Bernkastel-Kues vs Beilstein

Welcome to Bernkastel Kues, a famous winegrowing town located on the ‘middle mosel’ in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhinland-Palatinate.

The beautiful view of the rolling hills/river and architecture takes your breath away. Even on the cold, windy day we graced Bernkastel-Kues with our presence, we could still appreciate the beauty of the near perfect German scenery.[apologies for the quality of the photos]

We ducked into the warmth of Cafe Hansen in Kues for a very healthy breakfast of Apple strudel and Butter cake…. ‘healthy’ :), we then made our merry way to a small town by the name of Beilstein where we indulged in the fairy tale town’s warmth and cosy hospitality.

[Cafe Hansen, Bernkastel Kues]

It was freezing!! so we decided to swim through the sea of ‘jack wolfskin’ wearers and tuck ourselves away into cafe Hansen.

We shared an apfel strudel mit sahne und vanilleeis [apple strudel with cream & icecream] …. simply dreamy, creamy and full of tasty bad things for your body 🙂

Followed by fluffy ‘butterkuchen’ encrusted with toasted, shaved almonds and dusted lightly with melt-in-your-mouth icing sugar 🙂 aka fairy dust!! 🙂

Hot chocolate to wash it all down…. I was in HEAVEN!!!! sugar, sugar and MORE sugar… sooo bad, but soooo good. ♥

[Winzerschenke, Beilstein]

For lunch we located a gorgeous fairytale village called Beilstein, and there nestled in the heart of the town was the warmth of a Family run inn/restaurant.

We tried the local ‘spaetburgander’ – aka Pinot noir, which happened to be a speciality from winery literally down the road.

so good in fact, that we bought a couple of bottles for home, and maybe a sneaky bottle of the local riesling.

Lunch wasn’t anything to sing and dance about, but it was warm and cosy and made with love.

I had the potatoes with onion rings with warm brie. [I was fooled into thinking it was ACTUALLY like hungry jacks onion rings hahah!!…they were in fact RAW RINGS OF ONION…. FAIL! hahha]

Sausages on a bed of pan-fried potatoes with ham.

Lunch wasn’t amazing, but I would go back as the service was delightful, helpful and warm in more ways than one. Which is better…bad food/good service or good food/bad service….
Bernkastel-Kues really needs more than a few hours to explore, but from what we saw it was enchanting and full of life, Beilstein on the other hand can be walked through within the hour, an enchanting fairytale hour at that.

. . .

Tastefully yours,

. . .

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V a l e n c i a : d e l i c i o u s !!!

[Valencia, Spain]

In search of the best Paella….

Day 1: Coast side restaurant in Valencia

Paella is always served for a minimum of 2 ppl, its always best enjoyed together in other words 🙂

‘Paella (Spanish pronunciation: [paˈeʎa]) is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, alagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain.^[1]

Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain’s national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish. Valencians, in turn, regard paella as one of their identifying symbols.

There are three widely known types of paella: Valencian paella (Spanish: paella valenciana), seafood paella (Spanish: paella de marisco) and mixed paella (Spanish: paella mixta), but there are many others as well. Valencian paella consists of white rice, green vegetables, meat (rabbit, chicken), land snails, beans and seasoning. Seafood paella replaces meat and snails with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables. Mixed paella is a free-style combination of meat, seafood, vegetables and sometimes beans.

Most paella chefs use calasparra^[2][3] or bomba^[3] rices for this dish. Other key ingredients include saffron and olive oil.’

Seafood Paella + Sangria + hot night = trouble!… I think I shortly fell into a food coma after this meal!

Day 2: something different 🙂

Entree was a local potatoe and egg dish, I’m not the biggest fan of sunny side, but it was a very interesting meal nonetheless.

It was a bit heavy for entree, but I think for a breakfast – it would be lovely after a big night out or on a cold sunday morning.

then, we tried NOODLE Paella! that was VERY interesting. Apparently it was a local speciality, it was surprisingly salty but very tasty and bursting at the seams with seafood! 🙂 yummm!!!

Day 3: Amstelleria, Aqua shopping centre.

We were staying accross the road at Hotel Melia Valencia (which was an absolute treat at a bargain price), and we ventured towards the new shopping complex to see what it was all about.

It was an interesting space – all very open and no use of air-conditioning in the foyer area because it had been designed with the environment in mind – it used the natural flow of air as ventilation.

For lunch, we decided to try something different, and I think we both agreed this place was amazing!

Beer on tap on you table!!! – what a seriously cool idea!!!

I ordered a salmon bocadillo and we were on our merry way to becoming a little tipsy 🙂

[Last day brunch]

At the only place that seemed busy on the Sunday we were leaving, we were treated to a massive brunch including drinks and coffee for only 10 Euros each!

Paul got an amazing roast entree and lunch…I think it was a bunny rabbit (:( )

and I got this pan fried egg and potatoe thing again – with patee this time.

I’ll have to say, I probably wouldnt go back to try the same, but Paul’s roast was seriously melting off the bone type deal. yum!

It wasn’t the best service, as there on only one woman pretty much running the front, but she did the best she could.

And given the circumstances, it was all very quick and filling.

Desert was also simply, but fresh and delicious.

[strawberry sponge cake & fresh melon]

Overall a pretty ‘delicious’ Spanish summer holiday, and would definitely go back to try the other parts of Spain’s specialities.

…………………………………………

tastefully yours,

Joanna