Portuguese Grill Restaurant, Littlehampton

Octopus
The first time I saw an octopus being prepared was in Greece and I was amazed at how much physical work was required to prepare dinner. The poor creature (which was already dead of course) was bashed against the rocks for a good hour. Talking about earning your dinner.

Oteria de Poeti

Roger and his birthday cake
So you‘ ve had the travel log of the journey to Bologna, but now we need party info. We were fortunate enough to be surrounded by friends and acquaintances and lest we forget, the wonderful birthday boy, Roger, so it was perfect from the start.

To Italy for Rogers birthday party!

Our beloved friend Roger
Roger is a wonderful friend of ours and every 5 years he celebrates his birthday in a big way. This year was his 85th and he invited 70 of us to celebrate it with him in Bologna, Italy. Wow! I want to be just like Roger when I’m 85, just minus the moustache…

Hand of Cow for lunch, anyone?

(Today’s recipe: Mão de Vaca com Grão, or Cows Hoof with Chickpeas)
Photo from flickr by knightbefore_99
I love languages and the fun one can have with them. When we asked our lovely waitress what the daily lunch special was, she said, “it’s Hand of Cow”. At first I thought I’d misheard, but no, we were having either Hand of Cow or something that was like cuttlefish, but not cuttlefish. We’ll have one of each, I bravely said.

Table d’Olivier, Samatan, Gers, France

Pannacota
Our wonderful mate, Deirdre, invited us for dinner last month to probably the best restaurant in the Gers. We eat out quite a lot and I can say unreservedly that this restaurant serves superb, quality food, beautifully presented, imaginative and deelicious. I highly recommend it!

The Crown Inn, Cootham (near Storrington), England

Sticky toffee pudding
This was one of the best meals I've had in a long time. If you're looking for deelicious food in a really friendly environment, look no further. The staff were super and the owner/wife/chef was even prepared to puree the food for my handicapped father! They take kindness to a new level.

Best Peri Peri Chicken in the Algarve at Churrasquieira Valdemar, Silves

The salads
I actually felt quite guilty standing in the queue outside the restaurant, staring unashamedly at the diners (in the hope they would eat up and go so that I could grab their table), while the waiter at the restaurant directly next to this one, stared at us from his completely empty restaurant. Should I just eat there out of sheer polite embarrassedness (not a real word but I love it)? No way, Jose!

Casa Sousa Restaurant, Vila Real de Santa Antonio

Casa Sousa, Sandra
This tiny little restaurant was recommended to us by Paul, a sailor we met on the Rio Guardian trip, and it is SUPER to say the least. Do NOT go there if you are on diet (which I permanently am, but I don’t actually/sadly let this stop me…) as the food is true Hip Gold.

Wok Hum, Vinaros, Spain

Beautiful Sushi
We measured the distance we travelled through Spain last year, by the number of Wok Buffets we visited. This may sound sad, but let me explain that Spanish Chinese/Asian buffets are better that any in other country outside of Asia. And why is this, you quite rightly ask? I shall explain...

Devil's Dyke

Brownie with ice cream dessert
The little girl at the next table came running back to the table with her Daddy trailing behind her, and said very happily to her Mummy, “I need a poo!” Seems Daddy was responsible for taking the little girl for a wee wee, but that Mummy was responsible for poos. They really mean it when they say we share the good things and the bad things in a marriage!