SG Hits Madrid

I went to Madrid for 3 days and 2 nights .. and ..

Had Churros - The spanish donut with coffee


Kept going by the Museum of Ham for the fantastic ham that Spain is famous for ..



I got lost, and still the fates decided that I should find Botin, the world's oldest restaurant

Had pig's trotter and a jug of sangria by myself ( which I threw up later in the night from too much boozing.. ewwwwwwwwwww)


Sherry + free tapas of Olives

Went to Toledo - the Medieval Capital of Spain for a day trip


Had 1 Marzipan


Had half a Toledo Artisannas, the dustbin got the rest.

More free tapas + coffee


Went back to Madrid for more ..

More Sangria + Tapas of Ham ..

My Last Day in Madrid and It was raining puppies and kittens .. Haiz

Went to Casa Alberto recommended by the Hostelworld guide for some of the best tapas in Spain.

Had Spanish Omelet

Had 1 Bite of the Pork Swish-Kebab (returned the rest, it was a wrong order!)


Had 1/2 plate of Fried Blood Sausage (I didn't like it in Ireland, I still don't like it in Madrid. I don't like blood sausage, it's not you, it's me)

Wanted to hide from the rain after all my shopping, and found the 100 Tapas place mentioned by my guidebook by chances again. (I swear !!)

Had Salmon + Prawn - Good !

Had 1 bite of Salted Anchovy - (So salty and oily.. i didn't want to touch it after that bite in the photo)

Had Cuts of Ham + Pate Sandwich . .surprisingly good

The entire menu was in Spanish, the servers didn't speak English. So I just randomly ticked off some items, they were all just 1.20 euros each afterall.

Ask, (urhm pay) and you will receive !

Dublin Pub & Cafe Crawl

After holing up in my room for an entire week, I took off to the City Center for a change of environment.

Beshoff Restaurant, 6. Upper O'Connell street, Dublin 1,
Named as a close rival for the best Fish & Chips in Dublin to Leo Burdock's, I had haddock with a small side of salad. The batter surrounding the fish was thin but not crispy. While the fish was fresh and complemented the batter, it definitely felt less satisfying when compared with the mega amounts from Leo Burdock. But overall, it was a good meal and did not feel overly heavy.

Queen of Tarts, 4 Cork Hill Dame Street, South Dublin Centre
Renowned as the best pastry shop in Dublin. True to its reputation, after a cup of Lavazza coffee and a slice of Bailey's Chocolate Chip Cheesecake which came with a scoop of cold cream, I give it my vote as well.

The Porterhouse Temple Bar, 16-18 Parliament Street
Dublin 2
The second biggest brewer in Ireland after Guiness, it is a defiant, little establishment. Proud of its homemade brew with its quality products and no preservatives, it was not afraid to poke fun of the mega beer brands out there. I had a half-pint of Temple Braus here. A lager that was brewed in Dublin for Dublin only. Very clean, crisp taste, it felt like sparkling mineral water with a much better taste.


Bewley's Café, 78 Grafton Street, Dublin 2
Bewley is famous in Ireland for its coffee. A strong, robust cappuccino which lived up to its reputation and a freshly baked Bewley's scone. A light, fluffy, cake-like consistency, it was accompanied with jam and butter.

Whelans, 25 Wexford Street, Dublin 2
One of the filming sites of P.S I Love You, where the couple meet up again after their destined meeting in Wicklow. In reality, Whelan's is a famous Dublin live music venue for up and coming bands. On a rather quiet street, Whelan' has a cozy atmosphere with easy listening music on the lower floor. The upper floor has performances almost on a daily basis by different bands. I was a bit disappointed when my friend did not want to go for the performance.

The Stag's Head, 1 Dame Court, Dublin 2
Started in the 1870s, it was the first pub to have electricity in the city and a regular haunt of the famed Irish writer, James Joyce. Victorian in its design, there was a basement for performances over the weekend called the Stag's Tail. Just a casual chill out place, I did not feel much for the pub.

Therefore, concluding my list of must-do in Dublin, off to Madrid ! I will most probably visit Porterhouse again for its beer, there was a tasting menu available for 5 euros that I wanted to try. Hopefully, I will have time in between my Madrid trip and my exams.

Dinner at the Saddle Room, Shelbourne Hotel

Walking past the Xmas decorations on Grafton Street, I was on my way to my lavish dinner at the Saddle Room today.

The Saddle Room is a restaurant that is located at the Shelbourne Hotel, built in 1824, a luxury 5 star hotel in Dublin city centre overlooking St. Stephen's Green, Europe's grandest garden square.




I had a seafood platter, with oysters, lobster, crab claws, prawns and mussels. The oysters were amazing, with four different varieties from different areas of Ireland like Galway & Clare. The lobster and the prawn were tender, sweet and fresh. The crab was mediocre. The mussels were too tiny for my liking, but they were sweet little gems as well in the vinaigrette sauce given.

Followed by partridge with potato truffle oil, smoked bacon and lentils in a cast iron pot, which I only found so-so.

I had a chocolate fondant for dessert with caramel ice cream on the side and I stole parts of my friends' dessert of rice pudding and rum baba (sponge cake soaked in rum), which were as good as well.

As we had dinner, we drank 2 bottles of this excellent French white wine. I was mildly drunk when I was walking out of the restaurant.

We tried to look for a pub for a drink, but there was just too many people. Settling down the Brewley's Cafe, another Dublin icon which was established since 1927.

We started to drink somemore, Tattinger champagne


Happy Days ! Tomorrow night, I will be off to a Dublin pub with some friends for dinner. More photos to show !

Saddle Room
The Shelbourne Hotel,
27 St Stephen's Green,
South Dublin Centre
Tel: +353 (0) 01 663 4500

Brewley's Cafe
78 Grafton St,
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 (0)86 8784001

Dumplings in Dublin

There's nothing better in winter than a hot piping bowl of dumplings. So, the men started to embark on the great dumpling project.


Making the filling and the skin of the dumplings from scratch, we had to improvise with organic brown flour from the local Indian supermarket. The men kneaded, chopped and mixed.

While the girls, okay, me, provided the all important, imported Argentina beer, which I left outside the window to chill in the cold of the winter night.


The dumplings that I had helped to wrap. There were two types, one was pork with leek (韭菜）and lamb with cabbage. As a finishing touch, one of the guys fried some hua qiao, grinded it up and sprinkled it all over the meat.


The first batch of dumplings. We had a homemade sauce with Sichuan chili oil(not just chili oil, my Sichuan friend actually brought it over from his hometown, kept in a jar with hua qiao, hu qiao, sesame, chili oil), fresh garlic, sugar and sesame oil.

Seeing how we still had some dough left, we made fresh noodles.

With eggs, tomato and some spicy soybean paste (豆瓣酱, also homemade in Sichuan with onion, dried beef, dark marinated soy), we mixed up a batch of sauce.


A warm, yummy meal in the cold, Irish night.

Gruel - Where the Good Food is At

After spotting Gruel in the recommended eats of both my guidebooks, I wanted to try it before I left Dublin. It was definitely the right choice. A good indicator was the constant queue in the tiny restaurant and the constant stream of people heading in and out of this charming eatery.

Determined to see what the hype was all about, I dived right in.




The first five people in front of me order roast-in-a-roll, as did the five people after me, I knew what I had to do. Roast in a Roll !

A thick slab of turkey (organic, my guidebook claims), and homemade cranberry relish, in a warm wholemeal bread roll. There was a board which listed a different roast for each day. It was filling, yummy and great value for money. With such a cozy atmosphere and great eats, no wonder it has been claimed that Bono is a fan of this eatery.

Gruel
67 Dame St,
Dublin, Ireland
+353 (0)1 670-7119