Ship of the Desert?
The Raft restaurant on the shore of Walvis Bay lagoon, in Namibia, is a welcome break from thousands of miles of sand! In Namibia you either have a surfeit of sand, or sea – there’s not much else. That’s not to say it isn’t one of the most fascinating countries we’ve ever visited, because it is. From the massive Fish River Canyon in the south to the tribal lands of Damaraland in the north; the huge dunes of Sossusvlei and parched pans...
Mouth-watering Murcia
Jota Ele restaurant in Murcia is simply the finest tapas we’ve found anywhere! We’re increasingly jaded by restaurants that promise the earth but deliver little more than a large bill at the end of an uninspiring meal. For us, the true test of a good restaurant, in any country, is if it’s largely populated by local people who look as if they’re enjoying themselves. On the lookout for a lunchtime halt, we amble around the stylishly...
A fine Meze to get into
Our stylish, comfortable apartment in Paphos, is marred only by its misleading distance from the town and the noisy building site it sits within, with its empty swimming pool – not a great introduction to Cyprus but salvaged in part by one of our fortunate choices of restaurant. Luckily we have a hire car and don’t intend spending much time in the apartment – but we’ve fallen foul of misleading marketing....
A matched pair in the Loire
Take a pair of older cars – and their owners – head south through France and discover a matched pair of restaurant and chambre d’hôtes that are ‘off the beaten track’ within the Loire valley. We’d stuck a pin in the map, at roughly a three-hour drive headed south from Cherbourg and then asked Google where the best restaurant was for lunch. As the older of the cars is a 1966 Austin Healey 3000, he’s designated to lead the way and...
Dining in Dinan with Durand
The excuse – strictly research of course; the justification – a birthday lunch; the result – simply, superbly replete ‘My we bring our dog inside?’ says our niece, on the threshold of l’Atelier Gourmand. ‘Non!’ ‘I believe we’ve a table booked for ten people?’ Non!’ Fabrice Durand’s stern and guileless face creases into a wide smile accompanied by a shrug...
