Japanese In-the-Room Cuisine in Taste at Rustic

This eatery is anything but rustic. Lovers of Japanese cuisine – this is your restaurant. The third floor offerings are for gourmet palates, which will here savour one of the best Japanese cuisines ever, with creative highlights to boot. Signed by the prestigious chef, Dylan McGrath, the dishes are prepared on the spot, in front of the guests, and their selection ranges from sushi to ramen and barbecued Kobe meat. All excellent. The desserts are also as enviable. We recommend the pistachio crème brûlée, the cheesecake and the cold coconut and mango soup. The superb dinner will make a lasting impression on you.

Signature Cocktails & Prime Meat at The Clarence Hotel

U2 fans will be familiar with The Clarence Hotel, owned by the musician, Bono. It offers two options for gastronomes. The Cleaver East restaurant, with its industrial decoration, is well known for its meat dishes. And, should anyone be in doubt about it, the huge wall of the restaurant is covered in axes. The menu features first-class entrecôtes, hamburgers and steaks which will delight the most demanding carnivores. Then there is The Liquor Rooms, located in the hotel basement, one of Dublin’s most VIP cocktail bars. Here, master mixologists apply their flair and expertise to preparing over 30 signature formulas that will win over connoisseurs of a good drink.

A Taste of the Sea at Wrights Findlater Howth

On the outskirts of Dublin lies the upmarket, seafaring quarter of Howth, site of Wrights Findlater Howth. It stands opposite the harbour, with views over the bay, and offers one of the best local seafood cuisines –mussels, prawns, lobster and other seafood vie with one another on a menu which also features copious servings of deliciousfish and chips. The finishing flourish to a pleasant meal is provided by the apple crumble with vanilla ice-cream. Divine!

A Rakish Touch at Lillie’s Bordello

The name of this cocktail bar is a veritable declaration of intent. The bar is done out as a brothel, with red, velvet couches and erotic pictures on the walls. The ideal spot for melting into the corners and enjoying a broad selection of gins and homemade liqueurs. On the ground floor is The Porterhouse, a grandiose pub which serves its own beer – they offer more than 10 varieties – in a casual, bustling, typically Irish ambience.

Drury Buildings – Chic and Rustic

Excellent, pampered Italian recipes. Wood and leather combine in the decor of this restaurant with its casual, modern, cosmopolitan atmosphere. Ideal for a relaxing daytime meal, as it is located in the heart of downtown Dublin, in one of the most interesting streets for foodies worth their salt – Drury Street. It is full of stores with designer objects for the kitchen, and cool coffee shops with a broad selection of coffees ground on the spot and filter-percolated, to preserve all the essence of this beverage, served with a delicious bun or pastry. A place you would want to spend the whole day reading leisurely in.

Posturing at Sophie’s

Sophie’s is perched on the rooftop of The Dean, a very swank hotel that made the prestigious Hot List of the Condé Nast Traveller magazine for its concept, services and interior design. Sophie’s restaurant features panoramic views of the city through its huge glass walls. By night, it is astonishing. With the lights dimmed, chichi guests rub shoulders with one another as they sip on their aperitif or savour excellent, Italian-inspired cuisine (seafood pasta, risotto…). Their selection of Irish meat also comes highly recommended, especially the beef meatballs, steak or lamb shank (so typical here). All paired with the finest international wines. We can vouch that Sophie’s is the ideal spot for sitting around the table after dinner with friends or for couples. And, if you want to extend your evening, the ground-floor Hotel Dean bar is among the trendiest in town for doing your postureo.

I imagine you fancy discovering these culinary marvels. Come and savour them! Check out our flights here.

Text and photos: Laia Ziegerfor Gastronomistas.com

Here are the best restaurants outside the city’s historic centre. Bon appétit!

Rajski Vrt

This terrace café, located on the marvellous island of Lokrum, with views over a romantic garden and the sea in the background, rests on the wall of a semi-abandoned monastery. The food served here is more suited to recovering from a swim or a walk in the nearby botanic gardens than to culinary pleasure. They offer salads, pizza, hamburgers, pasta, risotto, meat and fish. Pizzas here are large, with a fine crust and delicious (about 10 euros), as are the hearty helpings of grilled, sausage-shaped minced meat –cevapcici– served with excellent chips and a pepper and onion sauce. Watch out for their lemonade, made with real lemons; it is so sour it will make your tongue sweat instantly. This establishment is open from 1 May until mid-October. Average price: 20-25 euros.

Pantarul

Located in the area of Lapad, just over half an hour’s walk from the historic centre of Dubrovnik. This is a very casual restaurant with relaxing background music. One of the owners is the blogger Ana-Marija Bujic, who conquers the national and international public both at her eatery and on the net. They offer traditional Croatian recipes with a modern twist and high-quality, fresh, seasonal products. Tripadvisor gives them full marks. Only one year after opening, it has become one of the city’s trendiest restaurants. In addition to the menu, that changes seasonally, they promote new options such as sharing dishes, which they are trying to implement in the city.

We can recommend the marvellous, delicate and subtle tuna tartar, the very fresh monkfish tempura with green garlic sauce – made with peas – and the traditional and potent mutton with garlic and soparnik – Swiss chard pie with onion and garlic – and aromatic herbs. Average prices, including drinks, are about 30 euros. This is one of the few restaurants in Dubrovnik that opens all year around, closing only for 3 weeks in January. Their opening times are 12 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 10.30 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday. Monday closed.

Konavoski Dvori

This restaurant is located in an idyllic setting in Konavle, a 15-minute drive south of the airport – Dubrovnik being 20 kilometres north of it. The vineyards in this valley, running parallel to the seafront, are the prelude to a landscape of small river waterfalls, canals, forest paths and watermills, one of which is located next to the 16th-century restaurant, still used to grind corn. Konavoski Dvori gives its name to both this beautiful park and the restaurant.

What is served here? Well, traditional Croatian food. Note for Spanish speakers: the menu is also in Spanish. A must-have is the mutton and beef roasted in an iron “hood” and served with potatoes grilled at almost 200 degrees – a typical Dalmatian dish. We also recommend their frog’s legs and river-eel stew –Neretva– and strokli, a kind of baked cheese and cream lasagne, a Slavonian dish. Waiters wear the traditional costume.

Lero Hotel

An interesting and affordable accommodation option in Dubrovnik. Lero Hotel is a 20-minute walk from the historical centre. It is modern – but not fancy – and very comfortable, with all sorts of amenities such as a swimming pool, a wellness area and a Wi-Fi connection. Many of their rooms have a sea view. Great continental breakfast.

Now you have a complete view of Dubrovnik’s cuisine. Don’t forget to read the first part, about the best restaurants within the city walls. Come and enjoy it! Check out our flights here.

Text and images by Gastronomistas

New Year’s Eve is marked by special events in all the world’s major capitals. However, few take it so seriously as the people of Edinburgh. Hogmanay, as the festivity is known in Scotland, dates from the 16th century. Pagan in origin, it was brought to Scotland by early Gaelic and Viking settlers. The liturgy for Hogmanay was simple – it was customary to visit the homes of friends and neighbours just before midnight in order to be the first to cross the threshold carrying small gifts like fruit cake, whisky, biscuits or salt to celebrate the occasion. With a tradition of nearly six hundred years to back it, Hogmanay has become one of the most important festivities in Scotland and a tourist magnet for anyone wishing to experience a different New Year’s Eve. The celebrations are long drawn out, crammed with activities marrying culture and entertainment and featuring an extensive review of Scottish history. One interesting statistic – in the mid-nineties, the Guinness Book of Records rated Hogmanay the biggest New Year’s Eve celebration in the world, with over 400,000 celebrators each year.

The upcoming Hogmanay, which will mark the passage from 2016 to 2017, will be held from 30 December to 1 January, a very full weekend during which numerous special events will be hosted at various venues in Edinburgh. In effect, the celebration provides visitors with a unique opportunity to discover the city’s most emblematic landmarks in just three days. Two tips about coming well prepared – be sure to bring both sturdy trainers and thick coats, as the temperatures in Scotland at this time of year are icy cold. Having said that, let’s go over the highlights of the festival.

The standout event is without doubt the Street Party, held in an area sectioned off in the city centre, and set against the backdrop of famous Edinburgh Castle. Various shows are staged from 7 o’clock in the evening of 31 December until 1 in the morning. One of the highlights is the musical fireworks display, held to see out 2016 and bring in 2017. A varied programme of top-notch musical performances will be hosted before and after that event at various venues. From the independent pop of The Charlatans – one of the most acclaimed British groups, with a track record of four decades – to the traditional Celtic sound of Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton, to jazz gigs by James Brown is Annie and Brass Gumbo. There is even a slot for DJs to plug their hits.

Another show you simply cannot miss is the Torchlight Procession. Scheduled for 30 December, the parade files through Edinburgh’s Old Town and is a charity event long associated with Hogmanay. The dynamics of the procession are simple – you can attend as a spectator or purchase a torch for twelve pounds and join the mass march past, which ends with the lighting of a huge bonfire, a sound and light show and a fireworks display which will be visible from various parts of the city.

We wind up this review of the highlights of Hogmanay (there are many events, which you can check out here) with the grand finale, the Final Fling, featuring Gaelic folk dances. The Final Fling will be held in the Grand Hall of the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street, with Heeliegoleerie as the guest stars. Heeliegoleerie are one of Scotland’s most well-established bands who perform at the Ceilidh, an ancestral Scottish festival which acts as a social gathering and also hosts music and dances.

Come and experience Hogmanay for yourself – book your Vueling to Edinburgh here.

Text by Xavi Sánchez for Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Visiting Ibiza out of season offers a number of pleasant advantages, making it the ideal destination for a getaway where you can recharge your batteries in a highly attractive – and peaceful – location. You might be taken aback by the idea of it being peaceful, as Ibiza is internationally renowned for being studded with celebrities sailing off its coastline in fabulous yachts, crowded beaches for strutting your stuff and endless revelling in its world famous discos. But there is indeed another side to the island and it’s well worth discovering.

In that “other Ibiza” you can experience the island’s beaches and scenery in all their splendour, and soak up the unique magic emanating from some of its corners. One such surprise awaiting those who visit Ibiza this spring is its culinary offerings. Imagine savouring the island’s typical flavours in some of its prime restaurants at a very special price? It’s yours for the taking from 20 April to 28 May, when the island is due to proffer its gastronomic face to delight visitors (and locals, too, needless to say). Dubbed #IbizaSabor2017, this fair brings together 51 illustrious restaurants which for a few days will be offering haute cuisine at affordable prices, with house menus for 25 euros (wine and drinks apart).

Showcasing Ibizan Cuisine

One of the highlights of this initiative is the presence of Ibizan cuisine on the menus drawn up by the participating restaurants. So, you can taste popular fish dishes such as bullit de peix, or sofrit payés, featuring assorted meats combined with potato, vegetables and the two most popular cured meats on the island –sobrasada and butifarra. Other offerings include cuinat, a typical Holy Week dish seasoned with a herb characteristic of the place and time, borrida de ratjada, with ray fish as the centrepiece, pescado en salmorra (pickled fish), ensalada de crostes, a salad based on bread crusts and dried fish, and the ever juicy and tasty arroz de matanzas (a meat paella rice). Desserts are there, too, especially two island classics – flaó, an Ibizan cheesecake, and greixonera, a kind of steam pudding, which the sweet-toothed will adore.

The restaurants that have signed up for this fair are scattered about the island’s major towns – Ibiza, Santa Eulària, Sant Josep, Sant Antoni and Sant Jona, making this event the perfect excuse for including local cuisine on your itinerary across Ibiza. Of the venues that have joined the #IbizaSabor2017 initiative, you can enjoy haute cuisine at La Gaia, in the Ibiza Gran Hotel, the Aguas de Ibiza Hotel restaurant, Unic, Can Domo and Es Terral. You will be amazed by the long-standing experience in hospitality at Ca Na Ribes, an establishment that goes back ninety years, and Ca N’Alfredo, which can boast seventy-five. Savour the seafood at Sa Caleta or Sa Nansa and discover the charm of locales such as Ses Roques and La Veranda by Atzaró. The long list of eateries also features Ca N’Anneta, Café Montesol and Ibosim where tapas take pride of place (5 euros per tapa, with a glass of wine or beer included). Check out the full list of restaurants in the #IbizaSabor2017 initiative here.

Fire up, book your Vueling to Ibiza and taste the island’s most flavourful fare.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS