Cafe Bonito

 

162 Wood St

London

E17 3HX

A rainy Saturday found me cycling around Walthamstow to see the neon signs at God’s Own Junkyard. There was quite a lot of uncertainty about whether they’d have to close after losing their lease so I made it out there on their last official weekend, but thankfully since then they’ve secured a new location not too far away. After looking my fill at incredible intricate neon art, I wandered around Wood Street and stumbled across Café Bonito, which serves a mixture of normal café food and Spanish specialties. The Spanish hot chocolate with freshly fried churros caught my eye and was the ideal antidote to the dreary skies – I relaxed with a book until the showers passed and then wobbled home, full of warmth and cinnamon goodness.

Ireland Day 5

After our night on the Dingle peninsula, we were off to catch a ferry (great advice that our hostess gave us so that we could cut about 1.5 hours of driving from the trip. On the way to the ferry, we stopped in Tralee for the requisite coffees and some breakfast - we happened across Aine's Cafe on the Square. You can see my bagel with bacon and eggs below. It was perfectly decent, though the tortilla chip garnish was a bit strange.

We pulled up to the Tarbert - Killimer ferry with five minutes to spare, lucky us. It only took about 20 minutes to cross, and then we headed to Kilkee for our first cliff walk. From Kilkee, you can park at the westernmost bit of the road that runs along the seafront and then go for a stunning walk - it's pretty steep at points but worth it for the views you get from the top.

We were all feeling refreshed from the brisk sea air and sunshine and piled back into the car to head to Lahinch beach. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Ireland's beaches - they were much better than any beaches I've been to in the UK and seemed to have beautiful sandy and clean expanses.

But the real centerpiece of the day was the Cliffs of Moher. P's friend gave us a tip to go past the visitor's center - about 800m away there's a little place to pull over and park, and then you can follow the footpath to get a much better view of the cliffs, without all the busloads of tourists. Again, the hike is a steep one - some parts of it seem close to vertical - but there are some rough steps carved in to help and once you get to the top you won't mind the hard work getting there.

We eventually pulled ourselves away from the view and headed back down as we knew we still had a way to go to get to our resting place for the evening. The drive around Black Head and the Burren showed us some of the most unusual scenery of the trip (sadly I was driving so I don't have any pictures, but imaging a rocky landscape that looks like it would fit right in on another planet). As we passed through Ballyvaughn, there was a lovely harbor and a pretty little pub nearby, so we stopped for a pint. After arranging our arrival time with our last host, we got to our Airbnb in Kinvara, which was undoubtedly the best accommodation of the whole trip. Since the house was right in the middle of town, we scrapped our original plans to drive to Galway for the evening and decided to have dinner in Kinvara and find some live music afterwards. This turned out to be an excellent choice.

Our Airbnb host recommended the Pier Head for dinner. It is situated on the water, with gorgeous views and a warm atmosphere inside. The waiter sold me on the fresh Irish lobster that had been caught that morning, while A and P opted for steaks, and C had some enormous prawns. We washed it all down with a couple of bottles of Y series Yalumba wine (letting P pick Australian wine was a good idea).

Full and happy, we walked about 50 meters to Connolly's for more Irish trad music. This night, there was a fiddler, accordionist and lute player - a guitarist also showed up later to join in. 

We had heard that Kinvara pubs would all be full of live music, so left briefly to see if there was anything else we wanted to catch, but quickly realized that Connolly's was the only game in town. But it was enough for us to have an excellent last evening in Ireland.

Ireland Day 3

We knew we were heading to the Rock of Cashel first, but really needed to find some breakfast (and especially coffee for A, C and P). We happened across Fethard, which is a beautiful place with a well preserved medieval wall and church. A sign for a delicatessen led us to Emily's, where I had a great bagel with cream cheese and bacon (I have never seen this combo before but it appeared several times in Ireland).

Onwards to the Rock of Cashel, which is indeed impressive, though there is a lot of renovation work going on so parts were closed off to the public.

And then another castle that tourists just can't miss - Blarney Castle. We all kissed the Blarney stone (narrowly beating a giant tour group) and then had a relaxing wander around the grounds, which are well worth spending some time in. I could've easily walked around for another hour, but the whisky-lovers in the group were raring to get to Midleton so we had to get in the car again.

To be fair, we had no idea that the Midleton distillery offered pretty much exactly the same range as the Jameson distillery in Dublin. So if you go, pick one to do - I wouldn't do both. 

But one benefit is that it made a stop in Cobh possible on the way into Cork.  We knew very little about the place except that it had great harbor views, so when we saw Cobh cathedral we were all a bit stunned.

After a drink on a pier to enjoy the late afternoon, we headed into Cork for dinner. A friendly couple that we asked for directions gave us a recommendation for dinner - the Cornstore. A, P and I all had duck for dinner, which we really enjoyed - the yogurt sauce on top was lovely.

Afterwards we headed to a couple of pubs that were recommended by our waitress - Bierhaus and The Franciscan Well. A got chatting to the bartenders about homebrew and it inspired him to try it out. And finally, we were off to Kinsale for our third Airbnb accommodation - this was another really great place but it was again a bit remote and difficult to find in the dark. It was sad we didn't arrive earlier, actually, as the views from the house were absolutely stunning the next morning.

New Orleans Day 2

Our first morning was bright and sunny to match our moods. C was recovering from a cold so stayed in to rest, but A and I headed out for a wander. We knew our first destination was going to be Café Du Monde (800 Decatur Street, New Orleans 70116) for beignets and café au lait, and it just happened to be on the other side of the French Quarter from where we were staying, so we took a meandering route through the intricate wrought iron-lined streets. Once we arrived at Café Du Monde we joined the scrum for a table (later visits would demonstrate that it is not always super busy so since it's open 24 hours a day you can just come back at another time if you can't be bothered to wait). Beignets come three to an order, under a mountain of powdered sugar - I'd argue that you should just get one order per person unless you're saving room for something else, as the last thing you want to do is argue over a messy delicious breakfast.

While strolling around running errands (such as picking up tickets for a cocktail tour!!!) we passed Central Grocery (923 Decatur St,  New Orleans, LA 70116), home of the muffuletta (a round flat sesame-seed loaf split horizontally and covered with layers of marinated olive salad, capicola,mortadella, salami, pepperoni, ham, Swiss cheese and provolone, according to Wikipedia). So we had to get one for lunch. In our confusion about how large a muffuletta is, we ordered a whole, which was clearly meant for four people to consume. A put it in his bag and exclaimed about its weight. It's ok, he only had to drag it around for another two hours before we were ready to eat it. Sadly it was a bit disappointing - we found the bread to be a bit dry (though we saved a quarter to eat the next day and it was better then).

Heading east, we ended up at the French Market which was full of more food (oh no, there's no room!) and then a flea market section full of souvenirs and weird objects. We were later told by a tour guide that the best time to shop there is right before closing and the vendors expect to haggle, so ask for deep discounts.

On our way back to the apartment to meet up with C, we walked through Louis Armstrong Park which is full of statues of jazz musicians and a little manmade pond - apparently in warmer weather you can rent boats, but none were to be found in early January.

We'd signed up for a cocktail tour that started at 4pm - this was a hilarious activity that combined history, anecdotes and drinking with a spitfire of a tour guide (thanks to J & K for recommending it!) We went to the following (though every tour is different):

Pirate's Alley Cafe and Old Absinthe House (622 Pirates Alley, New Orleans, LA 70116). Guess what we had there?

The Hermes Bar at Antoine's Restaurant (713 St Louis St, New Orleans, LA 70130). The bar was too crowded so instead we got a wonderful tour of all of the private dining rooms and a look at the ridiculously ornate costumes worn by the King and Queen of Mardi Gras. 

The Court of Two Sisters (613 Royal St New Orleans, LA 70130). They are famed for the Bayou Bash, which is a sangria-like punch made with Southern Comfort. We were all surprised by how much we liked it (I usually have an aversion to SoCo). A had a very disappointing mint julep, so don't get that.

The French 75 Bar at Arnaud's (813 Bienville Street, New Orleans, LA 70112). Embarrassingly I am not entirely sure this is where we were, but we were definitely in a bar famous for French 75s so let's just assume I'm right. C discovered she loves the French 75. A also liked his Sazerac here (though it was not his favorite of the trip).

The Bombay Club (830 Conti St New Orleans, LA 70112). We loved the atmosphere in here, but were all cocktailed out at this point. A had a dry martini, which was fine, but honestly who knows how good things are in the last bar of a cocktail tour?

Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St
New Orleans, LA 70130

Thankfully we had a long walk to dinner to clear our heads. This was a recommendation from several people, and ended up being one of my favorite meals of the whole trip. I still think about the woodfired roasted oysters - god only knows what they did to them but they were so incredible that all I want to do is eat them over and over and over again. We also sampled fried alligator (a little like chewy popcorn chicken) and gumbo (gussied up here, and I will confess I think I like the not-gussied up gumbo better). For mains, A and I shared the Louisiana cochon with turnips, cabbage, pickled peaches & cracklins (hell yeah!) and then to be frank, the eggplant and shrimp dressing and macaroni and cheese casserole sides we shared with C pushed me over the edge into delirium. I cannot express how much I loved this meal and would happily go back as many times as I could afford. 

Bellocq
The Hotel Modern New Orleans
936 St Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA 70130

Just to drive a final nail into the coffin of this day, we had a nightcap before heading home. I know A had a port cobbler, but I'm not sure about mine - maybe something ominous like The End of the World? Anyway, while they were lovely, I'm sure my enjoyment was dampened by the exhaustion that was setting in. These were the most experimental of the cocktails we had in New Orleans, I think - most places seem to stick to the classics, while we saw ingredients here that had to be interpreted by the waitress. So if that's what you're looking for, give Bellocq a try.

Towpath

Near Whitmore Bridge

Canal Towpath

Islington

So my friend A picked one of the most delightful weeks in London to come visit. It was sunny, it was September so most of the crazy tourists were all gone, and I managed to join him for some adventures around town. I've always meant to check out the Towpath Cafe, seeing as how it's less than 10 minutes walk from where I live and I regularly jog past it when I'm motivated enough to go for a run. Finally, A's visit gave me an excuse, and there was no way we could pass up basking in the sun alongside the canal. Since we mostly wanted a bit of a snack, we chose what we thought would be two relatively light plates of food, a grilled cheese sandwich and a cheese plate. What we got were total gut bombs (in a very very good way, of course). The grilled cheese was buttery, crisp, and packed full of sharp flavored cheese with a tangle of green onions mixed in. Like the grilled cheese you can get at Borough Market (but dare I say, perhaps even better?) The cheese plate was absolutely enormous for the £6.50 we paid. Three doorstopper sized wedges of cheese graced the plate, alongside grapes and a board full of fresh brown bread. As much as we tried, we couldn't quite get through all the cheese, and then we waddled off into the sunshine to walk it all off.

Scotland Day 8 & 9 - RAIN, RAIN and MORE RAIN (and Edinburgh)

Here we come to our final day of vacation (I'm not really counting the last half day we had in Edinburgh before catching the train back to London). Thankfully the prior days were more gracious, weather-wise, as this day managed to depress us all slightly with its dreariness.

The drive from Dunkeld to St. Andrews was a steady slate-gray view, and I did experience some reluctance to get out of the car once we were parked. Our umbrellas struggled with the rain and wind as we walked to St. Andrews Cathedral, which is unfortunately a ruin with no sheltered spaces, as you can see below.

A photo cannot capture the misery of this day

A and C were so fed up with trying to keep their umbrellas from blowing inside out that they headed immediately for a cafe. My parents and I attempted to take some pictures at the cathedral and then at St. Andrews Castle, but we ended up crying uncle as well and soon all of us were in the cafe, trying to get warm again.

While St. Andrews was a bit of a disaster (though I'm sure it has many redeeming qualities when you aren't being soaked), we were looking forward to Anstruther, home to some very famous fish and chips.

I found chips at a fish and chip shop that I actually like!

Anstruther Fish Bar was noted on our itinerary as being the best fish and chips in the UK. I was a bit dubious about this as my experience with chippies has not been that extraordinary, but it seemed worth a stop just to check. An order of traditional battered cod and then some haddock in breadcrumbs arrived quite quickly - they were happy for the five of us to share and brought us extra plates to make it easier. Surprisingly, I loved the traditional batter more than the breadcrumbs - it was light and greaseless, and the chips were fried so well that they were actually crisp on the outside and full of potato-ey flavor on the inside.

Our next destination was Dunfermline Abbey, but A the politics geek noticed that Kirkcaldy, Gordon Brown's patch, was on the way, so he insisted that we drive through it. All I can say is that I don't recommend this journey to anyone else. Perhaps the route we took through Kirkcaldy was particularly industrial, but as far as I could tell there was nothing to see.

Again, the rain scuppered most of our hopes of touring Dunfermline - we basically went into the Abbey, took some pictures, and then decided to head off to Edinburgh to make sure we could return the rental car before closing time.

At least we are somewhere dry

After dropping off the parents and the luggage at Abcorn Guest House, A and I had a traffic-jam-filled journey to the rental car drop off, then took a train back into the center of town. By the time we got back to the B&B, my parents were heading out for a walk, so we decided to grab C and head to a local pub with a great whisky list. Leslie's Bar was just around the corner from where we were staying, which made it a perfect place to hide from the rain. It was lovely and cozy inside, with wooden panelling and red velvet upholstery everywhere, and A was delighted by his whisky options.

My parents were pretty excited about more Chinese food, and the street that Leslie's Bar was on happened to be home to Huaxing Chinese Supermarket, as well as two Chinese restaurants. After grabbing some snacks at the market, we chose Good Year for a celebratory last meal. The salt and pepper chicken wings that came as our starter were enormous, meaty, crispy and spicy and boded well for the rest of the meal. As dishes poured out of the kitchen, my parents were absolutely delighted - there was no way we could finish that meal but we did give it a valiant try, and they kindly boxed up the leftovers so my parents could enjoy a second dinner the next night. Another big bonus point - the restaurant is BYOB and doesn't charge corkage, and there is a wine shop just a few doors down called Vino where we picked out a great Riesling and Rioja.

Holy cow, Chinese feast

We waddled back to the B&B for a good night's sleep, and when we woke up we had our last full breakfast (sadly the least appetizing of them all, though that was partially because it was the eighth full breakfast we'd had). A wander around drizzly Edinburgh found us looking at the Olympic rings and the National Gallery of Scotland to duck away from the wetness. Luckily all of us like the Impressionist painters so we spent a bit of time in there, before trodding around in the drizzle a bit more. Our taxi driver had pointed out the Elephant House cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote her Harry Potter books so we popped in there for a coffee break as well. And then, it was time to leave...

Doesn't this make you excited for the Olympics?

Goodbye Scotland. It was good knowing you. You may be grey, wizened and a bit damp, but your redeeming qualities are many as well. 

Home Sweet Home

49 - 51 Edge St
Manchester
M4 1HW

The twee name, Home Sweet Home, is actually quite an accurate description of the atmosphere of this little cafe/restaurant. The day before, H, F and I had been walking past to go to the Manchester Craft and Design Centre and noticed a menu full of fabulous sounding toasties. It was immediately decided that we would go there for brunch, so on a rainy Sunday morning, we all piled in for some rejuvenating vittles. Sadly, in my attempt to order something lighter, I passed up a cheeseburger toastie in favor of a crab and avocado sandwich. It was pretty good, but tiny and rather unsatisfying after seeing other peoples deliciously messy toasties. However, H cleverly ordered two portions of their fresh baked chocolate chip cookies - so freshly baked that you have to wait 10 minutes for them! These came with glasses of milk and were scarfed down (F, who claimed she didn't want any, had half of a cookie and then snaffled another cookie straight after, which says something about the addictive properties). If you go, get a toastie, and then follow that up with those magic cookies.

Onion Creek Cafe

3106 White Oak Blvd. 

Houston, TX 77007

On a visit to Houston to see J, we ended up at Onion Creek, ostensibly for a drink, but then the dinner menu looked nice so we ate there as well. I made J try a Frito pie since it's such a Texan dish, and A had a chili cheese dog. I am pretty sure I ordered a tuna panini, but that is not what I received - looking at the menu I think I got a Julius panini instead, which is supposedly Italian herbed chicken, creamy caesar spread, tomato and parmesan cheese. Since it was good, I didn't bother sending it back. The potato salad on the side was a disappointment though - incredibly mayonnaisey, which overwhelmed the other ingredients. Slightly sad pickle as well. But while I wouldn't necessarily recommend Onion Creek for the food, it was great for atmosphere - a really chilled out place to have some interesting beers with friends - and sometimes that is more important.

Lantana

13 Charlotte Place
Marylebone, London W1T 1SN

After reading multiple raves about Lantana from some of my favorite food blogs over the last year or so (here, here, here, here, and here), it was probably about time to go try it myself. Thankfully it was in the area that J and I frequent for our Wednesday lunches, and since we were ready for lunch at noon, it seemed like a good time to snag a seat at this tiny cafe. Good thing we did, because about 30 minutes later the place was rammed. I went with the chicken kebab with choice of two salads, and I opted for potato salad and chickpea salad. Everything tasted incredibly fresh and I loved the use of yogurt in the potato salad rather than heavy mayonnaise. The chicken skewers were grilled perfectly and were still tender and juicy. I suppose 8.50 for the above plateful is not too steep - I certainly left full - but nor does it seem cheap, so this may be a treat for lunch rather than a regular haunt.