Tag Archives: restaurant review

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 16, 2025 · 5:35 am

Miami Restaurant Review — Suvi Thai & Sushi


Suvi Thai & Sushi; Miami Springs

Ursula and I both adore good Thai food. The problem is that “good” is sometimes hard to find. But if you’re ever staying near Miami International Airport, I have just the place for you. It’s so good we ate there two days in a row, the second time with daughter Tracy after our visit to Coral Castle. Behold Suvi Thai & Sushi:

  • 5683 NW 36th Street
  • Miami Springs, FL 33166
  • (305) 887-2212
Ursula and Tracy

The food here is simply scrumptious, with a menu that is extensive enough to please pretty much anyone. Even the salads are great, with an intensely flavored ginger-based dressing:

Suvi Thai salad
Me photobombing the good looking, smart one

Having lived in Japan for several years in my youth, I’m a bit of a tempura snob. Suvi Thai’s definitely passed muster. The batter was delicate and crunchy, not oily, and certainly did not overpower either the vegetables nor the shrimp:

Vegetable and shrimp tempura

For my main I went with the Bangkok Surprise, a delightful combination of chicken and shrimp topped with a classic Thai peanut sauce.

Bangkok Surprise

Add the house fried rice to your combined order and you’ll get a nice serving of rice that’s not over salty from too much soy sauce. It worked out well for all of us.

Nicely balanced Thai-style fried rice

Ursula goes crazy for a good Thai curry, and her Gang Gai (Red chicken curry) did not disappoint. She let me try it, and it ws delicious:

Gang Gai  (Red chicken curry)

Tracy is a Pad Thai kind of girl, and hers was one of the better ones either of us have tried:

Pad Thai with chicken and shrimp

I highly recommend Suvi Thai & Sushi, as it’s affordable, the food is well prepared and nicely presented, and the staff are simply wonderful. I’ll just leave you with this final image of my selection:

The “surprise” in Suvi’s Bangkok Surprise is that it’s so surprisingly good

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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