Category Archives: Wine & Food

June 16, 2025 · 5:35 am

Romania — Brasov and Lunch at La Gustări


Casa Sfatului (Council’s House), Brașov, Romania

After our narrow escape from Castle Dracula (Bran Castle), we headed northeast to Brașov to catch our breathe and grab a quick bite (see what I just did there?). So, after alighting from our coach, we headed to Piața Sfatului (Council Square). Unfortunately, the sun was already sinking and time did not permit a lengthy investigation of this enchanting place. If it had, we definitely would’ve hit the nearby Biserica Neagră (Black Church). But by this time I was uncertain if we could take close proximity to either garlic or holy water, so we headed out for a very late lunch before we were due to rejoin our group.

Piața Sfatului (Council Square)

There are a lot of very interesting buildings surrounding Council Square. The silver domed structure below is Librăria Arhidiecezana Brașov (Archdiocesan Bookstore Brașov):

Librăria Arhidiecezana Brașov (Archdiocesan Bookstore Brașov)

That structure lies just north of Casa Sfatului within the row of buildings lining the square in a gentle arc from north to northeast.

Casa Sfatului

Our guide gave our group several recommendations for eating establishments here, and we chose the one he said had the best selection of true Romanian dishes. That restaurant is La Gustări:

La Gustări

These photos of the menu are the best I could do, so my apologies:

La Gustări menu
La Gustări menu
La Gustări menu
Drinks lined up; Ursula waiting for some Romanian chow
And your blogger waiting across from her

We opted for the Brașov Specialty, which included various meats, potatoes, and other Romanian treats:

Brașov Specialty

We then we treated ourselves to two desserts — “Pancakes” (actually crepes) with jam and papanași, a Romanian “doughnut” filled with a soft cheese (ricotta perhaps?) and topped with sweetened cream and sour cherries:

“Pancakes” with jam
Papanași

This week I’ll finish up this series on Romania, including a wonderful review of an historic restaurant that opened in 1879 in this week’s Fun Food Friday. But first, on Wednesday, I’ll show you the Palatul Parlamentului (Palace of Parliament) and the demostration march that developed around us. Starting next week we leave Romania behind and continue on to our next destination on this two-month odyssey — Cairo, Aswan, and a cruise up the Nile to Luxor.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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May 2, 2025 · 5:35 am

Fun Food Friday — Dinner in Marrakech at Riad Viva


Riad Viva courtyard — entrance to the restaurant on the right

One of the things I’m just a tad bit wary of is eating in a location in which the tap water is not safe to drink. We once had an unbelievably bad experience the restaurant at a well-known, highly respected American chain hotel back in 1984 in Cairo. The culprit? The salad bar. Why? Because the produce was rinsed in local tap water. Three of the four of us had severe intestinal distress shortly thereafter. As we’d received the same tap water warning for Marrakech, I was a bit reluctant to eat out on the economy. Fortunately, we didn’t have to. Riad Viva supplied us nightly with an ever-changing daily set menu of traditional Moroccan food. We kept going back each and every night. But be forewarned. You must pay in advance, with cash, at least several hours beforehand, and you won’t really know what the courses are until after you are seated.

Riad Viva dining room; the rose petals were a nice touch

Upon entering the dining room our table awaited. The place settings rested upon an elegant tablecloth strewn with fresh rose petals. Here’s Ursula waiting to find out what Moroccan delights would soon arrive:

Ursula (and I) could hardly wait

In Morocco… or at least here… the first course consists mostly of vegetables. These dishes contained zucchini of the left, carrots on the right, and, I believe, a vegetable “meatball” concoction in the middle:

Dinner at Riad Viva — first course

The “stew for two” side dish was delicious. It included prunes, which I don’t usually like, but not so in this case. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the meat:

Dinner at Riad Viva — second course side dish

Also included in the second course was the main dish. Today’s selection was lamb:

Dinner at Riad Viva — second course side dish and lamb main dish

Desert was a nice, healthy choice, as you can see here:

Citrus slices sprinkled with spice

Unfortunately, I neglected to take my camera on the other dinners we enjoyed here, because each night offered up an entirely different selection. Probably my least favorite main was their tangine chicken dish, but even that I would gladly eat again.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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July 26, 2024 · 5:35 am

Fun Food and Photo Friday — Istanbul Favorites and TuR DÖNER for Döner Kebab


TuR DÖNER

What’s that old saying? Oh, yeah. When in Türkiye, eat Turkish. And döner kebab is about as Turkish as it gets. Located approximately three minutes, via foot, from our hotel in the Sultanahmet District of Istanbul was what appeared to be a local favorite — TuR DÖNER. How good was this place. Well, I didn’t know it at the time, but 559 Google reviewers give it an average 4.9 rating. I just looked that up for this article, and I have to concur with that extraordinarily high rating. But Ursula and I figured the place was a winner when we saw that most of the clietele were locals. That’s something we look for when sampling the local fare.

Traveler Tip of the Day: When asking your hotel staff or a local for a restaurant recommendation, inquire where they like to dine for local fare. That generally will get you to the best place for local cuisine, and watch how the local’s face lights up when they understand you want to partake in their country’s food culture. It also keeps you out of the more touristy establishments.

Döner kebab rotating on vertical rotisseries — lamb and beef

The address for this wonderful establishment is Mimar Mehmet Ağa Cd. No. 6, Sultanahmet, Fatih, Istanbul. The place had the feel of a family-run endeavor, and the staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating to our linguistically challenged presence. Indeed, I got the impression they were falling over backwards to cater to us. Around the corner is a similarly named Turgut Döner, but I do not believe they are affiliated. Adding to the confusion: TuR DÖNER’s paper placemats are apparently from Turgut Döner.

Turgut Döner placemat used at TuR DÖNER

Ursula and I both had the beef döner, which turned out to be way too much for us as it also came with TuR DÖNER’s incredible hummus.

Just one of our two beef döner kebab orders
TuR DÖNER hummus

This was my very first experience with döner kebab, but it certainly won’t be my last. Now, the next time I visit the Middle East (Abu Dhabi and Dubai articles will follow this series on Istanbul) I want to partake of the similar Arab dish shawarma. But for this day I was just glad we decided to go native:

Beef döner kebab from TuR DÖNER

Today is a two-fer. Not only are you getting a Fun Food Friday, you’re also being treated to the first of several Fun Photo Fridays of Istanbul favorites:

Watch That First Step — It’s a Doozy
Blue Skies Above the Blue Mosque
Istanbul Balcony
Layers of the Hagia Sophia

Beginning next Monday I’ll take you on a photo cruise on the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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