Travel

Non-Touristy Restaurants in Bordeaux

June 11, 2019 by Andrea Shome Leave a Comment

Finding restaurants while traveling is, well, a hobby of mine.

A Cantina – haven’t been yet but heard it’s great 🙂

It’s not an activity I take lightly. Likely due to the vigor and frequency of my cooking at home, I have probably higher than average expectations for a restaurant. If I’m going to pay for a meal out at a restaurant, it should be something special that’s either new, or something I can’t make at home – and hopefully at a spot that’s relaxed and not too toursity. While traveling, finding healthier options is also a passion! I love trying local foods and dishes, but after a meal or two of heavy things or tapas, I’m in the mood for a big old SALAD (or any other veggies usually).

So many traditional foods and dishes in France are inherently a bit heavier – cheese, cream and butter based. Not the best for the lactose intolerant folks such as myself :). BUT, there are also some great options popping up, including more recently, some vegan restaurants! The variety of food in cities is definitely increasing across the board, but I have been especially excited to see this in France, where I’m spending almost half of this year! The suggestions below for restaurants (and a few coffee/bakery spots) is certainly not an exhaustive list, but some great options I’ve found this year. I’ll be continuing to update as I try new ones!! Enjoy if you go!!

Restaurants

Kitchen Garden

22 Rue Sainte-Colombe
My first vegan experience in Bordeaux!! The bowl plates are filling enough that you won’t even need the side of bread – that’s saying a lot in France. They serve full meals, as well as snacks and drinks such as fresh pressed juices and lattes if you’re looking for an afternoon pick me up. Try the Mediterranean bowl for a delightful and refreshing mix of flavors.

Mushroom burger with charcoal bun at Kitchen Garden

Sel et Sucre

5 Rue du Palais de l’Ombrière
If you’re looking for a solid crepe experience, this is it. The restaurant has cute decor from Bretagne all around, and is located on a quieter street. The prices are affordable (including drinks), and the savory crepes (gallettes) are correcte, as the French would say.

L’Autre Petit Bois

12 Place du Parlement
This quaint restaurant did not disappoint on the food or decor front! The menu is strong, with some stellar tartines and salads at affordable prices. Snag a table out front for a view of the square, or inside upstairs to enjoy the cute interior decorations.

Mokoji

13 Rue du Serpolet
Small, cute spot for good Korean food near Place Camille Julian. The glass noodles are filling, and the bibimbap looked great, too!

Cafe Saigon

21 Rue Guadet, Saint-Émilion
This one is actually outside of Bordeaux, in a small town called Saint Emilion, known for its location in the heart of Bordeaux vineyards. Cafe Saigon is a Vietnamese restaurant off the main drag, just secluded enough to feel a bit more local. Expect high quality dishes paired with a strong Bordeaux wine menu!

Bakeries

Louis Lamour

7 Rue Ravez, and 157 Rue Judaïque
Amazing bread and unique pastries, including croissants of different layered flavors (raspberry, chocolate, etc!). Lots of good classics, as well as new favorites. The Rue Judaique location is out of the center, but cute enough that it’s worth the walk. Be prepared to order quickly as the line move fast!

More to come as I keep exploring. Let me know if there is anything else I should check out!

Cerro Manquehue Day Hike in Santiago, Chile

August 13, 2018 by Andrea Shome Leave a Comment

Hi friends! Popping in to share a review of one of our hikes this past trip in Chile: Cerro Manquehue! Whenever I’m researching hikes in other countries, it’s sometimes hard to get a feel for what the hike is like unless other people have posted about it. I thought others might find this useful so here we go 🙂

About Cerro Manquehue

Cerro Manquehue is nestled in the middle of Santiago and is the highest peak in the valley of the city at about 1700m or 5500ft high. It has a a panoramic view of the city, valley and surrounding mountains. Plus, it’s easily accessible from downtown and FREE!

When to Go

We did this hike in the middle of winter – end of July in Chile. Since it had been dry the few weeks prior, the path was clear and well-marked. I imagine in summer it would be similar, but greener! I would definitely avoid the path after rain, however, as the whole way would be very muddy and likely dangerous to navigate.

The hike should take 2-4 hours, depending on your speed and how much time you choose to spend at the top, so plan to descend before dusk. We left around 2pm in the afternoon and started back down around 4pm before sunset at 6pm.

How to Get There

We drove to the trail head via Gran Via and Via Roja. It’s quite a drive up, not really walkable from a metro. I’d recommend Ubering there from the Escuela Militar metro stop, or driving if possible. On Google Maps it looks like “Lo Curro, Escalada” will get you closest to the trail head. You should see other cars parked there. You’ll enter through a wire gate and soon thereafter see trail markings.

Duration & Route

Distance: We took about 2.5 hours at a leisurely pace to the top of Manquehue. You could do it faster, especially if you go more quickly on the way down, or slower if you’re enjoying the views. There is also a “Little Manquehue” that is not as steep and would be even shorter. You’ll see signs for both options once you start on the trail.

Difficulty: Medium. It’s fairly steep throughout the hike, but the difficulty rating I gave here is mostly because of the terrain. It’s pretty rocky and requires some careful navigating at points. It’s not uncommon to slip a little bit, so be prepared with good shoes to handle the path.

Terrain: Rocky, somewhat steep. It was fairly dry when we went in winter, but you would not be able to hike this after rain – too much mud!

The trail map is shown below, courtesy of OutLife.

The path isn’t always well marked, but you can follow the general direction of the trail and others around.

Note the rocky parts below that would be likely be very muddy if it rained recently:

What to Bring

It’s a fairly short hike, so you shouldn’t need much, but it’s always better to be prepared! I recommend the following:

Hiking backpack
Hiking shoes
Water
Sunscreen
Small snack
Hat/sunglasses

Overall it’s a great half day hike and great panorama of the city if you are looking for something active to do in Santiago. If you have any other tips, leave them below!!

Meal Plan This Week + Las Vegas

October 16, 2017 by Andrea Shome Leave a Comment

Well guys. Vegas!! We made it and we came out the other side unscathed, only $30 lost to blackjack. Skip below to meal plans or read a quick summary of our trip 🙂

Scottsdale + Vegas Recap

Backing up though….our trip actually started in Scottsdale, Arizona! We were visiting my amazing grandpa in Fountain Hills for a couple of days before heading to Vegas. It was a short but sweet trip. We explored the downtown / Fashion Square area of Scottsdale, the historic downtown area and even made it to a super cool Frank Lloyd Wright house. If you ever get a chance to visit one, highly recommend! The tours are always so interesting.

On the food front, we found this gem of a place called Modern Market…which is apparently also in D.C.!! Must check out. We got a lemongrass pork bowl and a thai coconut salad. So good and reasonably priced!

Then it was on to Vegas via the Hoover Dam! It was on the way from Scottsdale to Vegas so we stopped and checked it out. We just did the free walk from above which was still pretty impressive! The tours were apparently not being held because of an elevator outage.

Love on the border.

Then it was conference time! I ate mostly conference food (surprisingly healthy! probably because I requested dairy free =)) but we ventured out for a couple meals, including these awesome ramen bowls from a super affordable place on the strip called Ramen-ya. Maybe the only appropriately priced place that we found, besides some good looking kebab next door.

We made it to a bunch of the hotels, mainly for walking around and taking in the atmosphere. Here’s a picture of what I think was a Chihuly scuplture at the Bellagio. So pretty! Insert eye heart emoji. Clearly my priorities were not the typical Vegas ones 🙂

We made it up to the Foundation Room one night – what an awesome view! I’d definitely recommend this if you can get in.

Meal Plan This Week

Now what’s the first thing I do after vacation? Actually I start thinking before I’m back. Meal plans!!! Because of course cooking sounds exciting after not being able to for a week!

Monday/Tuesday Lunch: Stuffed Thai Kabocha Squash. My first thought was this kimchi fried rice, but I ended up using the rice to stuff the kabocha squash we had leftover from before our trip. The mixture was inspired by this thai recipe but I just sauteed onion / ginger / garlic with the cooked rice, added a bunch of yellow curry paste, tofu, greens and red pepper and put in the squash! Spicy, filled with veggies and some protein.
Monday/Tuesday Dinner: Kale Apple Salad. I have this recipe back on the menu because I enjoyed the dressing and crunchy kale so much when I made it last week. The spiced nuts were amazing, too!
Breakfasts: Eggs, bacon, greens and the rest of the red pepper. Maybe bringing out carrot cake oatmeal one day!!
Wildcard/Must Bake Item: Super inspired by this super seedy bread.

I’m also SO inspired by The Great British Baking Show, having just finished season 3. Namely, a chocolate peanut butter something. I saw a recipe for some “energy balls” that just used peanuts, chocolate, date caramel and salt. Might try that.

The buck stops there as I’m headed to Atlanta on Wednesday to visit a friend (recommendations?). But hopefully this inspires some weeknight cooking for you!

Non-Touristy Restaurants in Bordeaux