Checking Czech Cuisine
Just behind the big St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague is a beautiful Royal Garden where bridal shoots could be an everyday sight. There was one when we went by. There’s also a small homey restaurant that doubles as a cafê by the entrance. Since the kids were a bit tired walking, mom-in-law suggested that we go check out the church while they and the kids have some drink and rest, we’re...
Aka Daifuku
- I think I’m craving for mochi that’s why I brought this aka (red) daifuku last time I was at the Japanese foodshop. Daifuku literally means great luck…but of course I don’t buy this for that. I’m never a believer of luck, whether bad or good. . Daifuku is a type of Japanese cake made of glutinous rice flour, it is somewhat the same as mochi only with filling. This daifuku I...
Macarons (again)
I finally got the chance to make macarons at home. It is never always a success. I had to try a lot of times and had to experiment from a handful of recipes I gathered. There are a dozen tips and tricks given by those more experienced on perfecting macarons. Matching up the filling for the macaron shells is somewhat not so easy. There are hundreds of flavors. So for today let me show you two, lemon and...
At home with smoked fish
—- I grew up in a rural area where fish is abundant, with fish as part of a daily meal. It has been an inside joke that if we are to eat more fish, we’ll grow scales and fins. There’s milkfish (bangus) in sour soup (sinigang) and skipjack tuna (tulingan) in a stew made by cooking them in water with vinegar and salt (pinangat). There’s tilapia stuffed with tomatoes, onion and...
Yakimix Chowfun! (MOA)
It’s like I’ve been posting mostly Japanese dishes and I can’t help it too! My good friend, now based in Cali, whom I haven’t seen for 9 years came home too and she also enjoys salmon and sushi…So we had our grand reunion at Yakimix Chowfun, Mall of Asia…having no idea what they serve, I thought this is mostly about drinks, mixing drinks…I was relieved to see a...
Almer’s sizzling (for Food Quote)
(Sizzling Jerk Chicken for Rube) The quote simply means that most consumers buy a product not because of what the product is, but what the product will mean in their lives. People don’t buy insurance, be it personal, house or auto insurance, they buy its benefits such as freedom from economic ruin and peace of mind. Let me ask you though, would you prefer the sizzle than the steak itself? A day...
Teppanyaki @ home
Last Sunday I was scavenging our fridge for anything to grill. The hubby had a sudden craving for teppanyaki…Good thing there was enough, I found salmon fillets, shrimp, baby octopus, paprika and other veggies. I also had some noodles to go with it. Good enough I say, well more than good actually…we love seafood and noodles so it goes to say that this was definitely a delectable one if not...
Sadillemon (Salmon, dill and lemon!)
Ingredients: * 4 6-ounce salmon steaks or fillets * 4 tablespoons lemon juice * 2 tablespoons vegetable oil * 1 tablespoons lemon zest * 2 teaspoons dried dill * 2 cloves garlic, minced How to: Combine lemon juice, zest, oil, dill and garlic in a large resealable bag. Add salmon and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Preheat grill. Remove salmon from bag and place on hot grill. Brush with marinade....
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Loving McCafe at Austria’s First McDonald’s Chain
A tram at the city center
Just before the school-year ended, my daughter participated in a play supervised by Vienna’s Burgtheater. I went with her during rehearsals while I leave the boys with their dad. On the final night of her performance, we all went to the theater to support her.
The theater is located at Vienna’s first district. We always walk when we’re there, just going nowhere, but for that day we had to go to the theater so we boarded a tram…and since we’re often just walking, I didn’t know that the tram we took would be going the other way, lol. So we got off somewhere still near and walked…It was past snack time but still too early for dinner. Still, the kids said they were hungry.
walk the walk
Then we saw the sign on the other side of the lane. McCafe, kids requested (pretty please) to buy some sweets, we only wanted something light. So we can still eat dinner later, and since we have to be at the dressing room the whole time daughter’s on stage. (Protocol says someone should be accompanying the kids involved in the play while waiting for their part.) I also planned to take out food for when they later become hungry.
We’ve always loved McCafes, not only do their Chai Latte, babycino and cappuccino but the sweet treats and cake slices as well. If sugar doesn’t make one sick, we’d probably be having something from there more often.
McCafe sighted
since September 9, 1977
This particular McDonald branch is celebrating its 35th anniversary today…though it was of course only lately when McCafe was integrated. This first branch is located at Schwarzenbergplatz.
It has been since renovated and is now one of the most modern-looking among the branches.
Pointing “Vienna”
Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, Macarons
The boys got their usual fare, French macarons. I did too, I got caramel along with Chai Latte. Son1 got lemons and son2 got pistachios. I haven’t been baking these for a long time now that we only get our fix at McCafes, Gerstner Konditorei being far from where we live.
My daughter loves black forest cherry cake and she would almost always ask for it immediately unless there’s Apfelstrudel.
It took us very few minutes to finish these, I ordered my take out and we went ahead to the Akademie Theatre to prepare. It took about two and a half hours for the play to finish (prep, play and all) and we had dinner very late. But, that’s another story.
For daughter, blackforest cherry cake
lemon macaron for son1, blackforest cherrycake for daughter
Macarons: lemon for son1, pistachio for son2, caramel for me
pistachio macaron for son2
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for Food Friday, Yummy Sunday
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Gloriette café
It didn’t rain despite those heavy clouds
Still at the Schönbrunn grounds, Dexter, the kids and I boarded the lilliputbahn going around the palace and up the hills to the Gloriette.
A gloriette (French for “little glory”) is an installation in a garden constructed on such locations, that is elevated with respect to the surroundings. They are often in the form of a pavilion, more or less open on the sides.
The largest and probably most notable gloriette is this one. It was the last building constructed in the garden according to the plans of Austrian imperial architect Johann Ferdinand Hetzendorf von Hohenberg as a “temple of renown” in 1771. It serves as a lookout point for the garden, back in the days, it was used as a dining hall and festival hall as well as a breakfast room for emperor Franz Joseph I.
The dining hall, which was used up until the end of the monarchy, today has a café in it, and on the roof is now an observation platform overlooking Vienna.
Vanilla ice cream…why yellow? 
As it was quite warm that day, tolerable but still warm. So we decided to chill it off. They serve breakfast, Austrian dishes, local pastries and coffee. The wind at the back terrace, where we were seated, was really pleasant. The kids requested for ice cream while Dexter and I had cappuccino. It was not the warmest experience we had that week. The servers were not as friendly as those at the Cafe restaurant residence and you get this feeling that they want you to hurry your stay. No smiles, no greetings…and such is a pet peeve.
Unkindness aside, the kids did enjoy their treats, no complains on the cappuccino, we were able to rest from all the walking and yes, we had a brew where the royals used to. We’re fine.
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Cafe Restaurant Residenz Schönbrunn
Part of the Schoenbrunn Palace
red chairs
A visit to the imperial Schönbrunn Palace will not be complete without a taste of authentic Wiener Schnitzel and Sacher torte…no less or not far than where the royals used to dine. Just beside the Schönbrunn Palace is a restaurant offering local cuisine and world-famous desserts that were the favorites of emperors and empresses back in the days.
It is but just to bring a visiting friend to the Cafe Restaurant Residenz Schönbrunn for a late lunch. The Cafe restaurant is located at the left side of the Palace upon entry…there’s a terrace opened when we came as it was summer, though I bet interior dining would have been good too since it’s exclusively for non-smokers. The kids had fun getting sprayed upon – they’ve installed those sprayers just below the conservatory blinds to keep the air humid.
chicken fillet, cherry tomatoes, couscous
Dexter, our friend had a healthy dish of chicken fillet with cherry tomatoes and cous cous. He was so engrossed in it that we had very little exchange of words throughout the course. We did some snapshots though which I definitely would upload later on.
XXXL wiener schnitzel
Authentic wiener schnitzel comes from veal, it is legally protected so if a restaurant is to serve schnitzel made from pork or chicken, it should be rightfully noted on menu. My daughter shared hers with son #2 as it’s an XXL serving, too much for her little tummy to take. The dish comes also with parsley potato, her favorite, so there’s not really much left in there when she ate those first.
Comes with a giant plate of parsley potato too.
happy with his slice of sacher torte
I shared mine with son #1 but he ate very little of it because he wanted to go ahead with his dessert, a slice of sacher torte. He was satisfied with his slice and kept telling the other two about it that I had to order another one for son #2. 
After the meal, there was only satisfaction plastered in the faces of us five…would definitely come back here and try their other specialties. Kudos to the friendly staff as well, a lovely dining experience becomes extra special with them.
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Ice Cream Selection
Small servings of ice cream could be convenient and actually helpful if one is on a diet…heck, what diet when the ice cream we’re talking about is derived from our favorite chocolates. Unfortunately, no bigger ice cream tubs are available in our region for toblerone, oreo and other such ice cream variations.
These flavors are now easy to concoct at home but if like me you are always on the go, tubs are more convenient.
McDonald’s has also incorported their menus with such…for instance Mcflurry snickers, Mcflurry Twix and McfLurry Mars can now be enjoyed. I’m not sure where but, come to Vienna and I’ll certainly buy you a cup. 
linked to:
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Kudos Mäccy!
going green
Yes, you read it right, McDonald’s (Mäccy as my kids call it) shed off its red color (I don’t know if permanently) and turned green, not just because they want to but because of a mission…be environmentally friendly.
I had long written a draft about how they waste so much pieces of paper and whatnots in a span of an hour…how do I know? The McDonald branch near our place (somewhere in Vienna) has their trash room just beside the entrance. There’s awfully a lot of trash bags to be seen.
When I order Kiddie Happy Meals, I opt out for the paper boxes that the toys come with, I really find it wasteful since we are to dine in. Even when for take out, the space that box eats is just too much, making carrying everything difficult. (Yeah, I’m one lazy mom). So far, there’s just one lone cashier who refused me giving back the box, she said it’s a standard protocol. :/
When I take out food from them, I receive so many paper bags I would stack them at one big bag and use them as trash bag for old papers. (We do sort our trash at home and they have separate bins in our garbage room, sorted accordingly, picked in the morning individually).
In connection to this mission, they will be giving a cup of drinks priced at 1€ for every paper bag returned to them. So imagine how many glasses of drinks that would be. I don’t need to worry about stacking those paper bags now, we get free drinks and we help mama earth too, everybody wins!
Grazie!
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Wharfside Seafood Grille
-View from the upper deck of Wharfside Seafood Grille and entrance -
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It was a lovely morning in Victoria B.C. and we went about the gardens, sightseeing at the port and taking photos. It is to be expected to dine at one of the cozy restaurants there after all those walking. We decided to dine at Wharfside Seafood Grille.
It’s all over the internet yet I failed to research what to expect when dining here. I should have been warned but I was with a group and we were hungry plus the view from inside the restaurant is inviting, so we took precious time dining at Wharfside.
It was only now that I got the time to actually look at reviews for this joint. Just like they said, servings are small for the price tags…which aren’t cheap and I can’t help but show you how much the servings really are since those reviews I read didn’t include photos.
Many also rants about the time food is taken to be served, the not-so-engaging attitude of the servers and the manager/s who kept apologizing for their shortcomings. Some also mentioned the place being a tourist-trap…the prices stated on menu might be different from what you’d actually pay without proper explanation why. There’s a secret that I learned too; they have a tourist menu and a local menu which is way cheaper of course…this and many other reasons where cited for the restaurant to be nicknamed “tourist trap.” Other complains include stinky toilets, dirty windows, paid for appetizers that also took longer to be served and a lot more reasons.
I think this is glazed Salmon on a bed of veggies.
Wraps and fries
Maybe we got there at a wonderful time of the day, never really experienced much of what I read and I’m not justifying them nor was I got paid for saying these. For the other points as food taking longer, well, food cooking in a non-fastfood restaurant really takes time. It’s understandable. However, most reviewers mentioned that their food were served lukewarm, like it was only heated and not cooked. Some others complain of having theirs overcooked, you’d think that the cooks there don’t know what they’re doing. — Maybe there were different cooks at different times of the day too, we don’t know.
The windows were clean that day we dined and the view of the harbour was lovely, can’t help but shoot. Our servers too were ok that day…there were not too full of themselves as some said.
Overall, I’d say food is ok though not something commendable. Next time, I would definitely research first around this area….perhaps to a restaurant that Victoria would be truly proud of.
Salmon again.
Salmon again...see, it's a very small portion.
- A serving of Fish and Chips…minimal.
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Wharfside Seafood Grille
1208 Wharf Street
Victoria, BC V8W 3B9, Canada
+1 250-360-1808
View Larger Map for
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Raspberry Cheesecake
Can’t resist sweets no matter how much I stay away. Want some?
Guess where I got this slice? You won’t believe it’s from McCafe. We live near one and whenever I crave for something sweet I just walk my way there or take the bus — two stops. I prefer walking though especially because I know I would need to burn the calories I’d be gaining when I get there. teehee.
This cheesecake as all others (plain and caramel cheesecake) served at McCafes is distinctly German, melt in your mouth not-so-sweet goodness. I pair this with my favorite Chai Latte and I’m one happy kid!
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