Some Istanbul places I: from an afternoon drink, an snack and dinner at Ortakoy

I have been lucky to spend many times in Istanbul. I first discovered the city in 1997 when I was there for 4 months working on a consulting engagement with Accenture (former Andersen Consulting). I was more of a tourist on the weekends but I really got to love the city
During the last 2,5 years we have had several clients in Istanbul and now we have a small office, so together with my turkish country manager I have got to discover both posh and local places
let me bring you some of them

For a little walk and a drink while enjoying one of the most beautiful and relaxing "water" view I always like my sunday walks at Ortakoy. Love to have a drink at one of the semi open terraces, you can always eat a potato with 1000 toppings in one of the little kiosk where the toppings are presented graciously in different figures. The view of the Golden Horn from here at sunset is just amazing. Just be aware that what it may seem as a little taxi ride may take up to an hour on a sunday afternoon. Why not walk from Besiktas to Ortakoy?

Finally if the potatoes are not your thing or you are still hungry and you don´t want to move out of the area, there is a very good oriental and green cuisine restaurant in Ortakoy, Banyan (which they also have a branch at has also a branch in Nicantasi)
http://www.banyanrestaurant.com/tr
The restaurant is on a second floor near the Radisson and facing an amazing view (check the picture on the website for an idea)
To start with the view of the Ortakoy Mosque is superb. On the background the Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge (one of the two bridges in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosphorus strait (Turkish: Boğaziçi) and thus connecting Europe and Asia, between Ortaköy (on the European side) and Beylerbeyi (on the Asian side)), which at night and since April 2007, a fully computerized LED lighting system of changing colours and patterns, developed by Philips, illuminates the bridge at night and makes it a superb show on its own
With such a view (which in the spring and summer is even better with their terrace), the food does really plays along well. A mix of Asian, thai, fushion well cook, presented and serve. The banyan plate is a good option if you dont want to think much for the starters and sample most of them a little bit and then all mains are good

Tea and pastries in Madrid

just a short post to tell you about a couple of places I love to spend time but better to have something to bite there when I am feeling more as "foreign" tea style or boulangerie

First one is Deli Panific. I think there are very few places in Madrid making real french boulangerie and Deli is for sure the best. Great pastries (croissants, pain aux chocolat, chausson aux pomme (and the even better the frambroise version), amazing bread (try the little brochette with 4 bread styles), other french delicacies (very good foie de canard) and an unforgetable tarte aux tatin with a very thin crust (both in individual version and family one :-) and also a fig style one

It is in Chueca almost with Alonso Martinez (Hortaleza 75, Tel. 91 702 4658)

Second place is Vailima, an english tea room / Salon de Te in Barrio Salamanca. A very extensive selection of teas, nice china in a small but cousy space and really good "bizcochos" of orange, raisins and other versions
Very nice for a little snack or relaxing conversation around 5 pm any day
they also sell all type of teas

Vailima, General Pardiñas, 54, Tel. 91 309 0955

Another great one from Toro - Prima 2006: the region keep delivering great wines -

I just got a note from one of our friends about a bottle we brought to him a couple of weeks ago when we meet him. On this own words "Stupendous! Exquisite! "

Prima 2006 is a classic Toro wine. Great value for money (around 8-10 Eur per bottle on the wine shops), an amazing flavour coming from its Tinta de Toro grape (90% plus 10% Garnacha). Smooth-textured, mouth-coating and you can feel the blackberries and I usually find in Toro wines a bit of spice on the flavour
Buy it now because I believe this wine will be even better in 2 years from now

Mexican restaurants in Madrid (in Spanish so far)

Taqueria Birra - Sencilla, si hace bueno una terraza en una plaza preciosa (Plaza de las comendadoras), tacos riquisimos (el picante de pollo y bacon es amazing, but hot as crazy also y buenas margaritas
La puso Antonio Castro hace 14 años desmontando en México una cantina de 1818 y trayéndose su tramoya auténtica, las cocineras y los meseros, el producto genuino y la sabrosa promiscuidad de una de las cocinas con más personalidad del mundo.

Xaman Ek
Avenida Alfonso XIII, 39, Madrid, 28002

Muy posh pero increible forma de combinar la cocina mejicana tradicional con cocina de fusion. Por ejemplo un carpaccio de pulpo con guacamole, el clasico polo al mole, todo todo esta muy muy rico. Es carillo pero para una cena especial es increible. Aparca el portero

La Panza es primero
Hay varios por la ciudad pero a mi gusta el que esta en el barrio de chueca. En la calle libertad 55
Pequeno, estrecho siempre lleno, todo lleno y decorado con luchadores mejicanos. Buenas margaritas (buenisimas) o el agua de limon si no quieres alcohol. Me encantan las cazuelitas, los tacos, el guacamole rico
Me gustan los centro (para dos o para uno si hay mucha hambre) de pollo por ejemplo el de flor de calabaza. En la esquina esta tambien esta dentro del mismo grupo el Barriga Llena. Mas tranquilo y con mas espacio pero igual con menos sabor

Tambien del mismo grupo y a 50 metros esta el sabor a mi, en Augusto Figueroa 55. Me encanta para desayunar tipo brunch una gran tortilla con todo dentro, zumo y cafe. Deliciosa manera de empezar el dia

Hay varios mas interesants como el Buen Recaudo tambien en chueca (corte tipo Xamn Ek pero mas barato) o La mordida en la calle Belen (cerca de Alonso MArtinez) con buenas cazuelitas aunque las margaritas defraudan en mi opinion (y es un poco caro para lo que te ponen). Aun si me gusta pasar de vez en cuando

Por ultimo una tequilaria en la callle recoletos, no me acuerdo del nombre pero tiene mas de 200 tequilas

A few tips on Barcelona - Food I

I usually spent a couple of weekends a year in Barcelona, apart from the WMC fair (one week in February) and some short business trips, so I have some favorites and fewer favorites in the city

For a good lunch I like to pass by the restaurant at the market of Barceloneta. The building was completely re-done and the restaurant faces the main square (and it is part of Husa restauracion group). It has an outdoor terrace and a large “comedor” with lots of lights. They always have a nice menu. Rice is very good, lots of shrimp, cigalas, muscles, etc.. You can even buy your fish at the market fishmonger and bring it to the restaurant for them to cook it. The menu goes with 4 starters to share and a main (fish, rice or meet), with dessert, coffee and wine and water for 25 Eur per person.

Near Barceloneta in fact you also have on the Joan de Borbon street lots of choices around fish & seafood oriented restaurants. Very simple on their décor they all have great and fresh fish and seafood.

For dinner I like many places. One of my most repeated choices is Semproniana in C/ Rosselló 148, 08036 Barcelona, Spain+34 934 531 820. First thing it will catch your attention is the Funky but very warm decor. It is mostly made from collages from cans, food stamps and similar material. Also take a look a the table décor like the napkin holder made out of a twisted fork, so far so on. Amazing and very creative cuisine, from very interesting entrees like the Brazo de Gitano (crepe of catalan sausage (Butifarra)), the cold and warm (foie with a cheese ice cream) just amazing and a very good combination of fish and meet. Leave some space for the desserts, as they are the right way to finish this delicious experience. The wine list is very good, more than 200 references and you can find good value for money or interesting and rare bottles (all mostly Spanish)

Another choice for dinner is to go to Born neighborhood. The choice of nice restaurants here is large and I can say that I have never had a bad experience with any of my choices. You can have a nice dinner for 60 Eur for 2 excluding wine. One of the restaurants I like is Arrel del Born in Fusina 5. Plates are large if you want to go with a group of friends and share or just enjoy yourself. For the main you can go for the rice (5 types of it), the portion are very large be careful here ☺ or the fish (tuna, sea bass) is really fresh. Desserts are mostly chocolate based and they really add a touch. The atmosphere even on a Saturday night is fairly casual so jeans and a nice shirt will do. And near by there are several clubs to have a drink if you still up to it (or you can always catch a taxi and go to Mirablau for a great drink with an amazing view of the city or come here for a coffee in the summer fairly late to see the sunset while shipping a coffee)

And my final choice is brunch at the Gran Hotel La Florida in the Tibidabo mountain. The views are best in the city, if warm enough (being Barcelona this could happen almost on any given month of the year) you can eat at the terrace and the food is really fantastic, service attentive and you will not go hungry. It is not cheap but your companion will be really impressive and you will be really pleased. Make a reservation, as it is usually quite busy on Sundays.

Finally a wine from South Africa that I did like!!!

Rupert & Rothschild Baroness Nadine
Chardonnay, 2005

A femine, elegant barrel-fermented Chardonnay Rupert & Rothschild Baroness Nadine

A vibrant fusion of flinty freshness, lime blossom and refined ruby grapefruit tones with a hint gooseberry. Delicate and elegantly structured with nuances or roasted almond and vanilla. Fantastic with seafood. Remind me of a complex albarinho wine

A bit expensive for being SA (and drinking it in SA) but excellent anyway

Some wine pics from one of my partners

One of my partners Carlos Valdecantos loves facebook and uploading real time pics. On these case he did some pics of wines he liked through the year
An interesting selection based on Spanish Red Wines
Enjoy!!


Link to Carlos Facebook Wines Pics Album )

Upcoming blog posts

Just wanted to force myself to write some more post in the near future and also keep some of the ideas about what will those be handy :-)

Wine ones:
- Couple of Osborne 3 and 4 grape red wines
- Jimenez Landi
- La casilla - manchuela
- Laus - Chardonney Somontano

Food:
- Mexican restaurants in Madrid
- Some of my favourites international restaurants in Madrid
- A nice dinner (one cheap and one expensive) in San Francisco
- A hotel and dinner in Dubai (good value for money)

More to come
CAM

Wine from Valencia: Mestizaje Bobal 2006

Once again looking on the lower end (in terms of pricing) of the wine menu I found the other night while having dinner at Xamán Ek, one of my favorites Mexican Restaurants in Madrid together with La Taqueria de Birra (both deserved a future post on my side)
this wine from the Utiel Requena region. And yes there are wines from the Valencia State, in fact there are 3 regions or DO Valencia, Alicante and Utiel Requena

The D.O. Utiel-Requena is a region of mostly red wines. In fact 94.27% of the wine-growing area is given over to red varieties. White varieties represent 5.73% of the vineyards of Utiel-Requena (while whites are actually a big part of the production in Alicante and Valencia DO)

The grape varieties protected by the Denomination of Origin Utiel-Requena are:

* Reds: Bobal, Tempranillo, Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah (recently authorized).
* Whites: Macabeo, Merseguera, Planta Nova or Tardana, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc (recently authorized).

The Bobal grape is probably the most interesting one of them. You will not find a single wine made purely of Bobal (will not be that good) but combined with other grapes the result is really nice and again on the less than 10 EUR in retail category

Bodegas Mustiguillo Mestizaje Bobal 2006

As usual taking a quote from Gerry Dawes Blog about the winery, "Mustiguillo, a charming small winery built on the site of a former stable, has become the star of the Utiel-Requena, despite the fact that they sell their wines with non-denominación de origen status"
The star winemaker Antonio Sarrion is a champion of the local grape varity Bobal and is convinced the best way to obtain top quality fruit from this variety is to use the bush system of training the vines.

The wine

Colour: Red
Grape Types : Cabernet Sauvignon,Grenache,Merlot,Syrah/Shiraz,Tempranillo,Bobal
Country : Spain - Utiel Requena
Vintage: 2006

As mentioned before this is an example of combining Bobal with other grapes. On this case it is a blend of 50% Bobal with the other 50% comprising of Garnacha, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo grapes. Could sense several smells, maybe vanilla or black cherry, red fruit for sure. Thick and almost you can chew on it on your mouth and the palate. Firm yet round tannins. The wine is medium to full bodied with a good length. It went really well with the spicy mexican food

Some vegetarian options in Madrid

If you are vegetarian and contrary to what people think Madrid is becoming a great city for you. Obviously if you eat seafood and fish your options multiply by 100x but even if not there are many options for you. As Andrea does not eat beef or pork I do get to sample of these restaurants mny times and I have been through the veg. dilemma myself a good number of times

Let me give you some tips, combining Italian restaurants (pasta and pizza are always a safe bet for you and some vegetarians restaurants or restaurants with vegetarian menu):

- Pulcinella: in my opinion the best Italian in town. There are 2 restaurants one in front of each other (one is smoking and the other is not), both have 2 seatings (21 and 23). Great italian decor and good service. Pasta is amazing so does risotto. Also all the plates with tomate are a killing. Try the provolone with tomato, quite melted and combined with bread, just amazing. All the pasta with "calabaza" are great and also unique in Madrid. But anything you will ask you will have a great dinner (have not tried the pizza but they say they are also very good). And the plates are huge so ordering 2 pasta plates will be more than plenty for 3 people
For Friday and Saturday you need to reserve for sure
C/ Regueros 7
28004 Madrid, Spain
+34 913 197 363

- Tono i Pepino: more on the italian restaurant from Napoli. Table cloths with red and white squares. Very good pizzas, with thin crust and large size. Quite a large restaurant, probably easier than Pulcinella to get a table without reservations. Andrea loves this place (I still prefer Pulcinella)
Probably less than 35 eur

Fernando VI, 29
Madrid
91 308 7370

- El Septimo: what a lovely place this is. Great decor (reminds a lot to the decor at La Vaca Veronica but on a larger scale), colorful, great service. It has a large menu, always with seasonal plates and combining platos de siempre (croquetas, ceviche, etc..) with interesting ingredients like apple (aka croquetas de manzana (apple)). Lots of nice salads (try the ensalada Agli), always a couple of soups or creams on the menu. A lovely vegetarian lasagna. And nice coffees to stay chatting for a while. Good price also. Don't miss it

www.elseptimo.com

C/ Diego De León 7
28006 Madrid, Spain
+34 915 622 940

- La Isla del Tesoro: I have not been here for years, but still remains one of the most recommended vegetarians in town (in fact it is the top pick for vegetarians in the Lonely Planet). Interesting proposition in terms of daily menus with international cuisine menus (monday Greek, ... Thursday Bolivian,... so far so on). I was always very full after eating here for a very good value. Check their website for the combination of menu by day and cuisine

www.isladeltesoro.net

C/ Manuela Malasaña 3
28004 Madrid, Spain
+34 915 931 440

Enjoy!!