Miami

My holidays took me to wonderful Miami this year. I have never been and couldn't wait to go some place warm while the temperatures were dropping in Rome. We stayed at the The Betsy Hotel in South Beach, and loved it very much. The hotel is a cozy boutique hotel, right on Ocean drive, yet far away from the chaos. We had a pool view room which is quieter than the other rooms.

 While in Miami we ate at many places like Jerry's Famous Deli on Espanola way, and Big Pink in the SoFi (South of Fifth) area. Jerry's  is open 24 hours, and came in handy while we were recovering from jet lag. News café on Ocean Drive is also a popular all day dining place, and is open 24 hours.

News Cafe

Foot long Kobe beef hot dog at Big Pink

We had dinner at BLT at the Betsy Hotel several times, and while the food was excellent every time, our experience varied with each visit. This had a lot to do with weather, and service on that day. The hamachi with avocado, the tuna tartare, ceviche, and stone crab were all excellent appetizers.  The beef is so tender you can cut it with a butter knife! The sides were wonderful, and the signature pop overs were cheesy and good. I didn't try all their desserts but loved the key lime panna cotta. This is an expensive restaurant, almost 100 dollars a person, and wine is way over priced. The outside seating is the best, I would not go if I had to sit inside, since it really seems like you are in a hotel restaurant.

We also managed to have lunch at  the Rusty Pelican on Key Biscayne. The Rusty Pelican is a nice water front restaurant with great floor to ceiling windows and offers panoramic views of the Miami skyline. We had several small plates which ranged from ceviche to grouper sliders, all very good. Their key lime pie was very good too.

view from Rusty Pelican

We wanted to go to Joe's Stone Crab, but since there is a huge "No Strollers" sign at the front desk we decided it was not the place for us. Plus who wants to wait over an hour for something you can get in many other places in Miami?  Monty's is one of those places, and although we didn't eat there, we liked it because they serve all sorts of fresh seafood, and they also have a raw bar. Monty's is on the other side of Miami beach, on the port, and is has a much more relaxed vibe. They had a live band around happy hour, and a much younger crowd frequents this place compared to Joe's.

We had lunch at Grill Fish several times, mainly due to its good food and proximity to our hotel. It's right on the corner of  Collins and Espanola Way. I liked their crab cakes, and their grilled fish.

We also managed to do some shopping while trying to see other parts of Miami like Coral Gables, and Coconut Grove. I recommend Dolphin Mall for great discounts and lots of outlets. I also liked Aventura Mall which is big, and has high end as well as regular shops.

Friendly travel advice on Car Rental in Miami Airport :  We rented with Alamo and had to wait in line  for one hour. I noticed that all other car rental companies had much shorter or no lines at all.  I don't know if Alamo has the best rates,  but it certainly has the longest lines of all other car rental companies. 

London ( Fall 2012)

I was in London this fall and visited a few memorable places worth mentioning. The first was Bob Bob Ricard in Soho. This place is great for Britsh, and oddly enough, Russian food. I went for the British, and had the beef wellington. This dish is 40 pounds a person, but is sooo worth it. I've never had wellington before, and for those of you who don't know what it is, it's basically beef wrapped in pastry. This wellington had a wonderful gravy on the inside, and what was in it is still a mystery. Oysters were lovely, as was dessert. This place has a "press for champagne" button at every booth (all booth restaurant), which we didn't do since we had wine instead. Not cheap, paid 80 pounds a head, but still remember that wellington! Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of this place.

Bob Bob Ricard
1 Upper James Street, Soho
www.bobbobricard.com

Another great place I went to was Bubble Dogs. Their thing is hot dogs and champage. While the hot dogs are not gourmet, the topping are very creative. I had the new yorker with sweet onions, which was really nice. I also had sweet potato fries, which I love. Other hot dogs  include mexican, indian, plain, chilli, there are 12 options total. We also went for the bubbly as well, and oddly enough it paired really well with the dogs! Loved the location as well since Charlotte street is one of my favorite in London.

Bubble Dogs
www.bubbledogs.co.uk

Bubble dogs

La Fromagerie was made famous many years ago by Jamie Oliver since it was often featured on his "Naked Chef" series. The Marylebone high street location is quite big and has a great cheese room, plus sells lots of other interesting food items. We went for breakfast, and had a cheese board, and porridge. Their toasties are small but nice, it's a toasted cheese sandwich with tomato. The cheese board was really yummy, and includes 3 different types of cheese.

La Fromagerie
www.lafromagerie.co.uk

Fromagerie

Happy eating!

Rome Fall restaurant round up

Angelina

Angelina

Angelina

 This Fall I tried several new and some old places which I think are worth writing about. The first one was Angelina, which is located off of via Tritone, not far from the Fontana di Trevi and Piazza di Spagna area. Angelina is a bar and restaurant offering a tavola calda (hot food) buffet. It costs 15 euros for a large plate from the buffet, plus wine and water. Additional  plate is €5 more, which is not bad given the quality and choice of food available. The buffet includes different types of salad, vegetables, roast meat and pasta. Dessert is not included. I think this is a good choice for a quick business lunch, or a stop in between shopping or sightseeing.

 Zi' Maria is not located in Rome, but on the outskirts in Cerveteri, not far from the beach. This place is a cozy agriturismo and is perfect for lunch on a cold day. Prices are very fair and even their wine list offered excellent Lazio wines under 15 euros. We had prosciutto to start for the table, the gnocchi with lamb ragu, steak, and also pork fillet with dried fruit. They offered interesting side dishes like spinach tortino, and sauteed radicchio. Dessert was not bad either, I had the pistacchio panacotta.

Zi' Maria

Ragu at Zi' Maria

Last, but certainly not least is Tempio di Iside. This place is not new, and I have been several times. It is by the Colosseum on via Labicana. Tempio di Iside is a fish restaurant, specializing in all kinds of seafood, raw and cooked. I go there for the catalana, which is the dish you see below. The catalana comes either with shrimp and scampi or they can also add lobster (astice). The dish is basically boiled potato rounds, cherry tomatoes, sweet red onion, and boiled seafood on top, dressed with lots and lots of olive oil and olives. Dinner at this place if you throw in a bottle of wine and some raw and cooked appetizers is about 70 euros a person. A must for fresh seafood.

Tempio di Iside

Angelina (Trevi)
Via Polli 27
www.ristoranteangelina.com

Zi' Maria
Via Sasso Manziana 2
Cerveteri, Roma

Tempio di Iside (Cotture Zero 0 gradi)
Via Labicana 50
www.isideristorante.it