Singapore is known to be a foodie destination and one of its most well-known gastronomic experiences is a meal at a “hawker center.” See anytime Anthony Bourdain is in Singapore. And if you don’t follow everything Anthony Bourdain does, (1) you should, and (2) a “hawker center” is basically a food court (like a mall food court) where Singaporeans eat very high quality food for less than a small fortune.
Hawker Center decked our for Chinese New Year!
Chucherias Hondureñas is an adorable little restaurant in the Holly Hill section of Daytona Beach, Florida, and an excellent find, as many of the restaurants in the area of national chains…
Chucherias Hondureñas is extremely small. We called and made a reservation the day before and got a table for four at 7:00 with no problem. While the restaurant is small, it has a lot of charm and feels a world away from Daytona Beach. The setting is intimate. The waitstaff was attentive. A guitarist played during our dinner. Verrrry charming! Not the chain restaurants!
The menu is small and heavily seafood based, but there were meat and vegetarian options, as well. There was a lengthy special-of-the-day menu.
In addition, the restaurant has a fancy cocktail list, which we started with. Loving the straw-wrapped detail!
Dan and I started by splitting the curry conch soup, and it was so delicious! The “serving size” is plenty to split between two people. They will even put it in two separate bowls. The soup-base was very flavorful and there was plenty of conch.
Next, we ordered the ham croquettes. Also excellent! The croquettes came with a yummy spicy mustard sauce. Call me plain, but these were my favorite!
For mains, I ordered El Cubano – or the cuban sandwich, which I had read about online. The reviews were correct – it was so, so, so good! The cuban is made with seasoned roast pork, sliced ham, swiss cheese and an amazing garlic sauce. It was also huge, and I ate almost the entire sandwich! It came with a side salad and a few fried plantains. Plenty of food. While it was not the most exciting thing on the menu, I would absolutely order this again!
Dan ordered a shrimp dish, but for the life of me, I cannot remember its name. He really enjoyed it and it was made with coconut milk. Dan’s plate was also large and he loved it!
We finished with the Crema Catalana. A delicious creme brûlée-type dish made with spanish custard, caramelized sugar and fresh fruit. This was similar to creme brûlée, but decidedly different. Much smoother and not as heavy. Dan’s aunt and I loved it!
In sum, I absolutely loved this restaurant! The food was high quality and it was nice to find a non-chain restaurant in Daytona Beach. Recommended!
The Market, 101 2nd Street, Holly Hill, FL 32117
Note – While the address states “Holly Hill,” this is right in Daytona Beach.
We stopped for coffee, breakfast and dessert at the famous Cafe Sacher after visiting the Mirabell Palace Gardens. The cafe is very close to the Gardens and Mozart’s birthplace and makes for a great break before or after.
We walked right in and took a seat. Despite its fancy exterior, you can wear whatever you want to the cafe. Plenty of tourists stroll in wearing something terrible. To my surprise, Cafe Sacher has a full menu (breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails).
We opted for breakfast, coffee and dessert! Dan definitely ordered best! He choose eggs with truffled ham. SO DELICIOUS!!!! I opted for the vegetarian baguette, which was just mediocre. I guess that is what I get for ordering vegetarian. The coffee was great – I had the cappuccino with a side of their liqueur. After, we all had the famous Sacher Torte! The cake was so decadent, rich chocolate with an apricot jam in the middle, topped with whipped cream and a Sacher chocolate!
The cake was quite big for the price and was easily split between two people.
Hotel Sacher Salzburg
Schwarzstraße 5-7
A-5020 Salzburg
Tel.: +43 (0) 662 889 770
In Salzburg, we dined at a delicious restaurant a short walk from our apartment – Bärenwirt. This restaurant is just up the hill from the Altstadt on the way to Augustiner Bräu. We walked by this restaurant earlier in our trip, and we were so glad that we returned! Dan and I dined on pumpkin soup, a meat platter, schweinschnitzel and German chocolate cake. YUM!! This may have been the best schnitzel I had on the trip (close with my Hallstatt schnitzel), and this was certainly our best meal in Salzburg. Our waitress spoke perfect English and was extremely friendly. The meal ended with a complementary bowl of gummy bears – so cute! When the waitress saw that we were excited about the gummy bears, she gave us some extras in a to go bag!
Bärenwirt also claims to have “the best friend chicken.” Craig tried it, and he seemed to like it. Growing up in Virginia, it was hard for me to get on board with this. However, it seemed like a valiant attempt.
Müllner Hauptstraße 8
5020 Salzburg
Tel +43 (0)662 422 404
We didn’t make a reservation and were able to walk-in around 8 on a Saturday.
Dan and I love beer. And, wherever we go, I always research local breweries for us to visit. There are two in Heidelberg (that I could find): Brauhaus Vetter and Kulturbrauerei. We tried both on a Saturday afternoon.
Our first stop was Brahaus Vetter – home to the world’s once strongest beer, the Vetter 33. Vetter is on the right side (walking toward the bridge) of the main street connecting the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Alt Brücke. It was pretty easy to find. Vetter has an inside bar and seating area and outdoor tables along the street. There is no beer garden per se. We sat inside as all of the outdoor seats were full. Bummer! Vetter served about 4-5 beers on tap and our waitress explained each to us in detail in English. I ordered a half-liter of the Oktoberfest. It was very good, and tasted like an oktoberfest beer should. Dan ordered the Vetter 33, which is not nearly as strong as its made out to be. The Vetter 33 is served in a snifter type glass and is very dark. Dan liked it, but I did not!
We also ordered a round of snacks at Vetter. Dan ordered the “game” sausage and I ordered the fried cheese with cranberry sauce (so predictable). Both dishes were ok. However, the potato salad served with the sausages was execellent! Our waitress was really nice, and even let us take our water glass to go (they charged for all water) as long as we promised to return it, which we did. If you really want to purchase a glass, Vetter sells a variety of glasswear with their logo. I purchased a half-liter stein to take home. Great souvenir.
After Vetter, we walked about seven minutes toward the castle to Kulturbrauerei. Kulturbrauerei is a little more tucked away; it is located down a side street past the castle and the Red Ox Inn. We found it pretty easily, but were using the GPS on my phone…
Kulterbrauerei is attached to a hotel and has a large outdoor beer garden and a large indoor space. Kultur appeared to be having a wedding reception while we were there, so only a few of the outdoor tables were open to the public. I guess we got lucky that any were open! Like Vetter, Kultur had about 4 beers to choose from, but the waitress was not good at explaining them to us. I ended up trying their “seasonal,” which was simply descirbed as “seasonal” and nothing more. We asked. Several times. It ended up being a marzan. The beer was ok, but I really don’t like marzan style beers. I was hoping for another Oktoberfest!
In the end, we spent a fun afternoon at these two breweries. The beer at Vetter was more my style, but I preferred to drink in the beer garden at Kulturbrauerei. I guess you have to try them both!
In addition to these two breweries, the town if full of pubs and beer gardens serving generic beer, localish beer, cokctails and local wine.
Have you been to Heidelberg? What were your favorite beer spots??
LOGISTICS
Steingasse 9 – Im Schöneck
69117 Heidelberg
Tel: 06221/165850
Leyergasse 6
69117 Heidelberg
Tel.: +49 6221 502980
