Tell me what you eat, I'll tell you who you are.-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Greece Eats: The Highlights

I was thrilled to be going to Greece and one of the highest reasons was because of the food. Simple cooking, fresh ingredients like fish and veggies and lots of olive oil, all sound yummy to me. While we did find some duds and I didn't get a Gyro (which is actually made with chicken or pork in Greece, who knew?) we did have some good eats. I remember none of the names of the restaurants so I'll break it down by location.

Athens

Just outside the Plaka (never, ever go there) there are lots of restaurants as the area is a tourist trap. We found a gem with nice outdoor seating near a church and I was thoroughly impressed with my salmon. Not overcooked, tasted fresh and paired with grilled vegetables. One thing, they don't de-bone their fish which was a challenge but worth it.

Mykonos

Oh lord, the food, the scenery, the male scenery, Mykonos is amazing. We found a restaurant along the water with a charming (and handsome) waitstaff. I had an appetizer of grilled eggplant topped with tomatoes, toasted feta and balsamic drizzle. Holy hell. This was one of the best appetizer I've ever had, ever. I was devastated when I'd finished it. The dish wasn't too oily and it was so simple...four ingredients. Simpler can be better. My other small plate were meatballs which tasted fine. I'm not much of a fan but I liked these. Plus the tzatziki sauce was heavenly. I love that in Greece tzatziki comes with everything; it's like their ketchup. I even tried baklava, something I've never enjoyed. But if I have to eat it somewhere, might as well be Greece. It was flaky and sweet, not dry like I've usually had. I'm a changed baklava woman.

Santorini

We tried to go to a restaurant on the edge of Santorini that had been featured in the New York Times called Sphinx but it was closed! So I spotted a nearby restaurant with a similarly great view and good looking menu. We started with toasted baguettes with oregano and olive oil with eggplant and olive tampenades to dip. That oregano flavored bread was so good, I was in carb heaven. I had an appetizer of roasted vegetables with feta, traditional but tasty. Main course was lamb chops in a fig cream sauce. The lamb chops were so tender and seasoned so well but there just wasn't enough lamb on the chop to soak up the phenomenal sauce. I was so happy with my meal I was glad Sphinx was closed. We made a great discovery.

Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?-Author Unknown

London Eats: The Highlights

I expected some good eating in London. While they aren't really known for their national cuisine, London is an international city with fantastic restaurants. We didn't get to any pubs or Indian food while there, but we did find some great places.

The Archduke

First night we went to Waterloo where there's an abundance of restaurants along the River Thames. Each one of them looked super busy as the weather was gorgeous, it was a Friday night and we were in a fairly touristy location. About a block away from the river we found The Archduke. Wonderful decor with many different types of dining rooms; rooms for eating a full meal, rooms for drinks, rooms for drinks & small bites, and a beer garden. For an appetizer we had asparagus spears with shaved Parmesan and poached hen's egg. Big, fat, grilled asparagus spears with some lemon and pepper, long pieces of shaved Parmesan and a delicious egg. This was a fantastic appetizer; definitely one of the best prepared asparagus I've ever eaten. I don't see long, thick asparagus at the grocery store that much, so these were a real treat.

For our main dish we had lamb chops. Well seasoned, a little tough, but still good. They don't seem to ask how you'd like your meat prepared and I like my lamb medium rare but I still cleaned my plate. The lamb came with roasted peppers and steak fries with sea salt...bliss.

This place was such a find.

The Archduke

All Bar One

All Bar One is a chain in the UK. We had a drink at the one in Edinburgh and were so impressed by the menu, we had to go there for dinner for our last night in London. They serve small and large plates that are incredibly inventive. Dishes like duck tostadas and lime & lemongrass cheesecake grace the menu. It was certainly tough to pick but I settled on tiger prawn linguine with lime, ginger, saffron and creamed paprika sauce. Holy crap. The lime and ginger were so subtle but gave the dish an acidity you usually get with lemon. The creamed paprika sauce looked like tomato sauce but was a bit smokier. A fantastic twist on a classic dish. I loved it.

I was thrilled to see a successful (the place was packed on a Monday night in London and fairly full at three o'clock on a Monday in Edinburgh) chain that serves inventive dishes at affordable prices. I wanted to try everything on the menu. I'd love to see something like All Bar One in America. It's a fantastic place to eat, a good Happy Hour hot spot and seems to be a great place to go prowling; it has everything.

All Bar One