Red Mosquito

Higgs wrote:

96583UP wrote:where in spain?

my favorite place in barcelona was this: https://www.calpep.com

sitting at the counter in front of the chefs

Land in Barcelona for a few days. Off to Bilbao and hiring a car to drive the North through the Basque Country through Asturias and ending in Galicia at Santiago.

Then Porto and Lisbon for a week and back to Southern Spain (Malaga / Ronda / Seville) before finishing in Madrid and flying home.

Feel free to keep food recs coming - this trip is all about eating and drinking.

My wife studied abroad in Ronda. She absolutely loves it there.

I've only been to Barcelona but it's one of my favorite cities in the world.

Also, Lisbon and Porto are exceptional.

Have a great time, Higgs!

We hit up a spot in Porto right on the Duoro for lunch. It seemed a little touristy but we just needed a bite.

Turned out our waiter (from Portugal) lived in NYC for a few years and worked at one of the best fine dining places in the city. He loves NYC and when he found out that's where we were from, he really hooked us up. He even gave us some of the port good dad makes at home!

I had the best grilled octopus I've ever had at that spot. The lesson here is that the food in Porto is amazing, and even if you think the place looks cheesy, it's probably awesome.

Higgs wrote:

96583UP wrote:where in spain?

my favorite place in barcelona was this: https://www.calpep.com

sitting at the counter in front of the chefs

Land in Barcelona for a few days. Off to Bilbao and hiring a car to drive the North through the Basque Country through Asturias and ending in Galicia at Santiago.

Then Porto and Lisbon for a week and back to Southern Spain (Malaga / Ronda / Seville) before finishing in Madrid and flying home.

Feel free to keep food recs coming - this trip is all about eating and drinking.

Lisbon is wonderful.

here are a couple of coffee/breakfast recs:
hello, Kristof - two locations, one in Alfama, the other I’m blanking on. Good coffee, and breakfast options.

Volta coffee - croissants, other pastries…maybe eggs, though I did not get any. Loved the coffee here as well.

Dramático - mostly coffee, but very good. I stalked this place online for months before our trip, and it was well worth it. It’s one guy, who’s an absolute sweetheart, and he was the only barista in Lisbon who made me a pour over, or hand brew as I learned they’re called. By the way, if you’re into hand brews, most cafes will have them on their menu, but it is hit or miss on whether they want to make one for you…most don’t, claiming it’s too busy even if there’s only two people in their shop.

Seagull Method - cute cafe, very tasty breakfast options.

Neighborhood - my wife said the breakfast burrito from here was the best thing she got in Lisbon, of all breakfast stops.

Dinner
Senhor UVA - this place is vegan, but they do it well, and they’ve got great wine options. They have two rooms across the street from each other. One is mainly for the bar, but they do serve food. The other is the main kitchen with bar and tables.

Antiga Wine Bar - went here last minute on our last night in Lisbon. Good bites, and good wines.

Gunpowder - Indian restaurant that I enjoyed way more than my wife. She loves the cuisine, but wasn’t feeling it as much that night. Good wine selection here as well.

Pomme - owned by the same people who run Seagull Method. We had drinks and small plates here, and enjoyed it, particularly the sardines.

Drinks Only
Toca da Raposa - reservations only, I believe. Unique cocktails, where every drink is named after an animal.

misc
Check out LX Factory for art and commerce.

Cascais is 30 min by car or train if you’re interested.

Eat (many) Pastel de nata‘s. They are delightful.

I hope you have a great time, Higgs. Lisbon is full of good food, good wine/drinks, and good people.

Holy shit - thanks for the replies guys.

This trips snuck up on us - I can't believe it's just 3 weeks away suddenly. After Italy last year we weren't certain if we would travel again this year but came to the conclusion "Fuck it", you never know what life will throw at you so let's just do it. Glad we did.

I have a bit of a difficult time with octopus tbh. I didn't eat it for years feeling bad the little guys were sentient but then had some in Greece last year. They may be sentient but they are tasty little bastards too and now eating a crap ton of octopus is one of the main things I'm looking at doing on this trip!

The wife's really excited for Ronda in particular - it looks beautiful.

Thanks for the considered recs dad, appreciated. I'll dive into those tonight.

we are now in a quaint but super cool little village town outside of Manchester..we were supposed to go to Doves show last night but we blew it off because of tiredness..staying with old friends and we had Chinese food last night and some drinks...anyway, today, they are taking us to their favorite farmers market to buy meat for the week and to end the day they are driving us to Wrexham to have a few pints at the pub connected to the football stadium..then back home for a proper Sunday roast..

Higgs wrote:Holy shit - thanks for the replies guys.

This trips snuck up on us - I can't believe it's just 3 weeks away suddenly. After Italy last year we weren't certain if we would travel again this year but came to the conclusion "Fuck it", you never know what life will throw at you so let's just do it. Glad we did.

I have a bit of a difficult time with octopus tbh. I didn't eat it for years feeling bad the little guys were sentient but then had some in Greece last year. They may be sentient but they are tasty little bastards too and now eating a crap ton of octopus is one of the main things I'm looking at doing on this trip!

The wife's really excited for Ronda in particular - it looks beautiful.

Thanks for the considered recs dad, appreciated. I'll dive into those tonight.

i feel the same way about octopus

i cry tears of crispy deliciousness

I've been busy sorting restaurants and managed to snag 2 bookings at Michelin starred joints, one in San Sebastian one in Santiago. I am gonna be the fattest bastard by the time we fly home.

Got lamb shanks going now for Sunday dinner. They are looking damn good too.

I'd bare knuckle someone about now for a lamb shank with a hearty red wine sauce with a hint of mint..heading to Liverpool tomorrow for a few days to do some Beatles stuff and just walk around and pub it up.

next stop, Chicagooooo

arrived in Paris yesterday...love the little airbnb my wife picked out in the Marais..started off the Paris trip as we always do and hit this little restaurant we love for our traditional glass of red wine and a side of the best steak tartare I've ever had..after dinner we ended up doing a little bit of shopping for the week and ended up in a Scottish pub watching some soccer and having a scotch..today we hit the farmers market across the street

i love Paris

enjoy!

doug rr wrote:arrived in Paris yesterday...love the little airbnb my wife picked out in the Marais..started off the Paris trip as we always do and hit this little restaurant we love for our traditional glass of red wine and a side of the best steak tartare I've ever had..after dinner we ended up doing a little bit of shopping for the week and ended up in a Scottish pub watching some soccer and having a scotch..today we hit the farmers market across the street

Paris....love it. I missed it this year really, cant wait to be there again probably next year.

VinylGuy wrote:

doug rr wrote:arrived in Paris yesterday...love the little airbnb my wife picked out in the Marais..started off the Paris trip as we always do and hit this little restaurant we love for our traditional glass of red wine and a side of the best steak tartare I've ever had..after dinner we ended up doing a little bit of shopping for the week and ended up in a Scottish pub watching some soccer and having a scotch..today we hit the farmers market across the street

Paris....love it. I missed it this year really, cant wait to be there again probably next year.

We’ll always have Paris.

wease wrote:

VinylGuy wrote:

doug rr wrote:arrived in Paris yesterday...love the little airbnb my wife picked out in the Marais..started off the Paris trip as we always do and hit this little restaurant we love for our traditional glass of red wine and a side of the best steak tartare I've ever had..after dinner we ended up doing a little bit of shopping for the week and ended up in a Scottish pub watching some soccer and having a scotch..today we hit the farmers market across the street

Paris....love it. I missed it this year really, cant wait to be there again probably next year.

We’ll always have Paris.

VinylGuy wrote:

doug rr wrote:arrived in Paris yesterday...love the little airbnb my wife picked out in the Marais..started off the Paris trip as we always do and hit this little restaurant we love for our traditional glass of red wine and a side of the best steak tartare I've ever had..after dinner we ended up doing a little bit of shopping for the week and ended up in a Scottish pub watching some soccer and having a scotch..today we hit the farmers market across the street

Paris....love it. I missed it this year really, cant wait to be there again probably next year.

Hilton?

Seattle trip switched to Pittsburgh, often considered the Seattle of the western PA region

bart wrote:Seattle trip switched to Pittsburgh, often considered the Seattle of the western PA region

I’ve always had a good time in Pittsburgh. I think it’s extremely underrated.

Chris_H_2 wrote:

bart wrote:Seattle trip switched to Pittsburgh, often considered the Seattle of the western PA region

I’ve always had a good time in Pittsburgh. I think it’s extremely underrated.

More than four hours of daylight’s a good start.

Both sound very exotic.