Lunchtime in Paris

Last lunch of 2007 - Paris "Let them Eat Cake" Extravaganza part I

I'm still feeling motivated and I think it may be in part due to the very kind Wildschwein who have actually nominated me as blog of the week on their site (this is my first ever nomination for anything, wow). 

So thanks very Wildschwein and since I know you are dreaming and saving for Paris here is some more inspiration for you...I hope you like it (and please remember it's only part I ), so -

Others may prefer the jewels of Place Vendome but for a foodie there is only one place for a window shopping  pilgrimage in Paris...

Place de la Madeleine - home of Ladurée  - look at that line to buy macarons...

And here, some truffles at Maison de la Truffe  (the truffle house)

This is such an artsy photo (check out my Alfred Hitchcock like cameo appearance) of Hediard and what a nice window display that is!

Fauchon is doing some fashionable cakes this season. I particularly like this disco one covered in silver leaf - is it edible?

They've also got some lovely canapés for your next fête.

Oh, and what's this? the Holy Grail, the Hope Diamond, giant king crab's legs on ice - perhaps I will win the lottery some day.

But, until that time comes I've still got Duthil (no site) in the neighborhood and they've some lovely cakes as well.



Three chocolate cakes.



First cake...



Inside the first cake - the little orange cookie like thing is a macaron - what you wait in line for at Ladurée.



Ok, now that we've been to Fauchon we know that silver is in and gold is out but this lovely litte neighborhood cake has gold...and it was delicious;



if a little blurry.



and here is the chocolate monument, very nice as well.

Anyway, that's it for today. I wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year, lot's of good food, good friends, and good fortune!

Lunch in Roscoff

Hi, and it's been a long time, and I've missed you, this site is like good therapy for me,

I come back frequently to check on the number of visits, people from all over the world, checking out food photos from France,

And then, just last week I noticed that a whole day had gone by with no visitors, and I thought to myself, well, this just will not do. So, here is my report on Roscoff, a fabulous French port city in the wonderful region of Bretagne, (from my window at the Hotel Talabardon)

And yes, I had some sun in June (Brittany,  Bretagne has a well deserved reputation for being rainy and grey...), but even better than the sun, I saw this...

A real live artichoke field, it was the first time in my life that I'd ever seen them growing. I don't know what I'd imagined but artichokes in a field are just so cute, and they are even better on a plate...

Here is another pic, from one of the better Roscoff establishments

I recommend Chez Janie, they speak English, they serve some excellent stuffed artichokes, and the view of the port is just so pleasant, not to mention the view from the port on to the terrasse:

Of course, I also ate some oysters

There is no "r" in June and yet these oysters were just exquisite, perhaps because Roscoff is a real port city.

Fresh from the port, the fishermen sell their daily catch and it gets even better,

I  was lucky enough to be there when the "tourteau" fishing boats came back to port after ten days at sea, so, my advice to you is to take a break in Roscoff,

Buy your lobsters fresh off the boat, right on the port, and then for desert...

Some delicious Far Breton aux Pruneaux from kouign amann, that totally fabulous place where they sell the most delicious Brittany pastries (and yet they have no website), but do not despair, it's easy to find, they are located right on the "Place de l'Eglise", near the only news-stand, across the street from the Hotel Talabardon.

And in closing, a photo of my last foggy night at the hotel Talabardon, I will miss Bretagne, perhaps some day I will get back.

September Guest Luncher: Armelle

September's guest luncher is my workmate Armelle who went to Portugal on her summer vacation this August. Armelle has her own blog here at www.djerbaetmoi.com dedicated to the charming island of Djerba off the coast of Tunisia. Of course it is in French but she's got lots of lovely photos so please make sure to stop by and visit Armelle. She'll be happy to hear from you.

Anyway, Armelle has been telling me for months about the special flat chicken they cook in Portugal and she finally sent me the photos:

They flatten the chicken before putting it on the grill.

Looks fabulous and Armelle says that it should be served with hot sauce and that it's delicious.

Here is a typical plate of yummy Portuguese food including cabrito, bacalhau a braz, green salad, rice, braised cabbage, potatoes and and tomato and onion salad in the middle.

Close up on the bacalhau. Armelle tells me that: "À Lisbonne, la morue est servie "a Braz", du nom d'un tavernier du quartier du Bairro Alto qui avait eu la brillante idée de mélanger de la morue déchiquetée avec des pommes de terre frites et des oeufs brouillés." In English: "In Lisbon, cod is served "a Braz" named for a famous innkeeper from the Bairro Alto neighborhood who had the brilliant idea to mix the the shredded cod with fried potatoes and scrambled eggs". I'm going to have to try this.



Potatoes, I've just eaten lunch but this is making me hungry all over again.



Some delicious refreshing tomato and onion salad.

And since I'm a meat eater, my favorite photo of them all, cabrito (goat). This just looks so good.

Thanks to Armelle for sharing her delicious vacation photos and of course, if you've been somewhere delicious lately and you would like to share please let me know, I'm always happy to feature a new guest luncher.

Lunch in Bangkok

Eating in Bangkok is just such a pleasure. The food is excellent, there is a huge variety of stuff to try, and it's affordable.

This was my first ever meal in Bangkok on the day I arrived. After 25 hours of travelling, I got to the guesthouse, dropped off my luggage, and then went out to get some lunch (it was 4 pm so a late lunch...). This delicious pad thai cost 35 baht and that included the bottle of water. Street food is the best.

Close up on the pad thai.

After the street food my second favorite thing was the mall food. This is a lunch I had at the MBK fifth avenue food thing. It's supposed to be Korean.

This was a really inexpensive meal, probably around 3 or 4 dollars and it was good. MBK shopping center has two food areas, this is the more upscale one with fltered lighting and a lovely seating area with a lot of room between the tables so you don't feel claustrophobic.

I also had lunch at the Fuji restaurant in the Paragon shopping mall. The shopping in Bangkok is incredible. Much better than Paris and better than NYC too. There is a huge variety of stuff from the very, very cheap to the incredibly expensive. The shopping malls are all air conditioned and have all kinds of convenience things like restaurants, movie theaters, clean toilets. I was very impressed.

And here is some shrimp  tempura that I had as well. It's been a long time since I've been able to eat Japanese. The prices in Paris are ridiculously high so this was really fun.

Lunch in Luang Prabang

I spent a week in Luang Prabang and so I managed to have quite a few lunches there. It's a lovely little town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well.

Here is what happens sometimes when you're an adventerous eater. You get weird stuff. I picked the "creaky pork" and "fried seaweed" from the menu. They were pretty tasty as beer snacks but not quite what I would call a real lunch.

This on the other hand was very delicious. It's Luang Prabang fish stew, a traditional dish.

The annual boat races were on when I was there and I was lucky enough to find a restaurant right on the Nam Khan where I could watch.

The stir fry chicken was kind of bland but the beer was cold and of course the view was just excellent.

Inside the restaurant surrounded by beautiful green vegetation on one side and the river on the other, it was so peaceful.

I had these delicious egg rolls while watching the races. I've never had egg rolls like these before, the skin was very thin and crunchy.

Here is a sign showing the cheapest beer prices I found in Luang Prabang - 70 cents for a big bottle. The airfare to Laos may be expensive but you more than make up for it on hotel and restaurant expenses. My room at the Sok Dee Guesthouse in a very nice part of Luang Prabang was only 8 USD/night. I had a TV with HBO, hot shower (actually luke warm...) and a comfortable bed and it was clean too. Add to that the fact that meals run around 3 to 4 dollars at most places and you can live quite nicely on 20 USD/day. You can also spend much less if you're willing to sacrifice some comfort. My whole 3 weeks in Laos cost less than the 6 days I spent in NYC last year.

So, that's it for Laos. On Monday I'll post some Bangkok lunches and I've also got photos of all my airplane meals so perhaps I'll put those on too.

Have a nice weekend!

Lunch in Vientiane

Vientiane is the capital city of Laos and it's located on the Mekong so of course one of the things I was looking forward to was a cold Beer Lao on the banks of the Mekong...

They gave me a glass with ice in it. I guess this a traditional Lao way to drink beer?

There are food stalls set up all along the Mekong in Vientiane. This photo was taken in the evening and on the other side of the river is Thailand.

It's a pretty simple set up but the food is excellent. Everything is really fresh and you get a nice mix of both tourists and locals.

Here is the first thing I ordered in Vientiane. Grilled fish, sticky rice and a beer. I think this cost about 3.50 and as you can plainly see I did drink my beer with ice, tasted good too. I got so addicted to these outdoor food stalls that I didn't eat anywhere else, and when I was not ordering fish, I ordered

Spare ribs and more spare ribs. We can't get spareribs in easily in Paris so I really took advantage

The best food in Vientiane and I recommend that you check out these food stalls if you are ever there. I'm going to miss those spare ribs...

Back to lunch

And yes indeed I am back among you fellow lunchers once again...many fabulous lunches may have passed since my last post but as those of you who travel so well know...sometimes you just need a rest and so that is what I had.

Anyway, while I was resting I ate a lot of lunches, and I took photos, and I took notes so all is not lost, as a matter of fact all is found.

This first far away lunch is from Sam Neua in Laos, way out in the country. I now consider this place to be my "spiritual home" wow how corny but the lunch was just excellent as you will see.

Some excellent fried rice with chicken and an egg on top and a beer Lao in Sam Neua,  please tell me I am not the only person ever to have visited this place

the menu, yes just imagine 10,000 kip equals 1 USD, so I ate very well at this wonderful place, my dream is to go back again one happy day

And so, if ever one day you find yourself in Sam Neua you may perhaps want to have a delightful lunch right here....