Food Archives - Page 6 of 11 - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

Countries, Deals, Europe, Food, Food & Wine, UK

Hop springs eternal in the Czech Republic

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They know all about masks in Prague with every Communist schoolchild back in the day put through a daily drill of fixing on a gas one.

And woe betide anyone who didn’t do it quickly enough.

Today’s masks in these COVID days are cloth and less restrictive.

And the revellers at the long table on the King Charles Bridge at its grand reopening in July are lowering them onto their chins.

To help them gulp down their Urquell Pilsner beer.

No country on Earth, not even Scotland, drinks as much proportionately as the Czech Republic (official).

And they even bathe in the stuff… close by in the Original Beer Spa.

Beer is everywhere in Czechland.

Monky business

Plain-clothes monks produce it and clink glasses on a night out up the hill in Prague’s Castle area.

The superannuated refresh with Pilsner after taking the waters and the treatments in the spa town of Teplice.

And the burghers of Hoptown, Zatec, notch up how many they’ve drunk on their beer mats.

In the Hope Museum next to the Beer Astronomical Clock which is better than the more visited one in Prague.

Here a skeletal figure next to the dials, and Satan himself, mock the teetotal.

They hold a Hop Festival too here in Zatec, eery year where among the competitions is a biggest belly contest.

I’m here to work on mine.

Just as soon as I get out this nuclear bunker.

Have I got nukes for you?

Radoslav had warned us to stick together as we made our way through the myriad dark, dark passageways five stories down in the bowels of Parukarka Hill in Prague.

Where the only company is mannequins in protective suits and gas masks and the ghosts of Communist past.

Here is where 5,000 Czechs would have come to see out the end of days.

Let’s hope that they had plenty supply of Urquell then to wash down all that tinned meat.

The Czechs would, I believe, have prevailed. They are a durable lot, toughened by a lifetime of being fought over by the ‘Great Powers.’

But they’ve always had a Pilsner to pull them through.

I’m only here for the beer

Beer is at the heart of the Czech story, believed to be the oldest in the world, dating back to 993BC at Brevnov Monastery.

For 250 years in fact only monks were allowed to brew beer.

Which you can only imagine they gave up reluctantly.

They certainly haven’t lost the habit judging by the fun they’re having.

At the Strahov Monastery Brewery close to my opening night billet.

You’d be hard pushed though to recognise them as monks as there is barely a tonsure between them.

In the corner, two British girls on a hen night ply a local with shots and for advice on which bar to go to next and there is no shortage of options.

I am happy where I am though, with my waiter guiding me through the beer menu.

As I sup down my beer onion soup and beer goulash with dumplings.

Mild, followed by dark and finished with IPA, is the answer. But I’m not finished there as I’m given a tour of the brewery with samples at every stop.

Thankfully, it’s all downhill home to the Golden Key Hotel were I will sleep in a triple bed under a wooden ceiling with a sauna in the morning.

And wash it all down…

My hosts probably feel that they can’t trust me in Prague’s Beer Spa and that I’d drink all the suds.

So they take me next instead to the spa town of Lazne Teplice which is the last word in massage, saunas, bathing pools and medical practices.

But don’t just take my word for it.

Well do, but the luminaries of yore came here to take the waters.

Among them Beethoven who also sought a cure for his failing hearing…

And you can see the horns displayed in the glass cabinets in the Hotel Beethoven corridor.

While you can also ask to be taken to the room where he stayed, although we didn’t get in.

He may very well still be in there and just not have heard the knocking.

Beethoven, the 200th anniversary of who’s birth it is this year, was clearly well looked after in Teplice.

And he would certainly have feasted on the town’s speciality chocolate cake in the titular cafe.

All of which I’ve been told I must work off next, as the Czechs themselves do, in Bohemian Switzerland.

Cerny statues

No, I’ve not taken a wrong turning although I’ve not been myself since that first night in Prague.

Bohemian Switzerland is the park named for the two Swiss climbers who came here in the 19th century and were reminded of their own homeland.

It truly is an enchanted land and got the official stamp of approval.

When the makers of The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe used an arch in the park and set Aslan there.

The Czech Republic is full of surprises and I spend my last night back in Prague which too has many still to reveal.

Two iron figures outside the Franz Kafka Museum, whose waists revolve and who shoot out water onto a map of the Czech Republic.

It is the work of experimental sculptor of David Cerrny and it is believed to represent what the European Union has don to their land.

The Czechs are wonderfully irreverent to their leaders.

Walk around Prague and you’ll see Cerny’s mark everywhere.

Babies in the tower

A man holding an umbrella hanging from a building a Communist Brabant car on leg and Babies Climbing a TV Tower.

You can get up close and personal to the babies in the tower cafe.

But be careful looking out the window because these weans have no nappies on.

Cerny’s statues blend seamlessly with the Medieval ions, King Charles IV, the nation’s patriarch chief among them.

Tourists though are urged toward the statue of St John of Nepomuk, who fell out with King Wenceslas, and, no, not the Good One.

This Wencesclas ordered Archbishop John to be thrown off the bridge when he refused to divulge Weneslas’s wife’s confession.

It’s good luck to touch his statue and make a wish and that wish will be lifted up to the heavens.

Me? I think St John of Nepomuk might just have drunk too many Urquells and fallen off the bridge that way.

Where to stay

Hotel Golden Key: The Castle area of Prague from €70. Reception will help you out with maps and directions for the sprawling and tiring Castle area Also that yourself to a spa and the relaxation room. See Asten Hotels.

Stay in Teplice Spa: Beethoven hotel: Price per person per night in off peak season is €87 – including room, treatment. daily entrance to Thermalium pool and enjoy the water features, sprays, cold baths and spas. Lots of Beethoven features dotted around the walls and you can even see the room where he stayed. And full board.

Enjoy your trip

Trip to Bohemian Switzerland and see the arch from the film of CS Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. – €120.

Where to eat

Strahov Monastery Brewery in the Prague Castle area. When in Prague do like the Czechs and eat goulash with dumplings, of course. Go for a starter too – onion soup with an infusion of beer. Heck. go the full three course and dig into the apple strudel.

Flights

With Ryanair – to Prague if purchased way in advance from €40-€120.

Important websites

Spa Teplice, Zatec brewery, Bohemian Switzerland, Hotel Golden Key in Prague, Mlynec restaurant Ginger & Fred State Opera

America, Asia, Countries, Culture, Deals, Europe, Food, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

Hungry and Thursday – super soup

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My Dear Old Dad would never tire of telling us that he studied Higher Spanish.

So when the gazpacho was served up in the hotel in Ibiza on our family holiday he insisted he knew that it would be cold.

A meat and two veg man, my Mum was up all night with him, cradling him as the gazpacho came back up.

Anyhoos, here are five soups around the world…

Vietnamese please

Vietnamese Pho: No, that particular pleasure awaits me but who knows as we plan to visit the Far East next year?

So, Son and Heir get yourself out to teach English there so we can come visit.

Ally introduced us to a Vietnamese speciality Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup in, of all places, Belfast at Madame Pho’s.

And when we do get out there we will, of course, go to our friends Wendy Wu first.

Bustin’ Boston

Boston chowder: American diners give a special flavour to food.

And while San Francisco has its harbour and Florida its Keys, you never forget where you had your first chowder.

And for me that was in Boston where I spent a summer after university and would set myself up for night work.

With Boston chowder and a sealed packet of crackers.

Johnnie Fox‘s. the highest pub in Ireland, up in the Dublin hills, runs it a close second. With a pint of Guinness, of course.

Life is a minestrone

Minestrone: As Manchester 70s band 10CC said…

And that staple of your Mum’s cupboard is unrecognisable from the real thing.

Try any trattoria you like but mine’s is in Padova, upstreaam of Venice.

Onion bag

French Onion soup: Talking of your Mum, or maybe it was just mine but French Onion soup was always her go-to for dinner parties.

Not too heavy to fill you up before your main meal.

And if you want to get really fancy then top it off with bread and gruyere cheese.

It should be gooey. Like it is in Biarritz.

Cock a leggie

Cock-a-leekie: Now anything that conceals the taste of leeks which seem like just a green receptacle for water.

This is eaten at traditional dinners like Burns Suppers and I’d recommend the Sheep’s Heid in Duddingston, Edinburgh.

And the Yacht Club in Bray, Co. Wicklow particularly when Yours Truly is giving his Toast to the Lassies.

Out of India… and England

Mulligatawny: Now that surprised you, yes!

But as Indian curry is the English national dish then this isn’t such a big leap.

Its got carrots, potatoes, celery and much else as well but most important is the curry powder and that it’s creamy.

MEET YOU AT THE FIRST COURSE

Countries, Culture, Food, Food & Wine, Ireland, Music, UK

Hungry and Thursday – Elvis food

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The King was taken from us 43 years ago this week so were he alive today he would have been 85. So what would he have looked like?

I prefer to imagine him hair dyed, squeezed into a jumpsuit and taking himself off.

As in his send-up version of Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Because for everything that’s been said about Elvis it is always worth remembering that he was a born entertainer.

And so had an enormous appetite for fun, life. Yes, and food.

It’s early in the morning and I’ve had something of the meat sweats on me.

From the good ol’ Southern food on Beale Street in Memphis the night before.

When my Southern host tempts me with a favourite from the menu at Elvis’s top diner, The Arcade.

When he was young

It is the legendary peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich.

I could bluff it here and say I had it but the grits had left me with a heavy tummy.

Instead I sat at his favourite table and imagined instead.

After all I’d channeled my inner Elvis already at Sun Studio where I stood at the very spot where he had sung That’s All Right Mamma.

Where The King sat… and Elvis!!!

And roared like a lion in the Jungle Room in Graceland.

Graceland is smaller than you imagine, probably because you expect everything to be larger than life in Elvisland.

Certainly the hangars that contain his motorbikes and cars and another with all his jumpsuits point to that.

Full of grace: Graceland

As does the aircraft outside dedicated to his daughter Lisa Marie, one of a few he owned.

But in truth Elvis’s world was small, his father Vernon, mother Gladys, wife Priscilla, Lisa Marie and family and friends he grew up with.

Elvis and his peers would divebomb the swimming pool, play racquetball (he had a game the day he died) and whizz downtown in their golf buggies.

Hear me roar

And the locals who had known him since he was a kid would just say: ‘Aw, Elvis how are you.’

While the folks at The Arcade would chat to him like they would any patron, easy-going Southern hospitality.., ‘how’s your family.’

Only Elvis was different… after all, nobody else had as sweet a tooth or ordered a peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich.

Ah, yes, the Jungle Room

How to make it:

Spread the peanut butter on one side of one slice of bread.

Top with slices of fried banana and slices of cooked banana.

Cover with the other slice of bread.

Spread butter on the outside of the sandwich.

America, Caribbean, Countries, Cruising, Culture, Food, Food & Wine

Cocktail Hour around the world

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It’s Cocktail Hour all day today (not just 6pm) because it’s World Cocktail Day, and I’ve been swallowing up the hours.

And while holidaymakers may like to mark their territory with their towel, I like to claim a coaster at the bar.

For my fave Strawberry Daiquiri cocktail.

Which I have savoured… from the Maldives to the Caribbean My kiss with Rihanna and Turtle recall and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/17/ready-steady-goat-racing-in-tobago/. And http://www.visitbarbados.org and http://www.visittobago.gov.tt

Now if we can’t get out there to our exotic locations we can at least conjure up the taste of the Tropics at home.

With these cocktails:

Something for Buffalo Bill

The Colorado Bulldog, Colorado:

Ingredients: Vodka, coffee liqueur, cream or milk and coca-cola.

A White Russian with a fizz… and this would put even more whiskers on Tsar Alexander’s bushy beard.

How to: In a shaker mix vodka Kahlua, cream/milk. Pour into a glass with ice and add Coke.

Visit www.colorado.com and take in Beertown Denver www.denver.org and Go West and The New Frontiersmen.

Take it as red

The Redhead in Bed, 25 Degrees, Huntington Beach, California:

Ingredients: Ketel One Citroen vodka, strawberries, lemon juice, sparkling wine.

I’ve yet to have a Redhead in Bed anywhere (honestly) but if I did it would be in Huntington Beach.

How to: Mix One Citroen vodka, strawberries, lemon juice, and sparkling wine for an added kick.

For those who like to drink their dessert, 25 Degrees offers four spiked shakes, mixing vanilla ice cream and your choice of Guinness, Maker’s Mark, Kraken Black Spiced Rum, or Kahlua among other sweet milkshake additions.

Visit www.surfcityusa.com and My weekend with Marilyn and Stair Wars.

Turning Japanese

Shochu Mojito, Japan

Ingredients: Mint, shochu, sugar, lime, fizzy water

If you had been planning to get out to Japan this year for the Olympics then you have our sympathies but here’s a multi-discipline event you can do from the safety of your own home.

This is a Japanese twist on a classic mojito which swaps the rum usually found in a Mojito with shochu, a Japanese liquor typically made from buckwheat, sweet potatoes or barley.

This is an easy cocktail to whip up once your guests arrive (two minutes prep time) and is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

How to: Add the lime, mint and sugar to a tall glass and bruise with a muddler. To this, add the shochu and fizzy water and stir. Serve over ice with mint to garnish. www.japan.travel/en/uk/

And, of course, you all know by now that all your favourite Scottish bartender needs is a cocktail brolly, a maraschino cherry and a shaker and we’re talking Jocktail Hour… Jocktails… the Strawberry Daiquiri, Jocktails – Whisky Sour, Hungry and Thursday – sangria and La Sagrada, Jocktails: The Bajan Monkey,

Jocktails – the Hurricane Jocktails – Mimosas Jocktails – the Sazerac.

And a host of others.

America, Caribbean, Countries, Cruising, Europe, Food, Food & Wine

Hungry and Thursday – the end of buffets?

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Buffets are like marmite (and you can get that too) so the prospect of no buffets is just another thing to pile on our COVID tray.

First off, a history question? Who introduced the buffet?

Padova in north-west Italy actually.

I discovered this on a trip to the Veneto region… https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/04/11/padova-city-of-frescoes/amp/.

Boney’s Italian adventure

Napoleon, it transpires, was responsible for the introduction of the buffet when he held parties for his pals in the Italian grand casas.

Well you don’t think he got that girth from croissants do you? Visit http://www.turismopadova.it/en/basic-page/padua-24-or-48-hours.

Here’s where I’ve stood in line for my food asking for more. And there’s always more!

Carry on Cruising

Cruising: And one of the draws of a cruise for many is their food.

And you can eat around the world on a cruise, and go back and do it all over again!

Get there early for breakfast, lunch and dinners on MSC Cruises https://www.msccruises.ie/en-ie/Homepage.aspx and The call of the fjords

Particularly when the food-mad Italians are around!!!

Of course where you go on your cruise can inform your choice of foods.

And on the Celebrity Cruise Edge https://www.celebritycruises.ie/onboard/our-ships/celebrity-edge/ maiden voyage I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out To Here from Florida to the Bahamas they like to spice it up.

If you want though a taste of home then Royal Caribbean are the cruise for you.

When you can visit an authentic British Fish and Chip Shop.

Authentic that is for being on the top deck with a cocktail in hand https://www.royalcaribbean.com and A Royal Party and https://www.google.ie/amp/s/jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/03/24/messi-around-on-the-water/amp/.

Caribbean cruising

Barbados: And seeing we’re talking about the Caribbean (and aren’t we always?) then a Caribbean buffet always has something special?

Yes, rum!

Because bread, cakes, pancakes, bacon, you name it they have it, and it will be on the hot plate in Barbados https://www.visitbarbados.org and Let’s rumba in Barbados and My kiss with Rihanna.

Der buffet

Dresden: And for Germans, eccentrics that they are, that means doing things differently.

And the Saxons in Dresden Dresden’s renaissance https://www.dresden.de/en/tourism/tourism.php at the German Travel Mart https://www.germany.travel/en/trade/gtm-germany-travel-mart/gtm/gtm_10.html put out all their meats at one side of the room and the veg at the other.

Guess which one I went for!

America’s a rollercoaster

Orlando: You’ll pay for it if you were overdoing the Hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/things-to-do/dining/pat-o-briens.

Because in American hotels bigger is better.

And there will always be a chef waiting with a frying pan offering an anything you want omelette.

As well as the plethora of sweet treats.

But remember you have theme parks of loop the loops awaiting you.

And believe me you don’t want to make the Hulk angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry.

See https://www.visitorlando.com/en-ie, https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us. And Aaawlando… Orlando, the rollercoaster capital and See off Voldemort, then for a beer at Moe’s.

MEET YOU AT THE BUFFET- SOME TIME

Culture, Europe, Food, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

Hungry and Thursday – A dog’s dinner

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No, I’m not complaining about the fare I’m being served up here during lockdown… I’ll leave that to the Son and Heir.

It’s just that my dog-mad extended Irish and American family have been preparing for the reopening of restaurants by flagging up how their pets have been coping in lockdown.

Well, is the answer if Harry and Coco are anything to go by.

Few are as barking about their pooches as the Americans and the Japanese but where they lead (sorry) the way we have followed.

So here’s my five top of the pups (there’s more of this!).

New Bark, New Bark

Paws for thought. Credit: Jenna Murray/IGC Hospitality

The Wilson NYC, New York: And where I first encountered puppy pampering and pedicures down on the block on Rockville Center in Long Island when I first visited the Big Apple in my first summer after school.

And only in America as they say because puppies never got their nails painted in Glasgow!

I’m glad to say that the New Yorkers still treat their pets as Top Dogs.

And Halloween gives them the perfect chance to dress their pups up as Superman, Batman and other superheroes down on Battery Park.

This Chelsea favourite sees the maitre d’ (for dog) put your pet up at the high table and treat them to a distinct dog menu.

With fancy options like a 16-ounce grilled ribeye steak for $42, pan-roasted salmon for $28, and grilled chicken breast for $16.

All on the restaurant’s side patio and front terrace, where their pet humans order their own steak off the regular menu. See https://thewilsonnyc.com, http://www.nycvb.com and Old New York: Hamilton.

Indian pup trick

Puppychino, New Delhi: The Indians have a religious love for their animals which is endearing but surprising for those not brought up around animals.

Such as my Dear Old Dad who baulked at the bus driver who stopped the No. 52 while a cow ambled across the road. Before getting off his coach to do a dump in the street and get back on.

This is Puppychino and it is one of many cafes and restaurants around India where the animal is put first, rather than in some establishments I’ve been in where you’re treated like an animal.

See https://www.zomato.com/ncr/puppychino-dog-friendly-cafe-1-shahpur-jat-new-delhi, http://www.incredibleindia.com and Yoga-dabba-do – International Yoga Day.

Japanese growl

Mame-Shiba, Cafe, Harajuku, Tokyo: Now Japan’s culture of low tables and sheer eccentricity lends itself admirably to dog cafes and restaurants.

And these guys are in doggie heaven…

The entry fee covers entrance, a drink and a time slot of 30 minutes with your favourite furry friend. Get there early to avoid long queues. See http://brangista.j-server.com/BRAOWLCATF/ns/tl.cgi/http://owls-cats-forest.com/free/mameshiba-harajuku?SLANG=ja&TLANG=en&XMODE=0&XCHARSET=utf-8&XJSID=0 and https://www.gotokyo.org/en/index.html and https://www.japan.travel/en/uk/.

Don’t mess with Le Toutou

Le Toutou, Brussels: So Le Toutou means doggie, but you knew that, right?

And there’s no distinction between doggies and humans here.

With both being treated to a choice of dishes from pasta or rice to vegetables, beef or chicken, all being high in fibre and low in salt.

The pooches though get their own beer, as they should, Red Dog.

It’s an energy beer which is described as the ‘subtle taste of bone marrow’. Visit https://visit.brussels/en and In Flanders fields.

Old Barkie

Edinburgh Chihuahua Cafe: Billing itself as Scotland’s first dog cafe its owners are barking about two things…

Cakes and dogs, and chihuahuas to be precise.

They advertise that resident Chihuahuas will roam freely amongst guests.

For you to pet, cuddle, play with, take photos or simply observe and enjoy.

Just what Edinburgh’s most famous doggie, Greyfriars Bobby, would think of the Chihuahuas getting all this pampering…

Don’t worry though Bobby, you’re still No. 1.

And we’ll never stop patting you, although kissing his nose has left it to wear away!

See https://edinburghchihuahuacafe.co.uk/product/thanks/ https://edinburgh.org, http://www.visitscotland.com and Edinburgh – an old friend and Putting these statues on a pedestal.

Countries, Culture, Europe, Food, Food & Wine, Ireland

Raising the Bar

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And Sadie, you’re going to be the one that saves me.
Oasis (maybe)

Oasis are belting out their pub standard and I’m putting my own spin on it.

Of course, it’s not the actual Gallagher brothers themselves, but three hipsters who make up the house band, and one of them is on a banjo!

And it’s not a mega stadium, but just off the Liffey.

‘Cause after all, this is Temple Bar.’

And it’s Valentine’s Night so every tune is a rousing anthem.

While you and your loved one may have been gazing adoringly into each other’s eyes in your favourite Italian restaurant last week, and maybe even in a restaurant in Italy, I had taken my beloved to Dublin’s party hub

Obviously hoping to spend it in a sports bar… Celtic were playing that night.

Rush hour

And they’ve even got the Scotland flag out

Now before I have the massed regiments of womenkind taking up arms against me, we did do the romantic dinner bit.

With an eight-course tasting menu at the Morgan Hotel before we went out on the town.

I had arrived from the office with seconds to spare for our sitting, after working up to the wire.

All overheated from a lower walk from my work in Ballsbridge, three and a half kilometres away.

Herself? She was as fresh as a daisy.

The refurbished Morgan is sat plumb on Fleet Street, next to the Hard Rock Cafe, but is a haven from the throb of humanity that populates Temple Bar, day and night.

Like much of Temple Bar itself it’s multi-national and its staff are bursting with life.

All the world is here

Busting a move: With Oliver St John Gogarty

I joke with Spaniard Sonya at reception when she tells me that my wife is upstairs and I ask if she is alone.

And then there’s our waitress Anastasia who smiles patiently as we dither over cocktails…

A special Valentine’s frothy concoction just whets our appetite for another with ‘Mother Gin’ Herself trying out a Ruby made from Ha’Penny Rhubarb Gin, apple, lime and lemon juice with a basil leaf.

All on medicinal grounds you understand… as she was quick to point out that it had said on the drinks menu.

Now, clearly we don’t go in for tasting menus at home… because somebody’s specified chores are dish-washing.

Catch of the day

But there is something particularly civilised about taking small portions, and your breath, between dishes.

The dishes at the Morgan restaurant, 10 Fleet Street, are beautifully created and almost too good to eat.

But eat we did, mackerel, salmon, duck, roast pork cheek, and king scallops and bream, and even the Baby Beet Salad they slipped in there when they didn’t think I was looking.

Glowing from our cocktails… and with some credit in the bank from giving Herself my uninterrupted attention for once at dinner time I went in search of my football match.

Surprisingly though, for all that Temple Bar is Party Central my attempts at finding a pub with the game on were proving fruitless.

The Temple Bar hostelry was jumping, but not with rowdy football supporters but good-natured music-lovers, cooing couples and young people just there for a good night out.

The best bar none

And while I half-expected the playlist to be all diddly-aye music, the band’s set was rockier.

They are an eclectic bunch in the Temple Bar tonight…

We share holiday reminisces with Amsterdammer Sandor until he either tires of my attempts at engaging with him on the Ajax game the previous night.

Or because he is diverted by a pair of brown eyes.

Now Temple Bar isn’t cheap and it is wise to pace you drinking with a pub crawl perhaps the best idea.

It also helps you clear your head.

Buskers, our next stop, strikes me as a little too modern for our lining… and what do you know, the singer is only playing Wonderwall.

Hat’s not fair

The Oliver St John Gogarty is perhaps the best-known pub in Temple Bar and for research purposes we end our night there…

Probably because to go on would have meant having to sell a vital organ to afford another drink.

It’s busy, yes, and loud, ditto.

But the Temple Bar revellers are mostly good-natured, although if a fatter ‘Phil Mitchell’ tries to meet your vacant gaze by the side of the stage then it might be best to find another place to stand.

That, or be prepared for a delicate spot of diplomacy to get your hat back.

Perhaps feeling guilty at the prices of their drinks they did hand out little bowls of chips and a sausage roll.

Because eight courses back in the Morgan was never going to be enough.

*The Morgan Hotel http://www.themorgan.com/http://(00353) 1 643 7000. The Morgan is running a spring offer of 30% off room-only rates on bookings until March 31 (valid on stays until December 31) from €150 per room.

This article was first published in the Irish Daily Mail in 2019.

The Menu

Rose petal: Absolut raspberry vodka. Chambord, rose syrup, lime jice pineapple foam.

Torched cured mackerel fillet: Cured mackerel filled, dried lime, caper berries, lime gel, lime oil.

Gin & Juniper Cured Salmon: Cucumber escabeche ribbons, pepper drops, fennel sour cream, rye crisps.

House smoked rare duck: Bumblebee mixed leaves, yellow pepper coulis, heritage tomatoes, lavender, lavender oil.

Baby Beet Salad: Beetroot yoghurt cream, beet brittle, pomegranate, orange segments.

Slow Roast Pork Cheek, King Scallops: Sea salted baby kale, garlic baby carrot, blackberry & basil gel, port jus.

Baked filled of bream: Sweet potato crisps, orange cauliflower, sweet pepper dressing.

Whiskey smoked pear: Caramel droplets, cardamon infused saboyon.

And if you want to check out a great Dublin institution in rugby heartland then here’s my review of the InterContinental Rugby central, it’s the InterCon… what a Ledge!.

*This article was first published in the Irish Daily Mail in 2019.

What’s your favourite Dublin hotel? Let me know and we’ll share.

Countries, Culture, Deals, Europe, Food, Food & Wine, Ireland, UK

Dans La Rue en France

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La Scary One does all the driving from Chez Murty.

She grabs hold of the inside lever on the door as soon as I turn the ignition on.

So as not to hurt my feelings she says it’s because she taught me how to drive.

Red-hot

The owner of the French Fiat 501 firm in Mandelieu-La-Napoule was less diplomatic The Boat D’Azur.

Does this car look big in me?

And after I’d stalled his car in the car park for the third time, with its gearstick on the dashboard, he put his hand out for the keys.

There was a frosty drive around the French Riviera until we met up with our hosts again.

All of which circuitous route from A to B brings me round to Airelles’ three and seven-night road trips in the South of France https://www.france.fr/en.

Chateau living

Where you’ll stay at Airelles Gordes, La Bastide in the hilltop village of Gordes, Château d’Estoublon, a stone’s throw from Les Baux de Provence and Château de la Messardière, a stone’s throw from Les Baux de Provence and Chateau de La Messardiere in St Tropez.

Airelles is naturally flagging up the culinary delights of France and its spas which Le Scary One would be all over.

A week to remember

But as thoughts during lockdown turned to dream trips she did put in a request for lavender fields which is just what Airelles is offering.

The seven-night road trip breaks down into:

Two nights in a Superior Valley Room at La Bastide, Gordes,

And a further two nights in a Residence at Chateau d’Estoublon, Les Baux-de-Provence.

And three nights in a Superior Seaview Room at Chateau de la Messardiere, St Tropez.

From €7,000 (£6,250) based on two sharing. Full board (excluding drinks).

Three-day trip

The three-night road trip includes:

Enjoy one night in a Superior Valley Room at Ka Bastide, Gordes.

One night in a Residence at Chateau d’Estoublon, Les Baux-de-Provence.

And another night in a Superior Seaview Room at Chateau de la Messardiere, St Tropez.

From €3,000 (£3,125). Full board (excluding drinks).

And they’ll throw in daily picnic baskets with lots of goodies in them. The trip is flexible around your needs and dates. Visit experience@airelles.com.

Countries, Culture, Europe, Food

Hungry and Thursday – sweet, sweet ice cream

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King Henry VIII’s Greensleeves means two things to me… Miss F’s slow wedding march and the ice cream van.

Just why Tudor music should be the go-to tune for ice cream vendors I’ll put out there for you to chime in with an answer.

But I rather enjoy the image of Henry running out in his padded garb for his 99.

And I suppose it could happen… on a film set. And I dare say Jonny Rhys Meyers and Damian Lewis like a double nougat or a screwball.

Porty’s finest

Did you know though that the 99 was created just up the road from here?

In my old stomping ground of Portobello, Edinburgh’s town beach https://edinburgh.org and www.visitscotlsnd.com.

Arcari claims to be the birthplace of the 99 with the number that of their address in Portobello High Street.

Where Stephen Arcari broke a chocolate flake in half and put it on the ice cream

An alternative explanation is that it comes from slang, 99 meaning excellent and alluding to an elite guard of 99 soldiers who served the King of Italy.

The Pope’s fave

Now I don’t know about the King of Italy but our Popes have been partial to a gelato, or ice cream.

We have the Good Book, the Vatican Cookbook, as our holy scripture here which tells us that Pope Francis loves an Argentine fave dulce de leche and its caramel flavour.

And he knows his flock loves gelati too, being known to hand out 3,000 ice creams to Rome’s poor and homeless.

All of which kept my mind occupied as I stood socially distanced in my queue.

Walk this way

And for a quick and invaluable guide on Rome and how to get there by foot with Francigena Ways see www.FrancigenaWays.com, https://www.rome.net and Small roads lead to Rome.

MEET YOU IN THE QUEUE

Caribbean, Countries, Cruising, Culture, Europe, Food, Food & Wine

Jocktails… the Strawberry Daiquiri

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A sweltering hot summer in Boston after Aberdeen University, three jobs, and a thirst on me like a blindfolded man in the desert.

And a party of office workers unwinding in Quincy Market with a jug of Strawberry Daiquiri.

I was in… and from that moment the slushy, ruby-red rum cocktail has always ben my go-to.

It doesn’t have to be a cruise ship although here I am again…

I’ll bring you more Jocktails from around the world as I go but here’s the recipe.

And you might be surprised to hear that I’m the one who makes them around Casa Bandana while the Scary One is the one who devours them.

Strawberry Daiquiri

5 cracked ice cubes

1 measure of white rum

A half measure of strawberry liqueur.

A quarter measure of lime cordial

Garnish with a strawberry.

Jocktail tip: Stick some strawberries in the blender too for extra fruitiness.

Method: put the rum, strawbs and lime liqueur into the blender for 30 seconds. Pour into a margarita glass with the cracked ice in it and decorate with a slice of strawberry. Oh, go on, stick in a cocktail brolly and stick with a couple of maraschino cherries on it.

And because I’m writing about Boston visit http://www.visitbostonusa.com and http://www.visitusa.ie.

Want to know the best places to drink one. On a Royal Caribbean cruise… A Royal Party and www.royalcaribbean.co.uk.

Boston is well served by the major airlines from Ireland… look out for best deals in Flyday Friday.

And…

MEET YOU IN THE BAR