I had visited this place some time ago, long before I started this blog and had good (although not entirely sober) memories of the place. As I was in Singapore on business alone this time, I was sober both on arrival and subsequent departure from my visit this time round. Anyway, it was a Saturday and this place was busy; almost all of the tables were taken and a lot of walk in Customers were being turned away. I now know exactly why this was the case; this is simply the best Lebanese restaurant in Singapore.
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Beiruit Grill, Singapore – Singapore
Amarone, Edinburgh – UK
For Mother’s Day this year, I was treated to lunch at Amarone, an Italian restaurant housed in what used to be a city centre bank. The restaurant claims to model its contemporary interior on a typical Milanese restaurant, and I was certainly impressed with the simple but stylish décor. On arrival we were greeted immediately and shown to our table by a friendly member of staff.
Pizza Express, Queen Street, Glasgow – UK
We recently took a trip to Glasgow to show Number One Son the beautiful Christmas lights and bring Student Daughter home for a bath and some home cooking. Organised as ever (or just being a control freak), I went online and booked a table at Pizza Express. We visit this restaurant chain frequently in Edinburgh, as it is a good family restaurant which always offers special deals and tasty food. A quick search online produced an offer for a three-course set menu at £12.95. Anyone out there with teenagers will understand you need to save the pennies where you can. I gleefully printed it off and took it with me.
Alounak Bayswater, London – UK
I had been working with a colleague from their home office in Notting Hill as I had yet to pass the security checks required to be permitted entry to this clients building. We had worked (a little) and decided it was time for lunch.
Alounak was described a ‘very popular’ and a ‘place that Persian people queue for a table’. My colleague then went on to explain that they have the most amazing bread that is made fresh for you at the enormous oven that sits just by the entrance. I was sold – even though they didn’t sell booze (yes, we took our own; heaven forbid we have to have a business lunch sober).
Da Dante Restaurant, Bonn – Germany
It was lunchtime. My day had started at 3:46am as I live some distance from the airport and had to catch a flight at 6am. I had arrived in Bonn later than I was meant to but still had just enough time for lunch before my meeting.
Da Dante is situated in the Hotel Kanzler where I was staying and alas hotel restaurants do not normally excite me and this was no exception. I prepared myself for mediocre food along with high prices and in I went. Continue Reading…
Cafe Andaluz – Edinburgh, United Kingdom
As a local, I should know better than to venture anywhere near the city centre during the Edinburgh Festival. But I was presented with a rare opportunity to share a girly lunch with Teenage Daughter before she swans off to university and leaves me with my two menfolk. Her eatery of choice was Café Andaluz, a tapas restaurant in swanky George Street.
The restaurant is deceptively large and softly-lit by Moroccan-style lanterns suspended from the ceiling. The walls and floors are decorated with brightly-coloured ceramic tiles, giving the place an authentic Spanish feel. We were greeted immediately on arrival and shown to a table on the upper floor of the restaurant. Continue Reading…
Firezza Canary Wharf, London – UK
Firezza is the sort of posh pizza that would only ever work in London. The ingredients may well be fresh and they may be well delicious however they still cost a fortune (about £15 each). On the plus side you can also order Peroni and / or some wine and it will be delivered along with your pizza. They also do pizza by the 1/2 meter which is kind of fun if there is a few people to feed.
I finished work way later than I should have one night, and for some strange reason I decided to walk back to the place I was staying. I came across Firezza and decided to venture in; the smell was pretty good and the beers looked really cold.
La Piazza, Edinburgh – United Kingdom
Hubby wanted to celebrate our anniversary with dinner at a ‘proper’ restaurant, as opposed to a child-friendly pizza chain restaurant. I duly booked a table for the four of us at La Piazza for 5.30pm on a Saturday night. Yes, I realise this is the time when old people and small children have tea, but I had tickets to see ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and didn’t want to be late for my long-awaited session of ogling Christian Bale in the Bat Suit.
Edinburgh is currently under siege from on-going tram works, which will hopefully be completed before I reach pension age and become too decrepit to use a tram. At the time of writing, the road in Shandwick Place is just a big crater, with little pedestrian bridges set up at intervals along the street. We parked the car about five minutes’ walk from the restaurant and negotiated our way from one side of the street to the other, amongst large groups of confused Japanese tourists.
Pavilion Restaurant @ Hilton East Midlands Airport, United Kingdom
The Pavilion Restaurant at the Hilton East Midlands Airport has three categories of clientèle. The first are business travellers staying at the hotel. The second are leisure travellers also staying at the hotel, generally before or after a holiday that departs from the airport. The third group I feel for the most. They are local people who go to the Hilton for a ‘posh’ meal. I know that all of these groups exist as I have observed them all during my many nights here. Continue Reading…
Divinus Restaurant, Barcelona – Spain
I had been on a leisure trip with Mrs Travel Freak to Barcelona for the weekend. The weather had been on side and we had enjoyed a great weekend. It was the last day of our trip and we only had a few hours before we needed to get the train to the Airport. We had asked in the Me hotel where we could have a bite to eat and then catch the train and were told that Passeig de Gràcia was the best plan.
We hailed a cab and 10€ later we were in the street. This was clearly an upmarket street – Hugo Boss, Armani, Yves-Saint-Laurent, Chanel etc. all had a presence here. Luckily for me (and my Amex) it was a Sunday and all the shops were closed.
