Felice Cafe, Rio de Janeiro

Patrick Brazil, Cafe, Ice Cream, Restaurants, Rio de Janeiro

Another rainy day and a late afternoon hunger drove me to visit a place that looked welcoming not very far from where I was staying. They had a covered outdoor patio that made it even more appealing to enter when I really wanted to be on the beach and hoping for greater sunshine. Nevertheless, it was time for a late lunch and sat down to look at the menu.

They had an English menu, so I guess they must have a lot of tourists, or people from out of town. I could hear a couple of French ladies next to me catching up, although everyone else on the patio seemed to be locals, or at least, spoke a good amount of Portugese.

I ordered a mate tea whilst waiting, hoping for something that wasn’t so sweet, although they did bring a selection of sweeteners giving me the option of always adding sweetness to my desire. I find mate’s lack of sweetness, and strange bitterness quite tasty, although I know some people don’t like the taste.

Not having any steak yet, I decided to get the filet mignon that turned up perfectly pink on the inside. The chef had already well seasoned the meat (i.e. quite salty) and I did find the flesh a little bit more sinewy than I expected. Still very full of flavour, and served with a great salad, grilled mixed vegetables and a olive oil dressing with grilled garlic and smell flecks of chilli. Yum.

Also being a gelateria, I figured I should give dessert ago and I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed. They definitely know how to make ice cream here with it being very creamy and rich in flavour.

I also have to give them bonus points for offering free wifi to customers that allowed me to check email, read twitter whilst passing the time.

Name: Felice Cafe
Found at: Rua Gomes Carneiro, 30, Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro 22071-110, Brazil (Ipanema)
Website: http://www.felice.com.br/

Sushi Leblon, Rio de Janeiro

Patrick Asian, Brazil, Japanese, Restaurants, Rio de Janeiro

Leblon is located at the far end of Ipanema, closer towards Barra and is easily walking distance if you have thirty of forty minutes to spare. It’s also home to one of the most trendy eating streets in the area, and also home to Sushi Leblon, a restaurant locally well known for using unusual combination of ingredients for Japanese style cuisine.

I decided to head out that way on one of the rainy days for lunch, where they open, maybe a little bit after since this is Brazil, at noon for their lunch service. I wasn’t the only one who turned up early, with another couple there obviously waiting for them to open. By the time that I left, maybe at one, it was busy, but not particularly booking-required style (although I did go in Rio’s off-peak season)

The menu is pretty extensive, and when I wanted to order a few of the interesting combinations as well as a sushi platter, my waitress looked rather alarmed and indicated it was going to be too much. We did a lot of gesturing as their English wasn’t great, and my touristic Portugese rather limited. I settled for three sample dishes, as well as a lychee-based caipirinha seeing as I was in an Asian restaurant.

I, and the others in the restaurant, ordered one of the sushi dishes that required little fried quails eggs. I got full vantage point of the preparation area since I was sitting at the sushi counter looking at how they organised it.

Beautifully paired and definitely excessively decadent, the quail egg nigiri came topped with a bit of salt and truffle oil, and then came with a piece of butterfish nigiri. The fish match was perfect since it was rich, and creamy in the mouth, much like the perfectly cooked egg whose yolk still burst when eating it. Umami, creamy, a great combination that I must remember.

I had also ordered the ceviche which had a good selection of different seafood, flavours and was delightful.

My final sushi was based on my love for grilled eel (unagi) and was well prepared, tasty and was definitely plenty for lunch.

Sushi Leblon is definitely one of those finer sushi restaurants you’ll find in this area. You get very high quality, although you pay the equivalent of London fine sushi restaurant prices for it.

Name: Sushi Leblon
Found at: R. Dias Ferreira, 256 – Leblon Rio de Janeiro, 22431-050, Brazil
Website: http://www.sushileblon.com/

Brazil Balada Mix, Rio de Janeiro

Patrick Cafe, Restaurants, Rio de Janeiro

Balada Mix is one of those chain cafe restaurants that I am told you can find around Rio de Janeiro. Maybe even around Brazil. We went here for a client lunch and it was so nice just walking around in the warm sun.

My English sun-deprivation really showed since I was always looking for the chair under the sun whilst all my colleagues sought out those in the shade.

Balada Mix’s menu offered very typical Brazilian lunch time things – everything from salads, sandwiches, pastas and plenty of juices.

Overwhelmed by choice and with the translation help, I chose a refreshingly beautiful mint and pineapple juice. You can tell from the foam how freshly squeezed it was.

I figured I was going to try eat a bit healthier and went for a turkey sandwich. Classically matched by mozzarella, pesto and some other salads, there was a lot of cheese. Almost too much to the point where I was starting to pull out chunks because it is, frankly, too tasteless to really be eating other than melted, or in smaller bits for texture.

Still, the side salad that also arrived was very nice. Complete with soy beans and lightly dressed.

Name: Balada Mix
Found at: Various locations (this one was in an open air shopping centre in Barra)
Website: http://baladamixrestaurante.com.br/

Azteka Mexican Restaurant in Rio de Janeiro

Patrick Mexican, Restaurants, Rio de Janeiro

I know it’s a bit strange to be eating mexican in Brazil, but I had read a number of good reviews about this place and didn’t really feel like any of the heavy Brazil options for dinner. One of the reasons Azteka, located on the main tourist street in Ipanema, gets good reviews is that it is owned by mexican owners and the food is apparently very authentic.

They serve a pretty strong caipirinha.

And, of course, they make a mean margherita as well.

Inside they have a TV screen that proved popular with Brazil playing in the Confederation Cup and probably about eight or ten small tables inside with room for a few more on the street pavement outside.

I opted for some nachos while I waited which turned out pretty tasty. The chicken topping was flavoursome and the cheese just starting to melt. The chips were light, and tasted like they had been freshly made. All very good signs.

By this time I had finished off one of my drinks and was starting to get a bit more peckish. I was a bit undecided since there looked to be so many good options.

I ended up ordering a mole-chicken burrito with a spicy (piccante) sauce. Knowing that Brazilians don’t really use a lot of chili, I was interested to see if spicy was actually going to be really spicy. It was hot, pleasantly so and a good balance of flavour. It wasn’t really like the deep flavoured mole chicken really needed it. This burrito was also slightly different since it also had a been toasted afterwards, a pleasant surprise that worked really well.

All in all, I was pretty happy with this food choice and can highly recommend this place.

Name: Azteka
Found at: Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 156 – Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Website: http://www.azteka-rio.com/

Eating out in Vienna

Patrick Cafe, Coffee, Ice Cream, Restaurants, Vienna

Eis Greissler
www.eis-greissler.at
Rotenturmstraße 14, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Nearest U-Bahn (Stephenplatz or Schwedenplatz)

You can tell that this ice cream outlet is really popular from the queues that form around it. The story behind this popular ice cream place is that all the ingredients are organic, and they avoid putting any chemicals or additives into their ice cream. The result is a creamy, rich textured ice cream that is simply delicious.

The ice cream store isn’t very big with a counter that is only suitable for serving two at a time and no seats or tables to sit down. Fortunately they are very good at serving people and the line moves on very quickly. You can definitely taste the quality from this place.

Tichy
www.tichy-eis.at
Reumannplatz 13 1100 Vienna, Austria
Nearest UBhan (Reumannplatz)

One of the big ice cream vendors that actually advertises on the U-Bahn, and from the interior is either very old styled, or is at least themed to be like that. It doesn’t seem to be only tourists there when I visit (probably a good sign) and there seems to be quite a number of locals as well.

They have a huge selection of ice cream, but taking the seat I opt for a sampler platter of the ice cream balls they are famous for. The original is a vanilla ice cream filled with an apricot jam (very much like the Sissi kugel chocolate balls you might find around town) and they had three other varieties including a “snowball” filled with raspberry and coated in fluffy white chocolate marshmallow-like coating, a “Tartufo” richer chocolate ball rolled in cocoa and filled with a filling that tasted like raspberry, and probably my favourite which was the “nuss (nut)” filled with a nice hazelnut ice cream inside a larger chocolate ice cream ball.

My mistake was figured that these balls were quite small – they didn’t even warn me and although very tempted to finish it off, it was simply too much for me. Yes, even with my sweet tooth.

Figlmüllr
http://www.figlmueller.at/
Wollzeile 5, 1010 Wien, Austria ‎
Nearest U-Bahn (Stephenplatz or Schwedenplatz)

One of the most tourist-centric places but a place where the potato salad was so memorable I had to go back and try it again. I realised that the secret to their potato salad was actually a bit of sugar (I definitely noticed it) alongside their home made pumpkin-seed oil. The schnitzels here are over-sized, decent and worth just one trip.

If they have it, I would also recommend trying the clever “Mozartkülgen”, a clever spin on a traditional dumpling filled with a chocolate-marzipan filling and rolled in pistachio nuts.

Neni
http://www.neni.at
Stand 510 Naschmarkt, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Nearest U-Bahn (Kettenbrückengasse)

I was lucky enough to have great weather, or at least, blue skies on the Saturday I spent in Vienna. Like many of the locals and tourists, I headed down to Naschmarkt to check out the antiques and the food markets down that street. One of the cafes that is perfect for people watching and do some great food is Neni.

I only stopped for a coffee and although service was a little slow, was perfect for the type of lazy wandering day that I wanted.

Cafe Savoy
http://www.savoy.at/
Linke Wienzeile 36, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Nearest U-Bahn (Kettenbrückengasse)

Whilst you are at Naschmarkt and have time to spare and, a small hunger, head on down to Cafe Savoy. This gay-friendly cafe does a Sunday brunch spread and the interior is cosy, filled with strange antiques and one of the largest single glass mirrors I have ever seen. Apparently you will only find larger in the Palaces in Marseille. Impressive and a cool interior.

I stopped for the apple strudel, also another Viennese specialty that you can have either cold or warm here. Yum.

Ofenloch
www.ofenloch.at/
Kurrentgasse 1, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Nearest U-Bahn (Stephenplatz)

We went out to dinner with one of the conference attendees from Vienna to the heart of Vienna (around Stephenplatz) where they’re many of these traditional restaurants. We tried going to one place but was fully booked and ended up in Ofenloch, a slightly ritzier but still decently priced restaurant.

Strangely enough, and very unlike many other Viennese places, service was absolutely shining with waiters, waitresses all being extremely friendly and prompt if you ever needed anything like another beer, the menu or tap water.

Pretty good experience here. All the food is pretty high quality and many traditional dishes that you can choose from.

Dinner at The Delauney

Patrick Restaurants, UK

Trying to catch up with Luca to hear how his trip to China went, we agreed to meet for dinner on the Bank Holiday at The Delauney. I was intriguied to see how the dinner service would compare to my only experiences there for breakfast. Firstly, service is impeccable.

Delauney Bread

I don’t remember if there was a cover charge or whether or not we were charged for the bottled fizzy water (which was just refilled again and again) but we did get some very well executed bread and butter on the table. The ala carte menu appears very confused and out of place with their posh decore. Although appropriately matching their “Austrian-ness” there are schnitzels and wieners on the menu (including one served on a hot dog bun), but then you have a number of English dishes and general European ones as well.

Chicken Soup

Wanting something warm to drink, I opted for the chicken noodle soup above (£6.95). The stock was clear, full of flavour although the noodles were a bit more like the stuff you’d expect in a cup-of-soup rather than something like that. Although delicious, found this to be one of their more pricy dishes.

Kedgeree

For my main, I opted for the Kedgeree as I’d never had it before. What arrived was a bowl of soup in a rich curry sauce. Throughout it, laid hidden, were chunks of flaked smoked haddock and topped with a perfectly poached egg that burst with yolk on cutting through. A rich, delicious and decadent dish worth the £12 price.

White Asparagus

I also ordered the white asparagus (£10.50) as a side because I knew that it was in season, and they are really delicious when fresh. The asparagus came “Rhein-Pfalz” which arrived heavily dressed in a sauce coating with lots of capers, vinegar and other ingredients. Yum.

Fish

Luca ordered a beautifully cooked and extremely well presented plate of fish. I think it was the Sea Trout with samphire, peas, broad beans and soft herbs (£18.25) that was apparently very tasty as well. I know that samphire is delicious and is the perfect accompaniment for an animal from the sea.

The Pig’s Ear in Dublin

Patrick Dublin, Restaurants

I didn’t really a chance to blog about this restaurant when we were in Dublin, however it was one of winners of the Michelin Bib Gourmand (Good Value) restaurants and was apparently popular being twice fully booked out when I tried to go. I decided to book a visit with me and my colleague post work and it turned out to be a really nice atmosphere.

Despite being all about pork (you see pictures hanging everywhere), I managed to book the visit on one of my vegetarian days. They served an extremely flavoursome set of options and, I think, there was at least more than one choice per item as a vegetarian, a pretty good sign of a respect-for-vegetarians. No idea if is vegan friendly but you probably wouldn’t come to a restaurant called “The Pig’s Ear” to begin with.

Service was warm, lovely all around, the food pretty tasty – a warm cauliflower soup rich and velvety followed up by a flavoursome spelt risotto and a well dressed side salad. The chocolate slice was pretty delightful as well for dessert.

Name: The Pig’s Ear
Found at: 4 Nassau St Dublin, Co. Dublin City, Ireland
Website: http://www.thepigsear.com/

Brunch at Farmer Browns

Patrick Brunch, Cafe, Dublin, Restaurants

Dublin is full of cafes offering the full “Irish breakfast”, typically distinguished from the “Full English” breakfast by the present of white and black puddings. A culture of drinking leads to a culture of a late brunch and so Dublin offers plenty. As more people move towards the coffee-drinking culture Dublin has sprouted to match the expectation of a quality brunch place offering meals that go beyond the “plate that fixes the hangover”.

I went along to one of the newer ones, Farmer Brown’s located just near the newer Dockland part of the city. Nestled between a number of residential places, this cafe offered seating outside, a covered terrace and inside seating for all. Wanting some French Toast, it arrived with a hugely generous portion of bacon that had literally been cooked together where the strands of bacon seemed to infuse itself. So… much… bacon but very good. Unlike other places where you run out of bacon before you have finished the eggy-goodness-soaked bread, there was plenty of it to go around with each bite. Yum. Flat white wad admittedly disappointing with milk being both too hot and not foamed enough.

Other dishes looked good looking around at what other people ordered.

Other places I’d like to try next time include the Lennox Cafe (31 Lennox Street, Dublin 8) and Herbstreet (Hanover Quay, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2) Another one worth trying is apparently Odessa (14 Dame Court, Dublin 2) although I’m loath to bother lining up for a place when there are so many other options.

Find Farmer Browns at 25A Bath Avenue, Dublin 4.

Jim Burrito’s, Hamburg

Patrick Hamburg, Mexican, Restaurants

You can find Jims Burrito’s in the heart of Sternschanze, a lively area of Hamburg. Easily spotted from the street, their icon is the face of a person wearing a mexican wrestling mask. We went here, after a long session at the gym, and we were warned that it would be a significant wait. Wait, we did, for almost forty minutes.

Since we were eating with Maria (who is from Mexico), I was told the food was pretty authentic. They offered tacos, burritos, quesadillas and enchilads, all with different sorts of meats and non-meat options. I went for a seitan equivalent seeing as it was my vegetarian day.

The place is outfitted with some fun signs, including one talking about the wait, some translations about the types of food and ingredients and plenty of bottles of hot sauces dotted around (even spotted a very vietnamese Rooster chilli sauce that seemed a bit of place)

I asked for my quesidilla “ganz scharf” (quite spicy) and they obliged by throwing a few more chillis into the mix. The quesidills arrived with small bowls of sour cream, salsa and the best guacamole I’ve ever eaten. I could probably eat bowls of that stuff. Best I don’t though for my own health. The salsa had a good kick of its own and I was eating everyone elses beacuse I wanted something quite spicy.

Good food, very cheap and super tasty.

Name: Jim Burrito’s
Found at: Schulterblatt 12, 20357 Hamburg, Germany
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jim-Burritos/119417638119748

Eating Well in Dublin

Patrick Asian, BBQ, Dublin, Gastropub, Japanese, Restaurants

Dublin suffered a lot of things with the post dot-com crash of the early 2000s. With lots of investment from the EU, inflation rose rapidly, and just like the San Francisco area, Dublin became a mecca for all sorts of places where people could spend it – all the way from bars, clubs and restaurants. Fortunately prices seem to have stabilised a bit, and with more competition for the same Euros, Dublin offers many good quality places to dine for pretty good value.

I’ve been lucky enough to sample quite a few of Dublin’s offerings and, I have to admit, haven’t really had a very bad meal at all. There are plenty of options to choose from including your ubiquitous burrito joints, to sushi, malaysian and everything in between. Rather than list all the details for each restaurant (which would take much longer than time I have available), I will list some of the highlights over the past couple of weeks.

Restaurant at Donnybrook Fair (European restaurant)
You’ll often see a lot of locals carrying the white, D|F-labelled bags that belong to this up-scale market place. They also happen to have a restaurant upstairs to one of their (flagship?) stores. I read about their BBQ nights where they offer a decent value platter to share between two. Four of us popped in after work and it wasn’t hard to get a table at about 7pm although it filled up quickly after that. The dining room is bright, airy and the meal deal very great value. Appetiser samplers were a great appetite kickstarter with my favourite being the wholesome grilled mushroom and the prosciutto-wrapped fig. The BBQ meat platter soon arrived with grilled chicken, salmon, quail and a steak. I’ll admit the chicken probably had a bit too much time on the grill, but all the other bits were divine. A clever, light strawberry and coconut-lime mousse was served as dessert.

BBQ meal cost €25 for the 3 courses.

+353 1 668 3556, 89 Morehampton Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, https://www.donnybrookfair.ie/restaurant/home

Bloom Brasserie (European Restaurant)
Located in the basement, my colleague recommended this nice brasserie serving fresh continental foods that was also pretty decent value. Not many vegetarian options on the set menu. Creamy, beautify mushroom soup to start followed by a perfectly cooked sea bream, carrot and butternut squash puree and lightly wilted baby spinach. A light chocolate mousse, raspberry coulis, topped with chopped hazelnuts for me to follow.

3 course set menu for €25

11 Baggot Street Upper Dublin 4, Co. Dublin, Ireland, http://www.bloombrasserie.ie/

Cornucopia (Vegetarian Cafe/Restaurant)
A popular restaurant located on busy Wicklow Street, this place is slightly more cafe than restaurant (you order at the counter, collect your food and then hunt for a table because it’s so popular). A fresh water dispenser is located by the door and you have options that all looked pretty tempting. I was tempted by the Cashew baked aubergine with smoked paprika mash and pea sauce but then succumbed to the sounds of a daily special of smoked tofu parcels with two side salads that was really great value at €12.95.

19-20 Wicklow St Dublin 2, Ireland, http://www.cornucopia.ie/

The Exchequer (Gastropub)
Voted one of Ireland’s best gastropubs I have to agree that the food here was so good, I came back on one of the weekends to sample a few of the other dishes. They do an amazing selection of cocktails as well (all recorded in the “Ledger of Liquor”) and I can highly recommend the Smoky Old Fashioned. Beautifully prepared, balanced and accompanied by an ice-cube ball that is guaranteed to outlast your drink. All of the food is fabulously presented, tasty and the only down-side I have to admit is the side of potato skins/fries that failed to be as crisp as they could be. Desserts (at least the gingerbread tea cake) is totally worth trying and massive enough to share between two. Definitely come here if you want some good food and drink. I’ll be back again if I can make it.

2 courses for €19.95 or 3 for €23.95 (choose any starter, main or dessert) only Sunday-Wednesday

3-5 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, http://www.theexchequer.ie/

The Green Hen (French)

A popular French brasserie that fills up quickly, I was able to nab a seat at the bar as I was early enough and dining alone. Had I arrived only half an hour later, it would have been impossible and I saw them turn away quite a few people. Cocktails are expertly made, with lots of care and perfected and they have an early bird menu at 3 courses for €22 from 5:30-7pm Sunday to Thursday.

33 Exchequer St Dublin 2, Co. Dublin, Ireland, http://www.greenhen.ie

Michie Sushi (Japanese)
Located a bit in the ‘burbs, this tiny little sushi place is apparently more popular with take-away. Partly because there are only something like six or seven tables for two or four and located in a tiny little alleyway, hardly any parking. Unagi nigiri (my favourite type) was a generous portion of fish, lightly slathered in the traditional BBQ sauce and perfectly delicious. A couple of good rolls and you could roll me out of there. Good decent sushi that I haven’t had for a long time although not sure if I would make a trip out of the city specifically for that (if I was visiting Dublin). I think they do delivery and I’d probably opt for that if I lived in Dublin.

11 Chelmsford Lane, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, http://www.michiesushi.com/