Tag Archives: restaurant

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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Fun Photo Friday — Transatlantic 2022; Palma de Mallorca and Valldemossa Favorites 3


Today finishes up our 2022 transatlantic cruise series, and next week I begin a series on an eight-day follow-on journey aboard the same ship — Vision of the Seas. We’ll begin with a town I’m thinking most of you will not know, Aigues-Mortes in France. Until then:

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Transatlantic 2022 — Returning to a Barcelona Favorite; Restaurante Anduriña


Restaurante Anduriña, Barcelona, Spain

Today concludes my series on our transatlantic cruise, but this trip is far from over. As you may have surmised, since several of the destinations covered over the past several weeks were hit more than once, the next segment of this two-and-a-half-month journey was an eight-day Mediterranean cruise that hit seldom-visited ports in Spain and France. So, while the transatlantic aboard Vision of the Seas ended in Barcelona, our next Vision of the Seas adventure began later that same 13 May date.

Restaurante Anduriña outdoor tapas menu

Now, if today’s restaurant review appears familiar, it’s because I’ve covered Restaurante Anduriña before in an article from when we visited this establishment on multiple occasions in October of 2021. I thought it might be fun to go back and see if the quality is holding up. Spoiler: It is. Here’s the article on our previous visit for comparison: Fun Food Friday — Restaurante Anduriña. If you compare the menu images from last year’s visit to the visit in May, you’ll find that inflation is indeed a worldwide post-pandemic phenomenon. But the prices didn’t go up all that badly.

13 May 2022 prices — Main Menu
13 May 2022 prices — Drinks and Desserts

But, hey, don’t forget the specials:

Menu del Dia — Menu of the Day

Inside, not much has changed. Restaurante Anduriña retains its intimate charm, but with limited seating. If you want to eat there, go early or see if you can reserve a table:

As the old saying goes: When in Spain, do tapas. Okay, I just made that up. But tapas is a truly Spanish invention that bears sampling. However, before getting your chosen tapas, don’t forget Andurina‘s exquisite sangria, which I told you about in my previous review, which read: “It was on our second visit that we also discovered Restaurante Anduriña also makes a mean sangria. Needless to say, the house wine went by the wayside once we discovered sangria by the “jug” (pitcher).

Restaurante Anduriña‘s sangria is still wonderful and refreshing

One of our favorite discoveries here from our last series of visits was the delectable Padrón peppers, which I described thusly: “On our second of three visits Ursula’s nose detected the faint aroma of green chilies. Looking around we saw a couple savoring a plate piled high with what we soon learned were Padrón peppers. It was love at first bite, and we wound up ordering it more than once. No need to worry about spiciness (unfortunately for us), as they were quite mild and very tasty. The peppers came to us fried and rolled in coarse salt.” Well, those Padrón peppers were just as irresistibly delectable this past May:

Padrón peppers; so good you’ll want your own plate

Shall we zoom in for a closer look?

Padrón peppers

And a very short time later we were left with:

Ooops. You blinked and they were gone!

One quibble I might have is that bread comes as a separate expense at Restaurante Anduriña, but Ursula and I remain willing to overlook that because everything else is so yummy and relatively affordable. One item that remains a constant on this visit as well as our previous three last October is the Spanish cured meat platter. From my previous review: “Let’s zoom in and see what goodies await, as this platter includes olives, chorizo (a spicy sausage), Iberian ham, fuet (a thinly sliced dry-cured pork sausage), bull blanc (the pale meat pictured, a type of pork sausage).” That, too, is just as good as it was before, and the price for this wonderful tray is only €2 more than it was last year:

Spanish cured meat platter includes olives; bread is extra, but is an absolute must

You may wish to peruse my previous review of Restaurante Anduriña for details on other menu offerings, such as their pulled pork sandwich served with some incredible fries, anchovies swimming in olive oil, and their great hamburger. Want to know the location for your next Barcelona visit? Well, that’s a secret.

Just kidding:

Restaurante Anduriña; on Carrer Comtal just east of Avinguda del Portal de l’Àngel

As for their website, that is linked here: Restaurante Anduriña.

I hope you enjoyed this return to a Barcelona favorite of ours. See you for this week’s Fun Photo Friday, where we’ll finish up with one more set of favorites highlighting Palma de Mallorca and Valldemossa.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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