Warning: This is going to be one helluva long food blog. I have uploaded all 125 of my food pictures and are prepared to write about them like no other!
Milan:
We stopped at this restaurant not too far from the train station, called Planeta pizza. It is fast Italian food, and there is nothing fancy about this place.
I had the spaghetti with tomato sauce and mozzarella. The sauce is obviously home made and pretty good, but the pasta was overcooked (not sure if it's because I am Asian). The basil tastes as good as it looks though.
Deron had the four cheese pizza that he really liked. Obviously, the cheeses were really good, far better than Singapore, but it's like trying to find good chicken rice in Italy now, is it.
Cinque Terre:
Miky, Monterosso
This was our first decent meal in Cinque Terre. It is not cheap, and is one of those places where you can expect good Italian seafood. The thing I love about this town is that they showcase their fresh catch of the day on a giant boat at the front of the restaurant, so you can pick what you fancy.
We had a hot seafood platter. All the seafood, especially the shrimp, was really fresh and light, but lacks in flavoring.
Apparently this area is known for its anchovies, so I had the lemon vinegared one. I have to say that it was a tad too sour for me, but the fish was really fresh.
I had the fish ravioli which came in a baked pizza shell. I love the pizza crust, the tomato sauce, but the fish ravioli was just a little bland. Maybe I am just not used to this kind of seafood......
Deron had the gnocchi with sundried tomatoes and some sort of meat that was really delicious,
Cappun Magru, Manarola:
This place was really hard to get to, if you had read my previous post on Italy, you will know what I am talking about. It's ranked #1 on trip advisor and really hard to get a reservation, which is why I really had to go. I have to say that they serve high quality locally sourced food, which showcases the produce perfectly.
THis is a kind of local whitefish, which is just very delicate, and presented with expresso sauce which really complemented the taste.
Then came this gigantic seafood platter which has all the fresh produce from the sea. Amazing.
Seafood soup with some sort of meatball wrapped in squash blossoms. Really light and refreshing.
This is my favorite dish of the meal, lobster tagliatelle with some local greens. Light, very flavorful and amazing.
We were then served with a nice cut of seabream which is simply flavored with salt. I guess I expected more finesse but in general, it was a good dish.
The macaroons were too sweet, but the ice cream was pretty good.
I loved the cheese, especially with the local honey it is served with.
Via Venti, Monterosso
This is hands down my favorite restaurant in Cinque Terre. It was so good we went twice or thrice. Just amazing simple food that tastes really good.
I cannot forget this crab meat gnocchi, even up to this day. The sauce was just a crab meat stock with olive oil, and the delicate taste of the crab still lingers in my mouth, together with the soft pillowy texture of the warm gnocchi. Yum!
Pesto also originated from this region, so Deron had the gnocchi al pesto. He really liked it too. The fragrant smell of the basil still lingers in my mind......
And we had the prawns wrapped in lard. It was surprisingly amazing. The lard was very thin, and smoked slightly, and the combination of the fresh sweet taste of the prawn together with the smoky oily taste of the lard really made this dish.
Enoteca il Pirun, Corniglia:
The same guy in the picture still owns the place, and they are well known for making their own wine, but they ran out of the white when we were there. And maybe because we were there at 11am, the host was a little grumpy as well, which did not add to our experience. The wine was good though.
Osteria de Mananan, Corniglia:
We went next door for lunch, where it was the most popular restaurant in the town.
The tomato salad was served with olives, which gives it a lot more flavor. I wished there was more basil though. Hehe.
The linguine al mare there was one of the best I have ever had. The noodles were cooked in the seafood broth and totally immensed in the flavor of the stock. Very yummy. Beware of broken shells though.
Ristorante Incadase da Piva, Vernazza:
We went straight on to try the specialty of the region, marinated anchovies with potatoes and basil in a tomato sauce. So yummy! I would eat this again in a heartbeat!
And we had to have the customary spritz, while watching people walk by.
We stopped by the daughter restaurant of Miky and had these awesome fried anchovies as well. Man, looking back, we really ate a lot in one day.
And then we were back at via venti for dinner.
Had the seafood risotto, it was really light and delicious. Very seafoody.
The swordfish was the best cooked fish I had in Italy. It was fresh, perfectly cooked, moist and bursting with flavors of tomato and olive. Amazing.
Parma:
Pepen sandwiches:
This is the local deli where everyone takes sandwiches to go. We had the proscuitto sandwich and it was really yummy.
The bread was nicely toasted on the outside, and of course the prosciutto was amazing. Although, I have to say, for some reason, the prosciutto is saltier in Parma than the one shipped to Singapore.
The fried balls with meat filling was also delicious. I told the chef "yes, a little mayo" and this is his definition of a little. -_-
For the love of God, I cannot remember the name of the restaurant we went to in the following pictures. Something like zinga or something. It was recommended by the owners of the place we were staying at.
The customary meat platter. I was very impressed by the pancetta. Super fatty and amazing. :) THe back meat which is known as culatello, was a bit too salty for my standards.
I had the ravioli di zucca, which is the specialty of Parma. Pumpkin stuffed ravioli never tasted so sweet, but it was also extremely heavy with all the parmesan on it.
The first minestrone soup I had in Italy. It is surprisingly like the ones in a can. I mean, the vegetables are obviously fresher but they are all boiled for a long time so it was really hard to tell.
Horse meat tartare, in olive oil. I would have liked it better if it had more flavor. Horse meat doesn't really taste like anything. Raw beef has a lot more flavor by itself. It just tastes like meat, but doesn't really have a distinct fragrant taste or anything. Weird.
La Forchetta:
Highly regarded by all the locals, #1 on trip advisor as well. This is a nice pretty restaurant with high quality food. It was a good solid meal, just not like super freaking awesome to me. But it is definitely a very good meal by all standards.
I love the packaging of the balsamic vinegar.
Loved the prosciutto!
The aged parmesan (24 months) was really good, especially dipped in the honey or the sweet balsamic vinegar.
My lobster pasta was really flavorful, although a tad too oily for my liking. The langostine was very fresh and perfectly cooked.
Deron had the trio of ravioli (speck, pumpkin and spinach with cheese). They were very good, but also too heavy for me.
We had this veal wrapped in prosciutto which was not so good. The meat was too tough and dry.
The best gelato in Parma, at Emilia. It was so nice and creamy and thick. Yum.
Osteria L'oca Nera:
Noteworthy is their polenta in a parmesan cream sauce. It was very tasty, and surprisingly light, considering the way it looks.
I had the tortellini en brodo (tortellini soup) which has a meat filling. I have to say that I'm not sure why this is a local favorite. The meat was blah, and the soup was just salty.
Deron had some sort of cream ravioli again, can't remember much but not that memorable.
Bologna
La Traviata:
This is a ways away from the city center, and is a modest institution that serves good comfort food.
The gnocchi ragu was really good. Very good flavors, the gnocchi was made just right.
I had the fresh tagliatelle with fresh mushrooms. The mushrooms were just amazing, very earthy and penetrates through the whole dish.
And the cremeria funivia is the BEST gelato one can ever find. Their fig and cheese, and this amazing one called the "leonardo" is the best I have ever had. I usually take one or two bites, decided it was too sweet, and stop eating. Leonardo is pine-nut flavored with toasted pinenuts, and the toasted pinenuts just crackled in my mouth against the soft and sweet texture of the gelato. Simply divine. I finished the whole cup by myself!
Osteria Satyricon
This is out of the city, but came highly recommended on trip advisor. Again, a little disappointing. It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't as good as how people reported it.
We had the asparagus soup (asparagus grows fresh there) with a farm egg. It was pretty okay, the texture was a little too thick.
The seafood croquettes were not memorable at all.
The sea urchin pomodoro penne wasn't great. I couldn't taste the uni at all, and it was just regular pasta in a tomato sauce.
Deron's pasta was really bland as well.
Our friend Gio had the special kind of pasta which pretty much wraps parmesan into dough and dried. His was the most delicious out of us three.
And he had this amazing stewed tomatoes and onions which was really kickass. I guess you can always trust the italian to order the right thing.
The dessert was so unmemorable that I don't remember what it is. Oops.
Ranzini 13:
A pizza place that our Italian friend claimed as the only good pizza place in Bologna.
The bar area feels really like an american bar......
I had the margherita with gorgonzola cheese. It was pretty good.
But Deron's pancetta pizza was waaaay better. I have never had such tasty, crispy, aromatic pancetta before. Super awesome.
Eataly:
Gio suggested Eataly even though it was a franchaise because it uses only high quality ingredients. It is a higher end grocery shop right smack in the middle of a bookstore, and I have to say that I was glad I went.
I had the prosciutto and pea pasta, and the flavors were just amazing. The pea sweetness with the oiliness of the ham was just amazing.
But Deron's rabbit ragu pasta took my breath away. The ragu was so earthy and so welcoming, and with the sharpness of the strips of cheese, took me up to a whole different level.
Yum!
Osteria Bottega
This came highly recommended from more than one source, and we couldn't get a reservation for dinner so we had to try our luck at lunch. And I'm so glad we did!
The asparagus soup looks disgusting but tastes pretty good.
This gnocchi is one of the best I have ever had. The gnocchi totally absorbed the meatiness of the ragu sauce, and with the rosemary to balance the meatiness of it, it was really quite delicious. I couldn't stop eating it.
The pasta with culatello ham was amazing as well. This is simply pasta with culatello ham cooked with it, with no additional flavoring nor oil, but it was just super tasty and meaty and delicious.
The seabass was the only disappointment. The fish tasted a little too freshwater for me, although the gazpacho sauce it was in was pretty good.
We accidentally ordered a chocolate dessert but it was pretty good. If I like chocolates, this would be amazing.
Trattoria di via Serra:
It was raining our last night, and it took all our strength (and wet boots) to walk to this restaurant. And we were glad we did. The hosts welcomed us warmly, and spoke proudly of their food. Only organic fare, even the wine is.
The flatbread with fresh mushrooms were really good. Very earthy, very good.
The fresh pasta with fresh mushrooms was really good, no surprise there.
My rabbit with stuffing was really good. Very flavorful, very tasty, albeit a little dry. The stuffing was really delicious!
Deron's beef was a little dry and bland, but he really liked it, so I guess it's a difference in taste.
So that concludes Italy. Whew. Let's move on to France shall we?
Lyon
La Nef des Fous:
This is an insanely popular restaurant. The quirky decorations, the friendly staff, it all adds to the ambience. I wasn't too wowed away by the food, although Deron really enjoyed it. I just don't like it when chefs use cream and fat to create good flavors I guess.
Chandeliers, old typewriters and old fake flower bouquets. This is what this place is about.
I had the pike souffle to start. The souffle was pretty tasty but it was too heavy for a souffle and the sauce was too rich for me.
Did not like Deron's gazpacho at all. Hehe.
The fish tasted like frozen white fish, bland with no character. The sauce again was too thick.
Deron's tagine with lamb, apricots and prunes was pretty good.
In general, would not recommend to my friends.
Palegrie:
This is my top restaurant for Lyon, no doubt. And they are super reasonable as well. I think it was something like 39 euros for a set dinner, I would have paid 80 euros for the quality and taste of the food served.
Amuse bouche: Grilled mushroom with brown soy and local greens. There is something in the sauce that makes it so wonderfully complex and bursting with umami. The mushroom was the vessel for the amazing sauce, and it was a great start to our meal.
The restaurant was modern and beautiful.
We started each with the sweetbreads in a green herb sauce. The contrast between the crunchy greens and seared sweetbreads in a very light soy sauce was really good.
The star of the night is the pork. This is by far, the MOST TENDER and flavorful piece of pork I have ever tasted. It was so perfectly cooked that it was super moist, bursting with natural flavors, and simply amazing. The sweet white asparagus helped balance out the dish, to make this dish a very well balanced one. I had to stop myself from licking the plate. It was that good.
And the dessert is my favorite out of the whole trip. Room temperature meringue, with warm fresh strawberries and cold yogurt ice cream. Every bite was a mixture of sweet, sourness, zesty and cold sweetness again with an aftertaste of a little tart. I love it!
I wish I can teleport back to this restaurant. Sigh.
A pretty darn good croque madame we had on the streets of old Lyon.
Le cafe- Epicerie:
I always wonder why I can never find a simple seared foie gras in France. I always get a torchon or mousse that I do not fancy. Although, in all fairness, this pate was pretty good, just a little too much.
The green vegetable soup lacked flavor, nothing to write about.
Deron had the pork which he enjoyed.
I couldn't taste the chicken liver in this potato mousse but it was buttery and delicious all the same.
Jeremy Galvan:
We got recommended by my boss's brother, and I have to say that the meal was waaaaay too long for our liking. At the end of more than 3.5 hrs, we were ready to get out of there.
Amuse bouche: vegetble soup, pistachio and sheep milk ice cream. It was quite interesting the combination, the hot and the cold.
Mushroom canelloni with sheep cheese and geranium flower. I really don't like sheep cheese, so this did not do much for me.
foie gras torchon with strawberry jam: we were so stuffed with foie gras for lunch that this did not rub us the right way.
The small restaurant was packed and people were turned away.
Langostine lobster with spring vegetables in a seafood bisque. The lobster was cooked perfectly, and the foam was sublime. Wish there was more of it.
Veal in burnt coffee sauce with vegetable quinoa. The veal was a little overcooked to me but the sauce was really good. Very delicate, and the coffee really brings out the smokiness of the meat. I love the quinoa as well.
At this point, I was expecting more savory food because I was still hungry, but along came the desserts. T_T
Cheese curds with fresh raspberry. Very mild, the raspberry was very light and fresh.
Wasabi chantilly cream with lemon thyme ice cream. The wasabi really worked with the zesty lemon. It was really quite an odd combi, but it worked beautifully.
Mille fleur with strawberry, sage and white chocolate. This was really quite tasty. Who knew strawberries and sage would go sooooo well together! It was amazing.
Brussels
Waffle Factory:
The most amazing waffles ever. The locals eat it brussels style just on its own with powdered sugar, and it was delicious that way.
So do not put any jam on it like this.
But like this. And some people prefer the liege waffle (the one on the right) but I am in love with the brussels style (on the left). It's so light and fluffy and tastes like fresh popped popcorn. Simply delicious.
Restaurant Zeno (Brugges)
And we come to the best meal of my trip. Better late than never, they say, and I have to say I agree wholeheartedly.
We went there for lunch, and ordered the three course meal, but the chef was kind enough to offer us four amuse bouches, and all were amazing.
Beer and cheese in two different ways. The profiteroles were simply amazing, with sharp and really tasty cheese oozing out in your mouth.
Home-made chips with onion dip. Who knew ultra thin chips would taste this good? Together with the sublimely pungent onion dip, this was a stellar dish.
Pickled beets with chicken liver mousse. The acidity of the beets really brought out the sweetness of the chicken liver. It was an orgasm in a mouthful.
Sausage and potato: The meaty taste of the sausage slice and the buttery taste of the potato went hand in hand to deliver a really good dish.
And we get to choose their home made bread, of which we chose the guiness stout bread and some lager bread. Both were sooooooooooooooo good, perhaps the best bread I have ever had. Each of the bread really showcased the nature of the beer added in, and were soft, moist and crunchy at the crust. Couldn't stop eating it.
Monkfish with little peas and lentil vinaigrette. The monkfish was really moist, and delicate, which I decided must be the result of poaching it slowly in butter. And the peas and sauce really added volumes to the dish. Very delicate and delicious.
Codfish with green garlic sauce, potato puree and asparagus. The white dollop in the foreground is not the sauce. It's the potato puree, believe it or not. The nicely grilled cod was delicious in the green and white sauce, and just exhibited so much finesse.
And one of my top desserts ever: Quince, angelica, raspberry malt balls. The pink dollops are the malt balls, and they are amazing. They are malty but slightly tart, which really brings out the sweetness of the yogurt ice cream and raspberrys. The angelica sauce really added a different level to the dish, such that every bit you get, you get a different taste depending on the ratio of the components. It was such a delight to eat.If you don't already know, quince and angelica are both green herbs, with the latter being known to bring beneficial health advantages in the old days as a type of medicine. If medicine tastes so good, I would eat it everyday!
At the half moon brewery having a drink.
Mer du Nord:
If you enjoy eating inexpensive no-frills seafood, this is your place. Very popular, standing space only, this place brings the freshest produce to you, all drenched in their signature parsley butter sauce.
The fish soup was very tasty, especially if you add the cheese.
The razor clams were so amazing, I had to get a second serving the next day. I just love the garlicky parsley taste of it, and they are oh so fresh.
The fish are really fresh and just grilled in a butter herb sauce, very fresh, but definitely a no-frills place.
The prawns are fresh and pretty good too, but only if you like freshwater shrimp. I prefer sweeter shrimps, but that's just me.
The meat and cheese platter at Moeder Lambic is pretty good too, fyi.
Jaloa Brasserie:
One of those old school fancy places that your parents love to go. The service is good, and the produce is good, but the taste is a bit too one-note for me.
The oysters were kind of disappointing. I had two mooshy ones.... but the rest were fine. Not the freshest though.
My salmon is pretty good, but I did not like that it was pretty burnt. Deron likes the smoky taste though, so again this is dependent on the individual.
We stopped at a couple of bars on our last day, and I just love how they have the pink elephants from Delirium Tremens everywhere!
And last, ending this post with pretty flowers they were selling in the middle of the Grand Place.
Love,
Keira
