Good Food and Views are Worth the Journey
Fira to Oia is one of the best walks I've done - classic Greek island scenery from start to finish. Think white abodes against the deep blue Mediterranean sky and sea as you walk along the rim of the caldera. This was about as much fun an amateur photographer could have. To top it off, we had a good lunch in Oia.
We were here for a day, one of the stops on our Mediterranean cruise. With the dilemma that we only had limited time and wanted to do something that would allow us to enjoy...
Arzak, one of San Sebastian's leading restaurants, doesn't seem as novel as it once must have been. Indeed I couldn't shake the sense that the restaurant is resting on its past laurels and coupled with patchy service for a Michelin 3-Star restaurant, our experience was disappointing. I'm hoping that perhaps we got them on a bad day but I don't think the dishes were memorable enough to warrant trying them again. Especially when there are so many other good restaurants in San...
This has got to be one of the most fulfilling restaurants in the world. Humankind discovered fire for this reason - to cook meat, and no one does it better than Etxebarri. The freshest produce supplied by nearby farms and fishermen are grilled just right, and without a lot of dressing so that the natural taste of the food comes through. From fish to steak, even cheese, every course was pure joy.
Located midway between Bilbao and San Sebastian, Etxebarri is worth the taxi ride...
Just an update – one of my favorite new restaurants I tried in 2015 – Disfrutar in Barcelona has been awarded its first Michelin star late last year. Read my original post on the restaurant here. The set menus remain reasonably priced at EUR75, EUR105 and EUR135 for the quantum, quality and staging of the food. You can reserve a table online at its website.
Bodega 1900, a casual tapas eatery by the Adria brothers (of El Bulli) in Barcelona provides good quality tapas while showcasing vermouth. The challenge for this place is that there are a large number of great tapas places in Barcelona and I don't think Bodega 1900 stands out. So while I enjoyed the food, I had more more fun elsewhere and I guess I should just try harder next trip to get into the Adria brothers' other eatery, Tickets.
Part of the reason I think Bodega 1900 was...