Author: Rusty (Page 1 of 2)

Time Out Market Lisbon: what to eat and what to avoid [2024 updated]

June 22, 2024 / Rusty / 1 Comment

I have just spent a week in Lisbon and have to admit that the Time Out Market was one of the highlights of the trip. In fact, the moment I heard about its existence I made the point of visiting it the first thing after arriving at the city. And, truth be told, it didn’t disappoint.

The Time Out Market existed as an extension to the Mercado da Ribeira at Cais do Sodré – which was a fairly traditional market that you’d expect from most places in Europe. It is very easy to get to – just take the metro to Cais do Sodré (green line) and it is pretty much right outside the station.

The food hall itself is a hotpot of restaurants in Lisbon, covering a wide variety of cuisines that you’d find in the city: from traditional seafood, to croquette, soup, and their signature desserts. It is a well curated mix so that you feel that all the stores have something different to offer.

As much as the choices are great and makes you feel like a kid in the candy shop, it can also be a bit overwhelming at first. Afterall, you are here for a meal and so what should you choose? This is why I have decided to write a quick piece on what I think are the great ones to try out, and what are less great. Do note that I haven’t visited every single one so I am only going to focus my recommendations on those that I have tried. But here it is:

Recommended:

Miguel Castro E Silva (traditional Portuguese food)
Marlene Vieira (traditional Portuguese food)
Monte Mar (seafood)
Manteigaria (pastel de nata)
Recordação de Sintra (other Portuguese sweets)

Yuzu and Chocolate Paris Brest

May 29, 2024 / Rusty / 0 Comments

This is the Paris Brest recipe I made on MasterChef.

Typical Paris Brests are made of choux pastry and a praline cream. My version here, which is the one that I made on MasterChef, added in extra elements of chocolate and yuzu to it. Given the heaviness of the this dessert, personally I think that it can benefit from some acidity and the yuzu does just that. You can typically find yuzu juice from asian supermarket, but failing that you can also substitute with lemon too.

Dear Breakfast – the best brunch spot in Lisbon?

November 5, 2022 / Rusty / 0 Comments

Lisbon is not only famous for its beautiful landscape, architecture, and pastel de nata. It also has a thriving social scene and, with that, comes with a mature array of brunch options that would satisfy many cafe dwellings hipsters.

When I first asked my friends for Lisbon recommendations, I was expecting a list of traditional Portuguese restaurants serving the best octopus and seafood in town. Whereas I did get some, a good portion of my list was actually for brunch spots. Being a Londoner, I was sceptical – surely I don’t need to go all the way to Lisbon for a good brunch? Well, I am wrong, because what I had was bloody fantastic.

I didn’t venture too all of the brunch spots recommended, but from the ones I tried, Dear Breakfast stood out as by far the best. In fact, it was so good that I came back twice.

Dear Breakfast is already an establishment in Lisbon, and currently has 3 branches: Chiado, Alfama, and Bica. And here is my experience:

How to travel from Bilbao to San Sebastian

November 4, 2022 / Rusty / 5 Comments

Answer: Bus is the best option. Train is also available but much slower.

The main bus operators are Alsa / Pesa (less frequent, cheaper) or Lurraldebus (more regular, more expensive). You can get tickets online or directly at the bus stations.

Bilbao bus station: Bilbao Intermodal (also comes up as Bilboko Autobus Geltokia on google map)

San Sebastian bus station: San Sebastian / Donostia (comes up as Donostiako Autobus Geltokia on google map)

For first timer this could be a bit confusing so here is a more detailed guide on how to get your ticket:

Where to eat in Lisbon

October 27, 2022 / Rusty / 0 Comments

Some recommendations from my week-long trip in Lisbon. (p.s. those in bracket are ones that I haven’t visited myself but keen to try out)

Main Meals:

Time Out Market Lisbon. And within there:
- Monte Mar: for seafood. Had a grilled octopus with potato there which was nice
- Henrique Sá Pessoa: had their pork sandwich there the first night which was good. Their fish and chips also appeared to be very popular
- Manteigaria: great nata
- Recordação de Sintra: features a lot of portuguese sweet. Good one to snack on
- Croqueteria: don’t bother with this. The croquette I had just wasn’t nice
Frade dos Mares: famous for their Octopus. Recommend booking. Also serves a good fish soup
Essencial: fairly priced fine dining in the middle of Bairro Alto. Stylish with an open kitchen
(Cervejaria Ramiro) – probably one of the most popular places in Lisbon. Famous for their seafood. Loads of people raved about it and I didn’t manage to get a table…one for next time!
(Bistro 100 Maneiras)
(Estrela da Bica) – my colleague swore by it
If you visit Sintra: Bacalhau na Vila

WordPress Critical Error – My Experience and How I Fixed it

October 26, 2022 / Rusty / 0 Comments

So…I have run into the nightmare that no bloggers like to see: my site went down.

It was actually raised by a friend of mine as I happily gloated about the fact that I finally set live a restaurant review that I wrote around 5 months ago (the, ahem, duck and waffle one), and this morning she came back saying that she couldn’t open the page.

This has happened before, and in the past this had always been caused by a plugin going astray. When this happens, the fix was quite easy: you just have to turn off the plugin one by one until you isolate the trouble-maker, then simply find an alternative.

This time, however, was different. Not only did I get the dreaded “you have a critical error” message, but that I have lost all my admin access: I was no longer able to get into my site: the admin page of my domain didn’t work because, well, the entire domain went down; and accessing the admin through wordpress told me that the site could no longer be accessed. In short, there is no way for me to even access and turn off any plugin to troubleshoot or fix the problems.

After half a day of work, I have finally got it live again, and I wanted to document how that was done in a fairly non techy way so that I can have a future reference, or if any of you happen to have come across the same issue you’d have a user’s point of reference. (spoiler: I did have to ask for help, which you can find towards the end of the article)

2 Best Places to Eat Pastel de Nata in Lisbon

October 21, 2022 / Rusty / 0 Comments

There is no way to avoid pastel de nata in Lisbon. In fact – I wouldn’t judge if you have come to Lisbon simply for the natas (because I did and there is no shame in that). Being the staple child of Portuguese delicacy, it is therefore unsurprising that you’d find nata shops all around the capital and this causes a problem – where should I go?

Travel guides usually give you 5, 10 or even 15 places to try and, lets face it, as much as they are delicious it really isn’t that fun to overdose on them. So I am only going to suggest 2 here, plus a few honorable mentions and useful tips:

Duck and Waffle Review: a gem that needs repolishing

May 10, 2022 / Rusty / 0 Comments

I will start off by saying this – I love Duck and Waffle. Over the years I have dined there many times and have always recommended it as one of the restaurants to visit. I mean, what is not to like? An ultimate comfort menu laced with plenty of truffle and foie gras, good vibes, and with one of the best views a London restaurant can get. I wowed the first time I visited, and this latest venture more than 10 years after it opened equally took my breath away, but with a stark realisation that it has aged – and in need of some serious refresh.

Restaurant Review: Davies and Brook

December 5, 2020 / Rusty / 0 Comments

There are two things about Daniel Humm that I now know – he likes circles; and (almost certainly as a consequence) he likes radishes.

Don’t believe me? Scroll down and you’ll see what I mean.

So, we went for lunch at Davies and Brook – our first proper outing since lockdown eased. This new restaurant by Daniel Humm at Claridges occupies the old space of Fera, and already acts the part and more. This is hardly surprising. Afterall, Humm also owns Eleven Madison Park, the Michelin 3 star restaurant voted the best in the world in 2017. I’d be damned if he decides to go Jamie Oliver and use Claridges as a sacrifice.

While I was expecting the dining room to smell of money like Fera did, it is relatively simplistic (well, slightly) and elegantly decorated. We were seated on one of the smaller tables close to the bar, which seemed a bit odd given that they have shifted a lot of 4-person tables to cater for 2. But then I guess your table allocation in a restaurant is always a matter of luck (or maybe a matter of how important you are which, admittedly, we are not regardless of how we view ourselves). I didn’t mind either way – the 2 tables next to us remained empty and thus perfect for social distancing, which was all that I cared about.

You can choose between a 4 course a la carte or a 7 course tasting. We went for the latter because, well, how can you resist this:

Best Cafes in London with Sofas

October 21, 2020 / Rusty / 0 Comments

I am on a quest to slouch in London’s cosiest cafes and coffee shops

If you have been to Japan, you’d have come across places where you can drop by for a nap. I am not talking about those establishments where people go for “happy endings” (of course, you can find them if you so wish to – I won’t judge), but ones for you to rest and just do absolutely nothing. They mostly exist in the form of manga cafes – which sounds like heaven to me (if only I could read Japanese)

In London, these places are in short supply. Often I’d have headed into Central London for 3-4 hours, knackered, and dying for somewhere to chill. Yes, there isn’t a lack of cafes around – there is an unlimited supply of Starbucks, Costa, or independent hipstery establishments in the form of various “Grinds”. Are they good for coffee? Some of them are excellent (not Starbucks), some serves decent cakes (not Starbucks) and some have decent decor (not Starbucks). But in most cases, they are just not comfortable enough. And by comfortable I mean having sofas where you can slouch and play on your phone without anyone judging, where it is sufficiently quiet so you can mind your own business without worrying if someone is waiting for your seat, and where you can unashamedly stay for 2-3 hours with just one cup of coffee.

Basically: comfortable, quiet, and dirt cheap.

Yes it sounds like my own living room – but that would be cheating. I want somewhere off the beaten track, but also central enough for me to retreat to after a day out. Sounds too good to be true? Read on.