Restaurants

Restaurants in Rome; Sora Margherita and Dar Poeta Pizzaria

November 11, 2009


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Question:
When is a restaurant not really a restaurant?
Answer:
When it’s a “cultural association.”

 

 


Sora Margherita
We get a little lost, trying to find this place, wandering in Rome’s Ghetto neighborhood. In fact, we have to stop and ask someone for directions and end up back in a Piazza where we’d just been five minutes before. It’s no surprise because this place has no sign or visible entrance, unless you know what you’re looking for. Stand in the Piazza delle Cinque Scole and look for the doorway with the long red ribbons/ropes (the kind used to keep flying insects out). See it? Then look closer at a metal plate on the wall next to the doorway and you’ll see that someone has hand written “Sora Margherita” on it.

There is a gentleman standing in the doorway, policing all who dare to enter. We ask for a table …

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Restaurants in Rome; Il Fico and Hosteria Da Nerone

October 21, 2009

Rome abounds with fantastic restaurants. Toss a coin over your shoulder (a la Three Coins in a Fountain) and you are liable to hit a decent one. On the other hand, like most cities with an abundance of tourists, there’s no shortage of crap either. This is why it’s imperative you do your homework and don’t settle for the first place with a laminated menu in four languages and a nice view of the coliseum.

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The Centro Storico is the “historical center” of Rome and there are literally hundreds of restaurants clustered around the Piazza Navona, Pantheon and Campo di Fiori area. We ended up at Il Fico after pulling out my restaurant list and map and looking for whatever was closest to where we were standing. In truth, that wasn’t Il Fico, but the first place was full without reservations and we moved on, calling Il Fico and asking if they …

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Food in Saigon Vietnam-Days 12 and 13

September 20, 2009

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Day 12

Following in Bourdain’s Footsteps

After a sobering hour at the War Remnants Museum, we head for lunch at a place listed in my notes; Bac Hai (25 Ng The Minh Khai St) famous for its Pho and featured by Anthony Bourdain on his show, No Reservations. It’s very good pho, and we’re happy to have some as we’ve been pho-deprived for a couple of days. This bowl of noodles is served with many more condiments and herbs, a different in style from those we had in Hanoi. Our Pho Tai Bap is 20,000 VND per bowl.

VNtrungOnce again, we are on the hunt to find (and try) ass-weasel coffee (also known as Ca Phe Chon). Lori has found the Trung Nguyen shop we had been looking for yesterday, and we go in for our special coffee. David and I order Ca Phe Sua Da and Lori gets hers …

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Food in Saigon Vietnam-Day 11

September 17, 2009

Day 11-Saigon

Cholon Market is the largest indoor market in the Chinatown area of Saigon. We went there with our friend Lori and some local young people she’d been put in contact with before we arrived. We thought this would be similar to our tour with the Hanoi Kids. We were wrong. They spoke very little English and seemed pretty uninterested in talking to us. After taking us way out of town to visit an interesting and very old pagoda, we went over to the Cholon market. The market itself held very little interest (for us) in the main section, but the food parts are always fascinating for me. We wanted to try some of the local food, but the girls we were with looked horrified at the prospect so off we went for lunch…

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(more photos of this market at http://www.wired2theworld.com/vietnam2009Day11saigon.html)

Quan an Ngon

Not surprisingly, the place our volunteer guides …

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Food in Saigon Vietnam-Day 10

September 16, 2009

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Day 10-Saigon

Thanh Binh (140 Le Thanh Ton) is in a narrow storefront room,  opposite the market, brightly lit with fluorescent lights and filled with formica tables. But we’re not here for the decor, we’re here for the food. We order goi cuon (shrimp and pork summer rolls) for which they are known, bun bo xao, bun cha gio and cang cua which are crab claws in tamarind sauce. Most items are $1-$2 but the crab is 150,000 VND (about $8) and worth every penny. With a round of beer, dinner is 291,000 VND for three (about $16).

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VNgrillfish2After dinner, we walk around the market building, observing the set up for the outside night vendors. On one side it’s all food vendors, cooking in outdoor “restaurants”, and wow, does everything look amazing. We agree that we’ll have to come back another night.

 

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 From there, we walk around, a little aimlessly, …

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Food in Hoi An Vietnam, Days 6-9

August 26, 2009

Vietnam Trip, Hoi An,Days 6-9

Our time in Hoi An was very much a vacation-within-a-vacation. We spent the bulk of our time at the lovely Victoria Hoi An resort on the beach outside of town. Plus, it was ungodly hot and humid the entire time. This meant we ate a few of our meals at the resort rather than making the trek into town. Still, there are some places I’d like to share.

Market, Hoi An Town

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On our first day in town, we wander through the food market around 6pm, and while it’s starting to close down for the day, it’s also humming with locals making late purchases for their dinner. We get caught in a motorcycle traffic jam inside the market. Someone is making a purchase, from his bike, blocking all traffic, both pedestrian and moto. While I want to return on another day, we never do make it back inside the market. I’ve read …

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