#Travel Food

[cruella-devegan]

Saffron Ikebukuro / Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan

Dinner plate with dahl and mixed vegetable curry 🍛

[airfryerburrito]

Gluten-free finds in Asheville, NC

I took a roadtrip to Asheville with a gluten-free family member, and here's what we ate. Before you ask, we didn't go to Posana, the completely gluten-free restaurant in Asheville. It wasn't open while we were there. So, here are some options for when Posana is closed.

Early Girl Eatery

Early girl serves both breakfast and comfort food all day. I had gluten-free chicken tenders with cinnamon apples and fries (the mashed potatoes were sold out), with a peach-flavored lemonade. It was all delicious and hit the spot after a long day in the car.

Old Europe Pastries

This place is dangerous. I've never seen so many gluten-free dessert options. I had the godiva cheesecake and the peanut butter chocolate mousse, and I'm still dreaming about them.

Green Sage Cafe

Another cafe with all-day breakfast, but with a focus on healthy ingredients. We liked it so much we went back twice. The pancakes, wraps, bowls, and muffins were delicious. Note that they're "gluten sensitive" rather than gluten-free (they don't guarantee no cross-contamination).

Strada Italiano

I don't have a picture of Strada's Tuscan stuffed figs because they lasted about 2 seconds on the plate. After the table next to us got theirs, we heard strange moaning sounds. Just, get the figs.

Pictured: gluten-free focaccia and eggplant parmesan. Everything tasted fresh, light, and homemade.

[mapsoffun]

The trade show my husband was attending was at the Grand Hyatt Kauai, and we stayed there rather than try to find a nearby Hilton like we did last year because commuting from resort to resort is about as practical as it sounds. This property is gorgeous; though smaller than the Hilton Waikoloa Village, the layout here is much better, and we were fortunate to get a room on the pool side rather than the spa side. 

This is also the first time I received a lei upon arrival at a resort; I think the combination of us arriving on the later side as well as having to check in at a separate desk was why we didn’t receive one last year. 

We grabbed some supermarket poke en route to the hotel for dinner because we didn’t know what the restaurant situation would be in terms of availability given that a bunch of people were arriving for the show, and this was definitely the right decision. My one real complaint about this hotel was that there were no casual spots to hang out at after sunset. Hilton Waikoloa Village had its own Kona Brewing tap room, which was great, but I was bummed there wasn’t something similar here. There’s a sports bar down the road from the hotel, but jet lag was definitely keeping us on-property that night.

[gracemoser]

Living in Colombia and the food is 🤌 👌 ✨

[themanhattanfoodproject]

A few weeks ago, my husband proposed doing a sort of low-key retreat where the point would not be the destination in terms of being a tourist, but rather somewhere where we could spend time together and focus on our creative pursuits. He had vacation days to use up before the end of July, so we went to [redacted] for a few nights and stayed in a Homewood Suites as they come with mostly-equipped kitchens. 

(I still brought plenty of things from home and I’m glad I did, because the kitchen tool situation was fairly paltry.) 

It was actually, all in all, pretty fun! I appreciated being able to get some great swimming sessions each day, and yes I did bring my pasta machine with me to make some strozzapreti for lunch one day. We stayed in a pretty suburban area, though we were also within walking distance of a few restaurants where we’d enjoy happy hour a couple of nights during the trip. I would definitely do this again next year, though maybe we’ll try a new location.

[takoyaki-king]

[e-ziara]

Sichuan beef noodles! 🍜 🔥 🌶 

But they weren’t that spicy; these noodles only had the mala flavour. But it was still quite a lot of food for me! Ate this after going around Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Garden 🌱🌿

[4mytravels]

Tasting the Town

All of these locations were in the center of Lisbon, and reached on foot in an afternoon.

Soup & sandwich at “0 Trevo,” with a beer to wash it down. This was a vegetable based soup with cabbage and carrot. The sandwich was sliced pork.

This kiosk is one of the only ones in the city that serves the seafood below: Salted Cod in Aioli / Octopus Tapas + Calamari Sandwitch

Sical is well known for their award winning Pasteis de Nata (custard tart). I had one, and ‘um cafe.’

[ur-daily-inspiration]

When i say I'm OBSESSED..✨️☀️🌙

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[cruella-devegan]

Kashew Cheese Deli / Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Cashew cheese pesto toasted sandwich with a soy latte 🧀

[majestq]

[mapsoffun]

Aloette was probably the best meal that we had in Toronto, and it was a singular experience.

It looks like the poshest diner you’ve ever been to, and that’s by design; the space is small, but it’s immediately cozy and welcoming. When we got there to enjoy the last of happy hour, we were told that there was a two-hour dining limit, but M thought that there was a two-hour wait and was ready to leave; fortunately, he was corrected and we were able to sit along the bar rail for our lovely meal.

The cocktails here were creative and tasty, but the real standouts to me were the steak tartare (the traditional preparation but excellently-executed) and the fried chicken that came with lettuce wraps. The iceberg salad was bonkers given its puffed rice topping, and while that’s normally not my favorite kind of salad, I appreciated what they were intending and doing with this salad. 

What makes this place special is the service. Our server suggested that we choose about five dishes total, and we did just that, and then she made sure they were paced to have the cold dishes (the steak tartare, the hamachi crudo, and the salmon tartare) first, and then we had the bread service--complete with whipped butter--and then finally the fried chicken with the lettuce cups. It was a pretty brilliant experience, and we never felt rushed despite that there was a ticking clock over our meal.

12/10 would recommend, much like the Michelin Guide does.

[themanhattanfoodproject]

More food highlights from my 2024 travels:

When we went to Jaguar Sun back in the spring while we were in downtown Miami, we finally each ordered a plate of their pastas instead of simply doing a series of small plates like we often do when we come here. The restaurant is known for its raw seafood (something we have enjoyed many times) as well as its pastas, and the dishes we had on our last visit cemented that. I had a green maltagliata pasta with milk-braised pork and piave vecchio (so comforting while not being heavy), while M opted for squid ink lumache with octopus, tomato, beef tallow, and XO sauce that was deeply savory. 

Sadly, Jaguar Sun is no more as the owners have opened another restaurant, Sunny’s, elsewhere in the city and they felt they didn’t have the resources to be able to do both locations justice. A fair point to be sure, but now I feel like messing around with some of these pastas I had feels even more justified since it’s not like I can get the real deals anymore.

At least CVI.CHE 105 is still in its lovely downtown Miami location. The South Beach location was closed for renovations earlier in 2024, but it appears to have reopened. (Yay!) What I like about the downtown location--the original I believe--is that the menu here feels a little more daring. The fact that they serve tender veal hearts here is not something I would expect from the South Beach location, but hopefully they’re on that menu now as well. This dish blew my mind and I really hope to have it again one day.

The absolute best meal I had in Oklahoma City was at Mer Da Lao Kitchen, a Laotian restaurant that has been getting a lot of national attention, and rightfully so. I first heard about this place from John Birdsall’s newsletter--it landed in my inbox the day I started researching OKC food--and it quickly rose to the top of the list of places we had to go to. We went to take advantage of their happy hour and enjoyed their fried drumettes and flats, the crispy rice salad, and the Lao sausage along with their sticky rice and fermented cabbage. I can’t say I’m eager to go back to Oklahoma City as it’s a bit of a haul from Baltimore, but if you find yourself there, you must go here and enjoy the experience. If something looks good to you, go for it!

It also appears that the restaurateurs are opening a new rice noodle shop Bar Sen in the same neighborhood, so if I do find myself in OKC again, I’m absolutely going to make a whole event of going to both places this time around. 

I also am on the lookout for a cookbook from owner Chef Jeff Chanchaleune as I would love to be able to recreate these amazing dishes at home.

I’ve shared some of the dishes that we enjoyed at our resort in Playa del Carmen, but one of the reasons why I wanted to stay there was because we could also venture off-property if we wanted to. While that didn’t happen too often, we did go to El Fogón that was right down the street from our hotel (and right across the street from one of the hypermarkets we’d visit). This place is lauded up and down the Playa del Carmen subreddit, and for good reason: it’s absolutely excellent. I’ve been on a sauteed mushroom kick for months now, and my mushroom quesadilla that I enjoyed here has definitely continued my fascination, while my husband adored the sirloin and pastor tacos, two specialties of this unassuming restaurant. Service was quick and easy, and the prices were outstanding--would urge anyone looking for great Mexican food to make a stop here.