After
travelling nearly nonstop for a month and having visitors here in Australia, I’m lagging a bit behind in writing my annual
foodie blog post.
This
past year, we enjoyed a few more European trips, with Belgrade, Serbia, being a surprisingly wonderful foodie destination,
plus several good meals in Warsaw. In June, we left
Poland after living there for 27 months and
started a new expat journey in Melbourne. Although we’ve eaten out quite a bit
Down Under, I can’t say that any meals have really wowed me yet. Aussies do
breakfast fantastically well, and there are tons of ethnic options like
Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Malyasian. I’ve even been cooking a
lot more Asian dishes at home since the ingredients are easy to find here.
The
following destinations are where we had some of our Best Meals in 2015! Where
did you have your favorite meal this year? I would love to know!
Bon appétit!
Joy
January: L’enfant Terrible in Warsaw
In
January, I kicked off the year with a group of friends at one of Warsaw’s newer
fine dining restaurants called L’enfant Terrible. Chef Michał Bryś, who had worked
at European Michelin-starred restaurants, has since received accolades and his
restaurant was recommended by the first Polish edition of the Gault &
Millaut guide. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what the dishes are that we had
and I didn’t take a copy of the menu. Some dishes were good like the tender
beef for my main dish, but the foie gras macaron appetizer was a bit odd and so
was the bacon-solar system course.
At 350zl (about $100usd at the time), this
was the most expensive meal I’ve had in the Polish capital.
February: Fancy French Food in Warsaw
We
experienced a phenomenal dining experience thanks to a visiting 2-Michelin Star
chef from France. Besides dining
at Nolita again for my birthday,
this special 7-course degustation menu by Chef Olivier Nasti, MOF, was THE best
meal we’ve eaten here. The event was hosted by the Sofitel Warsaw Victoria and
sponsored by AirFrance so we sampled some fantastic French wines (at a bargain)
as well. The main entrée was roasted pigeon smothered in black truffles and
served with a dollop of celeriac puree. I love truffles! I also love chocolate
and dessert number 1 was a rich, dark chocolate mille feuille with coffee ice
cream. You can read more about our fancy French meal in this post.
Wonderful Winebar in London
In
February, we also travelled to London because my husband
had some work meetings and I tagged along. Over the weekend, we ate at a cozy
winebar called Brawn, located on Columbia
Road (near the Sunday flower market) in Bethnal Green. We ordered several
dishes to share, and my favorite was a ball of Buffalo Mozzarella with smoked
aubergine puree and lemon. I could have licked the plate clean. I tried grilled
duck hearts for the first time (kind of taste like liver) served on top a
creamy polenta, perfect hearty food on a winter’s night. For a main dish, we
shared the confit pork belly with Puy lentils and root vegetables. How could I
resist some pork!
March: Classic Viennese Café
In
March, we spent a short weekend in Vienna
to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary together. Of course, we had to check
out some of the historic cafés in Austria’s capital city. We had a late lunch
at Café Central, open since1876; and in the late
19th century, it became a key meeting place for the Viennese
intellectual scene. Former customers include Leon Trotsky, Josip Broz Tito (first president
of Yugoslavia), Sigmund Freud, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.
Besides
the beautiful architecture, what makes you ohh and ahh is the pastry display
case, which is filled with all kinds of tempting sweet tooth pleasures. I had a
difficult time choosing just one pastry to share with my husband after a simple
lunch of beef tartare and soup. Which one would you pick?
April: Balkan Delights in Belgrade
In
April, we spent the long Easter weekend in Belgrade
with our Istanbul friends. I fell in love with this city’s
architecture – a mix of Austrian, European and even some Ottoman influences –
and the food scene. The food reminded me of trips to Greece, Turkey and Croatia
as well as the modern touches which would be compatible in NYC. Our local Airbnb
host recommended our last lunch destination called Manufaktura, which is owned
by Dušan Ivković, considered the godfather of Serbian basketball and now
the head coach of the Turkish Anadolu Efes team.
In
May, I was spoiled with a birthday lunch and a multi-course dinner at Nolita where we had the
dined the previous year for my birthday as I wrote about in this blog post. Nolita is hands-down my favorite
fine-dining restaurant in Warsaw; and honestly, an international bargain for
the food you receive – 6 courses for 235zl (then about $75 and now $57usd). My
favorite course this time was a foie gras
bon bon that I likened to a rich peanut butter and jelly combo. Again, I wanted
to lick the plate clean!
June: Farewell Fiesta with Girlfriends
After
throwing our own going-away, Mexican-themed party, I took some time to hang out
with girlfriends. One of my farewell lunches was at one of my favorite Warsaw winebars,
Alewino, tucked in behind an archway off fashion
lane of ulica Mokotowska. The chalkboard menu always features seasonal items
with a beet salad of some kind that’s delicious no matter how it’s prepared.
I
love talking to the knowledgeable staff (in English) about the wines,
particularly an incredible Hungarian selection! The truffled risotto and
stuffed zucchini flowers are two of my favorite dishes when in season.
July: Tassie’s Simple Seafood
Once
Down Under, we hit the road running to travel around our new home country. We
spent a weekend exploring the southeast corner of Tasmania, a beautiful, lush, wild island. Perched on a hill beside
a vineyard, Bangor
Wine & Oyster Shed, about 45-minutes outside of Hobart, is the perfect
place to enjoy a simple seafood lunch. We ordered freshly shucked oysters
served three different ways with three tangy dressings and abalone sautéed in
butter and garlic served with a brandied mayonnaise lettuce salad and of
course, a chilled bottle of local Pinot Gris. All we had to do was sit back,
sip some wine and enjoy the lovely views!
October: Paris is Always a Good Idea
In
October, we ventured back to Europe for a few weeks and were able to celebrate
a belated wedding anniversary with my brother and sister-in-laws in Paris. We treated
ourselves to a new 1 Michelin-starred restaurant called Les
Climats,
located on the left bank. Considering its star status, the tasting menu priced
at 5 courses for 98 euros was a decent bargain, at least in the City of Lights.
This Art Deco restaurant features French cuisine with modern touches and is
devoted to an immense collection of wines from the Burgundy region.
For
the first course, Chef Julien Boscus served us crab seasoned with fresh herbs
and pil pil sauce, octopus carpaccio, beef chorizo and multicolored
cauliflower. The second course, one of my favorite, was a fillet of wild sea
bream in a bread crust with mushrooms, fresh walnuts and red orach. The main
course was a Scottish goose breast with Chasselas grapes, wild
mushrooms, Swiss chard, chicory and straw potatoes. Unfortunately, we didn’t
like the modern interpretation of the cheese course with fresh muscat grapes,
red porto and Pinot Noir.
Then,
we ended up having two delectable dessert courses: pears poached in turmeric
and caraway with pecans and pear sorbet; followed by a chocolate confection of guanaja
biscuit with Tonka beans, caramelized hazelnuts, coffee Chantilly and chocolate
sorbet. Oh my! And if those weren’t enough, we ended this amazing meal with a
plate of petit fours and chocolates!
December: Shoreside Seafood in New Zealand
We
ended 2015 with a 6-day holiday in New
Zealand. After taking the ferry boat from Picton across the Cook Straight,
we immediately settled in for lunch at Shed 5 in Wellington.
This former woolshed that faces the harbor was recommended by fellow foodie and
blogger friend, Meg of Notorious MEG, who lived in Welly
for several months.
Along
with a bottle of Marlborough Sav-Blanc, we ordered six oysters and three
seafood appetizers to share. My favorite was a ceviche salad of flash cured tuna
and Akaroa salmon with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, avocado mousse and olive
oil caviar.
When
visiting picturesque New Zealand, you can’t help but indulge in the local wines
and fresh seafood!
Where did you enjoy your favorite meal in
2015?
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