located on the main drag of 8th street near Eastern Market.  The venue is small, and cleverly designed to look like the interior of a DC-3 with steel everywhere, maps on the walls, and a large propeller hanging over the tables to the right.  However, as neat as the inside is, the restaurant was wayyy to cold (even for me) and because of the lack of natural lighting, it looked like people were eating in a prison mess hall.  Painting fake airplane windows with a blue sky view outside would have probably helped.  We decided to get our food to go since it was a nice day out anyways.

The menu is quite overwhelming and you do need a few moments to process the around 20 or so hot dogs DC-3 offers.  The pictures of each dog do help with the process and I went with a “Cincinnati Coney Dog” which consisted of a hot dog, chili, cheese, onions and mustard.  Along with that I ordered a side of cheese fries.  My two friends who came along, one who is a vegetarian, ordered the “Bay Bridge Pretzel Dog” and “Vegetarian Chili” along with fried pickles respectively.   None of us opted to get the soft serve ice cream with a pretty expansive toppings bar, although it did look good on a hot day.

We took our food to the park and my first impression was that they really need to learn how to pack things to go.  Both had been balled up into tissue paper, and aluminum foil.  My hot dog was pretty well smooshed and the cheese fries were kinda stuck together into one sticky ball-fry.  That however didn’t take away from the taste, which I’ll say was pretty darn good.  The chili dog did hit the spot, had a little heat to it, and accomplished the task of satisfying my hot dog craving admirably.  The fries, which were those crinkle fries, were quite good as well, even if I had to peel them apart.  My friend who got the crab hot dog was also satisfied, but not overwhelmed to be honest.  I’ll say this though, if you’re a vegetarian, the veggie chili and fried pickles get an “A”, so vegetarians – don’t dismiss the hot dog place’s non-meat offering because of its signature items.

All in all, I probably would have liked the food better if it wasn’t to go.  That being said, they’ll need to turn down the A/C to get me to want to spend more than 10 minutes in that place.  I also wouldn’t go there if I was starving to death.  The $4 hot dog also probably would have been a bit more justifiable if it was a footlong versus a Ballpark frank sized hot dog, but it is downtown D.C and it was admittedly really tasty.  Check it out if you want a snack or a light lunch.  I give the place a solid “B”.

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Hill Country BBQ

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410 7th Street NW
202.556.2050
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown, Archives/Navy Memorial

Hours:
Sunday – Tuesday: 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m.
Wednesday – Saturday: 11:30 a.m. – 2 a.m.

It takes a lot for me to be blown away by a restaurant, but I think for the first time in D.C. this new establishment has done just that.  Hill Country BBQ just opened up last Saturday, and I took to opportunity to check it out tonight along with a buddy of mine.  I had heard earlier in the day from a couple of co-workers that the original location (which is located in New York City) was pretty damn good, so my expectations going in were high.  Not only were my expectations met, but Hill Country was everything I imagined and much, much more.

Having had BBQ down in Austin, TX, I can say that I can make this comparison with a certain degree of reliability.  Hill Country is the closest thing to a BBQ joint in Austin that’s not in Texas that I’ve seen so far.  The setup and feel reminded me a lot of Rudy’s BBQ.  When we first walked in, you could already tell the the place was going to be lively.  Looking like a typical country bar/restaurant, the venue was mainly wood with black and white photos of blue collar workers on the walls, Texas flags hanging from the ceiling, and chalkboard menus all around.  We waited at the bar (45 minute wait – but perfectly reasonable since it’s a new place in the heart of Penn Quarter) and had a beer.  The beers I’d like to quickly point out are served in honey jars, which warmed us up to the atmosphere right away.

Once our name was called, we were escorted to our table (by one of several gorgeous hostesses – that tidbit is for the guys) and were instructed on how to proceed.  Much like Vapiano’s, you’re given a “passport” and get whatever items in the cafeteria style line you’d like and then pay as you leave the restaurant after you’re done eating.  The first stop in the line is for the meat.   The brisket, chicken, pork ribs (and shoulder) are all priced by weight, and you pay for individual sausages.  Trying to figure out what to get was a daunting task, but there is an employee in line ready to answer questions and give advice on what to mix and match.  Once you get up to order (there were 6 stations to order meat), they measure out your requested order and then wrap it up in brown paper with a generous helping of white bread.  I ordered 1/4 lbs. of moist brisket (you can get lean as well which isn’t as fatty, but has less flavor in my opinion), 1/4 lbs. pork ribs (which ends up being one giant effing rib, Flintstones style) and one Kreuz sausage (I got the plain, but my friend ordered the Jalepeno style).

Moving on after that, you get to the Sides Station where you can order any number of sides from collared greens, to beans, to Mac and Cheese.   I went for the 8 oz. Mac and Cheese, and an order of cornbread (comes in 2 large pieces and Ancho Honey Butter).

We brought our food back to our table and our server, who looked like Ludacris (seriously, I’m not being racist – the guy looked like Luda), was super on top of getting us our drinks and checking in often to make sure everything was okay.  As for the food, I don’t even know where to begin.  IT. WAS. AMAZING.   The brisket was moist, flavorful, melted in your mouth, and was that perfect amount of juicy meat with bits of fat.  The rib didn’t fall off the bone, but the tenderness of the meat was there and was perfectly seasoned.  The sausage had a nice little spice, and when you bit into it it had a little crunch as you broke through the outer skin, and a deliciously soft and juicy interior.  There was a tasty Hill Country BBQ sauce on the table as well.

The Mac and Cheese; oh man, the Mac and Cheese could have been a meal itself.   The pasta was a penne style, and the cheese practically oozed everywhere (in a good way).   I think I tasted a bit of Worcestershire sauce and pepper in the cheese mix as well – it was heavenly.  The cornbread and honey butter were good, and probably better than normal because it was literally fresh out of the oven when I got my pieces.  Although the cornbread and honey butter were just okay on their own (it’s kinda hard to make cornbread really good or really bad), they complimented the meats and Mac and Cheese quite well.

The food already made the place worth going to, but then a woman came up to us and told us about the karaoke.  So I went downstairs to scout it out.  Downstairs is a whole other hall, with tables, a bar, and a stage.  I’m assuming that they normally have live music on some nights, but on karaoke night the patrons can go up and do their best Dolly Parton, Britney Spears, or Bruce Springsteen impression.  One great little thing is that the restaurant will give the singer a complimentary whiskey shot before or after they go up on stage.  And the karaoke isn’t just some video machine with the words and bouncing little ball on it; there’s a live band playing along with you (far cooler).  Now I’m not sure how many songs the musicians know, but when I went down there the woman was singing a song from “Mamma Mia” so I imagine they probably know quite a bit.

Bottom line: This is hands down the most fun place you could go to eat in D.C. right now.  It’s laid-back, the workers are super-friendly, the food is phenomenal (since it’s by weight, you don’t have to pay for any more than you have to) and the price is actually pretty good.  I got a total of probably around 3/4 lbs. of meat (w/ white bread), 2 pieces of corn bread, a cup of Mac and Cheese and a Miller Lite for a grand total of $19 (and I took most of the sausage home with me because I was so full after the brisket and the rest).  Bring a group of friends and you’ll have a great time.  Grade: A-

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Kafe Leopold’s

3318 M Street Northwest
Washington D.C., DC 20007
(202) 965-6005

Open Mon-Wed,Sun 8am-10:30pm; Thu-Sat 8am-12am

Now that the spring weather is starting to slowly come upon us, I like to try and take advantage of any restaurants with outdoor seating.  So on the first comfortable Sunday of March, my buddies and I tried to find a place to have brunch in Washington, D.C. and decided on Kafe Leopold‘s.

Located off the main drag of M Street in Georgetown, Kafe Leopold’s is a yuppi-ish, European joint with clientele that falls under the category of either having western European decent and/or upper middle class Georgetowner.  Needless to say my friends and I don’t really fit into either one of those categories, so we were sort of out of place (but not uncomfortably so).

With the goal of trying to get one of the tables outside, we came upon Kafe Leopold’s and the couple dozen other people trying to do the same thing.  There are about twelve tables on their patio, however only about five of them can accommodate more than two people.   And by the way, the outdoor section is dog friendly if you decide you want to bring your pooch along.

My party was hungry enough that we decided to pass on waiting for outdoor seating and signed up for first available.  The wait was long; we were told 30 minutes and it ended up being more like an hour.  The host was apologetic and checked in on us several times, which softened the irritation a little, but still an hour wait was a pretty long time.  We couldn’t really blame anyone however.  Sunday brunch is a time to lounge around and enjoy the company of the table you’re at, so we couldn’t really fault the current patrons who were enjoying their meals slowly.  Like I said, the clientele was very European.

When we did get seated, we were taken indoors.  The interior will remind you of a IKEA dining room, with a lot of white space all around and the solid, modern looking furniture.  The only hint of color was a curious orange couch in the middle of the room which reminded us of Gaudi’s bench in Park Guell in Barcelona.  There was also a fairly large display case of mouth watering pastries and cakes sitting there and teasing our rumbling stomachs.

Once seated, we ordered a few appetizers and bunch items.  I had a Mrs. Palmer cocktail (Sweet Tea Vodka, Lemonade, and Ginger Beer I think) which was the best part of the meal (sadly).  The croissant I ordered (I succumbed to the temptation of the pastry display) was buttery, flakey, and quite good, but nothing special.  We ordered a prosciutto platter as an appetizer as well, which was alright as well, except for the fact that it annoyingly showed up with our main dishes.

My $15 chive and cheese omlette however was pretty boring and I probably could have made a much better one myself at home.  The omlette came with a small green salad and three small pieces of toast (which added up to maybe one piece of white bread), and those didn’t really pair that well with the eggs.  One of my friends ordered the same thing and had the same reaction.  Our third friend had the Belgian waffle with chocolate and he too was underwhelmed by his meal because the waffle itself was no larger than a frozen Eggo waffle (probably better to get your brunch waffles at Belga Cafe in Eastern Market).

Bottom line: All in all, the experience wasn’t horrible, but it’s not worth it unless you get the outdoor seating on a nice day.  But I’m always willing to give a restaurant a second chance and I might go back to try their regular lunch/dinner because those menu items did look much better on other customers’ tables.  C+

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Aswan

Easily the most serene and beautiful part of the journey was our couple days in the city of Aswan, which was the furthest south we went on the Nile cruise.  People, many of whom were Nubian, in this city were much calmer, and had a much more peaceful temperament.  When walking around, they were far less in your face when trying to negotiate for goods.  There wasn’t as much hustle and bustle as Luxor, and far less chaotic that what Cairo is like.

A few of the highlights of Aswan include the site of an unfinished obelisk.  This site is a granite quarry where they attempted to carve a obelisk out of the bedrock.  But once they saw that the obelisk that they were carving out was beginning to crack, they left it as it is.  While the sight may not be mind blowing, the thought itself of how they carved and moved these giant obelisks back before they had cranes, drills, and scaffolding is.

A second highlight of the city is a trip out to the Aswan High Dam.  This dam helps maintain the water level of the Nile River.  If it were not for the High and Low dams in Aswan, much more of the areas along the Nile would be submerged.  Think of it as the Hoover Dam of Egypt.

The third sight we saw was the Philae Temple.  In order to get to the temple, we had to take a water taxi out to the island on which it stood.  The water taxi ride itself was an experience.  About twenty water taxis carrying various different tourists essentially played bumper cars on the docks while the taxis came in and out.  There was no order in the process, but somehow we all got on board, and went on our way.  Once we reached the island, the temple itself was very similar to the Edfu Temple.  I won’t go much into the descriptions due its similarities, but I would like to mention one cool fact.  The island where the temple stands today is NOT the original place where it was built.  Amazingly, the temple was moved piece by piece to the island where it is today because the original location was flooding due to the construction of the Aswan Dam.

We were also able to have some of the best local fare we had on the entire trip.  If you want to find a place that’ll serve authentic, local food, go to Makka Restaurant in Central Aswan.  We had some lamb kofta, ground lamb patties, as well as stuffed pigeon.  The stuffed pigeon is stuffed with a spicy rice and is eaten entirely with your hands.  It was messy, but delicious.  The mezze was also quite good, with the highlight being the Molakheya.  Molakheya is like a spinachy, kaley, oil dish that you can either eat with flat bread, or just like a soup with a spoon.  It’s a phenomenal vegetarian dish that any meat-eater, such as myself, would love.

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Up next, the adventure to Abu Simbal