Sushi Samba (London)

Got to experience floor 38 of the Heron Tower not long ago, and what a ride it was! Sushi Samba is locatedthat high above London. I have never heard about this chain of Japanese-Peruvian-Mexican-Brazilianfusionrestaurant, but it was a great experience. I didn't take any pics of the food, was way too hungry! 

Quick recap:
We had the Padron Pepper, yellow tail taquitos (they were just the right bit of tangy, spicy, tasty that we ordered another round) We had the tamales, Ezo and Sasa sushi rolls, Salmon ceviche, mixto ceviche, Wagyu Gyoza, Yellow tail tiradito and Kanpachi tiradito. Dessert was also good, even though I can't remember what a had!
Nice decor, a bit odd, and given its location a after work suit and tie crowd.
Would definitely go back, if just for the view and those taquitos!
One note on the cocktails, I saw that they had Pisco on the list and wanted a Pisco sour. Was not impressed, but then again, I still have that one from Astrid and Gaston in Madrid on the brain!!

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

End of the world (as we know it) ?

Yes folks, every now and then, I take a break from restaurant reviews, and try and focus on other things. Its been going on for a while, and it seems that every where I turn I am bombarded with misery, and bad news. All this makes me think, is the end of the world coming? Were the Mayans right in predicting the end of the world in December 2012??
A while back, I didn't think it was at all possible, today I think it could. It is very sad, but sometimes when everything in the world seems to be colored black, how can you possibly see the bright?? Wars, disasters, fundamentalism, crime, greed, genocide, I can go on and on.
 Here in Italy, the situation is dire. There seems to be no such thing as a non corrupt politician, so even here we are doomed. The economy is dead, taxes are so high, and everything that can be taxed is being taxed. I'm curious to see in what other ways this technocratic government will have us handing our salaries over.
So, I leave you with this lovely picture that I have painted. It doesn't mean I am not going out, and trying to enjoy myself, and discovering new places, but it does mean that my motivation to post is at an all time low. Sorry.

Duke's (Parioli)

I love going to Duke's in the Summer since I love their outside garden area. Duke's is obviously, from the name, not an Italian restaurant. It started off originally with California cuisine, and more recently transformed into an International restaurant. I find the menu to have remained pretty much as it was before, with the addition of an international dish here and there. They have an extensive cocktail list, and the ones I've tried are really good. It's a good place for an aperitivo or as an after dinner hangout, as the bar is quite popular. I tend to go to Duke's for the food. The menu changes depending on the season, but their classic dishes can be found year round. Appetizers include sushi, ceviche made with watermelon, sweet potatoes, and swordfish, nice salads, while main courses include Indian spiced chicken, bacon wrapped tenderloin steak, pineapple marinated swordfish. They have two or three pasta dishes, and even though they are good, I prefer to have pasta elsewhere. Dessert is something I can't resist, and my favorite is the chocolate freakout, which is a Valrhona chocolate mousse cake served with chopped hazelnuts and chocolate sauce. Duke's has an extensive wine list, which includes, Californian, Australian, Chilean, and of course Italian wines. Great place to consider when one wants a break from Italian cuisine.  www.dukes.it

Ondanomala Restaurant (Fregene)

If you are not familiar with it, Ondanomola is a stabilimento (beach)-bar-aperitivo spot-restaurant-tavola calda. Four years ago they started a restaurant in the evening, which was not very well known but slowly picked up since their value for money was better than the Fregene average. I went several times the summer it opened but, after learning that the nice man who was running it was not running it anymore, I wasn't in a hurry to go back. For some reason we ended up there a few weeks ago for dinner, and while there were some disappointments, overall, we ended up satisfied.

We ordered a bunch of their appetizers which included cooked and raw seafood to share for the table and then continued with a dish they called fish soup. In reality this wonderful dish was more than a fish soup, it was more a seafood extravaganza in a seafood broth. I can explain it away but I think the photo will speak louder.

This dish was for four adults and included shrimp, scampi (langoustine), mussels, clams, crayfish (astice), and two whole fish.

 So, on the food front, very good. We had a lovely Lugana wine from Lombardia area to accompany the meal. We were all stuffed by the time we were done with the "soup", but happily stuffed. We were expecting a killer end to the evening, considering the amount of seafood we were presented with, but were blown away when we paid 35 euros a head. Note: Usually in Fregene a 50 euro a head dinner for an average meal (drinks included) is standard.

Now the bad. We arrived with two hungry kids (ages 2 and 5) and we ordered for them immediately in order to get their food as soon as possible. The service was strange, the waiters seemed to be confused and we had to ask several times for the kids pasta. Our starters started coming out, even though we made it clear that we wanted the kids to be served first. After all, it was about 10pm, and way past their dinner time. My baby saw the raw stuff come out, and tried to reach for something to eat and was very angry when I took it away from him. I was doing it for his own good, but obviously he didn't understand, and so this led to a mini melt down. This in turn set me off, and I had a go at the waiter, stressing that I asked not to be served before the kids get their pasta. Long story short, the kids got their pasta at 10.30 pm !! For some this would automatically cancel out the place. I think I would probably not go there again with a hungry baby, but may give the place a second chance considering the good food and value for money.

If you are in Fregene, give the place a try, and leave me a comment about your experience.