Hi mittensam, I've been to extebarri and akellare ...

Extebarri lunch ala carte shared 1 serving of each of the following - chorizo, smoked butter, oysters, palamos prawns, squid, cheese flan - 3 glasses of wine, a bottle of water n a coffee - bout euro 180

Akellare lunch - w different tasting menus (one w wine pairing) 9 courses each, additional 2 glasses of wine, 2 bottles of water, 1 coffee - euro 430

Of the two, akellare has of course t better service, great selection of wine and a spectacular view. However food at extebarri wins hands down - the Tasting notes here were prolly the highest during our 4 day trip to barca n San se. I would not go back again to akellare, extebarri I want to bring my parents and my best friends to ...

hahahaha .... Parigi ! i did better ... delivered to both geri and cesc ... not to puyol only because he was not playing. Valencia's tight defence made the game slightly less exciting with messi not doing much ... but the nou camp experience was still fantastic !

Hi nutella , yes my trip report is long overdue !! havent had the time to write ... will do so in the next week or so ... when are you going ?

caldeni and akalerre were both disappointing ..

the rest were really yummy w etxebarri hitting the highest notes ...

will write more soon ... attached pic excellent squid noodles w burrata , truffles and pistachio (i think) fr hisop

Hi pec, i just spent the past 3 days in Rome. L'asino d'oro as i understand is not classic roman cooking but we had their set lunch there and it was absolutely wonderful (glass of decent white, bottle of water, fantastic potato soup, well-cooked cheese ravioli with some fish salsa sauce and a well grilled fillet of mackeral (i think) with fagioli. If yours is a slot for lunch then definitely here.

If you want something very local for dinner - please try le mani in pasta (trastevere area). We went there twice for dinner out of our 3 nights in Rome - the 2nd timet was right after leaving halfway through a lousy dinner at Ristorante Eleonara. The atmosphere is great - small , elbows touching other tables , open kitchen with regulars going in to give their customary greeting to the chef (just remember to ask not to sit in the basement and have very low expectations of service - until the waiters warm up to you that is). All those aside, the food here is stellar - perfectly balanced sea bass carpaccio with black truffles, served with toast and butter, rigatoni amatriciana, whatever is on the blackboard for that day - we wanted to eat everything that was coming out from the kitchen.

caganer : good tip ... will weigh the options

hi sue, is El Xiringo open on Mondays? i'm searching for places to eat on monday around barceloneta area ..

zizouz : unfortunately we wont have time to do either .. only hoping to catch the guggie outside at dusk for a picture moment (do need to do some tourist stuff). will keep your rec in mind the nxt time we are at bilbao.

parigi : you mean cafe bar bilbao on calle nueva?

deadstroke : yes i am based in SG / KL. i think i must have watched that episode several times already but sight of bourdain sucking on that prawn head is one of the reasons we'r going to brave getting lost in order to get to etxebarri.

Bilbao was more of a convenience than anything as we have a flight out early next morning and thought it'd be easier if we were to spend the night before. I agree that 2.5 days in San Se is 2 short .. actually our whole Euro trip is too short ! but c'est la vie .. gonna try and make the best of it.

Btw, any recs for late casual dining in Bilbao ? We would have finished a late lunch at Akelarre and reached Bilbao late on that day

Caga : mucho gracias !! thats a big change to the plans .. now we have more time for a proper early dinner (if there is such a thing in spain) -

Parigi : I will try my best to deliver your 'heart' to them from the 2nd tier rows ... judging fr los che's performance at bernabeu - might be a tough night for barca. I am seriously considering the tapas crawl at the Born - which bars would you recommend? Also since the game starts at 9.30pm, what is the best way to get from Camp Nou to the Born?

I am considering Paco Meralgo as an after game option (closes at 1am) - is it worth it ?

ManInTransit / Mikey : Thanks for the heads-up on Quimet - part of why we wanted to go was to taste the canned food ! we are however keeping options opened - perhaps grab a bite or 2 at bouqueria, another few bites at Quimet (then depending whether we are staying longer) may move to La Cova Fumada (at Barceloneta area).

I doubt we have time for a full meal at Gresca or Gelonch ... but reading more on Fonda Gaig now !!

btw ... as i am writing this reply, bourdain pops up on tv - episode of no reservations where he is in spain - and .. at quimet ... so maybe its a sign .. haha

apologies for the typo, Mikey !

Hi Mickey, have not tried Peggy's .. So can't comment

Hi Chicas, cant say much now .. but will be heading to Barca in Sep - so will fill you in after ...

Hi chowhounds - first off, a BIG thank you to all the contributors on this board. Chowhound and tripadvisor has been a great resource whilst planning for this trip.

My wife and I (both of us are fr SouthEastAsia and speak no Spanish) will be travelling to Spain for the first time in early September. Would have loved to spend more days, but time and money will not allow. For eating options, we are In any case, itinerary as follows :

Day 1 (Sat)
- Arrive Barca 8am. Check-in. Staying at Barri Gothic.
- Grab a bocadillos from BO D B (barceloneta) and head to Passieg de Gracia.
- Late lunch (2.30pm) at CALDENI - followed by Sagrada Familia
- Late dinner at TICKETS

Day 2 (Sun)
- Early lunch 12noon at TAPEO - then to Parc Guell
- (looking for suggestions for snacks/tapas place around Parc Guell to Nou Camp area)
- 8pm at Nou Camp for Barca vs Valencia match at 8pm
- Late dinner at KIOSKO BURGER

Day 3 (Mon)
- LA BOUQUERIA in the morning (will probably eat light)
- Early lunch at QUIMENT & QUIMET – then explore Las Ramblas/Gothic area/beach
- Late dinner at HISOP

Day 4 (Tues)
- Depart Barca and arrive Bilbao around 10.30am
- Lunch at ASADOR ETXEBARRI – will try not to get lost on the way there
- Leave for San Seb after lunch - staying around old town area
- PINTXOS crawl – (used todopintxos.com as a guide)

Day 5 (Wed)
- Simple breakfast/walk around San Seb town/check out
- Long lunch at AKELARRE – then drive back to Bilbao – try to catch Guggenheim at dusk
- (have not decided on where to have dinner in Bilbao – any suggestions for simple, not too pricey options?)

Day 6 (Thurs)
- Leave Bilbao and Spain in the morning .. boo …

That’s the plan so far. There are so many places and things we want to try but keeping in mind our budget (cant do the Akelarre, Mugaritz, Arzak trio) and the limited time (wanted to do lunch at Gelonch, Embat,Sauc, Gresca!) also did not want to overeat (heading to Italy and france to eat more after) – we’ve narrowed it down to the options above. Any suggestions on improvements to the above is greatly appreciated, Gracias!

most of the hawkers there are 2nd generation (maybe even third) - if i remember clearly, pork noodles auntie took over from her father-in-law, CKT man took over fr his mom - likely nasi lemak abang as well.

sakti is right - you need to look at the right places. imho the best nyonya kuih in Klang Valley is from A'Han in Sea Park, PJ - standouts include seri muka, sago, ubi kayu, pulut tai tai (served with their excellent kaya) ... i doubt the ones in SG can come close

ive tasted maison kayser's croissant - it is very good. Butter-ly rich - you can taste the good quality butter , well balanced - sugar, flour, butter, milk , very good texturelly - crisp outside and almost slightly moist inside ... also tried their baguette which was pretty good too ... i like hard bread , dont think places in this part of the world serve enough of it. in any case, if you can recommend places better than maison kayser, would love to go try those too ...

pity about yeoh's poor ramen experience though. go for keisuke's tonkotsu king black spicy ramen !!

hi yeoh ... back in my university days (circa 2000-2002) i would constantly argue with my singaporean friends about which country had the better hawker food ... since i've tasted the singapore version , nothing in the past 10 years in kl-pj has come close to their hainanese chicken rice standards. its quite a wonder why none of the kl-pj chicken rice vendors has tried to replicate it - perhaps ego or even culture maybe? only gripe about SG chicken rice is most of the places the chicken meat dont have a good enough ermm ..'chicken' aroma ...

KL: I agree completely. Though i do not condone the somewhat narcissist nature of the red beret 'aunty' , her CKT is really the best I have ever had

OneBigMouth: The last time I was in Penang was about 2 years ago and I do remember the Lorong Selamat lady cooking each plate individually and it was excellent (wonderful wok hei and texture of the noodles). No doubt price is somewhat exorbitant (especially when compared to the other stalls) but as long as the quality remains, i will rather pay a few extra RM for something so much better. I have tried Sisters once (which was horrible) and Ah Leng (spicier and 'wet-ter', good wok hei but noodles was slight overcooked) and several other stalls around penang but non so far imo matches up to lorong selamats. Will keep your recommendations in mind and one day will do the great Penang CKT road tour to see if there is a better alternative.

Go to Goga. Make reservations at least 2 days before, if the weather forecast is good, ask to be seated at the terrace. Go in a group.

order everything with seafood in it. share.

will be one of the best meals in shanghai.

(http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/listings/dining/malaysian/has/food-fusion/) or My Nyonya Gallery (http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shangha...) which are both more msian style.

how about Tenya at Huashan Rd? been wanting to eat some good tuna before it goes extinct ..

hahahaha .. yeah the wait is crap ... i usually go after 8pm on weekdays to avoid the crowds. once again , focus is on food ... spicy joint serves excellent 'shuizhuyu' (fish in hot oil) and fried bullfrog sichuan style.

hafnerd: will hunt down the lao di fang mian place !

peter .. u CAN get cantonese speaking waitresses at Cha !! u just dont get the HK-waited attitude .. =P

great list dude .. keen to try many of the above .. so many choices in Shanghai but its a pity not many establishments have pride in the quality of their food ..

there is a small noodle shop on guangyuan lu (nr huashan lu) called WeiWei's (伟伟饮食店). if u have not been there before, give it a go. its a simple bowl of noodles cooked el dente and then you have a choice of topping (meat, veg, egg, tofu). their huang jiang mian (黄酱面) is most popular, noodles in soup with meatballs wrapped in tofu skin (its sweet so u might not like it). my fav is dry noodles with spicy pork, salted veg and fried egg.

weiweis, cha and spicy joint (辛香汇) havent let me down yet ...

hahaha .. glad to see Sek Yuen garnering some international attention .. it's been a mainstay in the KL eating scene since it was opened, deservingly so as they have maintained their consistency over so many years. A worrying thought; you do not see any young cooks in the kitchen ... hopefully somebody inherits the skills for these old school dishes.

imo , if u have to choose one, take their "Pat Poh Ngap" .. not many places in KL do it as well as they do and certainly not for the price that they charge. The "Pei Pa Ngap" is at times slightly dry and perhaps not aromatic enough. The Chicken Skin with Fish Paste is another good dish to order especially if you have a big group at dinner.

Also, If you're feeling adventurous , call ahead and ask if they could get any "Lei Yue Kongs" (male Lei Fish). I personally have not tried this but one of my elders mentioned that its a rare dish that the guys at Sek Yuen can do really well.

Hey racer , as with most other establishments in Shanghai , best to keep your expectations of Zen low. It serves decent dim sum and cantonese style dishes for the prices but nothing spectacular. Likewise with Lost Heaven.

I've been living in Shanghai for the past 4 months and I've learned to accept that there are not many places that take pride in the quality of their food and their service levels, be it up-market restaurants or small little eateries. Hence, more often than not the money you pay does not match the overall value of your dining experience.

There are of course some small gems , JiaJia Tang Bao (for the XLBs) and Yang's Fry (for the fried dumplings) have not dissappointed. "Cha" on Sinan Rd (nr Huaihai Middle Rd) is a good HK-style char chan teng without the HK-style char chen teng waiters (go try their soya sauce chicken and daily soups). Be prepared to wait during lunch or dinner time as it gets really packed. For dessert, you can also walk a few doors down to "Hof" and order their orange chocolate mud cake and chocolate mousse cake, both rich and well executed.

And if you want to experience eating Shanghainese style, there is a noodle shop (apparently the 6th best in Shanghai, I have no idea who the top 5 are) at Xujiahui district. It opens daily at 11am and runs out by 2.30pm. Its dirty, its small (only seats 15) and there is always a que but it will probably be one of the best meals RMB8 will get you. Email me and I will give you the directions!

*btw, currently living on a student's budget so have not had the opportunity to try many places yet.