Holidaying - Europe

I’ve had a bit of a break from blogging due to being overseas for holidays. This post will be about all the great food I ate whilst travelling. Europe is an amazing place to visit especially if you’re a foodie! So many unique cuisines and each city specialising in their own one. For this blog I’ve decided to choose one meal from each city that really stood out.

First stop was Berlin, the land of meat and beer! Berlin is going through what many cities are going through which is a burger craze however the one meal that stood out was the kebab. This is no ordinary kebab though with people waiting up to two hours for this street food! It’s from a small kebab cart on the street called Mustafa’s Gemuse Kebap. Once you see the kebab in its full glory you just know it’s not your typical kebab you would devour after a night of heavy drinking. It’s packed to the brim full of extras such as feta, potatoes, grilled vegetables, assorted salad, grilled meat from a spit and covered with a sauce which is part garlic, part spicy and all deliciousness. The line is constantly an hour deep but if you’re waiting with a friend you can always ask them to stop at nearby Curry 36 to grab a snack of curry wurst so you can snack on that in line whilst you wait.

In all its glory

People line up for hours for this

Next stop was merry old London. London’s known for many types of cuisines from fish and chips at the pub to the perfect steak cooked at a fine dining establishment. The meal I’ve chosen to write about is from a known establishment Duck and Waffle. Well as you can probably guess, their signature dish is duck and waffle. The duck is confit duck leg which is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside and is delicately placed on top of a fluffy waffle. It’s accompanied with a fried duck egg and mustard maple syrup. Looks wise it truly is a masterpiece and any doubt that the combination may taste a bit funky is washed away once you take your first bite into it. Drizzle a bit of maple syrup on there for the delightful combination of sweet and savoury. Many other great meals were eaten in London but this was by far the most interesting in terms of flavours.

Perfection

Up on the 40th floor

Next stop was the music festival Tomorrowland where food was above average for festival food. There wasn’t a meal I wasn’t satisfied with, most likely because it was paired with an alcoholic beverage. However the best meal I had wasn’t at the festival but at a restaurant we ate at the day before the madness started in the town centre of Brussels. Brussels is famous for their pot of mussels so we gave it a shot and boy it did not disappoint! We went to Chez Leon where I ordered a large pot of mussels which came steamed mixed with celery, onion and butter. It was accompanied by crunchy frites and a glass of beer. It was a simple meal but the mussels themselves were so full of flavour that they didn’t need much to accompany them. Almost every restaurant in Brussels offers mussels but Chez Leon is one of the most famous ones in town. No regrets there!

All types of mussels!

Delicious

Tired from all the partying we made our way to Amsterdam! Amsterdam’s a strange and wonderful city full of street snacks and meals on the go. But apart from all the brownies and snacks, Amsterdam has a lot of great food on offer. The one meal I chose from this city is a street snack we stumbled upon walking through Albert Cuyp market called kibbeling. Kibbeling is a snack that is pieces of deep fried fish. It doesn’t sound like much but as soon as you take a bite of the chunky, juicy fish you can tell it’s better than your average fish and chips. It was served with a generous amount of garlic mayo and freshly fried. It was so good we went back for more on our last day in Amsterdam.

Deep fried goodness

Up next was the party island of Ibiza. Ibiza is predominately known for partying all night, waking up past midday however I did happen to find the best paella on the island. After a night of heavy partying and equally heavy boozing, our group stumbled to the beach side and sat down in a restaurant known to all the locals. There were 10 of us so we ordered two paellas and when asked about the size we said “just make sure it can feed all of us”. One paella was a mixed paella and the other a lobster paella. It took a while for it to come out and when it did we knew why. One paella alone would’ve been able to feed the 10 of us comfortably let alone two! As soon as I dug in I was hit with a flavour explosion. It was the best damn paella I’ve ever had. The seafood was so fresh and the meat so tender. A great hangover meal!

Lobster paella!

Mixed paella!

Off to Barcelona next where I enjoyed everything there! Known for tapas dishes and share plates, I had no trouble eating seconds wherever I went. The quality of food was excellent and the chefs really care about everything they put down in front of you. It was really hard to narrow it down to just one dish but I chose a meal I ate at the La Boqueria markets. It’s a typical food market with fresh food and produce everywhere and people sipping on cava (Spanish sparkling wine) and beer even though it was 11am! I guess anytime is a good time for an alcoholic beverage. We sat down at a small stall which was surrounded by farm fresh eggs so we assumed it must be famous for it….and right we were! We ordered a number of tapas dishes from them but the standout was a simple dish of two fried eggs covered with cooked squid. It was so simple yet so delicious! The eggs were cooked but had a runny yolk running through it and the chef recommended we mix the egg and squid all together and eat. Out of all the cities, Barcelona has my vote for best food I ate across Europe.

Delicious fried egg and some jamon in the background

After Barcelona we made our way to the city of Prague. Prague reminded me a town which has never really made it into the modern age because the streets are still paved with cobble stones and surrounded by beautiful buildings such as Prague castle which is a sight to see. However the one dish that stood out for me was more of a street snack. It’s called trdelník which is a sweet pastry and made by wrapping it around a stick, grilled and sprinkled with sugar. It already sounds delicious but what they’ve done in Prague (and now in places around Sydney and Melbourne) is stepped it up a notch by filling the cone-like structure with soft serve ice-cream and chocolate sauce and assorted fruits! It’s interesting to see them make it as it is twirled over a heat grill and quickly remove it and fill it with sweet treats. There is also a savoury option but I couldn’t look past the ice-cream! The cone itself is quite crunchy and hard due to the sugar caramelising over the pastry. When you get towards the bottom of the cone, they’ve filled it with chocolate sauce and strawberries which is a nice little surprise at the end.  

Beautiful dessert in a beautiful city

Hot hot hot!!

Bonus: To round off the trip I spent another two days in London before heading back home. I was shown around the very best London markets by a good mate. One meal I’ve chosen as the best last meal was found in Maltby markets. Not a large market as it only takes up one street lane but the amount of food options is almost unlimited. They had burgers, scotch eggs, salads, falafels, fried chicken and waffles just to name a few. I chose a burger from one of the stalls which is there every week and had the ‘Dirty Secret’ burger. So what’s the secret? The chef explains it’s a grilled meat pattie marinated in their special basting plus pulled pork on top with pickles and melted cheese. What topped it off is that the burger buns are then dipped in the juices of the pulled pork making it one big sloppy and delicious mess. Markets usually sell food where you can walk and eat at the same time but this bad boy could only be devoured by sitting down and taking your time.

Delicious mess

That ends my food tour across Europe. Such a wonderful place to travel to and so much delicious food to sample. There’s still so much of Europe I’ve yet to see but that will be saved for another time.

What Would Lobi Eat? Anything that’s fried, meat-y, sweet or a combination of them all!