Catbrigab

I will be in Cuenca, Ecuador for the month of August and want to know where the BEST dining/eating experiences are for traditional Ecuadorian food. It can be street vendors, stalls at a market, or restaurants. I just want to sample as much quality, authentic, Ecuadorian food as possible.

Hey folks. I will be spending one day and one night in a Bangkok airport hotel before flying to my final destination. I am looking for a good to hopefully GREAT restaurant serving either traditional Thai food or French/Thai fusion food that is "NEAR" the airport. When I say "near" I would prefer not to have to taxi it out farther than 30 minutes or so from the airport where I am staying. Downtwon BKK is about one hour away. I mean if I absolutely cannot find a place worth going to that is NEARER to the airport, then I will consider downtown. But in my perfect world, it would be nice not to have to go that far! Thanks for your help ahead of time!

Does anyone have the name of a good restaurant on Emerald Isle, North Carolina. I am going with a few friends for a bachelorette party this weekend.

Thank you all for the great ideas! Whenever I keep hearing about a place over and over again, I then put that restaurant on my priority list! So far, I have heard these places mentioned more than once or twice: Salumi, Le Pichet, Samurai Ramen, Dahlia, Union. I will also check into the others that I haven't heard mentioned before this as well. Are the places I just mentioned best for lunch or dinner or both? We have a huge Mexican population in Raleigh, but no authentic Mexican restaurants!! How crazy is that?! How authentic are the ones mentioned in this thread? I have a list of other places I recorded on a document I do not have with me. In a short bit I will get back on this thread and inquire specifically about some of the ones not mentioned here. Please check back in a day or two! I appreciate everyone's help!

Hi all. I will be visiting Seattle for a conference in March...finally! I have been waiting for the opportunity to get there! Now that I am on my way, I need the names of some fantastic, yet reasonably priced restaurants to go to during my four or five day foray. As you all know, trying to wade through all of the threads is a daunting task. So, after sifting through a few pages of threads, I thought I would just go ahead and make a posting. The most helpful thread so far has been the one titled "Downtown Seattle Lunches," due to the fact that I will be staying at the Hyatt Convention Center and will not have a rental car. At night, I will be happy to take taxis to get to great dining as long as it isn't too long of a taxi ride...within 10 minutes of the Hyatt is ideal, but at lunch I need to stick close to home...as in walking distance. Because I get a per diem for business meals, it would be nice to not have to pay much more out of pocket. My lunch per diem is $10, and dinner a mere $17! What? You mean my company doesn't want to pay for drinks?! Naturally, I would be willing to pay some out of pocket money (for lunch about $15 total, and dinner about $25 total). I will have to drink wine by the glass as I may be alone So, any ideas about great meals at affordable prices would be highly appreciated! International flavors welome. We have enough Thai, Middle Eastern, and Indian restaurants in Raleigh, as well as a couple of great Chinese places with dim sum and all. And, I am flying on to China after my conference so I don't think I will benefit from eating Chinese in Seattle. It is ok to mention any of these places if they are truely superb. I am particulary interested in any authentic Japanese noodle places as we have nothing like that here...just the usual sushi....Otherwise everything else is fair game! And please direct me to any threads that would serve my purposes! Thanks so much for your help! Looking forward to your responses!

The WF here in Raleigh, North Carolina is super. One of the items I buy the most of is the 1 pound box of spinach for only $6.99. It is almost always super fresh, and the plastic box it comes in keeps it fresh in the fridge for at least one week, if not more. Spinach is one of my favorite super foods for super salads. Also, you can find one of my family's favorite cheeses, that I can no longer find in Raleigh anywhere else...and that is the Norwegian "Getost," which means "goat cheese." Oh that wonderful rich, creamy texture and full flavor! It is the color of brick, but there is no other cheese like it that you will ever taste!

Asola. You know I am sorry we didn't get to your "secret place"! The time just ran out and I ran out of steam! I usually tried to combine a visit to a sight, museum etc. with a restaurant in relatively the same area as the sight. Well, toward the end of the month I failed to find a sight to visit near the "secret place." And, I got tired of dragging my kids around! Oh well. And thanks for the compliment about my girls. Compliments like yours remind me that my kids truly are my biggest and most important investment....to put it rather business-like!! In other words, I agree with you!! They are great!

After studying the threads on this site I had come up with a long list of restaurants to try for our month long stay in Barcelona. Now that we have returned, I thought I'd share my opinions of where we ate. Remember that I sought out mostly the cheapest places I could, so the big name places will not be on my list. I had to spread out my money! And I tried to stick with traditional Spanish food for the most part, whether Catalan, Galician etc. I must add one more thing....my twin nine-year-old girls tried almost everything, from baby squid in its own ink, to blood sausage! And they didn't just try things, they actually liked things! I was super proud and super impressed! I guess I am doing something right as a foodie mom. : ) PLACES TO GO: Can Maño in Barceloneta: Simply prepared, dirt cheap, seafood. Fun, crowded little hole in the wall. Good place to meet locals as everyone is practically sitting on top of each other. First time trying cuttle fish....can't say I enjoyed the texture. Can Bertram in L'Eixample: Home style cooking. These ladies truly are wonderful. The two times we went we were the only tourists there. The paella was good, but the rabbit was super! When we went for paella one Sunday, we actually met the guy, member name "asola," that wrote up the entry about this place on this site! Talk about weird coincidence! Hi asola! Meson de David: More great food at prices that can't be beat. Had to try that mouth watering lechaso. Nice trout, bean soup, and gazpacho. Forgot the name of their homemade (bright yellow) liqueur that topped off that fresh Galician white wine. Sorry I didn't keep a journal of my tasting. All I remember is that it was made from an herb. Bar Pinotxo: Should not be missed by anyone who ever ventures to BCN! Hands down! Bar Universal: Wonderful seafood, should not be missed! Quim de la Boqueria: Great tapas! Quimet i Quimet: Tapas bar that should not be missed! So unusual! Loved the wine bottle "wall paper." Tactica Berri: Tapas bar that should not be missed! Fabulous experience cramming my plate over the bar in other guests faces as the hot tapas came out of the kitchen! All locals there when we went. The wait outside the door before it opened was well worth it! La Paradeta: Wonderful seafood at reasonable prices. It was fun to pick out the fresh seafood ourselves. First time trying fried baby eels and razor clams! Yum! Cal Pep: I can understand the mixed reviews this place gets. Bar Pinotxo was better and cheaper. We did however have a great experience as well as good food. The wait could have been grueling had we not met some great people to chat with. El Xampanyet: Nice old world atmosphere with some good tapas. We did eat bocherones and anchovies, seeing as this place is supposedly known for them. Still can't figure out why they call bocherones, bocherones. Love 'em in vinager! Fresco: When I started to crave salad, which I always do after a while of experimental eating, I find a salad bar. This place had a decent one. It had a hot bar as well. Escribá: I am not much of a sweet eater but my daughters very much appreciated the deliciously thick hot chocolate! Vila Viniteca: Great wine shop! Falafel stands: For fast, super cheap meals. PLACES NOT TO GO: Goliard in Gracia: This was absolutely the worst meal and the worst service we had our entire month there! Rude waiter, and atrocious food! Way overcooked bacalao (cod) and way undercooked kibbe. I have a Syrian friend who told me that kibbe should not be down right raw in the center, just pink. This was R-A-W. Bit of a snooty atmosphere. Terrible experience. Can Majó in Barceloneta: This was our most exepensive meal in BCN and it was SO not worth it! I wanted to try one of their supposed house specialties "caldo de langosta." It was flavorless. My neighbor in Barceloneta, a woman who was born and raised in that barrio had warned me that the quality of this restaurant has really dropped in recent years. Well, she was right! Staight from a local's mouth. All in all, as you can see, the good places far outnumbered the bad! If it weren't for this website I have no doubt that I would have made many more eating mistakes! Let's hear it for the eGullet Forum!!! What a wonderful site!! Thank you to those who make it possible!

Yes, of course! I forgot how hot it is going to be there in summer! I will no doubt be more attracted to whites in the heat! Any other white wine suggestions would be great! And how wonderful to know that such a great wine shop is but a short walk away!

I will be in Barcelona for one month this summer. I have rented an apartment to do a lot of my cooking in. Naturally, I am excited to try some of the inexpensive Spanish wines to go with my homecooked meals. The problem is...where do I start? Can anyone tell me: a) Where to do the wine shopping? We are staying in Barceloneta, so it would be nice to know the best local shop if possible. The nearer the better. b) What labels should I look for? Both white or red are fine. I am on a tight budget so the more inexpensive the better.....without compromising too much in quality. Think "the best quality for the cheapest you can get!" I can't wait to hear responses!