Beaverkettle's Profile
London/Hampstead Heath for New Year's Eve dinner--suggestions?
I have never been to London before and am very excited to spend several days there next month with my best friend, INCLUDING New Year's Eve! We have the good luck to rent a flat from the friend of a friend so will be eating in most meals. But we'd like to go somewhere really nice for New Year's Eve dinner. The flat is in Hampstead Heath, and so we'd like to stick to restaurants in that area for New Year's Eve dinner. The only requirement is that the menu have steak and/or pasta on the menu.
I welcome any and all suggestions! We do like to get dressed up for a special occasion like this, so something other than a local pub would be lovely. Thank you!
A special New Year's eve meal in London--suggestions?
We are going to London for the first time ever from December 26th - January 4th. We are lucky enough to be staying in a flat belonging to a friend of a friend, so will be able to "cook in" most of the time and save a lot of $$$ that way. But for New Year's Eve itself, we want to go someplace special . . . after all, New Year's Eve in London! COME ON!
The only criteria are these:
1) Must have steak and/or pasta on the menu
2) Must be MEMORABLE, SPECIAL, etc. since it will definitely be the culinary highlight of a trip where we're eating in a lot
3) Don't want to blow college tuition-level bucks, but it's OK if it's on the expensive side
All suggestions eagerly anticipated . . . thank you!
London over Christmas/New Year's
I am traveling to London for ten days--from December 26th through January 4th. It's imperative that I keep the budget low on food, since i can't do so on airfare and have difficulty doing so with my lodgings. Please, provide any ideas for really decent food--doesn't have to be fancy, but needs to be filling and tasty and not crazy expensive. My main concerns are lunch and dinner, as I can just bring granola bars for breakfast.
ALSO . . . does anyone know of a Chowhound-like web site that covers hotels and B&Bs? I would love to explore that for my lodgings in London . . . MANY THANKS!
Pittsburgh outdoor dining.
Bocktown in Robinson Township is EXCELLENT (www.Bocktown.com). They opened about 18 months ago. They have over 400 beers (any dozen or so of which are on tap on any given day). They make their own superb French fries and have imaginative and uniformly well-executed specials. We have eaten there both with and without our kids (ages 14 and 11) probably half a dozen times in the last six months and have yet to hit a dud dish. Be warned that they don't ever take reservations (the owner told me, "I don't even let my mom make reservations!"), so especially on a weekend night, it's best to get there earlyish--say, before 6:30 PM. Their patio has an unlovely view of a parking lot, but the food is so good, the service so helpful and the music (different bands) so much fun that you probably won't notice the view (and you don't have to pay for it either!). We typically get out of there for well under $50 for the two of us, including several drinks.
Pittsburgh outdoor dining.
It's not in downtown Pittsburgh, but Bocktown in Robinson is EXCELLENT. They opened about 18 months ago. They have over 400 beers (any dozen or so of which are on tap on any given day). They make their own superb French fries and have imaginative and uniformly well-executed specials. We have eaten there both with and without our kids probably half a dozen times in the last six months and have yet to hit a dud dish. Be warned that they don't take reservations (the owner told me, "I don't even let my mom make reservations!"), so especially on a weekend night, it's best to get there earlyish--say, before 6:30 PM. Their patio has an unlovely view of a parking lot, but the food is so good, the service so helpful and the music (different bands) so much fun that you probably won't notice the view (and you don't have to pay for it either!). We typically get out of there for well under $50 for the two of us, including several drinks.
Good restaurant in Portland for 14 family members?
We're coming from eastern Ohio to cruise on the paddlewheeler "Queen of the West" next week on the Columbia River. At the beginning and at the end of the cruise, we'll have one full day in Portland. I'd really appreciate having suggestions for restaurants which fit the following criteria:
1) Can seat all fourteen of us divided among two, or at most three, tables
2) Have large menus with good food
3) Show off the great food the Pacific Northwest has to offer
4) Are family-friendly (our group ranges in age from five to 73)
It would help if the restaurants weren't too, too expensive. We have no particular limits or strictures, other than one peanut allergy and one vegetarian (both of which have been relatively easy to work around in the past).
