Top 3 Vegetarian Restaurants in Porto

November 25, 2019November 25, 20191 Comment

Full disclosure…I haven’t been vegetarian for long. Well okay, technically, I’m pescatarian so, not eating any red meat, my travels around Portugal this year relied very heavily on fish, seafood and plants (and cake too of course but that’s talked about in another post).

While Portuguese cuisine is quite heavy on meat and seafood, with pork and stews being popular dishes, I didn’t have any difficulties finding places to eat that catered to vegetarians. In fact, Porto is a city that caters extremely well to all palates and has many restaurants and cafes that are solely vegetarian and vegan.

I’ve included a variety of different styles of restaurants, all serving up healthy seasonal delicious fusions of food, so whether you’re after a casual lunch with friends, a date night or a delicious weekend brunch, I’ve got you covered.

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The Best Brunches in Porto

November 6, 2019November 6, 20193 Comments

Brunch is always a good idea. Especially when you’re travelling. And especially when you’re travelling somewhere that has such exceptional cuisine. It’s been a while since my taste buds were as satisfied as they have been in Portugal, particularly in Porto, which has an abundance of cool restaurants and quirky cafes that serve an expert brunch.

Clearly the best meal of the day, brunch gives you a totally valid excuse to have a lazy morning and then enjoy excessive amounts of both savoury and sweet in one go, with a fun social atmosphere, all while sipping on booze before midday. I may have had a dessert overload, as you would have read in my last drool-worthy post on Porto’s most indulgent desserts, but I also brunched hard, so here are some of the best places for brunch in Porto.

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Porto’s Most Indulgent Desserts (and Where to Find Them)

September 12, 2019September 12, 20196 Comments

On my recent visits to Porto I have been lucky enough to have eaten at some of the most fantastic restaurants, all recommended by locals, from great brunch spots to the most divine vegetarian restaurants. I now have so many recommendations to share that there are far too many to include in one post, so I’ve split it up into sections. The first…desserts! Obviously. Because cake is the most important food group especially when the Portuguese seem to do them so well.

The streets of Porto (which you can wander afterwards to burn off all those sugar-filled calories) are full of cafés and sweet pastry shops. The Portuguese coffee culture gives you an excuse to enjoy something sweet alongside your morning, afternoon and/or evening espresso.

So here is my list of the best places for dessert in Porto. Warning…there are several photos of me enjoying said desserts because apparently I eat so many and enjoy them so much that it just has to be caught on camera.

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10 of the Best Foodie Spots in Lisbon

August 22, 20197 Comments

Scoping out the best restaurants and local delicacies used to be one of the highest priorities on my list when travelling. But due to the exciteable toddler who now accompanies me on all my adventures, I don’t often get the luxury of eating out at nice places as much anymore. My main criteria now seems to be restaurants that cater to small children, where no one would blink an eye at a bit of noise or a toddler going for a wander around the tables or crayons being thrown all over the floor. And bonus points if the restaurant has a play area! Ah the joys of travelling with children.

It wasn’t until we returned home from Lisbon that I realised just how many amazing places we’d eaten at in the few days we were there. So many in fact that the food needed a whole post of its own! All of these places come highly recommended by a local (which was the only reason we ate so well because I did absolutely no research myself), some of which are family favourites. So they have been tried and tested by both locals and tourists (aka me) too. None of these are specifically child friendly but they all catered very well to children, so whether you’re travelling with kids or without, these are some of the best places to eat in Lisbon.

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The Chocolate, Cheese and Coffee Lover’s Guide to Zurich

June 5, 201811 Comments

You don’t have to be crazy about all three things in the title to read this post. There’s something for everyone here but I’m not going to lie, the majority of this list does feature them all pretty highly. Because when you’re in Switzerland it’s only fair and right that you eat a tonne of Swiss chocolate. And cheese. Because chocolate and cheese are two of the best things in life, and coffee is just a given, so of course there were going to be a fabulous range of places to sample them.

The fact that so many chocolate treats are called “Schoggi” which is a ‘cute Swiss word for chocolate’ (I googled it and that is literally the meaning!) just made it all so much more tempting and had me wanting to eat it all.

Most of these places are ideal for children too as Zurich seems to be an extremely child friendly city, but whether you have kids with you or not they are all still some of the best places to eat and drink in Zurich.

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Feeling Like a Princess at Afternoon Tea at the Tea Terrace

February 19, 201814 Comments

I remember the days fondly when I used to get lost in a book on the train to work, carefully paint my nails with colours to match my outfits, and binge watch the latest Netflix series. My Friday and Saturday nights were spent trying different restaurants or sipping cocktails in bars and Sundays were always reserved for a new adventure.

But over the last eleven months or so, my me time has somewhat diminished. Or, to put it more aptly, completely disappeared. Unfinished cold cups of coffee can be found scattered around the house; I have no idea what the latest place is on the food scene (and even if I did I wouldn’t be able to get the dish that I actually wanted anyway because my choices now revolve around the new boss); I’m yet to get through the second series of Stranger Things; and I’m lucky if I’ve rinsed all the conditioner from my hair before I have to dash out of the bubble bath that I’d so lovingly dreamed of all day.

As much as I absolutely adore my little Evie, a baby leaves very little room for time to yourself which is why, when my sister told me she was taking me to a surprise afternoon tea treat for my birthday last month, I cried. Like literally burst into tears. The exhaustion of being a mama combined with the thought of all that cake was just too much for me to handle!

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A Lasagna Feast at Mister Lasagna, London

June 20, 201616 Comments

When your favourite cuisine in the whole world is Italian and a new restaurant opens up in London dedicated to everything that is lasagna, it only makes sense to try it out as soon as possible. With 21 different types of lasagna on the menu (yes, you read that right – 21 different types of lasagna!), Mister Lasagna opened up in Soho just over a month ago and has already become so popular that they’re opening up a second restaurant soon.

A very casual but cosy restaurant, Mister Lasagna is the place to go for a quick, easy meal and, considering it’s in such a popular part of Central London, the prices are extremely affordable, but that doesn’t mean that they scrimp on the taste. With a counter to select your dishes from at the front of the restaurant (cue lots of temptation as you drool at the food in front of you) and several quiet tables at the back, it’s a cosy little place for a tasty lunch or for a relaxed meal after work.

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Brunching in San Francisco

May 18, 2016May 19, 201625 Comments

If there’s one thing I absolutely love about San Francisco it has to be the scrumptious brunches. We tucked into a whole lot of brunches during our American adventure, from picnic brunches by the sea in the Big Sur to giant red velvet pancakes in Las Vegas (which are just as good as they sound by the way), but the City by the Bay served up some of the best.

San Francisco just knows how to do brunch right and so we spent all of our mornings there hunting down the best spots before we went off exploring the rest of the city.

As Mr Ayla correctly posted on his Facebook wall:

“You know you’re married to a travel blogging extraordinaire when it takes you two hours to get the best brunch. And apparently we’re doing it again tomorrow!”

Yes Alex, because brunch is totally worth it. I even had my fabulous brunch tee all ready for the occasion so we simply had to go in search of the best brunch spots in San Francisco because my outfit said so.

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Dinner, Dancing and Dazzling Vistas with Hornblower Cruises San Francisco

May 12, 201612 Comments

I always think that one of the best ways to see a city is from a different perspective – from up high at the top of the Shard in London; from a gondola exploring Venice’s canals; or from across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

In San Francisco, where the water surrounds the city and so many of the main sights and attractions are around the Bay, hopping on a boat and taking in the views from the water seemed like the thing to do. So that’s exactly what we did when Hornblower Cruises invited us on board for an evening of champagne, dinner and dancing.

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The Best Lip-Smacking Places to Eat in Marrakech

March 9, 201623 Comments

Almost as soon as we had dropped off our bags in our beautiful riad we found ourselves stepping back out into the chaos of Marrakech’s Medina. Cars tried to jostle their way through the dusty streets, donkeys pulling carts alongside them and mopeds speeding by loudly tooting their horns. We darted out, joining the people (and cats) zigzagging between the traffic. Our bellies were rumbling and we were on a mission to find some Moroccan food.

Not a total surprise, I’m sure, that the first thing I do in a different country is hunt out the local food. But Morocco is a place where the cuisine is such a huge part of the culture – well I like to tell myself this anyway so that I have an excuse for all the eating! With five days in this magical and mythical city we attempted to eat our way around the whole of Marrakech, from sipping mint tea in rooftop cafes, sampling street food in the bustling markets, and fine dining in luxurious hotels.

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