Disappearing acts!!

Shame on me I know..........But guys I have a good excuse. Going to all these places, it seemed I just ate my way through....and well it started to affect my waistline. So......ehhhhhhh!!had to give some of these places a rest and watch what I was eating. Now I have to make healthier choices...goodness!!!Let's see how that goes. Post soon.


 

Portugal!!

I was in Lisbon recently and to be honest I am not much of a sightseer but my colleagues managed to drag me out. Went to a place called Castelo de S. Jorge. Gives you a good view of the city below.

 

After a good stroll round the castle, we went to a restaurant called Ja Disse at Bairro Alto. My colleagues were determined to have the sardines which apparently is really popular in Lisboa. I opted for the pork and beef...yes, yes....not very adventurous of me...but hey!!aren't the Portuguese known for their good meat?? I think the sardines were really good though, seeing as one of my colleagues had two orders.

Some bread pudding kind of thing with shrimp!!lol!!don't rem the name but it tasted better than it looks:-)

 

Villa Beach Restaurant

Villa Beach Restaurant is one of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel restaurants. Fantastic place to just have a casual lunch and enjoy the awesome views of the Burj Al Arab and the beachfront. Word of advise though...In this summer weather, please use the services of the buggy from the hotel to the restaurant. It is too hot and too far to walk.

When we got there we chose to seat indoors. I was definitely not brave enough to seat in 45degree weather...no matter how good the view is. We were shown to a table by the terrace doors...so all was not lost.

Our very attentive and friendly waiter gave us the menus. The food served is mostly Mediterranean but you can still have your steak and lamb chops if that's what you prefer. My date opted for the King prawn with French fries and I ordered the Angus beef tenderloin(medium done), with French fries and a bucks fizz while I waited for my meal.

 

 

 

 

 

Food was good, however, my steak was more medium rare than medium. Prawns were delicious..more queen than king though if I have to say so. We were too full to eat dessert and the conversation was so good that we lost track of time and they were already closing, so maybe next time I will give it a try.

Prices range from about AED 100 - 170 for the main course.

Would definitely try again. A romantic dinner this perhaps, where I can enjoy the outdoors and a meal on the beach.

I am back......

Hi guys,

I am sorry I haven't been blogging for awhile. Times have been crazy busy and laziness at times creeps in...sigh!
 I have loads of places to write about...so lets get to it.

Kami

Sails Beach and Bar restaurant, Almanara Diani Beach Hotel

Had the pleasure of having dinner at this restaurant. Have to say they have the best prawns and lobster ever.

 

Forty Thieves

While at the South Coast...check out this place by the beach. Nice chilled out place to have some sea food or whatever you fancy and take it down with a yummy cocktail.

 

Coast vacation!!! Leopard Beach Resort and Spa

 Hi guys,

I have been away on leave. Went to Ukunda, South Coast, Kenya. I had a blast. Have loads of pics to share with you as well as my comments.

Enjoy!

LEOPARD BEACH RESORT AND SPA

This is a beautiful hotel. I cannot fault it there. But, their staff leaves a lot to be desired.
 Getting a reservation at this hotel doesn't seem like a hard task until you realize that it is. Tried calling their Nairobi numbers...no one picks up the phone. Eventually decide to call the hotel itself. I had a hard time getting through. I choose to believe that they were not just hanging up on me. So I then decided to email them. This finally got a response.
 On their website, they have special offers depending on the day you book. The staff don't seem to be aware of it, as I had to resend an email asking for the revised rates with the special offers in mind. That took ages to get a reply. I had to personally call a number of times just to get the information. Let's just say that the reservation experience I got was quite frustrating. Quite!!!

Anyway, we eventually get to the hotel. Beautiful!!

The rooms are nice and spacious. Asked for sea facing.....had to look for the sea lol!! Beautiful gardens just outside. Amazing.

There's quite a number of restaurants, but two of them were not open. Apparently because its the low season. Shame!! would have liked to experience them all. The food in the main restaurant was nothing to write home about. However, there are the prawns served at the Pool Bistro that were divine. Had them with jacket potato and veggies. Yum!

As I said before, I did not find a majority of the staff to be friendly or helpful. There was this one occasion where my son and I were having dinner in the main restaurant. My son needed to go to the bathroom so I enquired if there was a bathroom close by. I had seen what I thought was the bathroom, but I wasn't sure so I asked the waiter and he said no. So when the waiter led me away from the restaurant, down some stairs to another bathroom I didn't think much of it. That was until while going to get some dessert, I noticed that the suspected  bathrooms were just that. I was furious. I asked him why he would have me walk all the way to the other side, when there were bathrooms just next to me?" OH madam, I didn't realize that they were open!"....yeah right...didn't I just ask him if those were the bathrooms and he said NO.

Another case. I was in the room and needed some ice urgently because my son had hurt himself. I call room service and explain that I need ice for my son who is hurt. He quickly interrupts me and tells me he will charge me for the ice. I ask why? he says because he has to come all that way, but that alternatively I can go and get the ice myself. Absolutely no empathy. I was disgusted. Yup had to walk all the way to the bar.

So was everything bad? To be fair no...infact the one time I was impressed with the service was when I went to the spa. They are so friendly..compared to the others in the main hotel, it was a breath of fresh air. A plus was the wonderful massage I got while I was there. Fantastic.

Suffice to say, I would not go back to this hotel again. I strongly believe that staff make a big impact on someone's stay. No matter how beautiful the hotel....the staff, the service goes a long way.

Check out the pics......

 

 

 

Hakkasan Restaurant, Dubai

One of the most amazing Chinese restaurants I have had the pleasure to dine at.

For those of you that haven't had the pleasure, allow me to introduce it to you. Hakkasan is an up market Chinese restaurant located in Emirates Boulevard, Dubai. From the minute I stepped in I loved it. The décor, the ambience....amazing. We were met at the door, and since we had reservations, they asked us if we wanted to proceed to our table immediately or have a drink at the bar. We chose to go to our table.

We were given our menus by the host and given time to peruse them. Our waiter, then came and introduced himself before disappearing and allowing us time to go through the extensive menu, and extensive it is....if you're a first timer there, the sheer number of meal choices available is a tad intimidating to say the least. However, the waiter is always willing to recommend something.
We settled on 2 starters and 2 main courses. They're sharing meals so the portions are more than enough. For our starters, we had the dim sum platter(I hope that's what it's called) and the jasmine tea smoked beef ribs. They were absolutely delicious. Melt in your mouth, lick your lips delicious.

For the main, we had the spicy chicken and the Chilean sea bass, along with vegetable fried rice.We favored the sea bass more than the chicken. I don't know if it was because we over ate the starters but as good as the main courses were, they could not compare to the starters.

The service is spectacular. The waiter felt like our very own personal waiter because he was always on hand for our requests, occasionally checking in on us with some banter but careful not to overdo it.

 Unfortunately, we were too full to sample the desserts. Like really, I literally had a hard time getting up. That's what happens when food is that good. The company also helped a lot;-)

For those who are interested, the meal will cost you upwards of aed500 for two people.

Definitely going back...going back today actually. That good people.

Lol...Went back...for my very good friend Sheila's farewell dinner.

All the best darling...xoxoxo