Europe: a guide -part 1
Well, I tried to write down everything we saw, did, or ate. Of course I totally failed in this venture, but I did my best. I had a hard time finding good blog posts about places that we were going to on our European Vacation Extraordinaire, so I thought I’d write one for people who happen to Google “Europe, food, hipster, vegetarian” or some such thing. We made a lot of mistakes, but had some successes mostly thanks to friends, and friends-of-friends living abroad.
London (part 1):
Most of my London Part 1 suggestions are of the “if you happen to be in this area and starving” variety. In my ‘Part 2′ I have more suggestions that are of the “definitely go here” variety.
Earls’ Court Road YHA Hostel
38 Bolton Gardens
London
SW5 0AQ
If you can find a nicer hotel or B&B for the same or similar price, do it. We payed about £50 per night for a prisonesque “private room” which was two bunk beds in what would be considered the basement. There is fluorescent lighting, a window, a radiator, a sink, and a mirror. It is nice to stay in a hostel that doesn’t have curfews, except when you are sleeping under the stairs and main thoroughfare for the hostel. You also are sharing a bathroom with other folks who are renting private rooms as well, which I don’t mind too much, but some hostels do have rooms with private bathrooms or in-room bathrooms, such as the St. Pancras hostel. Keep in mind that while a fitted sheet, pillow, pillowcase, and comforter are provided, you are on your own for towels.
Lebanese Mediterranean Sandwich Bar & Take Away (Halal, Deli, Coffee Shop)
170 Earl’s Court Road, Earl’s Court,
London, SW5 9QQ, United Kingdom020 7835 1562
-this is a really good coffee shop and deli. They have lebanese food for take-away but also have pastries, and very good Illi espresso drinks. The exterior is misleading- the interior is quite posh.
Prince of Teck (Pub)
020 7373 4291
- I had a phenomenal salad here for about £7, and was introduced to grilled halloumi cheese which has since become a favourite (I am totally looking for it here in the states). Boli had scampi and chips which consisted of wholetail scampi with tartar sauce and french fries. We were both amply satisfied with our meals, though their beer menu was the first of many disappointing beer menus on our trip.
Tate Modern Cafe and Restaurant
Bankside
London SE1 9TG
020 7887 8888
-if you are feeling a bit peckish when you are at the Tate (or near there), you should definitely stop into their café for some coffee, a pastry or even a real meal. It’s pretty freaking gourmet for a museum café. The servers there seem to mostly be French or Italian and are a trifle rude, but the food, coffee, and beer are worth it. They had more microbrews than most of the pubs that we visited.
NOTE: If you are eating at the cafe not the restaurant you will be expected to carry the tray of coffee, food, etc. from the bar to your table. I lost the better part of a cappuccino due to my lousy waitressing.
The Anchor (Pub)
34 Park Street, Bank End, Southwark, London SE1 9EF
-we ate here after a very long day of walking and looking at museums. It’s close to the Borough Market, and if we’d been on our game, we would have had an early dinner there instead, but we missed the market and ended up wandering around looking for a hearty yet reasonably priced meal in a fairly touristic area by the Tate Modern and Globe Theatre. This was a pretty good choice as Boli was able to get good fish and chips, and I was able to get veggie fish and chips! What does veggie fish and chips consist of, you ask? It is grilled, battered and fried halloumi cheese. It seriously tastes AMAZING with the usual fish and chips dressing of malt vinegar, tartar sauce, and lemon. I didn’t feel too guilty about it after walking all day with very little in my belly. This place was pretty raucous since we were there for the post-work crowd.
NOTE: any week night in Europe is a night people go out and drink with coworkers, not just Fridays!
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Edinburgh:
It should be noted that if it weren’t for JDP we would probably have never found any of the places below, so we are most grateful to our host and friend for showing us the shining stars of Edinburgh.
Cameo Picturehouse Cafe & Bar
38 Home Street
Edinburgh, EH3 9LZ
-The first bar we went to in Edinburgh. This is where I was introduced to the lady-like 1/2 pint. Ha! Perfect for me as a reluctant beer drinker (at the best of times). Menu was friendly to non-drinkers as well. This café has a cosy atmosphere. I can’t vouch for much else, because we didn’t spend a lot of time here, but a friend-of-a-friend works there and he’s got good taste, so this place must be pretty good!
Concorde Fish Bar (take away)
49 Home Street
Edinburgh EH3 9JP
- This is a great place to go if you’re drunk… They have pizza that is suspicious looking, sitting under a heat lamp, but very delicious even if you aren’t drunk. They have a weird, weird assortment of things… like fried haggis, pizza, fish and chips, etc. If they ask you if you want _____ on your fish and chips just say yes to everything. Brown sauce… vinegar… etc. There is no seating- take away only.
Red Fort (Indian)
10 Drummond Street
Edinburgh, EH8 9TU
0131 558 8014
-Very good Indian food. We split appetizers of papadums (with very tasty chutneys) and vegetable pakora; sag paneer; chana massallum; sabzi jalfrezie; rice; garlic and plain naan. JDP and Boli had beer and I really good chai (spicy) tea with milk and sugar. It was more than enough food for 3 people and ended up with leftovers to take home. Totally reasonably priced for the quantity and quality of the food.
Under the Stairs (bar)
3a Merchant St.
Edinburgh, EH1 2QD
0131 466 8550
- Yes, it really is under some stairs. This is a very cozy, crowded bar. It is very cute and would be a good place to take a date namely because of the roaring fire in the fireplace, and comfy furniture. They also make good Whiskey Gingers with Bundaberg’s ginger beer, which is an absolute favourite of mine. So what I’m saying is you could take ME on a date there. Apparently they also have food but we didn’t try it because we were stuffed with Indian food. The bouncers get quite forceful about kicking you out at closing time… ahem.
The Mosque Kitchen (Halal, Middle-Eastern/Indian)
Edinburgh Central Mosque,
50 Potterrow
Edinburgh, EH8 9BT
0131 667 1777
-Delicious curries two days in a row! The prices here can’t be beat (cash only). You really are served from the kitchen of the Central Mosque in Edinburgh. Be prepared to eat outside on a plastic table and folding chairs, under a canopy of multi-coloured fiberglass siding. Very much cafeteria style, but fresh and tasty. I got baklava as a self-indulgent treat to follow my meal and was glad I did. I had saag paneer and rice, and Bolig had lamb schwarma with curry and rice, and of course we shared some naan.
The Room in the Town (restaurant)
18 Howe St.
Edinburgh
0131 225 8204
-This was probably the nicest and best meal we had in Europe, let alone Scotland. This place was recommended to us by JDP’s friend since we were on a quest to have haggis before we left. They start you out with good bread and a kalamata olive butter which was super tasty. I got their veggie haggis with “neeps & tatties” (a bed of mashed turnips and potatoes) which was really delicious. It mostly tastes different from the meat version because the sauce (which they ever so kindly made for me) is a creamy chive sauce, instead of a traditional meat broth and whiskey sauce. I had Boli compare my veggie version to his meaty version and he said they were actually very close aside from the sauces. I also had their traditional (?) banoffee (banana toffee) pie which was also SO good. Arg. My mouth is watering. It is the nicest texture of thick, caramel-y custard, banana, whipped cream, and crust. WANT. NOW. The waitstaff here was very kind too. They didn’t kick us out even though they were clearly wanting to close and we were the last people left in the place… I can’t recommend this place enough.
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Amsterdam:
A cautionary note about Amsterdam: If you come here on a Sunday, Monday, or even Tuesday many of the smaller, independently owned cafe’s and shops may be closed. We ended up passing through Amsterdam on a Monday and then a Tuesday and were sort of disappointed both times because we walked through the tangle of little streets and canals to find cute shops only to find most of them closed. There are many cute shops and cafes, however, and you’re bound to find something open. Steer clear of the red light area, and any of the larger streets (namely Damrak) immediately across from Centraal Station, as those areas are extremely touristic and full of tour groups and/or 18 year old douchebags stumbling around reeking of pot. Also, you will find this noted everywhere, but Koffieshops or Koffiehouses are where you buy weed and coffee and can smoke up on the premises. Cafés are your normal places to get coffee and food.
The Nine Streets area is very charming- areas near Westerstraat. On a Monday (also the 1st of the month) we somehow stumbled our way to Westerstraat accidentally, just as what appeared to be a very large and promising flea market was packing up. *Crap*. Missed it. There are just as many cute little kid’s stores, dog stores, mom stores, and hipster boutiques in Amsterdam as there are in LA, for anyone who is thinking that Amsterdam is just nudity and weed. I found the city quite lovely.
Another important thing to note about Holland if you are coming as an American is that many places only accept pre-paid debit cards that come with a special chip that can be read by special scanners there, and you enter a PIN- it’s different from a standard debit swipecard purchase- we know because we tried our Chase debit card to no avail most of the time. It is something that I think only American Express Card users in the USA have. If you don’t have this then come armed with cash.
B&B 1680
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 144
1012 DV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
-This place is very comfy and easy on the eyes. It is, however in the Red Light District. We arrived in Amsterdam at night and got lost when trying to find it which was not a pretty sight. I didn’t know it was on the exact same street as the Red Light District, only that it was near there, and I thought “Hm.. well everything is near the RLD in Amsterdam, right?” Fortunately it was only for one night. Anyway, we had the White Room. The bed was comfy, everything was clean and tidy. A few things to note though- I wish there had been an option to save 10 Euros and not get breakfast because the breakfast was dry bread, fruit, juice, water and weird, brightly coloured pudding. This building also serves as a fashion studio and perhaps also a living space for the owner who designs corsets and high-end loungewear. All are combined into one narrow building, several stories high, connected by a harrowing spiral staircase. Great, except for what seemed like an endless stomping up and downstairs right outside our door and over our heads while we were trying to get to sleep.
Café de Barones (cafe, bar)
Spuistraat 122/Torensteeg 2,
Amsterdam
Unfortunately this café does not have a website to link to yet. We had a very good cappuccino and Americano here with the complimentary biscuit/cookie that is always given with espresso drinks in Europe… something I wish was a commonplace offering here in the States! Anyway, this was a very sunny and warm little corner cafe that was open on a Monday. Tulips on every table. Seemed to be mostly locals in there, which is what we look for when traveling, and apparently it’s a bar at night. There was the sweetest little dog in there that seemed to belong to one of the owners. Holland allows animals in food establishments, even cats! We saw several “shop cats” or “restaurant cats”. If you’re hung up on being super hygienic then you should be aware that the views on what is or isn’t hygienic differ there (though that is true whenever you leave the confines of your own country).
Devries Eten & Drinken (cafe)
Haarlemmerdijk 108 A
(tegenover het postkantoor)
1013 JH Amsterdam
020 – 4270575
A very cute little spot that was open on a Tuesday but closed on Monday. We stopped in here for a good cappuccino and Americano (I, the cappuccino and Boli, the Americano- a repeated theme on our trip), as well as some food. I ordered the goat cheese and sundried tomato quiche with a small salad, and Boli got the Croque Madame (yes, I know they’re french but they’re available at a lot of Dutch cafes). Both excellent. Haarlemmerdijk is a cute street with a lot of nice little shops.
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Part 2 to follow, because unfortunately WordPress logged me out before saving the rest of this post and I may lose the motivation to finish it in a timely manner...