Patisserie Taste Test - Paul and Dalloyau

Croissants and Pain au chocolate, the staple of all good patisseries. With two brand new places opened in Baku recently, we decided to give them a taste test to see which was better. Results after the break... 

Madison - Port Baku

When you talk about burgers in Baku, there used to be only one place, Sunset Burgers. However over the past few months, a larger selection have become available. We have tried a few around town (Casual Brasserie, Rock bar in Kempinski) but the burgers at Madison have toped them all. 

Vapiano - Baku

Vapiano is a chain of restaurants and has opened (relatively) recently in Baku. We've been a couple of times now and the food has been good on both occasions. Service, however, was unpredictable. 

Brunch at the Marriott - Baku

Anywhere you can go and sit for 4 hours, with friends, and eat until you are stuffed is good by me. We have had a couple of brunches in Baku but our favourite by far has been at the Fireworks restaurant at the Marriott Hotel.

Apple and cinnamon cupcakes

I know that it is January and after the excesses of Christmas, I had planned to reduce the amount of sugar that we are eating. So far it has been rather unsuccessful and there seems to always been a new cake recipe to try!

I have been commissioned to make some cupcakes for our mother and baby group so went in search of a recipe that didn't contain too much sugar and that could be eaten with or without frosting for younger palates. 

Red Farm - Hudson St, New York

We decided that we wanted to eat somewhere local. We also decided that we were really hungry. So when we arrived at Red Farm, and were told that we were going to have to wait over an hour for a table. We asked about take-away.

La Pain Quotiden - New York

We have long been a fan of PQ in Belgium, where you sit at a communal table and share around the variety of Jam and chocolate spreads for your freshly cooked bread in the morning. So when were were hungry after spending some time at the New York Library, we popped in to grab a bite to eat.

B Too - Washington D.C.

At around 11 am, when we were kind of awake, our gracious host told us that it was time to go for brunch. This place was just around the corner, which was good considering it was already about 31 degrees by now. We were excited, if there was anything we liked more that breakfast, it was brunch.

Merchants - Nashville

While we were hanging around waiting to go to the Ryman Auditorium we were looking for somewhere to cool down and grab a snack. One of our helpful concierge told us about Merchants being a nice place. So we went there.

West End Cafe - Nashville

WELL DONE MURRAY! We had to get our priorities right this morning. Tennis, then eating. We watched Murray drop-shot his way to victory - however it was now verging on 1pm and we hadn't eaten anything but a granola bar so it had to be somewhere quick and local. The restaurant in our hotel stopped serving breakfast at 9 (disappointing) but we found somewhere just down the road that served breakfast until 3pm.

Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant - Nashville

We arrived at Nashville at around lunchtime, and so headed out for what we like to call 'Dunch'. We knew we were off to the Opry this evening and so had to find something to sustain us until at least 9pm. We chose Puckett's because we had heard it was good - and it was close to where the bus into town dropped us.

Cafe Amelie - New Orleans

For our last night in New Orleans we wanted to go somewhere nice (but local) so we walked down to Cafe Amelie on Royal st. It looked lovely from the outside with a cute courtyard, citronella candels burning to keep the mozzies away and a very tasty menu.

Cafe Beignet - New Orleans

Beignet is a dessert from New Orleans and according to the internet there is only one place to get them, Cafe Beignet.

Southern Candymakers - New Orleans

It's praline, but not like in the middle of those chocolates. It's New Orleans praline, and this place is supposedly the best place to buy them.

Quater Grocery - French Quater

It is the 4th July, and as expected on a public holiday, alot of places are closed. Our host explained to us that there is a grocery story on the corner that has surprisingly good hot sandwiches, so we went to investigate.

Eat - New Orleans

We arrived at New Orleans late in the afternoon, and after dropping the car off (in the rain I might add) we decided to hunt around for something to eat. We read about a few places but lots of things are closed on Tuesdays, so decided to eat really local and try Eat which is down the road from our apartment.

The French Press - Lafayette

We spent the night in Lafayette on route to New Orleans and had read about a place that does a good, local breakfast. Maria had a hankering for some pancakes so we made our way the The French Press.

Home Slice - Austin

We were hungry whilst waiting for the bats to come out from under the congress bridge, so we stopped for a bite of pizza.

Liberty Food Truck - Austin

Tucked away behind, no sorry, through a bar on E 6th street is the Liberty food truck. We had read that they served some awesome food so we took a drive down to see what we could have.

Kreuz BBQ - Lockhart

On our way from San Antonio to Austin we drove through Lockhart, 'The BBQ capital of Texas' which kind of makes it the BBQ capital of the world (according to the Lonely Planet). We were driving through around lunchtime so decided to stop and have a bite to eat. We only had to choose between the several that were available. We went for Kreuz, as it seemed to be one of the best.

Alamo Street Eat Bar

We have known alot about the food truck scene in America long before buying our tickets to come out here - mostly from American shows we watch, and so were excited to finally get to try some food out of them.

El Paraiso - San Antonio

Maria has, for a while, fancied a Paletas - or a popsicle in American. We have heard about a few good places in Texas and El Paraiso was one of them.

Rosario's Mexican Cafe Y Cantina

We arrived in San Antonio hungry. We had been driving from Houston all morning because we wanted to take the scenic route and found that we were then running a little late for our Airbnb host so had to rush. We looked though some of the documentation about San Antonio that was left for us, and ended up going out for a late lunch at around 4 at Rosario's.

Gloria's Houston

First night arriving in America. It's late, we have been flying for what felt like forever. We needed something easy. Our hotel suggested a little tex mex place around the corner. So we wondered off for an evening meal.

Fuddruckers Dubai

The only other burger we have tried in Dubai is at Burger Fuel, so when we found ourselves with a few hours before our connecting flight, and the knowledge that Dubai Festival City Mall is a short bus ride away from the airport, we ended up having a burger at Fuddruckers for lunch. 

Hobba - Prahran

For our final brunch, we ate closer to where we were staying in Prahran.

Huxtaburger - Melbourne Central

FINALLY! After what feels like an age, Anthony gets to eat a hamburger. We select the new outlet of Huxtaburger for his fix. Just round the back of Flinders Street station, it was nearly impossible to find, but thanks to GPS, Anthony reached his destination.

Zumbo - Sydney

After years of watching Masterchef Australia, we were desperate to get at least a little piece of ZUMBO! So while we were in Sydney, we found our chance at The Star.

Forrest Brewing Company - Forrest, Victoria

After a ridiculously long day driving from the Yarra Valley to Apollo Bay via the 12 apostles we were hungry, and Apollo Bay was out of season and everything shut at 6pm. We called Zoe who was able to tell us about a pub that was nearby that had a curry night. Perfect!

St Ali - South Melbourne

We have only been in Melbourne for a few hours and we get to grips with a meal that is big in South Australia, Brunch. The place of choice is in St Ali in Port Melbourne. 

Tim Ho Wan - Hong Kong

When you think of a Michelin Star meal, a railway station is not the first thought that comes to your mind. However, on our 7 hour layover in Hong Kong we managed to find Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong Central Station. 

Maria's Birthday @ Four Seasons Kaspia and Garage Iskendar

Well, It's that time of year where Anthony has to do something special otherwise he might get shouted at. He decided to surprise Maria by inviting her friends for a fancy drink and that most romantic of meals - the Kebab. 

Casual Brasserie - Off Fountain Square

While still making our way through the list, we ended up (after all the house work was done) having a very late lunch at Casual Brasserie. 

Beyrut - Off Fountain Square

Well, we are back in the world of Baku after our Vietnam Holiday. After we realised that we saw more of Hanoi in three days that we have of Baku in 6 months, we are trying to explore a few more restaurants. Our first stop on my Baku treats list if Beyrut.

Paul's Steak House

We have heard a lot about this place from the expat experts. We were skeptical as we didn't think anything could match up to Hawksmoor (FYI - nothing can) but Dan had invited us out for his birthday so we joined in the fun.

Banh Beo - Hoi An

We were intrigued by this street vendor and couldn't wait to try the dish that she was serving. Crouched down on a tiny chair, this lady was surrounded by tins full of home-made sauces, herbs and pickles. She took a ceramic bowl filled with what looked like a rice jelly, white and slightly wobbly, and covered it with a spoonful of goodies from each of her tins.

Com ga Ba Nga - chicken Rice -Hoi An

Another of Tu's recommendations was a local spot serving chicken rice. This was very different from the touristy spots in the main part of the town, and we were interested to see what the food would be like.

Banh mi - Hoi An

Our lovely food tour guide Tu had sent us some suggestions for food in Hoi An and yet again we were delighted with his recommendations. Our favourite meal without a doubt, was banh mi, a dish that we had become familiar with in London.

Xoi Yen and coffee creme caramel

For tonight's dinner, we decided to try xoi yen, sticky rice topped with all sorts of goodies. We followed the lonely planet's recommendation and saw two restaurants with the same name next to each other. We went for the busy one, where we had to climb two floors to find a table. We squeezed onto tiny plastic stools and looked through a rather faded menu to choose what we wanted. I went for Chinese sausage and BBQ pork belly and Anthony tried his with Chinese sausage and a fried egg. Both were delicious!

Secret coffee and Bun Cha

After a very leisurely start to the day, we decided that we needed to get up and go in search of coffee and lunch. We decided to look for a secret cafe, through a silk shop and up many flights of winding stairs. We found it easily and were delighted with both the view of the lake and the amazing coffee. I really like Vietnamese coffee and this sweet hot black coffee was delicious! Anthony was more adventurous and went for the egg milk coffee, a sweet frothy coffee with a rather custardy flavour.

Bun Bo Nam Bo

With recommendations from Sean and Emma, Tu and the Lonely Planet, we decided to try this amazing dish on our second night in Hanoi. A short walk away from our hotel was a crowded restaurant full of locals with a smattering of tourists holding on to their lonely planet guides. We squeezed in behind a long table and ordered two dishes and two beers.

Pots 'n Pans cooking course

Our cooking courses have often been the highlight of our travels and our cooking course in Hanoi was another fantastic experience.

Cooking courses are a new venture at Pots 'n Pans, a fusion restaurant run by graduates of the KOTO training program, which works with street and disadvantaged youth. We were the first people to try the cookery course and we really enjoyed it. After a short visit to the local market to buy some pandan leaves, we quickly got to work.

Food tour - Hanoi

What better way to start our foodie holiday in Vietnam than with a street food tour of Hanoi! We met our guide Tu at our hotel and set off on a three hour culinary adventure. Our first stop was a tiny family run restaurant down a dark alley where we sampled delicious spicy beef noodles, crabcakes and fishcakes and eel noodles, all washed down with a cold Hanoi beer. It was really nice to sit down with Tu and to ask him our many questions about Vietnamese food, culture and traditions.

Turkish place on Nizami

After 10 weeks of school, the last week was really dragging. So to celebrate hump day (Wednesday to those not in the know) we decided to venture out with Patti and Dave to a Turkish place off Fountain Square that Dave said has just been refurbished.

We arrived just after 6 and Dave was disappointed that the serving area didn't have something that he said looked quite good. But we found a place to sit and had a look at the vast menu. After speaking to a waiter with very good English, we decided to have a wonder around the serving area pointing at what looked good.

Burgerfuel - Dubai

After a few weeks in Baku, we were starting to miss the fundamental things in life. Fresh vegetables, Japanese food and burgers. We were spoilt in London. We had Hawkesmoor. So whilst in Dubai we decided to try and find a burger.

Shaurma No1 - Fuzili

After a heavy night at I can't remember where, we decided that we were going to go and investigate a brand new market for our weekly shops. After 2 markets and no purchases we thought that it was time for lunch. We had heard a few of our friends talk about Shaurma No1 (a very small chain in Baku) so we decided to go for it.

Pencere (Penjere)

Dancing and ANUS! (we might as well say it now because we will be using that term a little later in the post.) This about sums up what Pencere on a friday night. The dancing was interesting and culturally  significant - well, not really. Girls in odd outfits dancing around when the dance floor was free. The food (and beer) however was not bad.

Green Market - near 28May

On a lazy sunday morning - Anthony's mobile bleeps;

"We're going to the 'Green Market' if you guys wanna come with us"

"Of course," we say! And the next thing you know, Dan (Dan the ipad man) and Iryna are taking us on a journey (bus, metro and a walk) to find the 'Green Market'. 

(Anthony was unsure if it was called green due to the fact it sold vegetables or if it was surrounded by a huge green wall!) 

We walked in and were met with all of the sights, sounds and smells of a bustling market. Fruit was sold out of car boots and lorries, whilst some merchants were taking the time to stack their produce (by size) in a neat little tower. 

Butternut Squash Muffins with Lemon Drizzle

Butternut Squash Muffins with Lemon Drizzle

The fruit and vegetables here in Baku are rather more seasonal than in the UK so we are learning to make the most of them while they are available. So yesterday Anthony bought a huge butternut squash - 3.5kg for about £1.50! 

After much time spent researching recipes and looking for the best way to freeze this delicious vegetable, I came across this Jamie Oliver recipe for butternut squash muffins. I particularly like the fact that they were dairy free and therefore suitable for some of my new friends here in Baku. 

Tosca - on the Boulevard

We visited Tosca on a warm Hump Day evening. The Caspian was a bit choppy from the wind that was blowing from the south, so of course we decided to sit outside. 

Kichik Gala Street Tandir - Old City

When you read any of the guides for Baku, the food chapter always has a large section about bread! The bread we have had since we got here has been fantastic but we had not yet tried tandir bread. We decided to make the most of our long Ramadan weekend and headed off to the old city to find a traditional Azeri breakfast.