Sole Seafood & Grill

Last dinner in Dublin, and got this recommendation from our Guinness Storehouse tour guide.

For food, got the scallops (would get them again), the burrata (I might not get this one again since the tomato it came with was dried tomatoes, instead of what I was expecting which was fresh tomatoes), and the seafood platter (yes yes and yes would obviously get this one again), with a side of fries. Also one of the bread they have is was soda bread which is popular in Ireland (since it is made out of Guinness). not my first choice, but when in Ireland would get it, and it was good dipping into the butter sauce of the lobster.

For drinks, got prosecco, whisky sour and pisco sour. All but the pisco sour were good (Limon has wayyy better pisco sours).

Overall great experience and vibe. Would recommend this place.

Spitalfields

First dinner in Dublin (and it is Michelin star recommended).

Setting is a pub like place, but food is definitely not ordinary pub food.

For “snacks” (in Ireland it is almost equivalent to appetizers, it smaller) we got the scallops, the deviled eggs, and the oysters (which I did not try for obvious reasons). Scallops were cooked pretty good, but sauce could have been improved.

For “starters” (equivalent to appetizers) got the beef cheek and oxtail roll, and the cured yellow fin tuna. Both were great.

For mains, tried the pork schnitzel and the pork chop. The latter was great. Wouldn’t get the former again since it was too oily.

For drinks, for the hazelnut martini (which was pretty good. Sweet but not too sweet). Also got an Aperol spritz, and tried the Teeling single malt whisky, and the Dingle Founding Father’s single malt. Will say I liked the Teeling better

5 Oceanos

We stopped by here for our last dinner in Porto (technically it is in the city of Matosinhos).

Great restaurant. Our waiter was a little assuming in what we wanted to order (ie we mentioned cod, and that order came through… which wasn’t a bad thing in the end).

To start, we ordered macallan 12 (very generous pour). Then ordered the scallops, Octopus, and fried cod. The Octopus and cod came with other things like vegetables and potatoes and chips (which made things extra filling). also chips were made by the restaurant.

Food and vibe overall was good. Would come back here.

One thing they didn’t have but we wanted to try was percpbes (aka barnacle)

Ce La Vi

Came to this restaurant for our last (late) lunch in Dubai. Gotta say this is definitely a place I would recommend.

First, this restaurant is on the 54th floor of a building called the Address Sky View building (which has two towers and, and this restaurant is located on the bridge that connects them). The view itself is awesome, and it does have a south west view for a good sunset photo. Also the elevator ride to the top has a great view (feels like we didn’t need to go to The Frame for the view).

We ended up staying here for almost 3 hours (from 3pm to 5:40pm… sunset is at 5:28pm). Now to get to the food…

For drinks (for descriptions see the menu picture below), I got the cacao hunter, the champagne pina colada, and the crimson sun (basically an Aperol spritz with grape fruit soda), and an ild fashion (which came with my friend’s dessert). The crimson sun I would get again and again. The others I could get again, but would probably try other drinks in the menu first.

For food, all of it was amazing. Definitely best meal in Dubai. Started of with beef bao buns. Best bao buns I’ve ever had. Also got fried calamari, and the fried rice tuna. Both great. For mains, got the sea bass and scallops. Also both great, and the sauce with the scallops was amazing.

For dessert, got the chocolate fondant cake. Thought the restaurants name printed on it was classy. A friend got the churro. The sauces with it (especially the chocolate one) was good. It also came with an old fashion (for two people).

Again, loved this restaurant.

Bagatella

Tried this restaurant in the Marina district in San Francisco. Would definitely come back.

First, their bread was really good. It was fresh, and the garlic butter in came with was great.

For drinks got an Aperol Spritz.

For appetizer, got the meatballs and the gnocchi. Both great.

For my main course, got the seafood linguini. Also great, but wished the scallops were the larger ones (they were just bay scallops).

Finished off with key lime pie. No complaints there.

Ondine

We ate here for our last night at Edinburgh. Would come back here in a heart beat.

First started off with an espresso martini. Not the greatest but would still get it again (told them to remove their custom sugar syrup from the drink, which probably affected the taste). Then got a Cragganmore 12. Slightly peaty, but nit more than an Oban.

For appetizers, got the asparagus with crab meat, and the scallops. Hands down would get all of them again.

For the main, we got the see food platter (warm version). Would get it again as well (but you need a friends to be able to eat the oysters and mussels first you). It came with clams, mussels, crab, lobster, a baby lobster, razor blade clams (which are amazing).

Ended off with a cheesecake. Also really great.

Ubiquitous Chip

First restaurant we ate at in Scotland! Was highly recommended at the west end of Glasgow (near University of Glasgow which is why there were a lot of students). I really liked it (the friend I was with wasn’t as impressed).

We mainly loaded on starters first. Tried the scallops (which was my favorite), then a salmon dish followed by haggis (that Scotland dish wish I was willing to try but probably wouldn’t be keen on getting it again).

For drinks got an espresso martini and a whisky drink.

For my main got the cod with lobster cake. I liked the cod, but would probably skip out on the lobster cake next time.

Figaro

Went for dinner at this restaurant before seeing a comedy show at the Comedy Cellar in the west village.

For appetizers, got the salmon over crispy rice. Great choice and would definitely get it again. For the main course, got the scallops with trofie pasta. Also great choice (scallops were cooked just right).

For drinks, did the standard Aperol spritz (as this is an Italian restaurant).

Aviary

This restaurant was my first kitchen table experience. And gotta say, had a really great time. Each meal was served by a different waiter, and they all were fully engaging. They described every meal and drink.

As a friend put it, this place was more about the drinks, and the food was the actual pairing to the drinks.

Some other notes is that this place is from the same group as Alinea, and they do recommend drinks back and forth. Also, my three favorite foods from below is the pea soup (had real crab meat), the scallops, and the scallion fritters.

Here is the complete menu:

  • Dungeons and dragons (white run with dragon fruit) and a ricotta lemon zest starter
  • Golden eggs drink (pineapple beer tequila) with scallops and caviar
  • The blue berry (gin, blue berry) and scallion fritters
  • Tea (rum and cognac) with Crab meat dish
  • Truffle explosion
  • Duck with popcorn whisky (3 whiskies)
  • Wendies frosty and chips (which you dip the chips in )
  • Sorbet with an aperitif (there was almonds and several fruits in it)

The Fish Hopper Seafood and Steaks

First restaurant I ate in Hawaii (Kona). It’s in the main town in Holualoa.

Overall, I did get a tourist vibe from the place. However, the drink I ordered, the toasted pina colada, was really good, and the perfect first drink in Hawaii.

For the main course I ordered a clam chowder and seafood pastaZ the pasta was great. The clam chowder was a bit too thick (the last picture posted was a ultimate Bloody Mary with a slider and bacon attached to it, which I did not ordered, but thought was really cool).