What Restaurants Do You Love?

My very favourite thing is dining out alone at a bar with a book and a cocktail … But also the tiny spots for a quick bite and the small cafes for an afternoon work session that becomes at glass of wine at the dot of 5 pm. OH GOD I MISS IT SO.

In no particular order : The Smile on Bond St. in NYC and Roberta’s in Brooklyn, Whalesbone on Elgin in Ottawa, EDNA in Halifax, Nora Gray and Candide in Montreal, Sous Sol in Winnipeg, Woodlot, The Walton, Sukhothai, Lady Marmalade and The House on Parliament in Toronto, Mariela’s Tacos in Silverlake.

… Now I’m hungry.

I’m also scared that our favorite restaurants would close down. We have been frequenting them to get take outs, and thankfully they seem to be busy with takeouts. I’m also showing my support of local restaurants by posting them on FB, IG or Yelp. Our support means so much in this troubled time.

Oh my goodness, all of this looks so amazing. I worry about all the small businesses and especially those of ethnic minorities who don’t have the same overall financial support behind them. What an absolute wallop this year has been.

Also: I really miss my public library.

If you’re looking for a delicious lobster (or crab! Or clobster!) roll in Brooklyn while you wait for a safe trip up to Maine, the Crabby Shack in Crown Heights is amazing! They’re so kind, BIPOC woman owned and their food is delicious!

Dalí in Cambridge, MA; Eventide in Portland, ME; and El Alma in Austin, TX

I’m hungry…

Pok Pok, Kachka, Beast, Clyde Common and Kask. And like, 80 other places that make Portland the stuff of dreams.

I’m British but dearly love the US…restaurants I adore and miss there are The Corson Building & Damn the Weather in Seattle and Le Perche in Hudson, NY…but many, many more spring to mind. Happy times spent with wonderful friends…food, wine, love and laughter (four of my very favourite things) America seems as far away as the moon right now and that’s a dreadful thing. We’re near London and have been in a few times in the past month, venturing to some of our favourite places there that have (thankfully) reopened. They have all had great and reassuring systems in place and we’ve felt safe. But the amount of shops, restaurants and cafes (and hotels) that have permanently closed is truly appalling and we’re very aware that this is all far from over…be safe everyone.

Interesting that the post title was “What restaurants do you love?” and many people have actually answered “what restaurants do you miss?” <3

Here in Sydney, Australia…I love a place called Pizzeria Rosso Antico. I joke that it's a cheap way to visit Italy for a couple of hours. The ambience, waiters and the PIZZA are all so reminiscent of being in Naples, it's like we've been transported back there.

Writing from Seattle. Very much miss candlelit dinners with my husband over fancy French food I could never make myself at Bastille in Ballard. Or a grilled cheese with tomato soup that I could definitely make myself but not nearly as well at the Latona Pub in Greenlake. Also all the pokey little restaurants in the Pike Place Market…Michou, DeLaurenti’s, Sister’s, Three Girls Bakery. It was our favorite Sunday to take my son to the aquarium and then climb the stairs to sit at the counter at one of the restaurants in the market. I miss all of it.

Half a world away, my favorite places to eat in good old KL are:

1. Dave’s Bistro — this is where I bring out of town guests for a foolproof meal because it’s not an exaggeration to say absolutely everything on the menu is delicious!! It’s a homey neighbourhood bistro that’s been open since 1999 serving the *best* most tender pork ribs and pork knuckles, incredible salads with lashings of bacon, stuffed mushrooms, creamy soups, super yummy pizza, but my all time favourites are the bacon meatball and mushrooms angel hair pasta, and the absolutely to die for mango milkshake that’s so insanely thick it shouldn’t be allowed! The minute lockdown was partially lifted I was there and the waitress recognized me even under my face mask!!
2. La Risata — the best lobster pasta in the city, a wood fire oven that makes the most delectable pizzas, and gorgeous cocktails in an elegant yet somehow also down to earth ambience;
3. Edo Ichi — a Japanese place that does a killer garlic butter grilled hotate (scallops), the freshest and most generous cuts of salmon belly sashimi I’ve ever seen outside of Tokyo, and brilliant crab meat salad;
4. Pantai Seafood — the acoustics are horrible (you’ll barely be able to make out what the person next to you is saying with the echoes in the place) and there’s zero ambience, but it absolutely will not matter to you once your steaming hot plate of steamed crabs in a crazy delicious sweet and sour sauce arrives, along with the requisite deep fried mantou buns with a crispy golden exterior and warm fluffy bite. I challenge anyone who loves seafood not to wind up mopping up every last drop of that sauce with the buns!! Eating here is definitely an adventure because you’ll have to attack the crabs with what looks like torture devices (think mini hammers, hand clamps and the like provided by the restaurant) to get at the succulent meat under the hard shell, and in the process you WILL inevitably end up splattering ppl and getting splattered in turn with bits of flying crab shell, but that’s all part of the fun! They also do fish, clams, chicken etc but the house specialty is definitely the ? It’s been absolutely an age since I’ve been because it’s best enjoyed with a big group of family or friends, and times being what they are we’ll probably have to wait a while until everyone’s comfortable eating out again, but I can’t wait!
5. Citrus — I love love love the nasi lemak here with the fluffy rice cooked in coconut milk and the tender beef rendang, with lashings of crispy fried anchovies, peanuts, hard boiled egg and sweet-spicy sambal.
6. Fierce Curry House — I ADORE the butter chicken, chicken briyani rice, the eggplant masala and aloo gobi, along with the fluffy garlic cheese naan breads and palak paneer. To die for!!!
7. Village Roast Duck — the roast Peking Duck is absolutely dreamy, the noodle dishes are all great especially the seafood Cantonese fried “hor fun” and Hokkien fried noodles. This is another one of those quality establishments where they do absolutely every dish on the menu well, and they have an extensive menu! The prices tend to reflect that as well but to me it’s well worth the money.
8. Kayra — YOU GUYS. It’s no secret that I love me some Northern Indian food but HOLY SHIT this place is SO GOOD that if it were possible for any restaurant to convert me into a full-time vegetarian, this place would be it!!! I just tried it not too long ago with my bestie and we were both absolutely *blown away* by the explosion of flavours on the tongue with every bite, how the meats were tender yet cooked to perfection, how the veggies were used in fresh, inventive and scrumptious creations, and the curries were all on point — spicy yet terrifically nuanced with an unbelievable depth of flavour. Prices are definitely on the steep side but it’s most definitely worth it!!!

Special mention must go out to other long-closed eateries (even pre-pandemic) that I will forever mourn/remember fondly — Reunion (the best damn Chinese restaurant that ever opened in my city and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise), and Jaya Noodle House, a mainstay of my childhood that served the best damn Hainanese chicken rice, comforting double boiled lotus root soup and double boiled old cucumber soup, and crazy delicious curry noodles that my husband misses to this day.

Diners while traveling

I moved away from Brooklyn a couple years ago but I man, I miss that brown butter cavatelli dish at Frankie’s. I hope all of our favorite restaurants make it – rooting for them too!

Kentucky Native Cafe in Lexington, Kentucky is so lovely. It has always been an outdoor only, April-Oct, walk up to order, vegetarian dream restaurant. It’s a florist in the front, restaurant around back in the shade garden. You just walk through a magical greenhouse to access. We always get the soft pretzels and a drink. Sometimes they have blueberries topped with almond gelato and lemon whipped cream. Since they have always operated this style, when we go now and sit at those little bistro tables under the patio lights among the native shade plants it feels like nothing is different from last year (other than masks).

My dad is 80 years old and pretty much home bound due to the pandemic. We live in different states, and when he gets bored he gives me a call and we talk about odd and ends. About a month ago, when I asked him about his day, he chuckled and said that one of his new favorite things to do is look at restaurant menus online! We had a good laugh, and then I found myself doing the same thing! We both love eating out, and now we often share our favorite menu items and what we’d pick for dinner….a yummy burrata scooped on grilled bread, a classic cheeseburger with seasoned fries and homemade ketchup, sweet potato tacos with a margarita on the rocks, or brown butter and sage gnocchi with a glass of house red. It’s been the next best thing to sitting across the table from him!