London, Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels, Paris in September

That’s the spirit!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/food/2019/jan/20/rise-of-caribbean-food-in-the-uk-culinary-heritage

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@shrinkrap I’d be remiss not to encourage you to eat Indian food in London.

Dishoom is a family favorite. There are (at least) two outposts of restaurants from Mumbai - Trishna, lauded for its seafood, and Farzi Cafe (which may not work for your DH, it’s a modern take… my dad didn’t love it but the rest of us enjoyed the twists). Past favorites include several from the Chutney Mary group (Veeraswamy’s weekend brunch used to be a whole thing). Gunpowder is on my list for another time.

ETA: I forgot one of my favorite takeaway meal places also has branches there - The Kati Roll Company.

On a different note, much better Eastern European food there too, if you want to explore.

(Also Ottolenghi, if that’s of interest / curiosity.)

What a wonderful trip to look forward to!

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:+1:
In the Nine Streets, check out De Kaaskame for cheese. While varieties of Gouda are abundant, ask about other Dutch cheeses. They recomended a washed-rind (brandy) young/runny cheese from Utrecht that was fabulous. And a Dutch white field-blend wine that went perfectly with cheese.

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Great to see Roti Joupa on the CN list. My fave Caribbean place for sure and a big fave among those on here, around London. A restaurant it ain’t though
( a small ledge with a couple if stools),Also Clapham might be considered a bit of a schlep. I think the food’s worth it ( only 30 mins for me) and you can always picnic on the common. Doubles and the macaroni pie are a must. Much love shown on this thread.

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Moved the posts concerning Paris to here.

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I’ve stayed at that Rubens at the Palace a few times. Nice location.

For a nice English breakfast - in a beautiful space- with enough plain things on the menu, a splurge at The Wolseley on Picadilly.
[London] The Wolseley

Rules will have some plainer food for the plain eater and interesting stuff for everyone else. Again, a splurge.

[London WC2] Rules

Fortnum’s has a market café on the mezzanine called Field with very good food (including good plainer food),

as well as a food hall with stalls in the concourse, and a tea room on an upper floor.

J Sheekey for a nicer fish dinner.

The place I liked for fish & chips in Soho closed during the Pandemic. The Golden Hind is often recommended.

The Ivy had a few locations, for breakfast or other lunches. [London] Full English breakfast at The Ivy Soho Brasserie

In Paris, I am out of the loop, but we liked Brasserie Flottes for a Brasserie with decent food and some plain options. https://brasserieflottes.fr/en

In Amsterdam, again, out of the loop. The dishes I like when in Holland and when visiting Dutch restaurants- War fries (fries with peanut sauce, mayo, onions), bitterballen (meatballs), croquetten (beef filled croquettes), pfannkoekken (sp- giant crepes filled with savoury or sweet things). Their baked goods, especially apple things, are very good.

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Thanks everyone, for all of your responses! This trip was originally scheduled for 2020, but we all know what kinda year that was.

It’s been rescheduled twice, and I’m still “feeling some type of way”, but we’ve already lost some deposits, and we are going to go for it.

We are grateful to have this opportunity, and of course look forward to meals, but I have learned not to get overly invested in the meal planning.

That being said; a few details as of several weeks ago.

The “kids” are 26-32.
All the tours are private.

Breakfast appears to be included for all but Paris, and some token food “credits” for use at the hotels.

Full day tours on the fist two of three days in Lonon, one of which is Borough Market, Brewery, and a “Proper Pub Crawl” The third day is open, and daughter has mentioned the theater, but I’m hesitant.

Next stop is by Eurostar to Amsterdam on a Friday, not sure of arrival time. Next day ( Saturday) a walking street food tour with "afternoon at leisure ", followed by a morning tour on Sunday, afternoon at leisure, and all day tour on Monday.

We transfer to Bruges on Tuesday, apparently checking in at 3, and the next day have a 9 to 2 walking tour, "afternoon at leisure ". Thursday a day trip to Ghent; 9 AM to 4 PM

I’m exhausted already

Friday at leisure.

On Saturday we transfer to Brussels “including Brussels city and gourmet tour”. When the tour ends at 3, we catch a train to Paris.

Whew!

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Sounds fantastic.

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I think I know of a couple of places that might fit the bill in Brugge. They are out from the center but that is usually something people desire after the hoards.
Bistro De Schaar Great Meat and Seafood mostly prepared on their wood fired grill.
De Verloren Hoek simple approachable food, great dry aged steaks. Nice beer list, outdoor dining. Out near the Windmills.
For Beer (which is a must in BE):
Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan
Café Vlissingheest. 1515, If hey have reopened.
Staminee De Garre Great Beers, staff and atmosphere.
't Poatersgat Basement pub in the center.

My focus was mostly on Beer if that isn’t apparent (╹ڡ╹ )

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Thank you!

Also keep your eye out for the savory Dutch style Pannenkoek in the Netherlands and Belgium. Much like the “Dutch Babies” that are serve around here but topped with savory ingredients, makes a great meal and cant imagine anyone not liking them. Our favorite was topped with Jambon d’Ardenne , Apple and Gruyère.

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Thanks! So grateful to you for telling us about that when we made the trip to New York!

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Thank you! Lots to look at!

Have a good time! One beer to look out for is Cantillon. I learned about this brand from @Presunto.

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I have been as well, but I finally went last week. Mostly everyone was good about masking - except the guy next to me who announced to his companions “I’m good” when the theater made the announcement that masks were required and could everyone put them on if they had not already.

So a few minutes later I coughed… and he immediately put his mask on. Any time he decided he didn’t need it on any more - I coughed again. Back it went on.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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@ninkat Here are some of the London Indian restaurants we were talking about.

Thanks @Saregama! I could eat Indian every day in London, but assuming I can only do one meal (or at least one where I am taking my hosts), would you choose Farzi Cafe or one of the Gunpowder locations (and which of the later)? I might be able to sneak the other in for a lunch while the hosts are working!

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So, I fully understand that I haven’t been to London in a lot of years but, just for my curiosity, is Tayyab (Whitechapel area) still a thing? We had some great meals there long ago & I see its still open (& byob).

I’d take a look at the menus and choose what sounds most delicious to you - hard to go wrong, really.

I haven’t eaten at Gunpowder but I have their cookbook. The Chutney Mary group places are probably a bit tired relative to newer places but the food used to be excellent. (And as I said the other day, my sib eats at Dishoom as many times as he can on business trips, though it isn’t fancy by London standards.)

Trishna may be an interesting choice - the preps are very indian but it’s retooled to be a Michelin place rather than a get-your-hands-dirty indian seafood place.

For your personal meals, there’s regional variety in London you don’t find in the same way in NYC (the Bay Area has more if it nowadays). Gujarati, Maharashtrian, and so on.

Too bad Asma Khan’s place is shut down at the moment.

Haven’t been there