Thanks to all for the suggestions. We studied them all and decided on Wood Tavern for lunch. It was great.

For dinner the previous evening we went to an old favorate, Salang Pass, an Afghan place in Fremont. It did not disappoint. I believe it is the best Middle Eastern food I have ever eaten. Attached is a photo of my Quabili Pallow, a lamb shank covered in the most succulent rice, raisin and carrot combination.

We are looking for a place for lunch before a Friday evening football game at Berkeley. Can be Oakland, Berkeley or south to Fremont. Any cuisine except Japanese. Fish might be nice.

Closing the loop. The first night we ate at Jean Pierre. The food was good, the service friendly but low and ambiance great. My wife's mussels were the best she has had in a while. The next night we went to Randy's which was excellent. My duck was among the best I have ever had. For breakfast we tried to get into the college cafe but it the wait was too long (so it must be good). We ended up t Oscar's and the selections went on forever, the food was good and the experience unique. It too was crowded but we got a place at the counter. We did not get to Silverton.

I will be in Tucson next weekend (Oct 19-21) for a football game and myself and a couple of friends are looking for someplace interesting to eat on Friday night. Any cuisine is fine and the price with wine should probabaly not exceed $50 per person. We just would like a fun place to eat with good food. We are staying in different directions, so any location is also OK. We like interesting ethnic food too.

Planning a three day weekend in Durango Oct 12-14. So we are looking for places for two breakfasts, a lunch and two dinners. Any cuisine is welcome.

We also might take the train to Silverton, so a lunch spot while waiting for the train to return would also be appreciated.

To close the loop. On Saturday, we never managed to have breakfast and had a stale muffin and turnover in PJ's in the Shaw Center. But we did indeed go to Parrain's for lunch. I had the version of the drum with shrimp, crab meet and hollandaise sauce. My wife had the Mai Mai with the goodies (mushrooms, shrimp, hollandiase sauce) on the side. Both were very good. On Sunday morning we had a wonderful breakfast at Another Cracked Egg which was a couple of blocks from the Marriott. Excellent. The wait was 35 minutes which we could not have absorbed but there were two spots at the coffee bar in the back. What a potential selection of egg dishes! Perhaps the best breakfast place I have seen, better even than The Egg and I in Colorado and the place in San Francisco we used to haunt.

To close the loop. On Saturday, we never managed to have breakfast and had a stale muffin and turnover in PJ's in the Shaw Center. But we did indeed go to Parrain's for lunch. I had the drum but the version with shrimp, crab meet and hollandaise sauce. My wife had the Mai Mai with the goodies (mushrooms, shrimp, hollandiase sauce) on the side. Both were very good. On Sunday morning we had a wonderful breakfast at Another Cracked Egg which was a couple of blocks from the Marriott. Excellent. The wait was 35 minutes which we could not have absorbed but there were two spots at the coffee bar in the back. What a potential selection of egg dishes! Perhaps the best breakfast place I have seen, better even than The Egg and I in Colorado and the place in San Francisco we used to haunt.

We are staying at the Marriott.

This was also posted on the NOLA board. We will be in BR next weekend for a football game and are looking for a place for a light breakfast (sort of like the Beignets at Cafe DuMonde in NOLA but with a shorter line) and a place for a nice lunch. Perhaps one with a view of the river. We plan on the morning along the river and in the area of the Capitol but really know little about the town.

I assume that Baton Rouge would also be covered by this board. We will be in BR next weekend for a football game and are looking for a place for a light breakfast (sort of like the Beignets at Cafe DuMonde in NOLA but with a shorter line) and a place for a nice lunch. Perhaps one with a view of the river. We plan on the morning along the river and in the area of the Capitol but really know little about the town.

We ended up following the advise on another board and had lunch at Cucina del Dieserto, a Morrocan place. Very authenic decor, in fact, so authentic that if we had't had a board recommendation, we might hot have gone it. But it was wonderful and very cheaply priced. I believe it was the best couscous I have ever eaten.

The second night we were going to try the Senagalese place but ran out of time to go looking and had a menu of the day in a small place off of the Plaza Mayor. OK but nothing to recommend.

Will be in Madrid next week for two nights at the start of a two month stay upcountry. We will have plenty of Spanish food so figure this is a good place to possibly find something unusual. Is anyone aware of good ethnic food like Afghan, Persan or Andian? Not Chinese, those are everywhere in Spain.

Thanks, great suggestions. We are not limited to that area, it is just our first choice. I am sure we will want to go down to Waikiki one night for dinner just to absorb the ambiance. Who has the "best fish in town?" Or is that a silly question in Honolulu?

My son actually lives at 1088 Bishop and you can see the Aloha Tower (no "s") from his balcony, so I figured that would be a central monument to use as a starting point. Last time we ate at Indigo, Little House and Chai's. It is really nice not to have to drive. There was also a French Bistro across the street from Indigo but we couldn't get a decent table last time. Are there still two Alan Wong's and is one better than the other?

We did an extensive study on Chowhound a year and a half ago for our visit to our son in Honolulu. Has anything changed, such as previous stars falling or closed or new entries arriving on the scene. We are especially looking for suggestions within walking distance of the Aloha Tower.

Can any one recommend a good place for a Friday night dinner in March withing walking distance (2-3 blocks) of the LAX Embassy Suites South (4400 East Imperial Highway) We are on an overnight layover before catching a flight out on Saturday morning.

a collegue and I are attending a convention in Denver. We need suggestions for two females within walking distance of the Crowne Plaza. Good food of any cuisine needed for two nights. Reasonable prices, not 5 star luxury.

Thanks to all. We had lunch at Mazza sitting outside at their 900th and 900th location. Great food with some menu item we have not seen other places. Great lunchsnd we won the football game!

in two weeks we will be up in Salt Lake for a game. Still don't know kickoff time, so we may be looking for lunch before or Dinner after. Will be staying at Univ Marriott so won't want to wander far?

We are back and so I will answer my own question. We never had a bad meal in Bulgaria. And once we got out of Sofia the average cost for wonderful salad, meat dish and wine for two was $25-35. Here are my choices in order of preferenceand I will add special review for the best places.
Sofia: 1. Manastirska Magernitsa. Old house with beautiful garden tables for the summer. Best meal of the trip but also the most expensive - $ 60 for two but that included complementary humus and brandy brought out with hot water to warm it before drinking!
2. Ege Ege - Armenian. I had Duck with Apricot and Dates and my wife had Pork stuffed with Olives and Cheese. 3. Pri Yafata.
Plovdiv; 1. Dayana. There are several versions around town all with Gardens 2. Chuchura (Bachkova - can't remember the name but it was the restaurant with the waterfalls by the bus stop.)
Velinko Tarnovo: 1. Ethno 2. Shtastivetsa 3 Gurko Tavern.

We are spending multiple days in Sofia, Plovdiv and Velinko Taranova. Would appreciate restaurant recommendations. Looking for local foot but any good restaurant would be appreaciated.

Sorry....week after next.

Next week we will be in town and one day are taking an excursion out to the Great River Road. We will probably see both Laura and Oak Alley. Are there any lunch recommendations around those planations or between there and New Orleans? Perhaps even to the south or southeast if the place is worth the drive.

We are going to be spending two nights in New Orleans next month (March). We had sor of settled on Cochon and Galatoire's but have discovered that the later requires a jacket which I do not plan on taking. We will have one lunch and two dinners so need recommendations for lunch the first day and dinner the second. We have breakfast in our hotel but might want to go out for a nice breakfast on the last day before we fly out just after noon.

We would also like recommendations for lunch out near the planations on the Great River Road. (We plan on renting a car for a one day excursion.)

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Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130

Galatoire's Restaurant
209 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA 70130

What a surprise to find such a gem in the middle of nowhere! Cervera del Rio Alhama is a city of 3381 people in the mountains around where the provinces of Aragón, Navarra, La Rioja and Castilla/Leon come together. In sits below the Sierra del Moncayo and close to the mineral waters at the Balenario de Fitero. It is an ancient town that was the center for the manufacturing of the rope sandals (or alpargatas) that used to be a national footware in Spain. Located in the center of down off Plaza San Gil and up a steep stairway is the Hotel Rural Cervera. This completely refurbished building has a dining room on the first floor that goes back into a cave. The food is outstanding. We took a family party of ten people on the Sunday after Christmas. We started with an outstanding Revuelto de Hongos, Pimientos Rellenos and two types of salads . All were outstanding. The main couse varied Bacalao Salsa Verde, Asados, a Confit of Pato, an Entricot, a Solomilo and a Cordero Asado. Everything was excellent. Even the House red wine at 7.50 Euros was good. The pricee was reasonable at 33 Euros per person including wine, coffee and dessert. It is a bit off of any main road so this has to be a destination and spending the night to eat a meal might be worth while. In addition to the minerals baths the local boasts ruined castles and dinosauer tracks.

The weather cancelled our trip to Sevilla and dealt us an unexpected overnight in Madrid. What are the best options around Atocha station? We are staying at the AC Atocha for one night and will have two lunches and a dinner available.

Some asked this question a couple of months ago and didn't get a reply, but I'll give it another shot. We might be dropping into Cádiz for a day trip from Sevilla the week before Christmas. Can anyone suggest a place for lunch. Any cuisine but I'd expect seafood to predominate. A sea view also might be nice.

For our third and final meal on this trip to Honolulu, we chose the Little Village Noodle House located in the heart of Chinatown. Walking down a dark Hotel Street wasn't the most pleasant thing and we had never seen this restaurant before so were pleased when we came upon a bright nicely decorated place full of people. And best of all it happened to have one table open immediately. As I mentioned in my earlier thread, we didn't know what all the locals know that you bring your own bottle of wine and they open it for you at a charge of $1.50 per glass. We started with Mu-shu roll, a crep with pork veggies and spices that was prepared at the table. I have never experienced that in a chinese restaurant. The great flavor started us out right. The first of the three main dishes to hit the table twas Black pepper beef and the tastes caused all of us to say "wow!" This was followed by cashew chicken that was not on the menu but was an evening special listed on the chalk board above the kitchen. The final dish was Honey walnut shimp. Again the flavors were absolutely unique although my wife found it too sweet for her. We thought we over ordered so that our son would have something to take home, but there wasn't even a nibble left. The best part is this feast only cost $53.04 before tip. Photos of everything but the cashew chicken are posted below.

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Little Village Noodle House
1113 Smith St, Honolulu, HI 96817

I should add that the meal came to $175.34 before tip.

We should add the price which ame to $198 for three before tip.