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Great Eat: the Cart; Hanoi, Vietnam

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Admin of TBJ

“the Cart” is just a tiny little restaurant (18 Ấu Triệu) tucked in a corner near St. Joseph’s Cathedral in marvelous Hanoi. This area of town – the Old Quarter – has endless sights and delights to enchant you with, but the simplicity of Cart only adds to its allure. It’s really just a simple sandwich and coffee shop, but the coffee is extremely well brewed, the sandwiches made on such fresh bread – I had a better BLT in Hanoi than I’ve had in the US – and the upstairs sitting area, complete with a mural of a tree and some happy art and photos, was like your own cozy living room. You can get a Cornish pasty, you can get a omlette-type arrangement of meats and (or just) veggies on a baguette, but if you order nothing else at the Cart, you must try the Banana Lassie (or any of the fruit juice blends) – a simple mix of yogurt, bananas, and almond milk that will tame your tummy after wilder adventures in Vietnamese street food. Go to the Cart to relax, and you’ll be guaranteed to enjoy.

Filed under: Asia, Great Eats | Tagged: 18 Au Trieu, Asia, baguette, banana lassie, cafe, Cornish pasty, deli, fresh baked bread, fresh fruit, fresh ingredients, friendly folk, fruit juice, Hanoi, sandwiches, Spanish omelet, the Cart Hanoi, Vietnam | Leave a Comment »

LR/Great Eat: Harvest, Louisville KY

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Admin of TBJ

The locavore movement is a great thing, because it has resulted in a slew of awesome new restaurants in Louisville. One of the best ones is Harvest, located next to a few of the other “we only use seasonal and local ingredients” new spots on Market Street in Louisville’s “NuLu” area downtown. Harvest is a fan of pork, so jowls and bacons and fresh meat dishes revolving around pig are common and delicious. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and plenty of tasty items on Harvest’s ever-changing menu will appeal to any visitor, however, and the dessert and appetizers of the day are just as mouth-watering as any other item on the menu. Even though I’ve sampled “burger master” Bobby Flay’s burger at NYC’s Mesa Grill, I have to say Harvest’s, with it’s hog jowl jam, was the best burger I’ve ever had, hands down. Harvest has an excellent wine menu and even the most basic arugula salad was delicious – look, if you can find a restaurant that makes me go ga-ga over beets, I think we have a winner. If you’re in “Possibility City,” it is impossible for you to have a bad meal at Harvest!

Filed under: Great Eats, North America | Tagged: appetizers, arugula, beet, Bobby Flay, burgers, downtown Louisville, farm to fork, fresh ingredients, good eat, great eat, Harvest, Kentucky, KY, Local Review, locavore, Louisville, Market Street, Mesa Grill, NuLu, pork, salad, vegetarian options, wine | Leave a Comment »

Great Eat: Ladles; Mt. Pleasant, SC

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Admin of TBJ

Ladles is a wonderful little restaurant tucked away in a shopping center in the low country town of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (if you’re around Charleston, SC, you can get to it easy!). Because the restaurant is in South Carolina’s awesome coastal area, you can get great she crab soup here, not to mention other types of warm little bowls like spicy buffalo chicken soup and turkey chili, and the Carolina stew is pretty great too. The menu (written in colorful chalk on the wall) also offers an array of excellent sandwiches (so you can totally get a soup/sandwich combo on those cooler days) like the apple bacon cream cheese or the yummy herbed cream cheese and veggie. Regular sandwich and soup items, like grilled cheeses, BLTs, and chicken noodle soup are available too, and everything’s made right in front of you with fresh ingredients by a smiling and welcoming staff. Check out the cool paintings and artwork inspired by the Carolina coast line on overcast days, or take your lunch outside and enjoy it on Ladles’s patio. This locally-owned little lunch spot is a great place to tuck in on your way toward a day in the city or as you’re poking around the greater Charleston area!

Filed under: Great Eats, North America | Tagged: apple bacon cream cheese sandwich, BLTs, Carolina Stew, Charleston, fresh ingredients, great eat, herbed cream cheese and veggie sandwich, Ladles, Mt. Pleasant, sandwiches, SC, She Crab Soup, soup and sandwich combo, soups, South Carolina, spicy soup | 1 Comment »

Great Eat: Granja Heidi; San Blas/Cusco, Peru

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Admin of TBJ

One of the most soothing places to go in Cusco is the Granja Heidi, a popular restaurant in the San Blas neighborhood of Cusco, Peru. If you picked up a travel guide about Cusco or hunted around online for good eats there, you probably saw a good write-up for the Granja Heidi: believe it. “Heidi’s Farm” (translation) boasts beautiful meals whose ingredients come fresh from the owner’s farm, so items like the “Rise, Lazarus!” leek soup (with carrots, celery, and other aromatics) will hit the spot and make you feel pretty darn good after you’ve been working your digestive system in the high Andean altitude. Check out their home-made granola that is simply the best bran I’ve ever had (mixed in a fruit salad, mm!) Try one of the restaurant’s various teas (soothing, warm, and utterly fantastic) or one of their made-to-order crepes, the latter of which meets an interesting/amusing Spanish-English translation on the menu. If you’re a breakfast-for-dinner person, Granja Heidi is the spot for you. Nothing on their menu is bad, and the place gets pretty packed as the prime dinner hours draw near, though you can call ahead and reserve a table and the owners will happily oblige. Granja Heidi is located to the left of Cuesta San Blas (the street that nearly runs into the front of Templo de San Blas) if you’re going up; they don’t take credit cards, but they might change some of your larger denomination soles for you – nice, nice people, and if you’re looking for fellow European travelers, check here, as we saw plenty of them in the cheery and tasty Granja Heidi.

Filed under: Great Eats, Latin America, South America | Tagged: carrots, celery, crêpes, Cuesta San Blas, Cusco, Europeans, farm fed, fresh fruit, fresh ingredients, fresh meat, fruit salad, Granja Heidi, granola, great eat, Heidi's Farm, Latin America, Leek, no credit cards, oats, organic food, Peru, Rise Lazarus, San Blas, South America, teas, Templo de San Blas, vegetables | 1 Comment »

JR/Great Eat: Jack’s Cafe; Cusco, Peru

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Admin of TBJ

About two blocks north of Plaza de Armas in Cuzco, Peru is one of the best breakfast spots I’ve ever eaten at: Jack’s Cafe. The food is so fresh, everything is homemade, and the fresh fruit smoothies are great for getting a nice dose of morning energy and for aiding any lasting effects from the high altitude. Everything on the menu seems good – we had six meals there (some ingredients: avocado, bruschetta, eggs and omelets, panini sandwiches, etc.) and were never disappointed – and the servers are friendly and mostly bilingual. A good first meal when you get into town, if you can get in the door during peak hours.

Juror #14

Filed under: Great Eats, Latin America, South America | Tagged: altitude sickness, bilingual staff, breakfast, busy, Cusco, eggs, fresh fruit, fresh ingredients, fruit smoothies, great eat, Jack's Cafe, juror #14, Latin America, lunch, panini, Peru, South America, Spanish omelet | 1 Comment »

Great Eat: Caffe Pomodoro Restaurant, Panama City, Panama

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Admin of TBJ

Restaurants under hotels can definitely be hit or miss, but as you dart off of the busy Avenida de Espana onto Avenida Eusebio A Morales, you’ll be confronted with what looks like an old hidden wine bar stuck under the modern, white-stucco’d Hotel Las Vegas in Panama City, Panama. You’re half right – Caffe Pomodoro is a fabulous Italian restaurant, with oven-fired pizzas accompanying a great selection of Latin American wines, or heaping dishes of risotto and whole-wheat pastas drenched in delicious cheesy sauces. Convenient to a main drag of restaurants catering to every taste – you can get Moroccan and Indian and even Burger King further down the road – the Caffe Pomodoro is a find. Every side salad comes with fresh strawberries and mouth-puckering onions, and the beer list (they do have Budweiser – hard to find in Panama – but ask twice and they’ll get it; you must be persistent!) is quite tempting as well. The wine bar’s atmosphere is similar to that of an odd Italian mob movie, but the restaurant’s outdoor terrace is awesome at night, where the breezes of the city are amplified by twinkling lights in the indoor palm trees and cande-lit tables, where a final glass of wine or a sampling of the restaurant’s excellent tres leches can be the beginning or the end of a night on one of Central America’s most quietly groovy great eats.

Filed under: Central America, Great Eats, Latin America | Tagged: beer list, Budweiser, Caffe Pomodoro, Central America, cheese, fresh ingredients, great eat, Hotel Las Vegas, Italian food, Latin America, Latin American wines, onions, Panama, Panama City, pasta, pizza, salad, strawberries, tres leches, wine list | 1 Comment »

LR: Sweet Treats for Summer in Louisville, KY

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Admin of TBJ

One “Great Eat” review of all the delectable cool summer sweets available in Louisville, KY wouldn’t be adequate; there are so many great spots in Possibility City to grab an icy treat! For those who just want straight up ice cream, there’s no better place to go than Graeter’s. Homemade ice cream in varying flavors (as well as a rotation of sought-after seasonals, like the Buckeye Blitz and Cherry Chip) can be whipped into a sundae (there are several signature ones) or a milkshake, or enjoy your ice cream on a waffle cone. Grater’s also has home-made fudge and ice cream cakes, if you’re not already counting the calories you just added to your waistline. If healthier fare is more your speed, check out Sweet CeCe’s, where you pick a frozen yogurt flavor and then top it off with a multitude of fresh and fun toppings, like fruit (oranges, strawberries, pineapple, blueberries) or something more sinful (hot fudge, chopped up Reese’s, brownie bits, pulverized graham crackers, Andes mints, Skittles, and M’n'Ms are some of the favorites); your special concoction is weighed for the price. Even healthier hot-weather treats can be found right across the street (corner of Bardstown and Eastern Parkway) at Ce Fiore (try the acai berry natural yogurt with oat bits mixed in, mmm!) or Sweet Surrender (gluten-free and no-sugar added vegan chocolate cake!). As you sweat your way through summer, don’t forget to grab a tasty treat once in a while to satisfy your need for cool sweets in good ol’ Louisville, Kentucky.

Filed under: Great Eats, North America | Tagged: acai, Andes mints, Ce Fiore, desserts, fresh fruit, fresh ingredients, fudge, gluten-free, Graters, great eat, great eats, hand made ice cream, healthy desserts, hot fudge, ice cream, Kentucky, KY, Louisville, make your own dessert, milkshakes, MnMs, oats, sundaes, Sweet CeCe's, Sweet Surrender, sweets, toppings, treats, vegan cake, waffle cones, yogurt | 1 Comment »

Cincinnati, OH

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Admin of TBJ

Now that I’ve been to Cincinnati a few times, I finally feel like I have a grip on the city, which is closer to a post-industrial iron belt city than it is a river city. Situated on the Ohio River and boasting both a MLB and a NFL team (the Reds and the Bengals, if you must ask), “Cincy” has an incredible history that it has just recently started to promote, most notably with its slick National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and, of course, the Harriet Beecher Stowe house. There are several art museums worth a peek, but do know that Cincinnati has America’s only Sign Museum. Checking out a Reds game at the Great American Ball Park is as fun of a way to spend the afternoon away as is the Botanical Garden, but penguin-lovers will thrill at walking across the pedestrian-only Purple People Bridge to spend $25 extra to pet one of the Newport Aquarium’s many penguins. The aquarium is across the river from Cincinnati proper (you’re now in Kentucky, actually, and the Newport Levee shopping area is a family hotspot) but a trip across the river is a great way to ponder the banks of the Ohio and take some great skyline shots. Cincinnati is easy to navigate, with plenty of places to eat around Fountain Square (Nada’s Mexican is always hopping, and there are more Italian and Indian places than you’ll know what to do with), and if you tire of walking the city, the public transit system and the cabs are plentiful. Do check out Gilpin’s Sandwiches on 7th street – you can make your own delicious steamed sandwich (your choice of a variety of fresh baked breads… or you can make a burger out of a doughnut) and they’re open late with a hangover-food delivery service. Cincinnati is a little rough around the edges, but it is a pretty fun place once you poke around.

Filed under: North America | Tagged: art galleries, Bengals, Cincinnati, Fountain Square, fresh baked bread, fresh ingredients, Gilpins Sandwiches, Great American Ball Park, Harriet Beecher Stowe house, Indian food, Italian food, Nada's Mexican Restaurant, National Underground Railroad Freedom Museum, Newport Aquarium, Newport Levee, North America, OH, Ohio, Ohio River, pet the penguins, public transit, Purple People Bridge, Reds, Sign Museum, United States, US | 1 Comment »

LR/Great Eat: Proof on Main, Louisville KY

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Admin of TBJ

One of the funny things about living in a decent-sized city is that often you seek out your own little hidden favorite eats and bars, neglecting the ones always raved about by visitors to your city. But there’s no excuse to ignore Proof on Main, one of Louisville’s most highly-touted bars and eateries. The Southern-Italian-Spanish menu is innovative and boasts tons of local and fresh ingredients, but it’ll put a hole in your wallet (mains from $18, tasting platters from $17 with a wide selection of meats and cheeses that you’ll not find anywhere – think buffalo carpaccio or pecorino ginepro – artisan sheep cheese). The main reason to go to Proof, however, is to enjoy the atmosphere and take in one of the spot’s signature mixed drinks, like the robust “Strapping Lad” or the sweet “Barbarella.” Proof is also a hotel and art gallery (well, attached to 21c Hotel and Gallery, but it feels like one big establishment), which means you can grab a drink view tons of unique and interesting art and installation pieces. There are even wild pieces in the bathroom – the men’s room features a sort of two way mirror with a perpetual waterfall urinal! You can also interact with several of the cool installation pieces – my favorite is Camille Utterback & Romy Achituv’s “Text Rain” (by the elevators) where anyone can move and bat letters around as they fall from the ceiling. Proof on Main is a total gem in downtown Louisville – next time you’re in town, you gotta check it out!

Filed under: Great Eats, North America | Tagged: 21c Gallery, 21c Hotel, art, art gallery, artisan cheese, atmosphere, Barbarella, buffalo carpaccio, Camille Utterback & Romy Achituv, expensive, fresh fruit, fresh ingredients, great eat, hotel, installation, Italian food, Kentucky, KY, local food, local meat, Local Review, Louisville, LR, mixed drinks, pecorino ginepro, Proof on Main, sheep cheese, Southern food, Spanish food, Strapping Lad, Text Rain | Leave a Comment »

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