We all know the British love their tea. With the rise of the Starbucks era you might feel the age old tradition of tea time fading. At least visually speaking. As you scan the street landscape you’re more apt to find a coffee shop than a tea shop. Don’t get me wrong, you can still grab a wonderful cup of tea at any corner shop in London, just follow the builders. The difference is in how you enjoy that cup of tea. Sitting in a Cafe Nero or a Costa Coffee provides that quiet, comfortable and relaxed atmosphere “tea time” used to include. The problem is that these shops are strongly centered around coffee. From what’s in your cup to the same named cake available under the glass counter, it seems like tea is fitting in less and less with our go-go-go world. From a visitors perspective, one of the MUST DO’s when in Britain is to properly enjoy a proper cup of tea. (Take note of that double “proper”) I hunted for this but with no luck. Then I stumbled into the quintessential tea experience in the last place I ever thought possible.

Camden Market was high on the list of my hotspots after having been to London many times but never quite making it to this famous spot. My wife, and standard companion to all things travel and food, had been to the market before but not for a decade therefore she shared my same excitement as we raced out of the tube stop. The market consists of a number of adjoining large retail markets in Camden Town near the Hampstead Road Lock of the Regent’s Canal. The largest part of the market occupies old stables located in the former Pickfords stables and horse hospital which served the horses pulling Pickford’s distribution vans and barges along the canal. Pickford’s itself is an interesting an historical story. The company has been evolving since 1642. Each shop is set in large arches or railway viaducts. The stables create a multi-floor labyrinth of crafts, clothing, bric-a-brac, and housewares for visitors to explore and in most cases get lost.

As we turned a corner deep in the bowles of the stables I saw a perfectly primped tea oasis crammed amidst the porcelain shop and the old valise vendor. My wife went ballistic as her nostalgia, little girl, sweet tooth and tea fetish meters redlined. She b-lined it into the horse stall to order the, at long last, perfect cup of tea along with a sweet tea cake. We were served our tea and cake moments later by a young, dare I say British hipster, who was full of pleasantries and calm. We sat, sipped and snacked at a small table just outside the stall. Many of the shops wares spill outside the stalls both for advertising purposes and lack of space. The tea shop was no exception. The effect was that all the shops have a connection to each other. As we sat in our mismatched rickety chairs we felt enveloped in the scene. The boundaries between the tea shop, the adjacent stalls and us somehow seamed non-existant. The wonder of the market is that you can be totally lost yet feel safely found at the same time.

As we finished our tea my wife went up to our new friends and inquired about the lovely tea sets they used to serve their guests. A few minutes later she came back with an inked up napkin and a story. Of course the tea sets were purchased at a stall in the market. I’d imagine most of the proprietors don’t need to leave the stables to operate their business’ with so many different types of vendors all so near. Taking a closer look at the napkin I realized the tea shop owner had drawn a rudimentary map leading us from his shop to the tea set stall three floors above. Finishing up our last drops of tea we mustered up the courage to begin yet another journey into the labyrinth that is Camden Market.

For more information about the secret tea shop read this or visit their facebook page.

If you know anything about how our family celebrates the holidays it is not like your ordinary family holiday. No, our holidays is packed with a ridiculous amount of food. Basically, if there is 10 people coming to eat we cook for 30. What do you expect, were Italian and we like to eat our delicious food more than just one day. We eat it over the course of a week, sometimes more. For instance, for dessert we made 15 different christmas cookies. Some of them were made 3x the regular recipe amount. Lets put it this way, picture your family dining room table that seats about 8. Now picture that entire table filled with tins of christmas cookies some 2 or 3 tins high. Oh and by the way, we also had a few cakes to make things interesting. Here is the rundown of the homemade goodness:

Black and White

Butter Horn

Pignoli Cookie

Long Walnut Cookie

Chocolate Filled Cookies

Tortalina

Rainbow Cookie

Chocolate Brownie Cookie

Peanutbutter Cookie

Gumdrop Cookie

Cherry Cookie

Butterfly Cookie

Butter Cookie

Pistachio Cherry Biscotti

I mentioned earlier that we had 15 different cookies but if you were counting I only have pictures of 14. There was a new comer to the christmas cookies this year. The Ricotta Minicakes and they were such a hit that they were all eaten before I could take a picture of it. I guess everyone was curious about the new cookie and they were really good so they went fast. No worries, I’m sure they will make it to christmas again next year.

It sucks in New York right now. Dark at 5:30 is a total mind screwball. All the more reason to get a 5pm coffee. Which is exactly what I did. As I waited for my indulgent and spontaneously ordered lemon square, I wondered what was taking an extra minute. New Yorkers are so impatient. Seconds later this box arrived. I was confused and apparently my face gave me away. The barista looked down at the box, then back at me and smiled as he went off to make a grande carmel, mocha, latte, with soy, equal and no foam. Never-the-less. I was amused. I love good packaging. If Starbucks is trying to act more like Apple I love it. No food establishment has yet to beat my UK favorite EAT. Just look at their packaging and design. Simple and lovely. As much as I liked my little Starbucks box I couldn’t help but think of the extra time it takes to box it up, the extra expense for the box, and the cost to store those boxes. This reminds me of one of my favorite packings of all time. The original McDonald’s Yogurt parfait container. It was a flipped soda lid that keep the granola and yogurt separate. Talk about a multitasking, money saving idea. Dear Starbucks, thanks but all that hassle for this little thing seems a touch ineffiecient.

I recently went back to Pipi’s in Puerto Vallarta because it’s been a while and it’s just so good. I decided on getting something I have not ordered there before and usually don’t order, the chicken and steak burrito. It was intriguing to have the uncommon combination of chicken and steak together. This was packed to the max with lots of meat, cheese, peppers, little rice (key for me), and lots of sauce as seen above. As I mentioned in my previous post about Pipi’s they make every portion huge. This burrito was no exception. This was not the kind of burrito you pick up with your hands. A fork and knife is mandatory for this meal.

One other thing I want to point out about the meal was the sour cream. The sour cream in Mexico has been so fresh and creamy. With out a doubt the best sour cream I have ever had. It is how sour cream should be.

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 83 | Post-meal (1 hour): 131 | Insulin: 5 Units

I am home for only a few months and I like to see as many of my friends and family as I can before I ship off. I went to go visit my cousins out in Long Island with my mom. It’s been about a year and a half since I had been there and was really excited to see them, meet their chocolate lab (Bella) and see what they have done to their house.

Mom was treating for lunch that day so we were thinking of where to eat before we left the house. There were a lot of choices but my cousin mentioned her favorite burger place in Port Jefferson. Even though I had a burger the night before at BLT Burger my mind was set. If it’s my cousin’s favorite then I had to try it.

We ended up at Gourmet Burger Bistro. The burger menu was intense but they also had a lot of different specialty chicken burgers, different fries and a build your own burger section. One of the things that stood out for me was the selection of different sauces and types of breads you could have with your burger. With these burgers being gourmet I got a glass of Cabernet with my burger.

The burger I got was the Napa Valley Burger that had been marinated in a Cabernet. I did my own paring and it really was delicious. You could really taste the flavor of the Cabernet along with their pesto mayo. Wine and Burgers was an idea I had a while ago and have always wanted to try it to see if it would work. We ordered a couple different fries also. These fries rocked. The Sweet Potato fries came with a Maple dip.

The Truffle Parmesan Fries had great taste but it still needed some sort of sauce. I had the waitress ask the chief what he recommended for a sauce and they brought out 3 for us to try. My favorite was the Spicy Tarragon Aioli. Check out there menu for all the different delicious sauces.

I could see why GBB was my cousin’s favorite. It was great seeing them and sharing burgers for lunch. However, I need to cool it with all the burgers or my numbers and waistline will grow to a place I don’t want.

For all the burger we devoured click here.

Diabetic Blood Sugar Count
Pre-meal: 95 | Post-meal (1 hour): 149 | Insulin: 5 Units

It was man night and the men wanted to eat burgers! There are hundreds of places to go and eat a good burger in New York City. Jay couldn’t make dinner so the boys left it up to one of the Brothers Tasty to decide on a Burger. One of my personal favorite burgers in the city is at BLT Burger. They just do it right.

Now…, when we were trying to get everyone together lots of emails were going around on who can make it and who can’t make it. For those who could not make it were hazed a bit. It was a very manly night and I was prepared for a lot of testosterone that night. However, somehow the conversation turned to talking about Farmville over milkshakes. WHAT!, where was all the man talk??? We did bounce back to our man hoods eventually and start to talk about old and future bachelor parties. Way better guy talk.

You guys are the best, you crack me up.

Ok, back to the food. We did have a bunch of beers and lots of laughs to go along with those burgers and fries. There was some burger sharing and fry tasting going on. We also had a round of fried pickles. One of the things I really like about BLT Burger is they cook their burgers medium unless asked otherwise. That shows me that BLT cooks a mean burger when they automatically cook their burgers at medium. Burger night was a success and I think that this may turn into a monthly ritual.

Burgers…

…More burgers…
Can you guess whose hands those are?

…and more burgers…

…and it is all washed down with a pint.

Really? Did we need to try and improve on this staple food item. Would this mean Snap, Crackle and POP are on steroids? So, it tastes terrible. I was almost excited for the lager krispie but I was totally disappointed when it hit my taste buds. Years ago, before the days of air inflated packing pillows, they packed boxes with puffed rice chips. This was created in an effort to combat Styrofoam. It was smart. Puff some rice and use it to pack fragile items for shipping. after shipping the water soluble, biodegradable packing chips don’t harm anyone or anything. I loved to do a little parlor trick with these chips. When someone would get some in a box they ordered, I liked to saunter over and pop a chip in my mouth, chew it up and swallow. I did this with out skipping a beat and asking what the received in the box. It always caused concern and havic. A real laugh riot for me. Apparently , Kellogg’s has the last laugh because as I crunched into my first bite of Jumbo Krispies it tasted exactly like the packing material. The only difference was, this time, the krispies were not keeping something else from breaking.

Darwin Australia was our first port in Australia when we left South East Asia. That day we went to a Crocodylus Park filled with crocodiles. There were croc’s everywhere along with a lot of other animals. I even got to feed a giant Croc. This thing was 18 feet long easy. It missed the food at first and the chomp noise was ridiculous. I also held a baby Croc, it’s mouth was taped so it was not as scary as it sounds. I had so much fun.

After the feeding of the croc’s we ended up in town to get some lunch. Darwin is a small town, not much going on. We managed to find a place called The Cavenagh. This is a hotel/bar with some good food. I ordered a Steak Sandwich (above), recommended by the cashier. It had a lot of stuff in it, not just steak. It was really good and messy. I needed a ton of napkins to take care of my sloppy face. The rest of my friends got

Fish Sandwich

Calamari

Pizza

My favorite meal I have had so far in South East Asia is from a place called Dac San Hoi An, in Hoi An Vietnam. Hoi An is small little shopping town with a lot of places to eat. Very authentic restaurants all over and great deals for shopping. We hired a taxi for the day and set off to Hoi An for a day of shopping and eating. We didn’t have much time for either because Hoi An is about 40 minutes from the ship. After doing some shopping we came to Dac San Hoi An. There was a prefix menu and no one in the restaurant. That sometimes tells you about the place when there is not one in the restaurant at lunch time. We decided to stay and that was the best idea of the day. The prefix menu had English on it which helped but we were still not sure what everything was. We ended up with 2 prefix orders, both basically the same with 1 slight change.

- White Rose (Rice paper and shrimp)
- Fried Wonton
- Rice pancake folded in half (Rice paper, shrimp, and bean sprouts)
- Vegetable Spring Roll
- Cau Lau (Noodles and pork)

Everything was DELICOUS and large portioned as well as Very Very greasy, but so good. Luckily my friend was not so hungry so I kind of had 2 orders of almost everything. The Rice pancake folded in half was so good. I think I could have one everyday until the day I die. It’s very greasy so that probably would not take to long. That was the closes thing to a home cooked meal I have had in a long time. The food just kept on coming and that is the way I like it.

White Rose

Fried Wonton

Rice pancake folded in half

Vegetable Spring Roll

Cau Lau

It had been a long two months leading up to this meal. Mike and Mark were instrumental in helping me pull off the yodel studio project. They were even more valuable on the ground with me in Mumbai. We had finally just finished the whole project and caught our breath and it was time to celebrate. For our celebratory meal we headed down to Leopold’s in Colaba for a good ex-Pat Indian meal.

Mike is a SO CAL guy, bringing that calm and chill behavior to the crazy world of Mumbai. Mark is a NO CAL guy, also a calm person, but in a different way than SO CAL. If you have ever lived in California you know the difference. My relationship with these guys has only been a short 2 months but in that time we talked a lot about the project details. Mark and Mike thanks for all the help with the studio. Ohh, and Mark, I will be out to take you up on that kayak offer one day.

What we ate:

Chicken Tikka Masala
Tandoori chicken
Lamb Rogan Josh
Garlic naan
Plain Naan