Food & drink

The problem with recommending restaurants

In the words of the great Jim Morrison, people are strange… or they can be when it comes to food. As well as having very contrasting likes and dislikes, folk have very personal foibles, all of which makes recommending restaurants somewhat of a lottery. […]

Europe

The end of spring in central Portugal

The season has changed. This hit home on Friday in the supermarket where there was a distinctly different vibe. People were dressed in full on summer uniform. There were telling empty places on the shelves where boxes of Sagres beer and sacks of BBQ briquettes should be. […]

Port tasting at Graham's Lodge
Europe

Putting the Port in Porto

It’s hard to imagine I was semi-seriously considering paying €38 for a bottle of port. Last week I would have laughed out loud at such a preposterous prospect. Yet here, alongside its terroir, it tastes like liquid heaven and worthy of its price tag. […]