Tag Archives: restaurant

Where to eat in Chania? Tamam!

I am a very curious person, but I also know that when I find something “perfect”, it is wise to stick to it. So, after my first meal at Tamam, I understood there was no other place to eat at in Chania, Crete.

Tamam restaurant is located behind Lucia Hotel (the blue building by the Venetian harbour).

Tamam is located one street up from the Venetian Harbour. I am posting a photo to make it easier for you to find Tamam. When facing Hotel Lucia (the blue building), take the street on your right. Walk fifteen meters and you can already see Tamam tables outside on the street on your left hand side. Should you like to eat inside (Tamam is located at a beautiful, old Turkish public bath, “hammam”), take the first street on the left, and wait for a waiter. Very easy!

Tamam has a lovely terrace. If you choose the table in the far end, you can have sea view!

Now, you have your table and you are reading the menu, which is quite long. You may recognize some dishes but you are also wondering which dishes are more Turkish influenced and which ones are typically Cretan… You look at what your neighbor is eating and you suddenly want to taste everything. No problem!

We like sampling many different things and ordering four or five mezzes worked well for us (portions are big). There are also daily dishes but they don’t seem to change every day.

The best way to sample the menu is to order different mezzes. We loved rosemary mountain snails, aubergine croquettes, fried peppers with yogurt-garlic sauce and Cretan pies with local white cheese.

Snails have special health benefit so our first lunch consisted of rosemary snails, aubergine croquettes, fried peppers with yogurt-garlic sauce and Cretan pies with local white cheese.

The same day, in the evening, we returned for dinner. My husband had a daily fish with vegetables and I had Turkish-influenced Hunkiar Begiendi Lamb (lamb in tomato and aubergine puree) which must be about the best dish ever cooked in this world!! No exaggeration here. An absolute must-taste dish!!

Hunkiar Begiendi Lamb, lamb in tomato and aubergine puree. One my favorite dishes in the world!

The next evening we hesitated and asked ourselves “can we really go back again, what will they think of us?” but objections remained silent. So, a new mezze tour!

Staka (warm creamy fondue-like local cheese), more snails (remember the health benefits?), Plevrotous mushrooms on the grill, baked giant beans, zucchini croquettes and Cretan pies with spinach and cheese. Ok, in case you are wondering, I have to specify that we had not eaten during the day and we were very hungry. And yes, we finished everything…

Some more amazing mezzes! I am particularly fond of Staka, melted cheese, snails and grilled mushrooms.

I tasted Nostos Pink rose wine sold by a glass and it was excellent.

During our other visits we ordered house wine (sold in carafes), both red and white, and really appreciated the fruity but natural and light taste. I noticed that often Cretan house wines were not very strong and it was pleasant to drink something that did not make your head turn after the first or the second glass (I think the wine has become too strong, often above 14%, and it did not use to be like this!). Bottles were a lot more expensive, about the same price than in Parisian bistros.

Our lunch and dinner bills varied from 30€ to 50€, wine included. Each time we were offered a free dessert and a small carafe of local raki. The service was friendly and attentive.

What an extraordinary restaurant, what happy memories! My mouth is watering as I am writing! Make Tamam your place to eat when in Chania.

TAMAM: Zambeliou 49, Chania.

Wine (Nostos Pink): http://www.winesofcrete.gr/cretewines/en/Wines/TheWines/CretanWines/NOSTOSPINK_965.html

Where to eat in Heraklion?

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Before leaving for Crete I had read good reviews in Tripadvisor about a restaurant called Ippokampos. It had seemed like a humble, simple place with fresh, local ingredients –exactly what I like. Upon arrival in Heraklion our hotel recommended it too, saying it is very popular amongst the locals. They also told us that the translation means seahorse (I am very curious about seahorses). Without further contemplations, Ippokampos became our cantine during the two-night stay in Heraklion.

The first night we ate at the terrace while enjoying the warm Mediterranean breeze. The choice is enormous so it was a difficult pick. Finally, we ordered different mezze (appetizers) to share: tzatziki, feta in the oven (with tomatoes and bell peppers), grilled vegetables, cuttlefish with its ink and grilled octopus. And some very tasty white house wine. Excellent. Very healthy tasting. Not salty, not fatty. I understood immediately why Cretans live a long life!

The next day there was a bit of rain, so we ate inside (try to get a table downstairs, it is more fun than upstairs). We went for grilled octopus again, mashed split peas (which is served with raw onions that you mix into the puree), grilled mushrooms as well as stuffed peppers with anchovies. This time we chose the red house wine and it was very nice, too. Again, nothing to add, everything was excellent. As the nigh before, we were again offered a carafe of raki and a dessert (the orange cake was particularly delicious!).

The young owner Michael knows his dishes by heart and was eager to answer all of our questions. As often in Crete, the rest of the questions were answered by inviting us to the kitchen to look at the dishes.

Both times our dinner bill (including a tip of a couple of Euros) came to 40€. The price/quality relationship was excellent! In Paris this would have cost three times more…at least…

Now that the holidays are over I can confirm that Ippokampos is probably the best place we ate at during our nine-day holiday. I would go back to Crete just for them. The owner Michael told me that he is working on a Facebook page and that it should be up “very soon”. I will certainly keep following them and their developments.

ADDRESS:

IPPOKAMPOS: 3 Sofokli Venizelou street (on the west side of the Old Harbour, so if you are walking on 25 Avgoustou street toward the sea, turn left in the very end, and you will see Ippokambos right there with some tables outside. Telephone 2810-280240

24 hours in Kuala Lumpur

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Our recent Southeast Asia trip begun in Kuala Lumpur and I wrote 48 hours in Kuala Lumpur about the time we spent in this exciting city. As often in life, it is important that the circle comes to an end, so here you go with “24 hours in Kuala Lumpur”, describing the last day of our trip before returning to Paris.

First of all, I have to say that I was so impressed with Malaysia in general. We had very few expectations and KL to us was supposed to be “just a hub”, but it totally charmed us. Now we are joking about retirement in Penang (if we don’t retire in our beloved India!). Malaysians, in my humble opinion, are very kind, educated and excellent in communication. There is something sort of “American” in them in a way that they have a very developed sense of service, they master the small talk and they like interacting with other people. (FYI: Malaysia’s tourism organization is not paying me for saying this, but should you read this and would like me to become your Ambassador, I am ready to become one!)

To prove my impressions right, I am proud to say that I have a new friend in KL and his name is Jamil Kucing. He has an animal shelter and he is well-known among locals. You can read the entire story in 48 hours in Kuala Lumpur and to find more about Jamil the Catman see his blog: http://jamilthecatman.blogspot.com. We have exchanged emails since my return to Paris, agreeing to meet up the next time I am in KL. Jamil offered to lend me his spare scooter so that we can cruise around KL with monkeys in our back seats! How cool is that….

During this trip, we only visited KL and Langkawi, but I got an impression it was very clean everywhere. The food was diversified, representing the rich history of Malaysia, and delicious. What comes to architecture, I felt that the construction projects were realized in harmony with the nature. In fact what I saw in Malaysia reminded me of Costa Rica where I worked during five months: in Langkawi almost all tourism activities were related to either nature or animals and in Kuala Lumpur the city looked green and I could see and smell the nature. The photo below was taken from our hotel room. Notice how lush it is!

HOTEL: During our first stay in Kuala Lumpur we stayed at Capitol Hotel (http://www.hotelcapitol-kualalumpur.com/‎). This time, as our Air Asia flight from Langkawi landed in quite late, we decided to stay closer to Sentral and reserved at Le Meridien (http://www.lemeridienkualalumpur.com/). Le Meridien is very conveniently located right next to Sentral which is KL’s transportation hub (that in the end we did not use). We were given an upgrade upon arrival, went straight to sleep and started the next day with a coffee by the lovely pool. We paid MYR 220 (72USD) at Hotel Capitol and MYR 348 (114USD) at Le Meridien. I agree that Le Meridien is very conveniently located for short visits and business trips, but for tourism reasons I think I prefer the location of Hotel Capitol. Both have a swimming pool and certainly Le Meridien pool is better, but the pool Hotel Capitol offers is not bad either (it is located at a nearby hotel and access is free). Worth mentioning is that you probably find food at any hour near Capitol Hotel but near Le Meridien, at best, you may just have McDonalds at Sentral. Well, I am happy I tried both hotels as it allowed me to see different parts of KL.

SIGHTS NEAR LE MERIDIEN HOTEL: After the pool session we started sightseeing. It was not yet too hot so we walked toward Jalan Tun Sambanthan (a major road near the hotel, see the photo above). The area is called Brickfields and it is a home to many Tamils from India and Sri Lankans. Indian music was loud, spices in the air, and this quick change in atmosphere was fascinating!

We got slightly lost but finally reached Thean Hou Temple, named after the Heavenly Mother. It is a modern-times temple, built in the 1980’s and open since 1989. It is dedicated to Buddhism and worth the climb. Architecturally it is a mixture of different styles: Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. At the time of our visit there was a wedding of a lovely couple and we wished them well in their new life. I thought the bride was very stylish!

ISLAMIC ARTS MUSEUM MALAYSIA: Another reason why we chose Le Meridien was that it has a relatively easy access to Islamic Arts Museum (http://www.iamm.org.my/). From the temple we took a taxi to this museum (it was getting too hot to walk!). The building is very new (1998), spacious and spotlessly clean. We had a quick snack at the Museum Restaurant before starting the exploration. I could go on and on about how fantastic this museum is, but let me begin by saying that it should be on everyone’s What To Do in Kuala Lumpur -list. Objects are beautiful (I adored the miniature Korans!!) and the display is very clear and welcoming. It is a very educative museum and there are many excellent well-done and clear maps, like the one about the Islamic architecture in the world, with a special focus in the Malay Archipelago (see the photo).

I will definitely go back the next time when I am in KL because there is so much to learn about the Islamic influence, architecture, art, calligraphy, Koran, etc. Geographically the museum focuses equally in each region of the world, and for example after having done some extensive traveling in India, I found it useful to see maps and chronological explanations about the great Mughal Empire in India (1526-1858). Please go and see this museum: it is fascinating!!

DINNER: After some retail therapy it was time to eat dinner. We were really eager to re-taste seafood that we had had during our previous stay, so we returned to our usual Sai Woo Restaurant, located at 55 Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang. The street is full of restaurants that offer different local specialties and most restaurants have menus that come with pictures to help those unfamiliar with the variety of food Malaysia offers.

We ordered far too much food, but as it was our last dinner in Asia, we were anticipating the return to Europe…. Double Variety Kai Lan, Lotus Roots with Macadamia Nuts, Spicy “Kam Heong” Bamboo Shell, and many more dishes with names I cannot remember including duck, chicken satay and razor shells…. (I am getting hungry as writing this!). We did not ask, but I wonder if we could have taken a doggy bag to the airport…?

After the dinner we returned for a foot massage in a place around the corner from the restaurant (see 48 hours in Kuala Lumpur), had a quick shower at the hotel and caught a taxi to the airport to catch an Emirates A380 back to Paris.

Malaysia Truly Asia (http://www.tourism.gov.my/‎), you chose an appropriate slogan and I will be back very soon inch’allah!

First summer days, first terrace dinner

Go Khmer: authentic Cambodian food in Paris

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You visited Cambodia, returned to Paris, and would like to revisit the famous culinary Khmer experience but have no idea where to go? Indeed, when every other restaurant asiatique in town serves all types of Asian foods, one does become suspicious. Why are the Chinese making sushis and sashimis? Why does a restaurant menu mix Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese food? Cannot they just focus on one thing? I understand the region’s culinary history is intertwined, but I personally have more confidence in a restaurant that has one specialty (with maybe one exception, which is Lao Lane Xang).

Bayon is a famous Angkor temple –temple of faces, but also a restaurant located in the southern end of Rue Monge, 5th arrondissement of Paris. When Jean-Marc Tang, the owner of Bayon, had to choose a name for his restaurant, he chose Bayon in order to honor his family who used to live near the Bayon temple. Bayon (http://www.restaurant-cambodgien.com) is a fairly new to the Parisian restaurant scene (it only opened 2 1/2 years ago) but it is already recommended by Le Fooding (http://www.lefooding.com/restaurant/restaurant-bayon-paris.html).

For starters, we ordered Chom Houk A Mok (cod, bell pepper, bamboo, herbs, coconut milk) and Pler Ko (lemongrass beef salad). Amok was really tasty and served in a banana leaf. Jean-Marc explained to us that they use cod because it is difficult to get access to the fish he would use back at home, but that cod serves the purpose very well as its taste is quite neutral. Our lemongrass beef salad tasted really fresh: something you would want to eat when it is really hot in Paris. Salad was particularly crispy, beef tender and there was a lot of mint. Both starters were copious and very, very good. Nothing was spicy, but Cambodian food is not traditionally very spicy compared to for example Thai food.

For main course, we ordered Tear bom pong empile thom (duck in tamarind sauce, green vegetables, dried basil leaves and coriander) and Curry sach moan (chicken, potato, carrot, coconut milk curry).

We were particularly interested in tasting the tamarind duck, because it is our favorite dish at an other Asian restaurant (Lao Lane Xang). The Bayon version was slightly different and had pineapple in it. I was surprised of this addition, because in Cambodia I never had pineapple in anything I ate, but Jean-Marc assured me that pineapple is traditionally used in the Khmer cuisine.

Our second main course, the curry, was full of potatoes and carrots, as we had had it in Cambodia. Jean-Marc explained that usually sweet potatoes are used in this type of a curry, but that due to its scarcity in Paris, potatoes make a good replacement (and I could not agree more!). We found this curry delicious but unfortunately could not finish it (portions are quite large and size-wise there is no big difference between starters and main courses).

We indeed had a very lovely Saturday evening. The setting is not particularly romantic (it is more cafe-like), and even the outside appearance may make you wonder where you are walking into, but what you eat inside is authentic and savory. It is always a good sign when tables are filled with locals and I now mean Cambodians! (FYI: there is a new, additional page to the menu, which specializes in dishes even more authentic, like fermented fish etc.)

Bayon Restaurant: 121 rue Monge, 75005 PARIS. Metro: Censier-Daubenton and Les Gobelins. Open daily 12h-15h & 19h-22h30. Closed on Sunday and Monday evening. Tel: 01 43 36 67 43.

Eat Drink Sleep Siem Reap (survival guide to Siem Reap)

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Our stay in Siem Reap was far from perfect, but I think I have some tips to share with you should you plan to visit this city in the northwestern part of Cambodia.

WHEN TO GO: We arrived in Siem Reap on February 11, 2013, which was the second day of the Chinese New Year and therefore probably the busiest week of the entire year. According to Chheuy Chhorn, deputy director of the tourism department in Siem Reap, 41 flights from China and Vietnam landed everyday during February 11-13 (source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013021461364/Business/angkor-wat-sees-tourism-spike-over-lunar-new-year.html). Imagine the abundance of tourists and then imagine the missing photo opportunities! If you have a choice, do not go to Siem Reap just before, during or right after the Chinese New Year. Siem Reap, thanks to its proximity to Angkor Wat and other famous temples, constantly receives a large number of tourists, but try visiting off season, even during the rainy season.

HOW LONG TO STAY: Prior to visiting Siem Reap many people were astonished at our plan to stay for approximately five days. Many thought two, or at very maximum three days should more than plenty. I still think five days was a good length, and that in general one needs three full days to visit the temples and the surroundings of Siem Reap. Temple tickets are available for one, three or seven days and we purchased a three-day ticket and have no regrets. Since there is so much history, knowledge and beauty to be absorbed, I would recommend splitting those three days over four or even five days (ticket allows you to do so). It took the rulers centuries to build all those temples, so to get a real feeling one or two days is just not enough!

WHERE TO SLEEP: Our main criteria regarding accommodation was to stay at a local, traditional place and support the local economy. So I did some Tripadvisor research before leaving Paris and found a guesthouse called Tranquility Angkor Villa (the photo below with the bed) and booked it over internet. It started badly: upon our arrival at 10pmfrom the airport there was a problem with overbooking (they constantly double book). We searched everywhere on internet to find another hotel to sleep in but everything was full. Everything. The manager suggested we sleep on the mattress on their balcony but after seeing a huge rat run by we said no. To cut the story short, we ended up sleeping two nights at Tranquility Angkor Villa but on the second morning I woke up with hundreds of bites all over my body…… I had been bitten by bed bugs! We had planned to move to another more central guesthouse anyway so off we went. We paid 30usd per night (and got reimbursed half because of the bed bugs) but in my opinion there are so many nicer (and cheaper!) places to stay at for much better quality and location! Do not let Tripadvisor reviews about the owners’ friendliness to fool you. Lastly, two brothers are not even owners…

(As soon as I realized what had happened I wrote a review on Tripadvisor, and I rewrote it upon our return to Paris, and still today, nothing has been published! I see other negative reviews have been written about Tranquility Angkor Villa since our stay but I am still curiously waiting to see when mine comes out, or if it ever will, and why not……)

It has rarely happened to me anywhere in the world that everything is full, but during that week it seemed to be the case in Siem Reap. Almost. For the rest of our stay we slept at Popular Guest House (the photo on the right) which was more centrally located and clean. If you are stuck in Siem Reap and “everything is full”, you may find a room at Popular Guest House because they have over 50 rooms (they are more like a one-star hotel). We found that staff was pretty unfriendly and only interested in money but what can you expect from a place where you pay 10USD per night? There is also a rooftop restaurant but it serves nothing to write home about… (http://www.popularguesthouse.com/)

This said, I would suggest a few places that I heard good things about. Babel Guesthouse (http://www.babelsiemreap.hostel.com/) is a guesthouse located in Wat Bo Road, about 2km from Pub Street (where Tranquility Angkor Villa is also), and it is also recommended by Cambodia and Laos by Eyewitness guidebook. A Finnish couple we met on the Siem Reap – Viantine flight spoke very highly about Babel Guesthouse, saying it was excellent, very clean and food so delicious they didn’t need to leave the guesthouse in the evening. My Home Tropical Garden Villa (http://www.myhomecambodia.com/) is a small, stylish guesthouse with a swimming pool in the same street than Popular Guest House (about 10 minutes walk from Pub Street). This is where we wanted to stay, but could not get a room. Double AC room costs 20USD. A very affordable hotel we heard good things about is Central Boutique Angkor Hotel (http://www.centralboutiqueangkorhotel.com/) where room prices start at 47USD.

In higher category, Hôtel de La Paix is going through renovation and rebranding, and will open as Park Hyatt Siem Reap (http://siemreap.park.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels-siemreap-park/index.jsp?null) very soon (Q1 2013?). A dear friend stayed at Hôtel de La Paix last year and loved it beyond words. “It was BLISS”, he told me.

Otherwise, most of the four- and five-star resorts are located on the Airport Road: far away from Pub Street but more easily accessible should you want to return to your hotel for lunch in between the temple visits. Just last week a friend stayed at Borei Angkor Resort & Spa http://www.boreiangkor.com/) and he got a very interesting off-season deal “definitely worth the money”.

PS Like us, you may want to have a pool to jump into after walking up and down all those temple stairs under the burning sun. However, unless you spend the money to stay at a fancy resort, you do not need to look for a guesthouse with a pool. First of all, temple visits are time-consuming so you may not even have time for swimming. Secondly, you can use a pool at almost any hotel in exchange of few USD.

WHERE TO EAT:

During our five-day stay in we mainly ate at Khmer Kitchen (http://www.khmerkitchens.com/) located in the Alley (be aware of other restaurants that carry an almost identical name). We particularly liked fish amok, chicken khmer curry (with pumpkins, potatoes and carrots) and mango salad. I cannot say the food was very refined but it was consistently good enough, and the setting cosy. Unfortunately the service was quite inattentive and slow most of the time.

One day we tried Angkor Palm (http://www.angkorpalm.com/) because it has a reputation as a good and safe place to get a good introduction to Khmer cuisine . The sampling platter for two (the photo on the right) had nothing amazing on it except maybe the spring rolls…

Our last night in Siem Reap came and it was time to change and try something different, so why not Cambodian BBQ (http://www.restaurant-siemreap.com/html/cambodianbbq.php)? We ordered “Real local BBQ”, 10USD for two, which includes beef, chicken or pork, bell peppers, lettuce, onion, basil, rice and yellow needles. As you see in the photo on the left, the meat is cooked on the domed part and the vegetables in the stock surrounding the domed part. There was a Khmer sauce for dipping but did it make the barbeque more tasty? Not really. It was a fun-enough experience to do once, but I am sure there are better places to taste authentic Cambodian barbeque.

For coffee, we tried Blue Pumpkin (http://www.tbpumpkin.com/) but were not impressed by their coffee or cookies. However, we really appreciated having a quiet moment early in the morning at Le Grand Cafe. Espresso was excellent, venue beautiful and service efficient. The woman we met there (manager/owner?) speaks very good French and is very friendly. Le Grand Cafe reminds me of some cafes we visited in Havanna and Santiago de Cuba, and I actually regret we didn’t go back in the evening for a drink.

TRANSPORT & VISITS: Every guesthouse and hotel can organize a guide and a car/tuk tuk, but it is cheaper if you have a direct contact. Toward the end of our stay we got to know a young man called Chhor Chamnan and regret of not meeting him earlier. Chhor has been in tourism business for 13 years, working regularly with the Australian Embassy in Singapore. He is pleasant, reliable and his English is very good –highly recommended. He charges 20USD per day for a car in Angkor area and 40USD to visit the sites more far away. Should you need his guide services, he takes an extra 20USD per day.

His email is chhorchamnan@hotmail.com and mobile number +855 (0) 12786723. (We made a mistake of booking our guide via Popular Guest House and the guide’s knowledge was appalling. Apparently finding a good guide is difficult because the best ones are reserved for tour groups and luxury hotels well in advance)

IN CASE OF URGENCY: In the Northeastern end of Pub Street there is a pharmacy called U-Care (http://ucarepharma.com/) which is really as good and reliable as any Western pharmacy. Staff speaks English and are friendly.

For more urgent needs there is Royal Angkor International Hospital on the Airport Road, affiliated with Bangkok Hospital Medical Center (http://www.royalangkorhospital.com). They may not accept your insurance, so you have to pay upfront (it can get very expensive, as a simple consultation costs around 120USD) and get reimbursed by your insurance company once back in your home country –not the way it should work!). Right in the center of Siem Reap, near the upcoming Hyatt, there is also Friendship Khmer-China Clinic (no website but easy to find). It is much less fancy, but highly recommended for their availability, reactivity, kindness and attitude (and prices are substantially lower). I probably would not want to spend a night there but some of the most amazing human beings I have ever met work there. As your third option, and should you want something Western, there is Naga Healthcare (http://www.nagahealthcare.com/). In our case Doctor Joost Hoekstra was not very helpful, but he speaks French, too.

BOTTOM LINE: The center of Siem Reap is not very nice. In the evening it becomes a Drinking Factory and the epicenter of all happening is its famous Pub Street (see the photo). We only enjoyed the center in the early morning when everyone else (who was not already visiting temples) was too hang over to get up. During our Southeast Asia tour we met many people who shared this vision and I think it is a pity. Locals surely are pleased about the foreign currency inflow, but I cannot help myself but to wonder could the tourism have taken a different direction in Siem Reap? This said, I think it is important to separate Siem Reap and the temples. If you are going to Siem Reap, it is most likely because of the temples. So, forget the center and Pub Street, and try to focus on enjoying the beauty of the architecture and understanding the vision of the Hindu kings who built those temples because this is what Angkor really is about and what really matters.

Kir at La Palette

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There are many superb old-fashioned cafes in Paris that I like going to especially with friends visiting Paris. As a bonus, I get to play tourist, too. During these last two days, I have been to Le Petit Marcel near the Pompidou Centre, Cafe de la Mairie near the Eglise Saint-Sulpice and La Palette in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

La Palette, like many other similar cafes, was frequented by Picasso and Hemingway, amongst other famous names. When we walked in, the lunch hour was just ending and the waiters were getting ready for their own lunch pause. The snow was falling outside but inside the paintings and their yellow and orange colors warmed us up. Large mirrors on all walls were very scratched. There was a charismatic-looking American couple and us. It was an odd hour for an apéritif, but that is all we felt like having, so deux kir s’il vous plaît Monsieur!

The Sleeping Beauty: Vientiane (part 2)

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I decided to label Vientiane The Sleeping Beauty, but I may have as well called it The World’s Cutest Capital. This tiny capital is very quiet and traffic jams are unheard of. Instead you hear birds and see butterflies. You see monks wondering around the temples and some tourists, mainly independent it seemed, and you are pretty much without hassle while visiting the town. My first impression on Vientiane was “what a cute capital”!

My second impression was that the future and the past of Laos use Vientiane as a playground. It felt and looked very Chinese and Communist. At the same time the devoted monks were seen with iPhones and other devices for listening music. It also became obvious very soon that there is plenty of money in the capital (or was it remittances sent into Vientiane by Laotians living abroad?). We saw an abundance of expensive four wheels and white seemed to be the color à la mode. There was at least one white-colored four-wheeled Porsche and an Englishman we met said he had seen a yellow Lamborghini! Furthermore, Russian influence was present in the streets and a cellular phone operator Beeline seemed to be advertising everywhere. But Russia was not the only country present. France had left its legacy, too, and there are many lovely and good-valued cafes in Vientiane serving all types of coffees and croissants. An interesting battle field of influences I reckon!

After a cup of Lao coffee (filtered coffee mixed with condensed milk) we started our walking tour. The itinerary we did followed the Lonely Planet “Monument to Mekong Cycling Tour” except that we did it by walking and chose a different restaurant to eat lunch at. Note: If you are interested in visiting the temples, do remember that most of them close between midday and 1pm, and close again 4pm. Of all wats (temples) on this route, we liked particularly Wat Ong Teu Mahawihan and Wat Si Saket. Our lunch stop was Makphet, the famous non profit restaurant run by an NGO called Friends International (http://www.friends-international.org/) and where former street youth are trained to wait and cook.

We chose two main dishes: Lemongrass Spiced Chicken, Young Bamboo & Mushroom Stir Fry and Grilled Beef Salad with Apple Eggplant & Young Lemongrass. Both were excellent, but the beef salad was divine. I find it very interesting that they had added dill in it -dill is very much used in my home country Finland and also in the Eastern Europe and Russia, but I have not associated it with Asian dishes. Will need to do some research on the origin of dill once I get back home.

After the lunch we had two more important places to go to: we hired a tuc tuc to take us to Pha That Luang before its closing, also at 4pm. This is considered to be the most important monument in Laos and legends of the site’s origin vary (http://www.laos-guide-999.com/pha-that-luang.html). The second place we wanted to go to is Wat Si Muang (open until 7pm), where the spirit of Vientiane is supposed to reside. This temple felt very much alive and we could see people praying and asking for help. In fact there is a Buddha made of stone and locals believe that by lifting it three times from its pillow, while at the same time asking for something, your wish will come true. We saw an elderly woman doing this and the statue seemed very heavy. Outside the temple there were many stands where on could buy offerings –something you are supposed to do if your wish comes true.

For the dinner we could not resist the temptation and returned to Chokdee Cafe (read yesterday’s The Sleeping Beauty: Vientiane (part 1) to hear more about this restaurant). I still believe their duck breast laap is one of the best in the entire world! I keep looking for a better one, but in vain…

We spent two full days in Vientiane and could have stayed a bit longer. It really is a pleasant town and in my humble opinion much of its charm lies (in addition to dozens of sacred temples) in Chokdee Cafe and interesting stories you hear there (not forgetting their laap!)…

The Sleeping Beauty: Vientiane (part 1)

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(A more detailed story about Siem Reap and visiting the temples will follow at the latest from from Paris, if not before. The connection was so bad in Siem Reap that I could not do any writing and uploading).

After five full days it felt like it was time to move forward from Siem Reap. We had seen the main temples and even hired a car for a day to visit the sites further away. We appreciated the temples and the transformation they had made from Hinduism to Buddhism. We also loved having a morning coffee in the center of Siem Reap at Le Grand Cafe, but in the evening the center became a Western Drinking Factory and this is not why we came to Asia… We had looked into Siem Reap – Vientiane airplane tickets from Paris and the price seemed stable: around 200USD per person one way. On Saturday afternoon we visited one of the Siem Reap travel agencies (www.europe-asiatours.com) and found out that we could buy a one-way ticket for 157USD including taxes and all fees (payment only in cash). Unfortunately the flight was full for the next day, Sunday, so we returned to the hotel to do some googling hoping to find something for Sunday. On http://www.lastminute.com we found a bit more expensive tickets for the next day, and the decision was quickly made: it is time to leave Cambodia for Laos.

During the flight from Siem Reap to Pakse we met a lovely couple from Finland (if Pirjo & Teuvo from Jyväskylä are reading this, all our best greetings to you and thanks for those nice discussions!). In Pakse, where everyone had to go through the visa and passport control, we were supposed to wait for two hours for the connecting flight, but as soon as we arrived we asked if there is a possibility to get onto the next flight, leaving in just 30 minutes. After some waiting around they said yes, and without any extra payment we checked onto Pakse – Vientiane flight. Our first contact to Lao people was very sweet. They seemed shy and reserved, but a smile was never very far away. We also found out that they like sweets: during the flight we were served two different types of cakes, one of them in the picture with some green filling… (not bad!).

Upon arrival in Vientiane we shared a taxi with Pirjo and Teuvo (7USD a car to the center). Our stop, Vayakorn House, was full but eventually we found something near by and closer to the Mekong River, Douang Deuane Hotel (25USD). Later on the day we read some reviews on http://www.tripadvisor.com and agreed with them: our fifth-floor room was very clean, the bed was comfortable, and we even had a small balcony looking over temple roofs on the right and the Mekong River on the left. The quality of the bathroom was slightly inferior to the room, but it was still clean.

After checking in at the hotel it was time for a late lunch. Our dear friend who had been to Vientiane last year had recommended Tintin-inspired Chokdee Cafe (http://www.chokdeecafe.com), which turned out to be around the corner from our hotel. I do have to admit that I can be quite reluctant about the touristy bars and restaurants, but I immediately fell in love with this restaurant that has a huge selection of Belgium beers (and even mussels on the weekend!!) and Western as well as Lao dishes. Chokdee Cafe is not your usual touristy bar, it is an expat hang out place where you are sure to meet very interesting people. During our first visit we talked to a European man learning Lao language and explaining the pronunciation difficulties to us, while we overheard a discussion on how to invest in Laos. All this happened while a nice Dutchman (in the picture) was singing old French and English songs, and some songs composed by himself about living an expat life and going to Embassy parties… During our second visit we met an Englishman who had just bought an apartment in Thailand and his new Scottish friend, met on a Luang Prabang-Vientiane bus.

The food at Chokdee Cafe was delicious, too. Papaya salad was a bit too spicy and it is rare we cannot finish a dish… However, my favorite was the Laap Phet: the minced duck breast mixed with mint leaves and chili. DELICIOUS!!! (As I am writing this, it is the best Laap I have had in Laos so far!).

We could have stayed an entire evening at Chokdee Cafe but once our mouths were burning from the chillies and stomachs full from excellent BeerLao we headed back to the streets. Walking by the Mekong is walking on a border: Thailand is just on the other side of the river and this is why you get messages “welcome to Thailand” on your cellular phone. (However, if you curious about crossing the border by the river on your own, do not try. A local guide told us that the Thai soldiers/customs officers are quite corrupted and will fine you very heftily should they catch you…). We also realized that the Lao people are very sportive: there were many skate boarding and jogging along the river, and we even saw an outdoor gym by the river.

Eventually the sun set, but we continued walking. The temples looked very different from the ones we had seen in the center of Siem Reap and against the dark sky they for sure held special magical power.

The Lao people dine early and many places close at 9pm. In addition there is this sort of unofficial curfew at 11pm, so the dining hours have nothing to do with the Mediterranean way of life… The restaurant (Makphet) where we had wanted to go was closed but we found a food court on Th Chao Anou Street.

My husband had some pork sausage (I don’t eat pork) and he said it was a bit sweet but good and interesting. Together we shared grilled squid and a grilled fish (see the photo) that they call “panin” (at least this is what it sounded like to me). They stick a lemongrass inside the fish but if you do not know what it is, you may mistake it for a big spider or something! Panin was clearly a river fish, but the meat was consistent and tasted good.

I think the next time I visit our summer house in Finland I will catch local lake fish and serve it stuffed with lemongrass!! A great barbeque idea.

Where to eat duck in Paris?

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We are going to have almost one full month to enjoy Asian food, so it sounded like a logical idea to do a typical French meal before departing France. What we particularly fancied was duck: either magret de canard or confit.

In the summertime, and when we are particularly hungry, we visit Chez Papa in front of the Montparnasse Cemetery. I now hear you thinking “aren’t there so many more sophisticated restaurants to eat duck in Paris”, and I agree with you, but I have my reasoning. Chez Papa is a franchise so the quality is not exactly the same in each restaurant, but we like this particular Chez Papa because it is very reasonably priced, the portions are huge, terrace is nice and the manager pleasant. Additionally, knowing you are so close to Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir adds something to your dining experience…However, this time we wanted to find something within walking distance from our home and headed toward Boulevard Saint-Germain. We had a vague memory of walking by a rather large terrace of a Sud-Ouest (southwest of France) restaurant in the 5th arrondissement last summer, and soon enough we arrived at Chez Gladines.

As we entered, we were greeted by a genuinely friendly young man who said we would have a table in few minutes –just enough time to have un apéritif it meant! Before we noticed, we got our table.

The menu had plenty of variety: plates of different cold meats, potato dishes, three types of snails (parsley, blue cheese and Basque style), entrecôte, different types of duck as we had wanted, etc. There was also a large offer of Basque specialties and even andouillette, the famous (very smelly!) sausage made of intestines and pork…We shared parsley snails for a starter. The snails were good-sized, but maybe lacked some garlic and more parsley to be perfect. For his main course my husband chose magret de canard (served with sautéed potatoes and salad) and he said it was high-quality duck. I took piments piquillos à la morue because while in the Basque country last September, I chose this dish whenever it was on the menu and I like the combination of ingredients. Basically you are eating cod-stuffed piquillo peppers that come from Northern Spain (and are very rich in vitamine C). I love fish, I could eat a dozen of these piquillos. At Chez Gladines they were served in a creamy sauce that softened the fish taste.To show our respect to the lovely Basque country, we ordered a bottle of Irouléguy (red wine) and finished our dinner with local cheese served with cherry confiture.

The clientele was quite student-like, but we will definitely return to Chez Gladines, at the latest during the summer to eat at the terrace. Moreover, the restaurant is very down to earth and the service friendly. Yet a bit noisy, I would imagine this restaurant being a nice place for a family to taste typical Sud-Ouest and Basque dishes. Worth mentioning are prices: wine bottles start at an unbeatable 12.50€, snails cost 8.90€ and main courses are around 13€ (mine was 10.90€ and my husband’s 12.90€). What else –go and enjoy as we did.

Chez Gladines: http://gladines-restaurant-paris.fr

Chez Papa: http://www.chez-papa.com

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