Tag: restaurants

Iceland 2026 – post 5

by ginnyinshanghai

Food, glorious food. Eric did a lot of restaurant research prior to arrival. A few places he made a reservation before leaving the states. One evening original tour plans fell through so it was time to check his restaurant list. One that kept coming up during conversation was Lola.

It was easily walkable and near the harbor. First impression was solid.

While the bar was empty, most of the tables had individuals seated at them. While looking at the menu, we both got this deja vu feeling. We had been in this building before! It has a distinctive look and curved walls – yep we’ve been here during our first trip in 2019. It was casual dining at that time, while this was the total opposite.

We started with this appetizer: Parmigiano Fritto with fire roasted bell pepper dip. Nice.

I ordered two small plates and was happy with both of them.

Sicilian Sashimi – fish, scallops, langoustine with capers, onion and fennel.

Chili Prawns with garlic, chili, tzatziki, lime and mint.

Eric’s choice was Bacalao: cod with romesco, almonds, lime and caper leaf.

It left enough space for dessert. O.M.G. My dessert was one of the best I’ve eaten in years. I seriously wanted to lick the plate. The photo below gives you a hint of what to expect, but it was unbelievably awesome. It was called Lola’s Banana Business: banana semifreddo, sticky toffee pudding and Dolcey butterscotch. When it arrived, I thought it had a banana on top of the toffee pudding. Nope, the texture was all wrong. I had to research what exactly was ‘semifreddo’? It’s a class of frozen desserts prepared mainly with egg whites, sugar and cream. It differs from ice cream in that it is frozen in molds, not churned and lighter in texture.

Eric went with his typical selection of gelato or ice cream. Flavors were raspberry, lychee and rose topped with Greek yogurt.

Our waiter encouraged us to explore an adjoining room. We found a small movie theater with three options available for viewing!

For an unexpected free night, it was a delightful meal. Bundled up for heading back to our place that night.

Another day we had a lunch reservation at Seafood Grill.

It’s described as a unique dining experience in a cozy environment. Their chefs focus on using the freshest ingredients available and combining them with amazing spice blends.

This was one of the few places where bread (warmed) and butter was brought to the table. We devoured this. The butter was topped with various Icelandic salts – yum

One of their starters was ranked a top item in the city: Deep Fried Langoustine Tacos. The parmigiano ribbons on top of the tacos and red onions was a perfect pairing.

Eric ordered their fish of the day which was Ling, sitting on a bed of bok choy and roasted bell peppers.

My selection was Shellfish Pasta with langoustines, scallops and tiger prawns. Quite frankly there was so much seafood on top of the pasta, you can’t see the pasta. It was a well-constructed dish but ultimately, I sought out the seafood and left the remaining pasta.

One of my favorite things on their menu……………..coca cola! The vast majority of restaurants served pepsi.

A restaurant recommended by some of Eric’s new beer buddies was this spot:

A bread basket arrived with Icelandic butter and a bowl of granola mix. Hmmmm, interesting. It definitely worked.

It was followed by this tuna dish.

My choice was lobster soup. Man! it was delicious, hot, smooth and velvety. Probably not your typical food descriptors but it was definitely comforting.

Eric’s selection was reindeer carpaccio with puree cepes, blueberry compote, hazelnut and foie gras.

Their raw fish was so good we had to have some sushi. One of their selections was available for two to share. Got it.

It was a filling meal – no dessert needed.

This was such a relaxing trip, a few times we stopped in for a drink. One afternoon, we went into an Irish pub. An Irish coffee for me, thank you. Eric stayed with his Guiness.

Eric also found a few cocktail bars – it’s getting to be a thing. Yes, this place is called Tipsy.

This stop turned into a favorite with us visiting seceral nights: Gilligogg.

My selection was one of their specialties: Garpur! It was composed of banana rum, strawberries, whey, balsamico and lime. Described as ‘short, fresh, fruity’. It was delicious. I could have easily ordered a second one.

One more post and this Iceland trip will be finished.

Ginny

France 2025 – post 2

by ginnyinshanghai

Strausbourg Dining:

Our first night of dining was absolutely amazing. Rich found a tapas bar that specialized in regional food and this was one of the top rated: Restaurant les Chauvins. They welcome you in a modern and warm setting in preparation for discovery of the flavors of Alsace. Their mission is for their diners to rediscover the authentic taste of fresh quality products, including organic farming and the know-how of local producers. The owners make it a point of honor to work with fresh products grown on Alsatian terroir.

Days into our trip and we were still talking about some of the food from that night. The first thing to arrive was ‘tarte flammbee traditionnelle’, a lovely thin-crusted item with a special cheese base, thinly-sliced onions and bacon pieces. Truly, it is the only thing I remember from our trip in 2005.

Next three items to arrive were: foie gras de canard (duck), aslacian pork and mini-burgers.

We still wanted more food: white asparagus, rolled meat & herbs rolled in egg pasta and hot dog aslacian.

This item was liked the least: escargot in mushroom cap.

Desserts? But of course. Eric ordered ice cream……..raspberry and citrus flavors, with sparkling white aslacian wine poured into the glass. It was pretty good.

However……………..this is the dessert we talked about the remainder of our time in France: Kougelhopf pain perdu with ice cream and a v.e.r.y tasty sauce. Most similar to French Toast – only better.

The kougelhopf was a local specialty of the Alsace region. It is a yeast brioche cake with raisins and almonds although googling recipes found a multitude of fruit and/or nuts that could also be added. I am going to make this at home! Don’t think I’ve mentioned yet, but at the point this photo was taken, I had been up 32+ hours. Yikes – I’m too old for this.

Walking through the historic area, one gets hungry. Lunch was at Au Petit Bois Vert, outside on the terrace around the foot of the oldest tree in Strasbourg.

While not a tapas place, we continued to share and taste each other’s selections. Never going to be a bad meal when sitting next to water – just saying.

No surprise, I got another tarte flambe with plenty to share.

All shared the homemade duck foie gras and the assorted venison meat & cheese platter.

Eric chose the traditional choucroute garnie (sausages, pork and sauerkraut).

While Rich and Hunter had the ‘wild game (boar) from Alsace. The presentation wasn’t exactly what they were expecting, but enjoyed their selection.

The guys all got dessert with Eric choosing raspberry glace (ice cream) and cafe gourmand for the other two.

So far so good our first few days in Strasbourg. Next up, Strasbourg Cathedral.

Ginny

Rome Eats – second post

by ginnyinshanghai

We needed a lunch before the start of our Vatican tour. Knowing we were going to be around a high tourist spot, we tried to get a bit off of the beaten path. We found Mama Eat. It is a chain found in Italy in several of the bigger cities. No matter, it got high ratings and it was within walking distance of our meeting place for the tour.

Luckily, we don’t have any food allergies, but they advertise ‘two kitchens, two ovens, two chefs and two brigades’ for the separation of their dishes. Nice.

One guess who ordered the soda? That would be me.

I felt like another pizza – why not? Just your basic (?!? ha!) thin Roman pizza crust, tasty tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella cheese. Waaaaay to big but gave me a chance to eat only the tastiest morsels.

Adrienne’s choice for lunch was a pasta dish with eggplant and creamy tomato sauce.

Eric also choose pasta – that’s all I’ve got. We’ve had so many (great) meals by this point, we don’t remember the specifics. It looks good though. 🙂

It was a nice lunch in a high tourist spot.

Our last meal in Rome was excellent. It was recommended by our AirBNB host and although we did’t have a reservation, we were there right when it opened at 7pm and was given a table.

I will say that researching a bit on the internet before completing this post, it seemed like we were one of the lucky ones. A number of reviews were unhappy with the service (we were not), unhappy with their food (we were not) and treated rudely (we were not).

Our meal started with wine – white for me and red for the other two.

While this was very simple, it was excellent. Bread soaked in (their) olive oil – absolutely delicious.

We ordered two starters, but our waitress said we needed to try the stuffed squash flowers. They don’t look like much but were tasty.

Next up was the Parma Ham – 36 months and buffalo mozzarella. Man! That ham is fantastic.

Along with a steamed Roman-style artichoke. It was tasty but different than the first one eaten on day one in Rome.

Adrienne’s selection was lamb – 3 ways (lamb chop, lamb loin and lamb brain). She really enjoyed all three.

They had a special with chicken (de-boned) and peppers – which was my choice.

Eric had been wanting and waiting for his selection for years – Tripe, Roman style.

And since we didn’t have enough food yet…………we got two desserts to share.

Creme caramel
Pear steamed in red wine.

I literally could not eat another bite. Once we got back to our place, I stayed up several hours later then my norm just to let my food digest. It was a great meal – but way too much food.

Ginny