Ristorante Pizzeria Bibiano, Assisi, Italy

Thank God that we found this place - the situation was looking grim. Stuck on a tour to the town of Assisi a couple hours outside of Rome, we were led to a lunch buffet, which screamed tourist trap everywhere. I ducked away next door in hopes of a better venue, and it admittedly didn't rub off as too authentic either. But it turned out to be one of the best meals on the trip. The carpaccio di bresaola was everything one would expect to taste from a northern Italian air-dried salt-cured beef (rather than straight raw beef) with rucola choppings, cheese shavings, and olive oil.



Next up were a variety of pizzas - finally they were thin and crisp - so much that you could hear the crunching sound from tableside neighbors when they cut into it (much better than yesterday). The toppings were savory yet not excessive. We also had a ravioli in salsa rosa (apparently an exclusive), which were certainly much smaller in size than Chef Boyardee (ha ha) but much richer and creamier. The zuppa di verdure (vegetable soup) was also a good clean yet filling soup - so filling (and so big a bowl), that we ordered too much.



And it came down to only 10 Euros (US$12.50) a head. This was one potential disaster that was salvaged completely. Nice, especially considering the refreshing gelato and coffee bar upstairs. We've just gotta find more of these places.

A Dolomiti Sandwich in Italy

While stopping at a truck stop somewhere off a freeway in Italy, I grabbed a dolomiti sandwich, which looked quite good in the case. How could one go wrong with cheese, prosciutto, and eggplant? Well, it didn't really turn out to be as good as I had hoped, most notably because I didn't like the bread (then again, I don't really like soft bread anyway - maybe I was just expecting more of a harder baguette-type). Maybe I also went wrong in declining his offer to toast the sandwich (it's apparently a common practice here). Oh well. At least I got a flavored San Pellegrino too - one of my faves.

Another European Breakfast

Well, there you have it - another European breakfast of meat and cheese. This was by no means anything spectacular, especially considering it was served by our not-so-posh hotel here (it tasted like those presliced plastic deli lunch meat packages that we used to get at the supermarket, and was also clear that it was fruit cocktail from a can, complete with "heavy syrup"). I'm just posting it here since it was so "blah."

And perhaps most notably, they also claimed it was an American breakfast, and hence bacon and eggs. But as you can see, it was quite horrendously soggy - almost like trying to get bacon in Indonesia or Malaysia. Now, in those countries, I couldn't blame them being muslim countries and all. But I guess Italians don't really eat bacon like Americans do either. Oh well, when in Rome...

Taberna de Mercanti, Trastevere, Rome

After having had that half-soggy pizza earlier today, we pledged to eat at a real place for dinner. And everyone, from guidebooks to concierges to friends, agrees that the Trastevere area of Rome is home to lots of good trattoria and "ristorante." Not knowing which specific places were good in the area, we asked the cabbie, and he dropped us in Piazza Mercanti, which is slightly off from Viale Trastevere but home to two pretty big and nice looking places. The first one worried me due to the English menu and the band, so I gestured for the second place, Taberna de Mercanti (Piazza de Mercanti, 3a, Trastevere, Roma, 06-5881693). Walking in still worried me a bit as I heard several American accents at the table but not Italian.

But this proved to be premature. The place filled quickly. Europeans of course tend to eat at around 8-9PM, so by the time we left after 9, the place was filled with locals, and they were even queueing.

And the food of course was there to back it up. The mushroom pizza was definitely much better than La Gallina Bianca, as its cheese and mushrooms gushed with flavor. The veal was a really thick cut, and with a great wood-fueled fire taste. The antipasti rustico starters weren't a knockout, but I could appreciate its "homestyle" and rustic approach. A liter of the house wine was only a very low 8 Euros (US$12), and tasted a bit weak, but at that price, who cares? I'm not a huge wine person anyway. The profiteroles were creamy and chocolatey, while the tiramisu was definitely less solid (no ladyfingers - just some little bread bits at the bottom) and more light-cream-filled than others that I've had.

(Oh BTW, do you see that cappucino in the photo? I learned that it is a bit uncustomary to order cappucino in the evenings after a meal here - is that right?)

Anyway, all in all this place was pretty good. But they seem to specialize in pizza and roasted meat, so don't come here expecting to order pasta because it's simply not on the menu.

Tre Scalini, Piazza Navone

Tourist trap alert - after that last incident, here I am writing about another tourist trap, this one at the Piazza Navone, which is filled with street performers and fake Prada bags. But all we did here was stop to get some drinks. And to my credit, this was also because we were so tired from walking around trying to find what was allegedly one of the most famous pizza joints in Rome, Da Baffeto, ending only in failure.



OK, to Tre Scalini's credit, the vanilla gelato was nice and rich. The little pastries that came with the beer were OK, if a bit cold. But that local Peroni beer is nasty! It lacked taste - it was like water. Or Indonesia's Bintang! Yuck. OK, let's move on.

La Gallina Bianca, Rome

Man, I suspected a tourist trap coming, and I still went ahead despite my instincts. This place, on Via Rosmini near the Stazione Termini, was only a destination because we needed something nearby to eat fast. And boy, do I regret it. When we were walking in, I noticed quite a few tourists at the tables (judging by the American accents and cameras on the tables), but took comfort in the fact that some locals were there too. Anyway, we went ahead and ordered a couple pizzas, such as the "Roman" pizza (is there such a thing??), consisting of tomato sauce, mozzarella, anchovies, capers, olives, and oregano.



The place got a good start with the roasted vegetables, which were greasy and mildly sour, not too much unlike Cantina back in Singapore. But then the pizzas came, and they were not very crispy (to some degree, soggy), so that it was not really possible to cut it well. It was also too salty - I would expect that from the anchovies, but the capers were the thing that killed it. Ugh - this was quite the disappointment. I knew better to eat at a tourist trap!! What made me feel worse about it afterwards was rounding the corner of the block on the way out and seeing another restaurant that was obviously filled completely with locals. Ugh!! Oh well, this was just to get food in my belly - we'll get better food later.

Lufthansa Economy Class Breakfast

Welcome again to Europe. European sandwiches are so simple - just a single slice of meat or cheese in a big bread roll. It's totally different from American "load that bad boy up"-type sandwiches. Although I certainly love (and miss) the American version, the European kind is quite refreshing and clean. There is some magic involved in something so simple, especially since it really lets you taste the basic ingredients. Salami and butter on baguette is another fave of mine. (I gotta get a post of those kick-ass Vietnamese sandwiches in here soon, eh?)

I'm also glad that Lufthansa decided to serve something so simple and easy to eat, especially in economy class where space isn't exactly plentiful.

Mayer's Brezel Bakers, Frankfurt

Actually, I didn't even eat this (I was rushing to get to my connecting gate), but I'm posting it here simply because these must be the biggest pretzels (including the real German brezel variety) that I've ever seen. I thought they were bagels at first. Whoa.

Cold Gourmet Plate on LH

Breakfast this morning consisted of Honey-roasted Chicken and Beef Salami, Camembert, Port-Salut and Havarti cheese (plus some yogurt). There's nothing to really say, I guess - it pretty much tasted just liked it looked. Welcome to breakfast in Europe.

Lufthansa Biz Class Dinner

Hello live from 34,000 feet in the air, thanks to Lufthansa's new FlyNet service - it's about time we started getting decent inflight Internet access on planes. Anyway, moving straight into food, tonight's dinner on LH wasn't too bad - I was impressed. First up was the Ocean trout and herbed White Fish, which sounded really boring, but turned out to be very delicate and tasty.



This was followed by the Prawns in a light Curry Sauce accompanied by sauteed Broccoli, Bell Peppers, and Coconut Rice with Sesame Seeds. Actually I really didn't want to eat Asian food tonight, but the other choices (with things like carrots) just didn't appeal to me. So I picked this one by default, and it turned out to be quite rich and spicy - wow. Nice job, LH! It didn't look too great when it was brought out, but the taste was really good. I guess they really do utilize the so-called "Connoisseurs on Board" concept that they tried boasting about in the menu. Anyway, the meal finished with some fruit and ho-hum cheeses (using Singaporean Khong Guan "Quality Biscuits," interestingly), as well as some truffles from Peters.

One thing that did intrigue me was the ginger ale that I got, Kinley, which I had never seen before. Upon closer inspection, it says it's from the German division of Coca Cola, and curiously enough, is billed as a "soft drink with ginger taste." Huh. It was a bit milder and flatter than - oh God - Schwepps. But not bad. That reminds me, it's been a while since I've been to the Coke Museum - I wouldn't mind going to one again soon to try out all the global drinks.

Grand Peony Court, Lock Road

There is only one dish that makes me come to this somewhat hidden place at Gillman Village (Block 5 Lock Road, 6472-1382): the Crispy Aromatic Duck. It's basically one whole duck deep fried in oil, and it tastes just like it sounds...greasy yet crispy. It is served Chinese style, kinda like Peking Duck, with a dark hoisin sauce, scallions shredded lengthwise, and even some cucumber in a steamed tortilla-like wrapper (but this place uses skins made from egg - a nice touch).

For some reason though, I am one of the few people that like this place. It was very empty on a Friday night (they have been here for a while though, so maybe they subsist off the lunch crowd from across the street at Alexandra Technopark). The other dishes aren't bad; I liked the salted fish fried rice, something I fondly remember from Cantonese joints back in the SF Bay Area. The honeydew sago (basically little tapioca) was delicate, although the melon wasn't ripe enough yet.

OK, I guess that I'll admit that this place isn't stellar. And the proprietor can be a bit pushy: I recall getting duped into some really expensive fish during a previous visit, and it was obvious that I had already ordered too much. And the duck that I love so much could be crispier. I guess that I'm just a sucker for duck, especially a deep fried one, of all things.

Thanying, Amara Hotel

Some people consider Thanying (at the Amara Hotel) to be one of the best Thai restaurants in Singapore. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it isn't bad, and it's certainly a convenient place for a business lunch. One of my favorite starters is the rice cakes that you top off with a little scoop of rich chicken curry. The mango salad here was also pretty good, if a bit mild.

Of course there is the obligatory tom yum soup. Next came the lamb curry, which was carefully done with cylindrically cut pineapple wedges (I thought it was a scallop), little bitter pea-sized eggplants, as well as the dried fish on the side. The only real letdown here was the other obligatory Thai dish: pad thai, which was a bit too moist. But it did come with a nice dark chili oil instead of the usual dried chili flakes.

Anyway, this place may not necessarily be the greatest Thai food in Singapore, but it isn't bad, and is worth coming here for a dependable business lunch. The service is pretty good and dependable here - they recognize the importance of time during the lunch hour and keep things efficient.