1. Nanina Kuhinja (Grandma's kitchen) - Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzogovina
(Aug 2017)
Sarmas (minced meat wrapped in vine leaves) , Sarajevo pot which contained stuffed peppers and onions, local goat cheese which just about sent the Hippo to euphoria, the Bosnia pot with tender beef stew, potatoes and carrots, tummy happy comfort food. Her favorite was their pasta in cheese and garlic sauce. So garlicky! Food so good the Hippo had all her dinners in Sarajevo there. Best meals the Hippo's ever had! Ukusno!
2. Tamarind - Luang Prabang, Laos (Jan 2016)
By the Khan river, the Hippo finally sampled the buffalo laap, which was minced buffalo meat in a curious sauce. She had it with tripe but no bile. It was tender and heavenly delicious. The restaurant was very tiny and every night fully booked. Best restaurant in Laos. ແຊບ!
3. Coconut salad with prawns and duck confit on a bed of super delicious egg noodles - lunch at Sài Gòn (Ho Chi Min city) Jan 2018.
The lunch had All the Hippo's favorites. Was totally stuffed. thơm ngon!
4. Osteria Antica Guetta - Bonassola, Italia (Sept 2019)
Owned by a Napolitano, the osteria was seafront. Vale and I shared a big pot of trofie a la napolitana, trofie pasta filled with shrimps, clams and mussels in shells of course and calamari. The sauce was awesome. It was one of the most delicious pasta I've ever had. I fell in love with trofie. Vale held up a shrimp with her fork and asked me "do you like this animal?". I guess she doesnt like shrimps. More for the Hippo, I didnt mind. The owner was very friendly with us. We went back for a second meal, and I had pasta with porcini (my favorite mushroom, very hard to find back home) and it was so good I cleaned up the plate even though I wasnt hungry. Cene deliziose!
5. Touk - Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Jan 2016)
At the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers, across from the FCC (Foreign Correspondence Club), where the US secretary of state John Kerry was visiting, the semi open restaurant on the 2nd floor had a spectacular evening view of the rivers and the streets below. Street vendors sold fried spiders and squids. Tourists and back packers mingled with locals. tuk tuks, bikes and cars zig zagged on the narrow lanes along the river bank, ancient rock blasted from every bar to be mixed with local khmer songs. The air smelled of diesel and lemongrass. Electrifying. Nowhere you could find a restaurant so connected with the outside atmosphere. the Hippo had the savory beef lok lak. The sauce was so heavenly delicious, she bought a package of it at the airport (which turned out not tasting anything like the one I had at Touk). I loved the food in this country. អាហារឆ្ងាញ់ !
6. Ресторан Villa Aston - St Petersburg, Russia (Sept 2015)
Nice french decor. Comfy sofas in the restaurant. Chandeliers and stainglass. We had very black sturgeon caviar, not salty at all, served with pancakes. Pumpkin cream oyster soup and the Hippo ordered the wild boar. Discovered the Lambrusco that was the best prosecco I've ever tasted. Super delicious meal. Earlier the day some of us had lunch there as well. I had the borsch that had large cubes of beef, with no sour cream. Very beety and quite good. Fantastic dinner and satisfying lunch. This place was worth eating at again. вкусная еда !
7. Pasta Alfredo across from the Pantheon - Roma, Italia (Oct 2005)
Served in a small ceramic sauce pot with handle, boiling hot thick pasta with thick alfredo sauce. Best alfredo the Hippo had. Pasta deliziosa!
8. Riad Meknes Hotel restaurant - Meknes, Morocco (Oct 2013)
Most delicious Moroccan dinner inside the Meknes medina. Took a peek at the Riad hotel, the one Joann stayed in her trip. The courtyard looked cozy and inviting. Inside the medina, labyrinths of narrow cobblestone lanes, high walls with sunlight peeking through, small doors on either side, that open up to grand
courtyards and multitude of rooms. Moroccan dinner began with a nice thick vegetable (lentil?) soup, followed by several little dishes (Moroccan tapas?) of olives, garbanzo beans, green beans, white beans, eggplants and then the main course, the Moroccan signature dish, chicken couscous, piled with carrots, zucchini, potatoes and garbanzos. Ended with coconut and peanuts cookies and mint tea. I was completely stuffed and stomach totally happy. طعام لذيذ !
9. Cavour 21 - Genoa, Italia (Sept 2019)
Had the Trofie al pesto con fagioli e patata. Unlike any pasta the Hippo's ever had. Never thought of green beans and potatoes with pasta, but the novelty was super delicious. And in combo with pesto, Hippo's favorite pasta sauce, one of the greatest pesto pasta she's ever had. Miglior pesto!
10. Restoran Peppersack - Tallinn, Estonia (Sept 2015)
In the Old Town. The interior like an old castle hall, tall chairs, long wooden tables, wooden barrister, chandeliers, stone walls, stone hearths, tapestries, and dinner even came with a mock sword fight comedy. Medieval ambience. The menu was out of this world. garlic and cherry sauce everything. I couldnt decide btween the "Pepper sack Hans recommends" Spicy stir-fried beef fillet pieces, or the "Alderman Johan Möller's special" Grilled rib-eye steak, or the "Philipp Crusius's musings" Roast duck breast fillet with potato puree, roasted winter squash and blackberry sauce, or the "Swordsman's feast" Roasted leg of pork with beer-stewed sauerkraut, potato wedges, gherkin, marinated pumpkin salad, mustard and horseradish, but finally decided on the "Merchant Gerke's delight" Grilled rack of lamb with garlic, oven baked potato with herb butter, warm vegetable salad and cherry sauce, which came with half of a bulb roasted garlic. So yummy I finished the whole thing. So full, couldnt swallow any dessert after this. the very peppery digestif left my mouth, throat and stomach burning. suurepärane õhtusöök !
Because Hippo loves to eat, 3 runners-up:
1. TirmaIrma, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzogovina (Aug 2017)
Family owned National cuisine. Located on Onešćukova, just follow the street as you get off the Mostar iconic old bridge. Hippo had the Će Ćevapi (Ražnjići) with their unique goat cheese and sauce (see the left image above). So yummy wanted to go back a second time. They even had orangina! Ukusno!
2. Pappardelle with Wild Boar sauce - Osteria Il Re Gallo -
Castellina In Chianti, Italia (Sept 2019)
Most favorite pasta in favorite meat sauce. Deliziosa!
Bonus:
Bedouin tagines in Morocco (Oct 2013) - the one at a bedouin family, the one cooked at the Sahara desert camp, and many others at local restaurants, havent had one that wasnt good and satisfying. Love, love tagines! وجبات لذيذة !
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