Wednesday, December 18, 2024 →
🍺 Had a lovely working lunch with a friend/colleague, giving us the chance to sneak in some delicious Paulaner to our meeting. Perfect.
Food and Drink
🍺 Happy Friday! Relaxing on the couch with some Star Trek (re-watching ST: Discovery) and a delicious glass of Spanish beer. Awaiting arrival of two Dutch nieces and my sister-in-law and the beginning of what I’m sure is going to be a very busy (and noisy) weekend.
🍹 A new taste experience. While in Porto last weekend, I thought it would be rude not to try some port! This was a port and tonic, with a dash of raspberry liquor, over lots of ice. Absolutely delicious and I definitely had more than one!
📸 The weather is atrocious, so it’s a day for comfort food. Just inhaled a most delicious fried egg sandwich (finished before I could snap a pic!), and now relaxing with a big mug of tea.
🍷 After socialising the last couple of nights (I know! On a school night!), we’re having a quiet night in. I’m making meatballs and pasta and we’re going to watch some more of the excellent ‘Day of the Jackal’ series. While enjoying some of the lovely Beaujolais nouveau we picked up last week.
🥪 Just bought my first Christmas sandwich of the season. As part of a Tesco meal deal. Watch this space for seasonal sandwich updates…
🥘 Just me enjoying a delicious JAL beef curry and a glass of champagne for my breakfast. This first class lounge is simply amazing.
I’m determined to squeeze out every moment of joy from this holiday I can!
📸 Not a bad effort for a Monday lunchtime…
📸 Enjoying some cheap and cheerful conveyor-belt sushi fun in Shibuya this afternoon.
🍜 Went for an incredible lunch of delicious ramen at Ippudo in Ginza this afternoon. It was everything I’d hoped for and really helped my recovery from last night!
🍺 Trying something a little different in the lounge this evening. Asahi Black - and it’s bloody good. Googling whether I can get it again once I’m back in the UK.
🚄 Starting slightly earlier today. We’re taking a day trip to Kobe, so I’ll get to enjoy a (very short!) Shinkansen journey and some delicious beef! It looks like it’s going to be anotherr beautiful day, weather-wise. ☀️☀️☀️
📸 This evening was all about the comfort food: takoyaki, okonomiyaki, karaage and beautiful grilled chicken. All washed down with crisp, cold Asahi beer.
📸 This afternoon’s post-onsen lunch. Absolutely delicious!
🍽️ I’ll never not be amazed just how much some adults completely lose the run of themselves when presented with a buffet. Some people here behaving like they’ve not seen food in a week. None of them are Japanese, obviously. Just badly behaved tourists…
📸 Breakfast in Osaka
📸 The groceries just got delivered and I’m all kinds of excited to try this!
📸 Love this pic I took of my partner at dinner last night. 😍
🥂 Last night’s meal at Marceline was phenomenal.
The service is friendly, attentive and authentically nice. The food has been consistently excellent. The prices are very reasonable and I leave feeling it was a fair exchange. Finally, the physical environment is cute and the ambience is just lovely.
📸 This is a sin against god and man. An abomination. A reckless, immoral experiment.
And tastes exactly like mint choc chip ice-cream. So I may be having another. 🍵
📸 Unpacking the good stuff for TV this evening. I picked this up in Dublin last weekend and I enjoyed every single mouthful.
✏️ The week that was, 14th to 20th October
Sunday, October 20, 2024
I’ve remembered to write up my weekly note, even if the week isn’t strictly speaking over. This week was mostly about travel, work and fun, with a big helping of delicious food. 👉🏻 Read on here🍽️ We had the most incredble meal at a new local restaurant last night. Marceline, in Canary Wharf. From start to finish, it was a wonderful experience. Food, service, ambience. I had the biggest and best serving of Moules Frites in my life. Thoroughly recommended if you’re in the neighbourhood.
📸 The difference a few hours can make! We headed into town for some shopping, a beer in Soho and some lunch. Enjoyed a fab lunch at Ben’s on Brewer Street. Accompanied by sunshine all the way.
And now it’s time to recharge the batteries before cocktails and then dinner here in Canary Wharf.
☕️ Shortly heading out to meet a local friend for some coffee, catching-up and inevitable discussions about the state of the world. Looking forward to seeing him. I always learn a lot, and leave our chats with a face sore from laughing.
Also: trying a new (to me) coffee place here in Dublin.
🇮🇪 When in Rome…
It’s crucial to enjoy a Guinness when back home in Dublin. It’s practically the law!
🍽️ Busy preparing dinner, then the next episode of ‘Agatha All Along’. Tonight’s feast: homemade roasted vegetables, some humous, and a two-people helping of falafels. I’m using my weekend trip as an excuse to eat all the perishable (lovely) things in the fridge.
Such a good, sensible boy.
☕️ Time for brunch. Smoked salmon bagels. 🥯
🥗 That moment when you open the fridge and realise you still have last night’s delicious leftovers available for lunch. Few things come close.
📸 I had a vegan friend over for dinner last night, so I obviously had to prepare something appropriate.
And this passed, with flying colours, apparently! Veggie fritters, slow roasted peppers and aubergine, garlic courgette and a side salad (which he brought along). We ate very well indeed.
