ast13

Rafas was fabulous. We dined there the day after our Elbulli meal. Make a reservation - he will turn away patrons even if the restaurant is half-empty.

I agree with the leaning east. We had dinner last week - our meal was entirely different than many of the tables near us. Lots of Asian inspired dishes. I'd say about 90% of them were the same as AG posted above. I'll get pics and a review up this weekend I hope. I found the setting to be amazing as others have commented - right on the beach, much of our meal outside. Service was good, though it was interesting to watch - a chaotic circus with people running around and around serving the food. I didn't find the food itself to be amazing, actually I got rather antsy and bored with it about 3/4 the way through the meal - maybe my expectations were too high. Everything tasted good - nothing offensive or bad, some excellent but it got old for me rather quickly. A good experience overall, but nothing i'm in a hurry to rush back to on my own dime.

We are early into our Spanish trip and i'll agree 100% with Andy's assessment. Etxebarri was outstanding, amazing, wonderful. All good dishes, some spectacular. I would travel back to the area just to go back. Make that reservation for a date after their August break. Just finished our meal at Mugaritz this evening on the Natura menu. Very very disappointing - actually considered leaving half way through if it wasn't for the proteins that were all very good to excellent. Many many bland dishes. My guest and I didn't get many of them (and neither did most of the guests in the room from the volumes their faces spoke- particularly the salsify and the "red fruits" dessert). If you complain, additional courses will come if you want them though. Service was excellent all around. Next up Can Roca, El Bulli and who knows else. Photos and more details to follow in a week.

Full Kee, as mentioned above, is your best bet. Also, I have heard good things about the New Big Wong which has recently re-opened. Generally though, the Chinese in the neighborhood is pretty terrible (as is most of the other ethnic food around there). If you want a good meal, I would recommend Rasika (indian) or Proof or PS7 which are all very close to the Verizon Center.

We had superb meals at Toro Bravo and Le Pigeon when we were in town. We stayed near the Lloyd Center and Toro Bravo is very close by. There is a ton of excellent food in PDX so have an awesome visit.

Savoy Cabbage is delicious, one of the best meals i've had anywhere. I've heard good things about Jardine as well. Africa Cafe is quite touristy but its food is interesting and decent, though i'm sure there is better out there. You could go to Bo-Kaap area and get some Malay Curry which is rather tasty.

Assuming you are from the US, you'll generally find most of the food in ZA to be an excellent value because of our strong currency. In Stellenbosch, we found Bukhara to be rather delicious for Indian food. In Franschhoek - We ate at La Bon Vivant, the Tasting Room at LQF and Reubens. All three were good. Le Bon Vivant was the least favorite of ours - don't get me wrong, it was very good, but the menu wasn't as creative or interesting to us than the other meals we had. The Tasting Room was fabulous, but also the priciest meal we had. We didn't think the food and scenery topped Bosmans (see below) but it was good if you're in town and looking for an excellent long tasting-menu dinner. We chose to do a 6 course menu which was more than enough food. There are also 4 and 8 course menus. It was enjoyable because it introduced us to a number of new foods we haven't had before, such as springbok, wildebeest, etc. Our menu Reubens was delicious as well - our favorite non-multi-course/tasting menu restaurant. We had a simple dinner, some nice fish and a steak but it was well prepared. We have heard wonderful things from friends about Bouillabaisse but have not had a chance to dine there yet. Outside of Franschhoek we had lunch at Bread and Wine at the Moreson winery which was very good. We had a very nice salad and a pizza which was very tasty. Since I assume you will have a car, we highly recommend Bosmans in Paarl. It was our best meal - food quality is excellent, the ambience is rather spectacular and the service was wonderful. It is expensive, but we felt the experience was worth it.

I got a reservation a few days ago... Extremely excited - only took two years. Sent in a specific one month date range. "We regret to be late giving you an answer. The demand has been again extraordinary and is difficult to go on with the management. We have found a solution and have an option for you on [Date] under the name: **** Ferran Adrià will prepare a personalized tasting menu. You will try many different elaborations and it means many different products. It is very important for his confection to know in advance if some problem exists, like allergies or any other product that we could not include for anyone of you. I wait your news to fix the option and also with regard to this question to fix all the details at your reservation. I also ask you to give us a direct phone number to contact you, only if necessary, during your time in our area. Sincerely yours, Luis Garcia"