Best Ryokan for kaiseki between Tokyo and Kyoto?

Hello,

We are going to be in Japan in April, and are planning to spend one night at a Ryokan. Our plan is to stop on our way between Tokyo and Kyoto (or the way back), so we were hoping to find somewhere that is somewhat on the way (or at least not out of the way) while traveling by train.

The food is one of the most important components for us (we want to stay somewhere nice, but the food comes first), so I thought this would be a good spot to look for advice. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

H

Hrock34 in Japan

Breakfast / Brunch / Lunch in Fort Myers

I am headed to Fort Myers this weekend for Spring Training and am looking for reccomendations for a mid-morning meal in Fort Myers on Friday. We are picking up someone at the airport around 10 and then are going to the Red Sox game at 1. We are staying in Naples, and figure it isn't worth driving all the way down there for lunch (I am more familiar with that area).

Any suggestions on where we can go eat and kill a few hours? How far is the drive to Sanibel - anything worth it over there? I have only driven through Ft. Myers, so don't have any experience to draw on.

We're up for breakfast, lunch or some combination. We're a group of 6 guys, and we aren't looking for somewhere fancy.

Thanks a lot in advance!

H

Hrock34 in Florida

Dinner rec near Albuquerque airport

I actually ended up at the place Lenzo mentioned in the airport. My flight was a bit delayed and getting the rental car took a while, so decided to stay close by. I thought that the food was quite good, but I guess I don't have much to compare it to.

Thanks a lot for all your suggestions! Next time I have a trip I'll hopefully make it out of the airport!

H

Hrock34 in Southwest

Dinner rec near Albuquerque airport

Thanks a lot for the advice! I am going to have a car, so it looks like those places are going to be well within range. Since I am going to be by myself, do any of those have a bar that is good to eat at?

It will be good to have a list of places - hopefully my flight makes it out on time and I actually make it over there!

Thanks again, I'll report back on where I end up!

H

Hrock34 in Southwest

Dinner rec near Albuquerque airport

I am flying into Albuquerque next week for business, and driving up to Santa Fe. My flight gets in around 8:30, then I am meeting a coworker when his flight arrives at 10:30.

Any recommendations of somewhere to get dinner that is near the airport? Nothing too expensive, and maybe somewhere that I can sit for an hour + to kill some time would be great. I may or may not have a rental car, so something that is easily cab-able would be best.

Thanks in advance!

H

Hrock34 in Southwest

Eating at Fenway or on Yawkey Way

It looks like MC covered all the bases pretty well ...

One thing that can be good to remember is that you are allowed to bring food into the ballpark with you. We even walked in with a big bag from popeye's once - no problem at all! So if you are considering take out or a sausage, you can get it outside the park and bring it in with you. They also let you bring in water (but no other beverages), so you can save on the $3 waters inside by picking up a bottle before you go in.

Hope you enjoy the game - and see a better result than the last few days!

H

Hrock34 in Greater Boston Area

Sugar House Report

Thanks to everyone who gave advice on where to go for our recent sugar house trip!

We ended up going to southern NH, we decided it wasn't worth the 2+ hour drive out to Western MA. Our first stop was at Parker's Maple Barn (http://www.parkersmaplebarn.com/), for breakfast and since they were boiling . The pancakes were good (but not great), they seemed to have some spices mixed in. The sausage patties were excellent. Tasted the ham hash (mediocre) and the deep fried french toast (delicious!). Overall, we thought it was good but not worth the drive just to go there.

They were boiling at Parker's, they had a pretty good tour. Learned about how syrup is made, some of the history, grading, filtering ... overall a good tour. Picked up some syrup at the gift shop - not much syrup compared to kitsch.

Then we went on to Folsom Sugar House (http://www.folsomsugarhouse.com/). They weren't boiling because it had been so cold. But that had it's advantages - not crowded at all and we were able to better see how everything worked. We talked to the owner, who gave us a really detailed description of the process. He also had some samples of maple wood showing the effect of tapping on the trees - very interesting! It was nice to get a personal tour! They had a small shop with lots of various maple goodies, as well as a few jams and pancake mixes. Samples of maple cream and syrup too. They make maple taffy too, for those of you that are interested - said he learned from someone up in Dover.

We purchased syrup from both places, but haven't tried either one yet, so I can't give a taste comparison. And picked up some taffy at Folsom - probably try that when the sugar high dies down.

Overall, I would highly recommend Folsom Sugar House, as long as you don't need breakfast. Parker's was good, but next year we would probably try somewhere else for breakfast / boiling. Each place was about an hour from Boston, and they were about 45 min apart.

Thanks for all your help!

H

Hrock34 in General New England Archive

Sugar Shack & Pancakes - Where to go?

My gf and I would like to go see how maple syrup gets made and hopefully enjoy some good food along the way. We are in Boston, so were thinking that southern NH / VT would be easier for a day trip. Any reccomendations on a place that does sugar house tours and serves a decent, fresh made breakfast? Or a a combination of places - good breakfast right near a good sugar shack? We are hoping to go this weekend, as the weather is supposed to warm up a bit. I have found a few places using google, but would appreciate any personal experience!

Thanks in advance - I'll report back with where we end up!

H

Hrock34 in General New England Archive