Now that Cloud 9 in Chicago is closed, and Spring is theoretically around the corner, where can you go for you Xue Hua Bing (Taiwanese shaved ice) fix? 527 Cafe! Right in downtown Evanston (527 Davis St.), Cafe 527 makes some pretty good XHB, with gargantuan portions. The flavors available are mango, strawberry and passion fruit and the serving size is more than enough for you and your 2 closest friends.
Xue hua bing by Kimberlykv
Filed under Reviews, World Eats
Deskolado Bar Futebol E Pizza
Just West of Shopping Barra – Exact address unknown
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
If São Paulo’s 1900 Pizzeria represents an elegant, refined pizza experience, Café Deskolado represents the quick, fast and cheap end of the scale, with its yellow plastic tables and menu written on poster board. Deskolado spills out into the street right outside the Shopping Barra mall, and most people prefer to mingle over their pizzas with gigantic bottles of Skol beer, while the latest futebol game is fed by satellite to the TV. The word “Descolado,” by the way, means something like “cool” in Brazilian Portuguese. The punny “Skol” in the name has been altered due to the fact that it is a Skol bar, an uber-popular Brazilian beer brand that makes itself known with a huge array of yellow and red branded merchandise.
Pizzas at Deskolado start at about R$13 for a large (about US $7) and R$16 (about $9) for a special large. This, as you may recall is a far cry from the US $25+ prices at fancy establishments, so this was a good place to soothe our sticker shock. Even at this lower price point, we were still spoiled for choice. The toppings at Brazilian pizza restaurants tend to be rather more eclectic (as we saw at Fogo 2 Go) than the typical American take out joint, and offerings at Deskolado including toppings of ham, Catupiry cheese, hard-boiled eggs, anchovies, etc.
Our classic pick was the chicken and Catupiry pizza – a white pizza that was laden with both Mozzarella and Catupiry cheeses, as well as onions. The pizzas at Deskolado arrive quickly, on a tasty thin crust, perfectly crisp. It may not be an elegant, artisan pie, but it sure is tasty. Above all, Deskolado is definitely is a great place to hang out with friends and enjoy a heated Esporte Clube Bahia match. It was a rare night that we didn’t see the dining area of bright-yellow Skol-branded tables completely full. The pizza is good, but won’t blow your mind, and the addition of friends, futebol and drinks obviously account for some of this place’s appeal. Due to its location and good selection, Deskolado definitely became a staple for when we were craving some take-out food at night in Salvador. However, we would have to go elsewhere for our lunch cravings. No matter how much you may want a quick slice over lunch– pizza is for dinner only in Brazil!
Filed under Reviews
1900 Pizzeria
Rua Estado Israel, 240
São Paulo, 04022-002, Brazil
São Paulo is famed for its pizzerias, a fact of which Paulistanos are very proud. The city’s strong pizza heritage is thanks to waves of Italian immigrants that call São Paulo home. There are pizzerias of all stripes in Sampa, from utterly elegant to tiny one-woman operations. We were completely spoiled for choice in São Paulo and didn’t quite know where to start, so we were completely grateful when our hosts in São Paulo, Marciel and Angela, suggested we try 1900 Pizzeria.
1900 Pizzeria, which has several locations around Sampa, is an upscale establishment specializing in artisan Neapolitan pies. The name of 1900 Pizzeria comes from the fact that some iteration of the Pizzeria has been open since the year 1900. The recipe is also reportedly unchanged since that time. The restaurant itself was lively and bustling when we entered at the early, un-Brazilian time of 7 PM, and the partially open kitchen was working full-tilt. We could see pizza ovens burning, which was naturally a good sign.
The menu was divided into “Traditional (Tradicionais)” and “Specialty (Especias)” varieties of pizza – with the specialty pizzas having slightly more adventurous combinations like bacalhau and dried beef (and slightly higher price points). Pizzas came in individual, medium and large sizes, and the prices for a large pizza ranged from 47 to 62 reais (about 25-35 dollars). Across 2 large pizzas we sampled 4 varieties (1/2 of a pie each). First up was the endive and Margherita pizza. We had never tried endive on a pizza before, but the slightly spicy endive made for a very delicious and fresh pizza. The classic Margherita was lovely, with a perfect distribution of tomatoes, fresh basil and buffalo mozzarella (see below). Our second pizza (which we tried with a whole wheat crust) was ½ four cheese and ½ arugula. The winner of this pie was the 4 cheese, which included the delicious Brazilian staple Catupiry along with gorgonzola, mozzarella and provolone. We slightly preferred the whole wheat crust, since it added a little more substance to the pizza. For dessert there were also several sweet pizzas, with nutella, strawberries, etc, apparently an exceedingly popular option in São Paulo pizzerias.
Though it was more than we are used to paying for pizza, we felt the added cost was worth it. The pizzas at Pizzeria 1900 were excellent, and we are happy that we got to experience a slice of São Paulo pizza culture with our friends. We only wish we could have more time in Sao Paulo to try some more pizza spots.
Coop’s Place
1109 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA
When we were looking for places to eat in New Orleans we were warned against the French Quarter restaurants for being generally high-priced and too tourist-centric. However, there were a few diamonds in the rough, including Coop’s Place. For Southern cooking in the vicinity of the French quarter this is one of your best options. Coop’s, with less than a dozen rickety table and a retro bar, probably qualifies as a hole in the wall. Coop’s also has a pretty strict seating policy – no reservations allowed – you just tell the hostess your party size. The host then continuously scans the line (which often snakes around the block) and when one of the tables in the tiny place opens up with your group size– you’re in (even if that 2-top that just got a table arrived a half hour later than your 4-top)!
The menu at Coop’s is pretty extensive and has touches of both Cajun and Creole cooking. A posted menu board also lists some daily specials including Shrimp Etouffee and Alligator. M couldn’t decide among the options – so he was really pleased that there was a sample platter featuring some Southern Favorites ($12.95) – Jambalaya, Gumbo, Red Beans & Rice, and some BBQ shrimp and pasta. M was especially a fan of the jambalaya and gumbo, both of which were extremely flavorful and full of spice. The BBQ shrimp was also good, but could not measure up to the other offerings.
Filed under Reviews
Restaurante Paraíso Tropical
Rua Edgar Loureiro, 98-B, Resgate
Cabula – Salvador, Brasil
In general, it seems that Bahians do not like to eat at restaurants. Street food, little hole-in-the-wall places, vendors on the beach, these things Salvador does and does well; but the idea of dressing up and heading to an expensive restaurant for a long meal does not seem to be in the wheelhouse of most soterpolitanos. Which is why, as Chicagoans, we had to give Salvador’s most acclaimed restaurant a try.
When we read Veja Salvador’s annual food issue and their glowing reviews of Paraiso Tropical (Best Moqueca in the City! Best Chef in the City! ), we knew we had to go. That would be the difficult part: tucked away in the central Cabula neighborhood, the restaurant is almost impossible to get to from Barra. We had to take a bus to a large shopping mall and from there a cab – gasp! – through the only road leading to the isolated bairro. A confused cab driver to boot, and a trip of nearly two hours and R$40 (about US$25) and we were finally there.
But no one else was. We were so sure to make a reservation, we had to laugh when we arrived at 5:30pm on a Wednesday – about four hours before Bahians usually eat – to a huge, and largely empty restaurant. Inside, though, it was something of a paradise. The dress code seemed typically Bahian, with the only other couple donning jeans and tennis shoes. Simple wooden tables surrounded a central area of greenery. Our second floor table looked over the restaurant interior, while a large jabitiquaba tree’s branches nearly touched our plates – and oh how we wanted to grab some of the fruits!
The menu was extensive, with many moqueca offerings. Beto Pimentel, the Chef, has done a masterful job putting inventive and welcome touches on Bahia’s most famous dish. His offerings were divided into traditional and special moqeucas, and we opted for one of the special shrimp moquecas, to split. To this day, we are not quite sure of all that was in it. Fibrous nuts, tomatoes, peppers, any number of small sea creatures, long noodles of gelatinous consistency, and much more dendê oil than we were accustomed too (and we believe less coconut milk). Accompaniments were shockingly good farofa, with an orange peel added to absorb a little moisture and add flavor; spicy sauce made of malagueta peppers (good for M and his spice addiction), dried yucca; and rice.
All of which was fantastic. The combinations of flavors of the moqueca felt more like intriguing contradictions we were pleased to be eating. The many different textures and shades of foods all cooked together was a seeming metaphor for all Bahian cuisine in one dish. Unwaveringly complex and yet consistently delicious, we know this would easily be the best moqueca we would have in Bahia, or at bare minimum, the most inventive. We were sure to eat slowly, savoring this dish, as we knew we would not be back anytime soon. But, of course, there was dessert!
Paraiso Tropical, in addition to moquecas, is famous for its roscas: think of these as fresh fruit juice, frozen, and then very lightly thawed to a smooth but icy consistency, then piled high on a dish. We opted for the mango. Admittedly there was not much to it – essentially frozen mango juice, but still smooth and fresh. We had to be sure to eat quickly, otherwise it was going to melt all over our hands.
Our best surprise of the evening: a second dessert. With the check, the waiter brought us a tray of fresh Brazilian fruits and a plastic bag. We were baffled about what to do with them until we saw the restaurant’s other patrons putting the fruits in a bag to take home. We were happy to oblige, picking up a week’s worth of fruits: guavas, pinhas, and a mango.
To be honest, if you only have a few days in Salvador, this is not a place you should go. Stick to the wonderful beach and street food and the more famous parts of town, where you can meet more locals. But if you have a lot of time, and are willing to splurge, meander your way to Paraiso Tropical and experience the finest dining the city has to offer. The ambience is definitely Bahian upscale – read: American casual – and your taste buds will not leave disappointed.
Our favorite part? We only learned upon trying to pay they didn’t accept credit cards, only cash. We had no cash, and no ATM. The solution – apparently a common problem – was to give us a sheet of paper with the chef’s bank account number, and instruct us to just deposit the money tomorrow. We could have left getting this meal for free. But for food like that we are more happy to pay, so the next day I walked into Banco do Brasil and deposited R$160 (about $90) into the account. Well worth it.
Filed under Reviews
Sorriso da Dadá
Rua Frei Vicente, 5
Pelourinho, Salvador, Brasil
One of my first days in Salvador, I knew I wanted a moqueca. The word flows off your tongue smoother than the dende-oil infused coconut milk that is the backbone of this traditional Bahian seafood stew, and garnished with farofa (toasted manioc flour, usually with a little dende) and vatapá, there really is nothing like it. I was walking through Pelourinho, operating on the recommendation from a friend to try Panela da Bahia, a place he told me to go if I needed a “moqueca made with love.” Boy, did I!
But, sadly, the “love” would have to wait another day. Panela da Bahia was closed on this Monday, and I had to settle for the restaurant next door, another moqueca-specialist place called Sorriso da Dadá (“Dadá’s Smile). It was not until after my meal, returning home, that I discovered Dadá has one of the most famous restaurants in Bahia. So, to give the readers a luxury I forgot to afford myself, please read the following reviews and ask yourself: would you have gone to this restaurant? From Frommer’s, via NYT:
Dadá has made quite a name for herself and contributed to a renewed appreciation of Bahian cuisine. Brazilians and foreigners come from far and wide to taste her food, journalists write articles about her, and gourmet magazines rave about her restaurant. Her food certainly showcases the best of Bahian cuisine, specializing in seafood moquecas, vatapá, and bobó de camarão. However, Dadá may be coasting a little bit on her success. We found service uninspired and the prices higher than at other restaurants — typically 25% more than elsewhere. The food, however, was still as delicious as ever.
An OK review, I suppose. I’ll take uninspired surface as long as the food is justifiably delicious. However, my own guidebook, Bradt (2010), had this to say:
The restaurant takes its name from the perpetual smile of the former queen of traditional Bahian cooking, Aldaci ‘Dadá’ dos Santos. She began her career selling acarajé on the streets of Salvador. In her heyday Tropicalista & culture minister, Gilberto Gil was a fan of her moquecas & Dadá was serving her spicy, Afro-Brazilian dishes to distinguished visitors to Bahia, including Hillary Clinton. But when we ate here last, Dadá had either taken her eye off the ball or was busy in one of her other restaurants in Salvador or on the Costa do Sauipe. The food was bland, lukewarm & over-priced.
So, what to take from these two reviews? Potentially bland and lukewarm food with uninspired service? Turns out that is exactly what I got. And while the food was acceptable, it was a little pricey for what was received, and I would recommend to anyone they try any number of other solid moquecas in Salvador (three of which will have glowing reviews on ETW in the coming days).
Dadá’s restaurant is not an uninviting space, but I also didn’t find it the most welcoming. The windows to the outside don’t do the best lighting job, and I found the eating space surprisingly dark for always-sunny Salvador. On this day I had the restaurant to myself; an American couple were finishing up their meal just as I arrived, but otherwise the place was empty. Service was a little inattentive by Bahian standards (where service is usually inattentive; it is seen as impolite to bug the customers unless they want to be bugged), though Pelourinho usually operates on a more touristic agenda for the Europeans and Americans coming through seeking an authentic meal.
I decided quickly on a traditional fish moqueca, with a white fish filet cooked in coconut milk and dende, garnished with tomatoes, green peppers, and cilantro, and served with vatapá. It was not, however, served with farofa – something in the coming weeks I would come to cite as a cardinal sin.
Though this was my first moqueca in Brazil, and the flavors were new and inviting, I could tell there were problems. A lack of flavor punch, a watery moqueca broth, and the fish a tad undercooked for my taste (perhaps stemming from the thin broth, which probably needed more time to cook down). “Watery” is a word one should never have to utter in reference to a moqueca, as water is not an ingredient. But it tasted watery to me, and lucky for the restaurant I am not a Bahian, otherwise someone may have made a scene. Portions were generous, more than what was needed for one person at R$39 – but less than what one usually gets in Salvador for the same price, and better quality, elsewhere. The uninspired food left me hungry for what I knew were better moquecas in the city. And our next three posts will let you know: boy, did we find them!
St. George (Oxóssi) stands guard over the cash register at Sorriso da Dadá.
Jaber
Rua Domingos Morais, 86 – Vila Mariana
Sao Paulo, 04010-000, Brazil
Of course we were pleased to see both kibbe and esfiha on offer at Jaber, both of which are pictured above. We sampled 3 types of esfihas, Za’atar, Cheese and Endive. The Za’atar esfiha really impressed us – the topping on the pastry crust was nothing but a solid layer of spice – Za’tar is a spice mix of thyme, oregano, sumac, sesame and salt – and the flavor of the esfiha was nothing short of explosive. Also on the menu were varieties of Esfiha that are “closed”, kind of a Brazilian/Lebanese take on Stromboli, with the pastry folded over the filling. Sao Paulo made us esfiha addicts! One thing about Brazil – they definitely have a lock on the pocket-sized savory pastry – who knew such myriad wonders even existed?
Filed under Reviews, World Eats
O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo
Shopping Iguatemi
Av. Tancredo Neves, 148,
Caminho das Árvores – Salvador – Bahia
A cake shop calling itself the “Best Chocolate Cake in the World” is a pretty gutsy move. With a name like that, they would HAVE to deliver. Intrigued by the bombastic name as well as our never-ending appreciation of chocolate confections, we set out to sample the chocolate cake from MBCDM. When we arrived at the store location in Shopping Iguatemi– we were surprised to discover it was a kiosk in the mall instead of a proper store. The offerings were unsurprisingly chocolate cakes sold by the slice (about 5 dollars), along with coffee and other cake accompaniments. Two varieties of cake were offered by the slice: Bolo Meio Amargo (70% bittersweet chocolate) and Tradicional Doce (53% chocolate). There was also a sugar-free version of the traditional cake on offer. We went for the dark chocolate cake: the texture was that of a flourless cake. The flourless chocolate was interspersed with layers of chocolate cake crust and chocolate ganache on top. The filling was dense and uber-chocolately, but unfortunately the cake layers all but fell apart when we began to eat. As you can see below, it is already starting to lose its structural integrity – even before the first bite. Final verdict: the cake was very good, but perhaps a bit oversold. Sorry, we’re tough cake critics!
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Confeitaria Colombo
Rua Gonçalves Dias, 32
Rio de Janeiro – RJ, 20050-030, Brazil
We are not sticklers for decor – excellent food can make up for drab surroundings. We are no strangers to scrumptious hole-in-the-wall cafes decorated only by expired calendars and shabby counter-only establishment that serve excellent food. However, sometimes, enjoying good food in luxurious surroundings can be all the more enjoyable. We had heard about a place in Rio that was a must-try as well as a must-see: Confeitaria Colombo. Confeitaria Colombo has been continuously operating in Rio since 1894, and is decked out in all of its fin-de-siècle finery. And we mean really decked out – the back wall is graced by a 20-ft mirror and almost every surface is lined with gilded flourishes, frescos and gold-leaf mirrors. The front of the Confeitaria is especially tantalizing as it displays row upon row of too-good-to-be-true desserts in vintage cases.
We arrived within 20 minutes of opening and were fortunate enough to snag one of the last free tables. Not even the post-Carnaval haze could keep people away. The menu at the Confeitaria had a variety of sweet and savory dishes including some decidedly non-Brazilian offerings – pancakes and waffles. We usually make waffles at home every Sunday, but due to our travels have not had a good waffle since November. Needless to say, we each ordered waffles. We don’t know if it’s because we had been going through waffle withdrawal, or because the waffles were particularly good, but we were very impressed by our picks. L opted for a classic waffle (R$ 14) M went for a waffle with more of a Brazilian twist – Minas cheese and banana, topped with cinnamon and sugar (R$ 18). M was expecting the cheese to be a little heavy on the waffles, but it was balanced nicely by the bananas, and made a great snack unto itself. Well worth a visit, especially given the price, to try this distinctly Brazilian take on a breakfast classic.
However, our trip was not without a hitch. M ran into a conundrum that we have encountered in our international travels previously – ordering a glass of cold milk. To Americans this is not such a weird breakfast request, maybe a little unusual for a grown-up (sorry M), but definitely doable. However asking for a glass of cold milk in Brazil is like asking for a glass of cold pickle juice. L ordered the much more understandable cappuccino while M placed his order for cold milk. The waiter seemed to understand the unorthodox request, however when he arrived with two cappuccinos and a little pitcher of creamer we knew we had run into our old problem again. M tried to re-explain his order, and the 2nd cappuccino was whisked away – only to be replaced by a cup of steaming cream (which M drank). Enjoying our waffles and strange little beverage in such sumptuous settings was exceedingly enjoyable and a very cheap and efficient form of time travel.
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Pão de Queijo Haddock Lobo
Rua Haddock Lobo, 1408
São Paulo, 01414-002, Brazil
If, like us, you are cheese-and-carb lover, then pão de queijo may be one of the world’s most perfect foods. We’re getting pretty good at making it in the ETW Kitchen, despite some poor trial runs at the beginning. But now in Brazil, we were looking forward to sampling the many varieties of the Brazilian snack. Sadly, we’ve found Bahia quite lacking in pães, originally a speciality from the state of Minas Gerais. We encountered pães a few times in Salvador, at little snack counters mostly, and sampled a particularly foul version at a chain dedicated to Pao de Queijo (which we shall not name). Feeling a little disheartened by our pão de queijo experience in Salavdor, we were looing forward to getting to São Paulo to see if the pickings were any better.
What little flavor explosions lie undiscovered inside that basket?
And there, like a shining beacon a few blocks down from Avenida Paulista, Pão de Queijo Haddock Lobo came to our rescue. Admittedly, our encounter was not accidental: PQHL was recommended to us very highly as some of the best pães in São Paulo, a city already famous for its vast and varied food. The storefront – like any good pão de queijo shop worth its weight in cheesy bread – is just a small walk-up counter, with freshly-made pães kept in a covered wicker basket. Fun for us, as this lent an air of mystery to the proceedings. Right there in front of us, but what did they look like? At R$4 each – a little pricey – how big were they? How many should we order? Of course, we could have saved ourself the trouble but just asking the friendly cashier, but boy if that does take all the fun out of it. Finally, 4 pães, 2 apiece. Decision made. And a brigadeiro – a truffle-like chocolate and caramel dessert covered in chocolate sprinkles – for dessert.
Conclusion? Absolutely worth the special trip. Since the lone bench at Haddock Lobo was occupied, we enjoyed our pães al fresco. They were astoundingly large, much bigger than the typical mini specimens were have encoutnered in the USA and Brazil. And despite our after-lunch arrival, they were still piping hot and fresh. Overall, easily some of the best pães we had ever had – if not the best – they were completely crispy on the outside and cheesy on the inside, with a great cheese flavor that managed to complement, as opposed to fight with or overpower, the bread. All in all, ETW heartily recommends Pão de Queijo Haddock Lobo for great pão de queijo in Sampa!
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Municipal market in São Paulo
We spent Carnaval week in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro – the food we had there was wonderful! We were definitely spoiled for choice in these gastronomic paradises
From right to left: All in Salvador, Bahia
Suco 24 Horas
Rua Miguel Burnier 108
Bom Sabor
Rua Miguel Burnier 110
Fábrica de Sucos
Rua Miguel Burnier 114
It seems that each new country we visit has an everyday snack treat that comes to us as something of a revelation. In Greece it was Yogurt and Honey, and in Brazil it must be the açaí bowl, known here as Açaí na Tigela. Açaí fruits, the product of a species of palm tree well-known in Brazil, has been making the rounds in the United States since about 2004, advertised by the health-conscious for its “antioxidant” properties (which has no factual basis, sorry to say). So why do we like açaí? Because its dark, sweet, rich pulp makes for some darn good eats, especially when – Brazil style – you blend it, ice it, top it with fresh fruit and granola, and serve it up in a plastic 700mL bowl all for around R$10 (about US $5.50). Yes, please!
Luckily for us, three great açaí bowl establishments are just down the road from our apartment in Salvador: Fabrica de Sucos (“Juice Factory”); Bom Sabor (“Good Flavor”); and Suco 24 Horas (“24 Hour Juice”), winner of nine consecutive “Best Açaí” awards from the annual food issue of Veja Salvador. We decided not to trust the food critics – isn’t that our job, anyway? – and try all three to determine the ETW Best Açaí in Salvador.
We should state now that between the three places we tried, we found no substantial taste difference between the actual açaí. It all came down to the extras. First up: Suco 24 Horas, the longtime reigning champion. Pluses: the açaí, like the others we will review, was ice-cold, with a rich, velvety flavor. Our server separated our order into two bowls (always helpful), and the free granola topping was a solid touch. We left very happy with our purchase: R$10.00.
Second: Bom Sabor. We initially felt bad for Bom Sabor, since everyone was sitting at Suco 24 Horas, and the nice front-of-house hostess there seemed unable to convince anyone to stop by. But the second time we came back, there were a few people, probably because Suco 24 was full. That said, we left very impressed: though the serving size (700mL) was the same size as at Suco 24, it sure looked like more to us. Our toppings – banana and strawberry – were both fresh, and the granola at Bom Sabor was also free (and the same variety, Tia Sonia). Total cost: R$10.50, and an extra point for having a festive orange bowl (as opposed to the bland ones at Suco 24h).
Last up: Fabrica de Sucos. Note, savvy readers, the lack of photo. Fabrica de Sucos was out of the running as soon as they decided to charge us for granola. When the two places next to you are giving granola away for free, you had better be producing so darn good – ney, damn good – açaí for us to consider you. But your taste was no better, if not slightly worse, and the granola was exactly the same as at your two competitors. Sorry!
For us, the winner was pretty clearly Bom Sabor. We thought their portion was more generous, we like their toppings better, and frankly, they had a more enjoyable bowl. We’ve made two trips back since our initial taste tests, and we are still confident in our decision. And after a hot and humid day of walking around Salvador, there really is nothing more refreshing than a good açaí bowl from Bom Sabor.
Filed under Reviews
SENAC Restaurant School
Praça José de Alencar, 13/19
Largo do Pelourinho
Salvador – BA, Brasil
Regional Bahian cuisine has a flavor and style all its own in the landscape of Brazilian food. Its Portuguese and Dutch European backings, and Native Brazilian undertones and flourishes, and all heavily impacted by Bahia’s major western and central African influences. And you can experience the best of all of these wonderful flavors served up at the SENAC Restaurant School, which offers both “food by the kilo” and all-you-can-eat buffet options at reasonable prices. We opted for the buffet, run by the state restaurant school, and offering a wide variety (40+) of dishes including appetizers, mains and desserts, all prepared by students. The restaurant is open for lunch every day from 11 AM to 3 PM and the cost is 36 Reais per person as of writing (about $20) which is a pretty good price for an all you can eat buffet, even by Salvador’s very reasonable food prices.
For sheer breadth alone, this is a great way to get an introduction to a wide variety of Bahian foods. The appetizers and main courses are displayed in a traditional steam table, with a separate little table for desserts. Our chosen appetizers included:
Main courses:
And the desserts:
We can only assume that there is little change in variety each day, especially given the wide range of selections they already put out. We’ll readily admit that while none of the food blew us away, the price, variety, and very solid and tasty dishes definitely met our expectations. And in addition to the food, the view is nice as well – located on the 2nd floor of one of the Pelourinho district’s many restored colonial buildings, it looks out onto Salvador’s most famous square below, and the many windows provide a nice breeze. SENAC’s friendly waitresses are dresses as baianas, and are very attentive (drinks are extra, about R$2). So if it’s your first day in Salvador and need a reasonably-priced way to experience Bahian cuisine, head to SENAC.
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Café e Creperia Laranjeiras
Rua da Ordem Terceira, 13
Pelourinho, Salvador – BA
Located on the ground floor of the Laranjeiras Hostel, it is no surprise that this little creperie mainly attracts a steady stream of backpackers. The speciality is (unsurprisingly) crepes, but the menu also features a selection of sandwiches and fruit drinks. Though there are many traditional crepe combinations: sweet crepes with nutella, savory crepes with cheese and mushrooms, etc. However, there are also some patently Brazilian varieties, like those filled with passionfruit, Catupiry cheese or corn. M had a Hawaiian crepe – turkey, cheese and pineapple (R$ 13), which L went for the basil, tomato, and cheese (R$ 11). We were frankly surprised at just how filling and overstuffed the crepes were for such a low price – but that was fine with us since we were extremely hungry.
Like many restaurants in the area the creperie is open to the square, where you can get some people watching and a pleasant (if faint) breeze. There is very little air conditioning in this town. Another interesting point of difference are the cool comic-book themed azulejos on the walls (POW! BAM! etc), which also completely cover the inside of the restaurant’s bathroom. It may not be Paris, but the Laranjeiras Creperie is worth a stop for any in the area looking for a reasonable and quick lunch in Pelourinho.
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Cafe du Monde
800 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA
There are some places that are tourist draws for a reason – and still manage to turn out good food even with the constant onslaught of crowds. Cafe du Monde is one of those places. Since 1862, Cafe du Monde has been turning out world-famous beignets with cups of trademark chicory coffee. You can wither choose to sit in the historic open-air tent or take your coffee and beignets to go. Either way, expect a line, even though CdM is open 24h!
A beignet is really nothing more than a fried piece of dough, doused with a heaping helping of powdered sugar; however, like the descriptions of many of our favorite baked goods, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Chicory coffee, again deceptively simple, is basically a strong coffee blend mixed with chicory root. It is a pretty divisive topic – people either love it or don’t get its appeal, I think I am a fan so far (though M doesn’t drink coffee so his verdict is still out).
We arrived at Cafe du Monde on a pleasant fall day, and decided to enjoy our treats in nearby Jackson Park – so we headed straight for the takeout line. The line went pretty rapidly (an order or two of beignets seemed to pretty much be the standard order) and the cashier was hyper-efficient (as the cashiers at this type of high-volume operation tend to be). Within a minute or two we were out – a small pack of three beignets and a cup of chicory coffee in our possession. The beignets especially were amazing, totally fresh and way more delicious than they needed to be. Moreover – we were covered in clouds of powdered sugar for the next few hours. The pigeons of Jackson Park enjoyed the powdered sugar even more than we did, however. We’d love to try to make beignets someday, but I think we’d prefer a return trip to New Orleans.
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Chez Jafaar
22 Rue du Sommerard
75005 Paris, France
It is almost criminal we think, that Tunisian food has so far eluded us. We absolutely love North African food and we can’t get enough of it. However, Tunisian places in Chicago are few and far between, while in Paris they are particularly common (we hear there is a place for Brik in Chicago, though). We were super excited to find a variety of places in Paris to try and made a shortlist – depending on which neighborhood we ended up in. At about lunch time we found ourselves on the left bank neart he Sorbonne– right near Chez Jafaar. Our intrepid Paris hosts I & T were up for almost any kind of food adventure (which is why they are our friends!) so off to Chez Jafaar we went.
We were also drawn in by the advertised lunch special – an appetizer or dessert and entree for 12 Euros. Other offerings on the menu included tagines and Tunisian specialties like brik and merguez sausage. Both T & L had the lunch special – appetizer of chorba soup, and a serving of chicken couscous (12 euros). The chorba was almost like a thick minestrone filled with celery and pasta shells. Since the weather outside was somewhat frightful, the soup just hit the spot. Since two at the table ordered the couscous it came out family style – with a giant plate of couscous, a giant plate of marinated chicken and a giant bowl of fragrant sauce – with tomato broth, whole carrots and potatoes. M had a lamb and fig tajine, flavored with cinnamon, tumeric, walnuts, and with potatoes. The tajine came out steaming / bubbling hot, and there was a great mix of flavors. The lamb was very well done, tender and fall off the bone, and though the inclusion of the figs was a great taste complement, though he was surprised at how dry they were given how tender everything else in the tajine was.
In terms of general impressions, service was a little slow to get going, but our wonderful French-speaking friends, T & I, cleared that up! We were seated, and then over 20 minutes went by before we were thought of again. However, once they remembered us, the service was pretty speedy. Overall, the menu seemed a little on the pricy side when first entering, but we got a staggeringly large amount of food, so our trip to Chez Jafaar was well worth it. Too bad we were unable to take leftovers home….
Filed under Reviews
Acarajé
Bought on Avenida Cesar Zama
Barra, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
The eaters will be in Brazil for the next two months, based principally in Salvador, capital of Bahia state and one of Brazil’s most distinctive culinary destinations, featuring a host of African-inspired cuisines. Of all Bahia’s treats, none is better-known than the ubiquitous acarajé, sold on nearly every street corner, particularly in the more touristic districts of Barra and Pelourinho, and the vibrant Rio Vermelho neighborhood.
I had read many descriptions of acarajé before arriving in Bahia, and was excited to finally try the product, especially one produced by one of the many Baianas, with their white hoop skirts and Candomblé religious beads, who have a near-monopoly of the acarajé industry in the city. I plan on trying multiple acarajés in the city before we come back in March, and this was my first, from a lovely woman on the largo where Avenida Cesar Zama hits the oceanfront road of 7 Setembro in the Barra district.
In the simplest sense, acarajé is skinned white or black beans mashed together into a ball and fried in a distinctive and strong-flavored oil from the dendê palm tree that grows along Bahia’s coastline. Once fried, the ball is sliced in half and filled with your choice of toppings. These can very from locale to locale, but typically they consist of four options: small dried shrimp, fried okra, a salad of tomatoes and cilantro, and vatapá, a thick orange paste made from ground dried shrimp, cashews, coconut milk, and dendê oil.
For those of you who are fans of falafel (as we are, seen here and here and here), you will find its taste and texture very similar to acarajé. At first I thought this was coincidence, but some recent research has traced the origins of acarajé – a Yoruba dish from southwestern Nigeria – to a trade and raiding relationship with Arabs from the eastern Mediterranean about one throusand years ago. The dish was then brought over by enslaved Yorubas to Bahia during the first half of the 19th century, where it morphed into its present form using local Brazilian ingredients.
Though the falafel similarity is undeniable, I would say acarajé is overall larger, more bready, and more of a container in its own right than a filler. Add the fixings on top – I went with just salad and vatapá (I’m not a big fan of okra, and the shrimp usually cost extra) – and you get a solid snack, or meal if you are not that hungry, for 3.50 reais (about $1.80). Tomatoes and cilantro were as solid as can be expected, but the vatapá was a little surprising. I expected more of a mixture of ingredients, but this was a thorough paste, something like a strong-flavored and slightly spicy hummus. I bought two on an empty stomach, and was over-full by the time I finished them. In my hammock with a chilled coconut, of course.
Hopefully our next report from Bahia will be a moqueca review – another one of our favorite dishes!
Acarajé stall on Porto do Barra beach, Salvador.
Filed under Reviews, World Eats
Maïmouna et Mandela
48 rue Clignancourt
75018 Paris
The bright orange sign on this small take-away restaurant makes itself known for blocks. And again, at nearly all hours, it is full of hungry patrons, with Senegalese guitar music blaring through the restaurant (Youssou N’Dour, we think). We were excited to try it for its stellar reviews, but even moreso when we discovered that take-out entrees were only 5E. We both tried the chicken yassa (Yassa Poulet), a traditional west African dish with a mustard and onion sauce. When we arrived right after they opened at 12:30 they were already doing a brisk business (both carry-out and dine-in) though we had to wait about 30 minutes, a tiny amount when compared to the previous night’s adventures at G.J. Restaurant. For 5 euros the yassa chicken is an amazing steal – the portions were ample and the sauce was delicious. As far as it goes, we actually probably prefer the yassa chicken at Yassa in Chicago, but for some cheap and (relatively speedy) Senegalese food in Paris this will fit the bill just fine.
Filed under Reviews
Zuari
R. São João da Mata 41,
1200 Lisbon
“Dois pessoas, por favor.” When Orlando, the 34-year owner of Zuari, one of Lisbon’s most acclaimed Goan restaurants, heard our request for a two-person lunch seating, he seemed confused. He looked around the completely empty restaurant, and an immediately frustrated look came over his face. “It’s all full!” We walked past empty table after empty table, as he directed us to a tiny little table in front of a door leading to the kitchen. Apparently the only available seating? Who else was there – ghosts? At noon on a Thursday?
No matter – we had seats, and we wanted to eat. Lisbon is probably one of the best locations for Goan food outside of the former Portuguese colony turned Indian state, but as with any establishment, we were worried that the owners had changed the dishes to conform to more sensitive, even muted, Portuguese tastes. Luckily, we were wrong. For starters, the menu was encouraging: entirely in Portuguese. Few tourists coming this way, apparently – far from the city center and the metro, that’s usually a good sign. Orlando patiently explained the menu to us, as we had never heard of “Sarapatel” before. He spoke quickly, and M caught words like carne (meat) and pedacos (pieces) of linga (tongue) and a quick statement that “tudo e bom” – it’s all very good. He then scurried away, finally explaining the reason he seemed so frazzled: a big party was going to start there in about twenty minutes.
In we put the order: a bottle of water, two sides of white rice. For a starter we went with the obligatory Apas, a type of bread unique to Goan cuisine ( €0,75). It has a texture similar to a very thin version of naan, and a similar flavor, yet somehow manages to remain thick and hearty. L tried to Chacuti de Galinha (€7,00), a type of chicken curry with coconut milk and “spices.” A few taste tests later, and we could detect mint, cumin, coriander, cardamom, and black pepper. A slight spicy kick with a fantastic flavor profile, and three pieces of chicken – the real stuff, still on the bone – was more than expected. M went with the Sarapatel (€7,00), a mix of diced and pulled pork and tongue, simmered in a spicy – very spicy – and flavorful sweet tomato-based sauce. The texture and taste reminded us of a very spicy version of Carolina barbecue pulled pork. Regular readers of the blog will know how we feel about that! Plus, the spice level was one of the few dishes ever to satisfy M’s Scoville scale requirement, and he didn’t even have to make a special request!
The only disappointment of the day was that Zuari was out of their famous mango ice cream, due to the party preparations. We would have liked to try it, but the unexpectedly complex flavors in our dishes, combined with the great price – €20,00 for the whole meal – made this easily our best meal in Lisbon thus far.
Filed under Reviews
L’As du Fallafel
34 Rue des Rosiers
75004 Paris
One of the few repeat destinations we visited on this small trip to Paris was L’As du Fallafel. We remember being impressed with the falafel four years ago, so we were excited when our friends that lived in Paris suggested we visit there again. As you might guess, the specialties at L’As du Fallafel are falafel, shewarma and the like. Approaching the restaurant you know it must be good, because even at an odd time like 3 PM – it was completely full, with a line for both take-out and restaurant service. One famous celebrity fan is Lenny Kravitz – a fact of which the owners are very proud – and there are photos and quotes of Lenny Kravitz plastered over nearly every wall and also on the outside of the restaurant. You can see evidence of the popularity below, a huge line to get in, even at 3PM (note also the Wikipedia article).
However, the line is not for nothing, L’As really delivers. The specific type of falafel at L’As is Israeli, which happens to be one of our favorite types, and one we have tried extensively on all of our travels and back in Chicago. Each falafel sandwich (€7.50) came with grilled eggplant (delicious), cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and was doused in tahini sauce. As you can see below – this was no paltry sandwich. Though we had to wait for over ½ hour to simply sit in the restaurant – our food came out lightening-quick. The falafel were fresh and perfectly spiced, and arrived piping hot. We can’t imagine how many falafel they turn out in a week – at least several thousand, we’d bet. The crispy fries were nothing to scoff at either and the chicken shewarma (€9.50) was freshly carved off of the spit. We think perhaps that L’As du Falafel has grown in popularity since we were there last- we do not remember nearly as big of a crowd – maybe it is all of the Lenny Kravitz fans swamping the place? If you are craving some good, relatively cheap falafel in Paris, this place is certainly your best bet.
Filed under Reviews
Eating The World 