Le Cafe Metropol @ The Gran Hotel Domine, Bilbao, Spain

During our stay at the luxurious Gran Hotel Domine in Bilbao, Spain, we went to dinner at their restaurant Le Café Metropol in August 2016. This restaurant in the meantime since our visit has been now renamed Le Café, but seems to offer still the same high quality locally inspired menu as before when we visited.

 

The feel of Le Café Metropol felt glamorous and modern at the same time while looking through large glass windows towards the Guggenheim Museum.

 

We decided to live a little bit like the locals enjoy and shared our dishes too from the memorable offerings. Beside us, there was another visiting couple and a local couple nearby seated by the windows at this beautiful space in an equally beautiful and design-led hotel in the heart of Bilbao.

 

We ordered a large bottle of still water and a peach juice. The tapas/pinxtos we shared were Ham Iberico de Bellota with bread and grated tomato, Biscay Bay salted anchovies with roasted peppers and bread with olive oil, marinated salmon Carpaccio with beetroot tartar and salad, oxtail snacks with slightly hot hummus and green asparagus fried in Wasabi tempura, tonkatsu and soya.

 

We loved all of the dishes. Some were “classics” like the ham, bread and tomatoes, while others were new to us, for example the oxtail snacks. We liked that some of our platters were traditional Spanish and others fusions of different continents.

 

The quality was high and all our individual dishes tasted beautifully and authentic IMHO.

 

One type of bread was unusual. It was more like the German Zwieback (rusk).

 

The saltiness of the anchovies worked well with the sweetness of the peppers.

 

The salmon came alive with the beetroot tartar and the oxtail was moreish and well balanced with humus.

 

Our desserts were Greek Yogurt and fruit salad with mint syrup and citric slush.

 

The yogurt was creamy and came with pistachios and berry compote.

 

The fruit salad remembered us about Thailand, especially how fine the fruits were cut. The slush added an interesting acidic flavor/texture balance and was refreshing.

 

Staff was attentive, efficient and warm.

 

The bill was 82 Euro (ca. 91.05 USD).

 

Due to good service, quality and interesting food and overall architectural design of the Le Café Metropol we would want to enjoy lunch/dinner again at this venue.

©2017

Lost in translation

Mohammed Fakir was in his thirties, dark haired, stocky and short. He was strong, though, and spoke good English. He was preparing for his meeting with his new boss Coldham Fintan Noose III. He liked him, whom he called Mr. Fin. The tall, blond American was not very fussy and didn’t put on any airs. As a boss he was fair too.

 

Mohammed knocked on the door and entered when he was invited into Mr. Fin’s sanctum. Mohammed realized immediately something was wrong with his boss. Mr. Fin had a tan, but he seemed white underneath it. After some small talk they went on to discuss the roster. “Aaban would like to change shifts with me next week only.” Mr. Fin didn’t react. “Ehm.” Mohammed cleared his throat. Mr. Fin looked embarrassed and apologized for being absent minded. He agreed to the change, if Mohammed wanted to do so. This was another thing Mohammed liked about his boss. Mr. Fin left a lot of freedom to his security team. As long as the building site was protected he didn’t meddle too much. The same went for the work schedule. Mr. Fin created the roster, gave it to Mohammed, who checked with his colleagues if it was okay and came back to Mr. Fin to discuss changes and preferences.

They moved on to other business. “Zunnoon is getting married and we want to buy him a gift. Would you like to contribute?” Mr. Fin was miles away in his thoughts. Mohammed coughed to get his attention. His boss was sorry. Normally Mr. Fin was totally focused and sharp minded, so Mohammed wondered what had ruffled his feathers. Mr. Fin said: “I must apologize. Do you think we can take a short break? It's nearly lunch time. Do you know a good Chinese?" Mohammed didn’t know exactly what lunch and a good Chinese had to do with each other. He hadn’t encountered any Chinese before, so he had to research who was suitable and come back to Fin. At least he had a clue where to start. He was befriended with the head of security of the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka and thought his friend would be able to help him.

His friend gave him the phone number of a suitable person. It took Mohammed some time to convince Mr. Lim Zhuang Da to come urgently to Fin’s office. Mohammed proudly presented the Chinese to Mr. Fin, who burst out laughing. Mohammed wondered what was so funny. Mr. Fin said: “Pardon me.” He still giggled. Calming down he continued: “Well, thank you for your effort, Mohammed.” Mr. Fin surprised Mohammed and Mr. Lim by switching to Mandarin. Then he switched back to English, so that both could understand him: “Mohammed, I’m impressed you could organize a meeting with Mr. Lim so quickly and without a lot of prior notice. I will remember that. Mr. Lim, would you be able to recommend a restaurant serving excellent Egg Fu Yung?” Mr. Fin’s lips were twitching. Mohammed suddenly realized Mr. Fin had asked for a good Chinese restaurant, not a person. Mr. Fin had been diplomatic and thank goodness not caused Mohammed to lose face in front of Mr. Lim and taken it with humor. All understood the implications, though, and soon were laughing about it. “Of course. The Red Dragon is famous for it.” Mr. Lim replied, when they had caught their breath again. Mr. Fin invited Mr. Lim and Mohammed for lunch, who agreed to join him.

Lunch and having something to laugh about seemed to have restored Mr. Fin’s equilibrium. He was focused again on work.

©2017

Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao, Spain

We knew about the Gran Hotel Domine in Bilbao since it opened in 2002 and joined the Leading Hotels of the World and managed by Silken Hotels of Spain - now it is a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts Lifestyle and independently managed. 

Somehow Bilbao always went below our radar at first and we managed only to go there for the first time in May 2016. At the time we stayed at the Barcelo Nervion in one of their beautifully designed suites (Please see review). We loved the city so much we returned in August 2016 for a weekend (1 night) and finally stayed at the Gran Hotel Domine.

The Gran Hotel Domine is very special, it's a beautiful design-driven luxury hotel. The hotel was the complete responsibility of Javier Mariscal, an artist, beside the bathtub design by Philippe Starck. The building material, furniture and artwork were all made in Spain. This was the first time ever a hotel in Spain was called "100% Made in Spain". All food served in the restaurants and bars are also sourced in Spain.

We took a taxi from the airport, which took approx. 15 minutes and cost 25 Euro (ca. 27.80 USD). We were surprised that the main entrance is at the back of the building. We always believed it was opposite the entrance of the Guggenheim Museum, but that is the side entrance.

There were displays of items for sale, for example Basque soaps, and the numerous awards the hotel has won.

When entering the atrium we encountered Javier Mariscale's "Fossil Cypress", stones in a metal enmeshed net. It was something we were looking forward to see and was impressive. It stretched the whole six floors and was 26 m high. We were surprised some guests had left their signatures on the stones they could reach.

Reception was at the other side, facing the Guggenheim Museum together with the Le Cafe Metropole at the time - the Metropole has been dropped and is now known as Le Cafe - and the Splash and Crash Cocktail Lounge. 

There was also a stylish seating arrangement with interesting lightning features and a small garden with waterfall, where the bubble lifts were hidden.

Check in was a breeze and within two minutes we were on the way to our room on the second floor.

Overall the hotel felt artistic, warm, supported by the use of earthy tones, and our medium sized Executive Room felt chic and residential.

We liked the wood panelling, the views over the Guggenheim Museum, the little table set up for the tea/coffee making facility (Baque Tea), the unusual painting, the Nakamichi stereo system and the accompanying Jazz, Blues and Swing CDs. We listened to one, which was excellent.

There was a wardrobe and a comfortable large bed with gorgeous embossed GHDB logos.

The wardrobe opened unusual, like an accordion and had limited storage space, but suited our needs for a short stay.

Beside this were a fully stocked mini bar, a chair and a metal and wood covered writing desk.

Mini bar prices ranged from 3 Euro / ca. 3.35 USD for water, a small Toblerone and Olives to 37 Euro / ca. 41.10 USD for a half bottle of Mum Champagne.

The flat screen TV offered 58 TV and radio channels incl. local channels and news channesls from around the world.

Magazines and books completed the detailed room picture and included The Dapper Magazine, the Preferred Hotels and Resort Lifestyle catalogue among others.

The bathroom was large with a bath tub and shower combination, double sinks and a separate room for the toilet and bidet.

The amenities were by the White Company London, which we like and we thought the choice fits with the style of this beautiful hotel.

Breakfast was included in our rate and served on the top floor of the hotel. The venue had indoor and outdoor seating and felt very special with the romantic ambience and beautiful views over the city, the Guggenheim musuem and beyond. The sunshine and warmth helped too.

The breakfast was luxurious and included a wide selection of items, including Cava, different types of fish, cold cuts, cheese, bread, pastries, yogurt, fruits and much more.

The staff was excellent and reminded us in regards of friendliness and attentiveness of the one at the Palais Coburg's Clementine im Glashaus in Vienna, where we stayed a month before our 2nd visit to Bilbao.

We loved our designer environment of the hotel and we would want to stay again at this hospitality gem when visiting hopefully Bilbao again in our future.

©2017

The House of Tides, Newcastle, England, United Kingdom

A week before our holiday in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK my fiancé found out there was a 1 Michelin starred restaurant located there by the river Tyne. We decided to try our luck and booked a table for two in such a relatively short time frame. We could even choose our preferred time online.

Lunch at the House of Tides is only available on Fridays and Saturdays. We went on a Friday in May 2017.

We liked the Vegetarian Tasting Menu, because it fit our needs best and sounded on the one side grounded, but also a bit adventurous and was another all vegetarian experience after having had lunch and dinner at the Zirbelstube, which holds 1 Michelin star, in Stuttgart, Germany, which was very Avant-garde and exciting by Chef Sebastian Prüßmann who left this restaurant recently for personal reasons.

The House of Tides is located in a 16th century building near the Tyne river and below the High Level Bridge. The chef patron is Kenny Atkinson.

When we arrived we could spy a bit into the kitchen. It was similar to our experience at Sant Pau in Tokyo, where the structure is postmodern and diners can't look into the kitchen, but pedestrians can.

When entering the restaurant we were warmly greeted and our jackets were taken. The bar on the ground floor was cosy.

We were asked if we wanted to go up to the dining room on the first floor or preferred to have a drink at the bar. We decided to go ahead with lunch, so we were brought immediately upstairs.

The restaurant had kept the original beams and other features. We liked the feel of the dining room. 

House of Tides was nearly booked out. Our fellow diners were mostly older and British, but there were some Asian and younger guests too which added to the atmosphere IMHO.

Service was impeccable, warm and welcoming. Having provided our dietary requirements before, they just double checked who couldn't eat what.

We decided to have the complete vegetarian tasting menu excluding the cheese course. 

Our still water was sourced from the area [Northumberland] and was called Marlish and suited our meal.

Our signature House of Tides cocktails were Rum Re-Fashioned (rum, brown sugar and ginger bread syrup) and Tropical Tides, made with Durham Vodka, which comes from nearby, plus Passoa, Passionfruit and Mango. 

Both cocktails were very delicious and the Tropical Tides specifically brought back memories of sunny and warm holidays.

The meal started with Ewes Curd, Linseed, Apple; Carrot, Fennel, Meringue; Onion, Cream Cheese, Truffle and Feta, Gooseberry, Mustard.

There was cheese on a thin disc, a cone filled with ewes curd and linseeds, a macaroon and a lightly fried cheese with micro greens. All of it was treated as finger food. It was delicious and the different textures and flavors were to our taste and we would have no problems to have it all over again.

Next was a more traditional dish of Fermented Rye Bread and Cultured Butter. Both were excellent.

One of our favorite dishes was the Parmesan Royal, Quail Egg. It was a pastry filled with poached quail egg and a fluid Parmesan sauce. It was quite large and a bit messy to eat, but had great taste and was fun. 

This was followed by more traditional courses of Asparagus, Jersey Royal Potatoes, Morels (The mushrooms in his dish were replaced by Tenderstem Broccoli.) and Ragstone [goat cheese] Gnocchi, Spring Vegetables.

Both made us think of the season. They were beautiful to look at and tasty. The gnocchi were among the finest we enjoyed so far during our culinary experiences.

The Gariguette Strawberries and Curry Leaves came in an artistic globe and was a palate cleanser.

The crowning glory was Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut, Gold Leaf - a fantastic light signature cake. The design of the gold leaf on the cake matched the plate perfectly.

My fiancé enjoyed a glass of Royal Tokaj Blue Label 2009 with the desserts which he found wonderful and moreish.

The crockery was equally sourced from Newcastle upon Tyne and surroundings, which we actually liked a lot.

To round up our meal we decided to have green tea and treats, which were caramel chocolates. They were like the Parmesan Royal, large and better eaten in one go. Otherwise the fluid caramel center would spill.

We spent 2.5 hours at House of Tides and were rather sorry to leave after paying our bill of ca. 164 GBP (ca. 191.20 Euro / ca. 212.20 USD) including 12.5 % Service Charge.

We would return again, because we liked the atmosphere, the architecture, friendliness of the young and good looking staff and the memorable dishes. We believe the lunch menu is indeed good value at 55 GBP (ca. 64.10 Euro / ca. 71.20 USD) plus Service Charge, considering the superb ingredients used.


©2017

Morelands Grill @ The Westin Dublin, Ireland

The Westin Dublin opened a new venue at the site of the former Exchange restaurant around 4 weeks ago before our lunch visit.

 

My fiancé and I decided to give Morelands Grill a try and reserved a table for two during the May Bank Holiday weekend in Dublin, Ireland.

 

The welcome was warm and the maître d very pleased to have us.

 

The interior was classic with modern elements and it wasn’t very busy with fellow patrons at the time.

 

The restaurant was very well branded with M for Morelands Grill on all plates.

 

We also liked the glass the Kahlua came in. It reminded us of the roaring 20s and 30s, very elegant and beautiful at the same time.

 

There was a birthday party, another couple and a single female guest having lunch with us.

 

The staff was attentive, but sometimes had difficulties to understand our accents, which eventually was overcome and we enjoyed their attention to detail and service standards.

 

We ordered a large bottle of still Acqua Panna water, a Kahlua, Focaccia Crostini with Crottin goats cheese, red onion marmalade and heirloom tomato salsa, red quinoa salad with avocado pear, toasted cashews, tender stem broccoli, overnight tomatoes, virgin olive oil and lemon grapefruit dressing, organic salmon yakitori with spaghetti of vegetables, soy ginger and basmati rice and the potato gnocchi with Piquillo peppers, ovendried tomatoes, tenderstem broccoli, spinach and Parmesan cream. We also shared all three dessert minis (coffee opera gateaux, raspberry macaron and a mini sundae).

 

The Focaccia Crostini was very strong flavored, felt rustic and served beautifully.

 

The red quinoa salad was light and delicately flavored, a gorgeous balance of size, taste and presentation.

 

The salmon was a fusion of Japanese and Thai cuisine, rightly sized and colorful, a memorable lighter dish which was fully enjoyed.

 

The gnocchi were very lovely and sumptuous, but too large. The dish was influenced by France and Italy.

 

It would be good, if there would be a half portion available too as traditionally Gnocchi tend to be heavier overall.

 

The waitress told us the sundae was her favorite. For us it was difficult to decide. The macaron was of very high quality and bursting with flavor. The sundae was very rich and moreish and the coffee opera gateaux flavorful, but not overbearing. The coffee didn’t take over, but offered a good hit. All three had been memorable and beautiful at the same time.

 

We had green tea and a hot chocolate to accompany our desserts. Service was very attentive and enjoyable throughout our visit.

 

The value was good at 83 Euro (ca. 90.50 USD).

 

We will return again in the future at this new venue in the heart of Dublin, Ireland.

©2017

Cafe Moccador Kufstein, Austria

During our travels through Austria in July 2016 we made a daytrip to Kufstein and had lunch at Café Moccador at the Inntal Center.

 

It made a good impression with an outdoor terrace, plants and a winter garden inside with classic design and was frequented by locals and tourists of all age groups alike.

 

We chose a seat outside, since the weather was gorgeous.

 

Staff was overall attentive, but did get our main courses wrong at first. They were also charming and customer oriented, because they exchanged the dishes without quibble, apologized and brought the right ones around ten minutes later with a smile.

 

We ordered one apple schorle (apple juice and water mixed), one Gasteiner Elements Alpenglow cranberry juice drink, two Kaesespaetzle, one small side salad and one Hot Love ice cream sundae.

 

The meal was of good quality, generously sized and the flavors excellent. Value was also good at 29.20 Euro (ca. 31.35 USD).

 

We would return for another tasty lunch/dinner in our future, when visiting Kufstein.

©2017