Travel

The food in Eastern Germany and the Czech Republic was heavy meat-and-potatoes fare that had me missing Northern California. Hütt’n in Nuremberg was a cozy little wood-lined pub with maybe eight tables, and is the one restaurant I’d strongly recommend (get there on the early side or make a reservation…). At Hütt’n, Nuremberger sausages with a mustard-y potato salad (Franconian-style, I believe) and some strong horseradish, washed down with a dark-by-Germany’s-standards beer: ...

My two favorite beers from a few days in and near Germany (both from restaurant and beer bar Hütt’n in Nuremberg, on Burgstraße -- Nuremberg has a reputation for dark-for-Germany beers): Landbier Dunkel from Brauerie Reh. Coppery, slightly hoppy with no bitterness, very satisfying. Schwarze Anna from Brauerie Neder. Black, a sort of burnt chocolate taste (though not too heavy), reminded me of a stout. I also had (though less exciting): Leichtes Landbier from Brauerie Rittmayer A Czech pilsner I didn’t write down the name of, in Prague Every beer was reasonably good, and a welcome break from a bad beer I’d had in Asia, but nothing blew me away. I was also busy and slightly sick at the end of the trip, though, so beer tasting wasn’t at the top of my list. ...

Along with eating in Singapore, I had drinks at a few memorable places. The stout and blonde at the scenic Level 33 brewpub were my favorite: I had an unremarkable beer (maybe a Tiger?) on the rooftop deck at Prelude, a bar above the Boathouse restaurant adjacent to the Fullerton Hotel. Another nice place to spend a balmy winter evening. Finally, I had a “Tony Stark” (a transparent and successful attempt to sell a “manly” cocktail): it involved caramelized pineapple and black pepper, and was cute but a waste of money at $24 Singaporean ($18 US)). The 57th-floor views from the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino made up for that, though: ...

If a few days of eating near Shanghai let me down, eating in Singapore blew me away– the food was so consistently good, and varied. And some of my best experiences were street food or other inexpensive food (I already posted some photos of my amazing chicken rice experience at 109 Bukit Batok, West Avenue 6). Some other photos: The Maxwell Road Hawker Center (near Chinatown), a combination indoor/outdoor bazaar of many independent food vendors. ...

Chicken rice tops chili crab as an informal national dish of Singapore, and locals have strong and differing opinions about whose is best (FD said he’s heard it rivals the “Best Mission Burrito” religious wars). Generally, it’s rice cooked in chicken fat and broth, giving a rich, meaty flavor on its own, topped with cooked chicken (typically bone-in dark meat with skin), along with some ginger and chili paste. Simple in concept, and yet so delicious! ...

Asking a local where in Singapore to get a drink led us to Level 33, a brewpub on the 33rd floor of an office building, and by far my favorite place to have a drink all trip, even if it was expensive ($13-$17 Singapore dollars for a pint, or about $8-$12 US). Highly recommended. Just check out this view… (click through for a larger panorama) The brewing vessels, also on the 33rd floor: ...

I was briefly in China (in and near Shanghai), and tried to eat a little bit of everything… but nothing really stood out. Partly, I like the Shanghai style of food less (a lot of sweet sauces and heavy, oily food). Mostly, I think I just wasn’t eating at the right places, and was eating some meals at or near hotels and didn’t have much time to explore. Oh well, I’ll have to go back with some actual restaurant research. ...

If I’m going to rave about great beer in Portland Oregon, I should check out the beer in the original US Portland (which, for your local history tidbit of the day, was the site of the first law banning sale of alcohol except for medicinal or mechanical purposes, in 1851, far before Prohibition). I stopped by The Great Lost Bear, which sells tasting sizes of the 40+ mostly-local beers they have on tap, and tried 8 Maine beers I’d never had or even heard of. And at $1-$2/taste I didn’t feel bad taking a few sips and abandoning two I didn’t like at all. ...

This is the final writeup from a weekend trip to Portland, focusing on our favorite beer places (Part 1: Portland Food, Part 2: Oregeon Brewers Festival). I half-wrote this right after the trip but hadn’t got around to posting it. Bailey’s Taproom(SW Broadway and Pine, downtown) A great place to taste beer– an informal space with plenty of seating and a rotating selection of about twenty beers on tap, including a lot of Oregon beer. For just $7.50 you can get a sampler of any five of your choice. I liked the Avatar Jasmine IPA (very faint hints of jasmine), but can’t remember what else we had (a scotch ale and one of the Upright beers, but I don’t seem to have notes). ...

Following on the Portland Food Recap, here are some notes about the 60+ beers we tasted at the Oregon Brewers Festival back in August. A side note before I talk about all the beers I didn’t like– yeah, yeah, it’s far easier to be a critic than to actually make something, these are just my opinions (well, combined with some comments and notes from James). The OBF as they call it was the initial impetus for visiting Portland that particular weekend, though plenty of other beer, food, book-buying, and friend-visiting activities fit themselves into the available time. ...

A few restaurant highlights from a recent trip to Portland (which also included beer tasting, biking around, and seeing a few friends, but I promised myself this wouldn’t be a blog that’s mostly long-winded stories about my day with only a passing mention of food): The Waffle Window(at 36th and SE Hawthorne): A waffle with sauteed mushrooms, spinach, roasted peppers, fresh tomatoes, and “marinated chevre”. The chevre had the consistency of a dense whipped cream and was a nice cool counterpart to everything else. Plus, look at that pleasing collection of colors with the blue-rimmed plate! ...

Here’s a map of the best breweries and beer cafes from the trip (as well as a few select restaurants). Perhaps some day I’ll post more details about a few specific ones.

[the original motivation for creating this blog– I had pages of notes from a trip and wanted to share them with a few friends] I recently spent a week in Belgium with three friends, visiting breweries and tasting beers. Without further fanfare or detail, here’s a list of everything I tasted and my favorites (somewhat subjective, I’m sure, depending what I was eating with them and so on): My very favorites: ...