Seafood in Ostende

The restaurant offers little shrimps for appetizer.

Wah! I hope I can finish this big piece of plaice!

A salmon plate but the salmon is obscured by the thick sauce.

 We went on a day trip to the beach in Ostend, on the Belgium coast
to enjoy the sun and for a dip in the sea. (Not me though... It's too cold for me, the North Sea!)

For dinner, we went to Restaurant Adelientje whose specialties are seafood from the North Sea.
It's a small and lovely place and less pricey than than restaurants in this busy seaside town. 
Mon ami & I had the plaice that is in season which is delicious.
Our plaices had eggs in them.
I love fish eggs :)
Antonin, our friend had the salmon with ostendaise sauce.

Kugelhopf

From time to time, mon ami will make one of his favorite bake goods, Kugelhopf.
It's one of his comfort food because his mother was from Alsace.
A Kugelhopf is quite similar to an italian Pandoro or Panettone.
The 3 being sweet yeast breads.
It makes a good breakfast on a lazy sunday morning.

Galettes

I love the taste of buckwheat.
Readymade galettes can be bought in supermarkets in France
so mon ami and I brought some back with us.

With these readymade galettes, one can easily make galettes with different fillings-
basically 3 cheeses, smoked salmon, ham, eggs.

We sort of regret not getting some crepes for dessert.

Homemade Burgers

Other than burgers from MacDonald's or Quick,
there aren't much choices for burgers in Brussels.
But I think we make a decent burger at home
using fresh ingredients, homemade mayonnaise and organic beef.

Mamma Roma Pizza

Yes, it's kinda blurry but it's crowded!

Mon ami and I were out in Ixelles to run some errants around lunch time.

There are plenty of italian restaurants in Ixelles

but we just wanted to have a quick bite.

Mama Roma was crowded so we thought it might be good.

And the 2 slices & a can of soda lunch menu for 7.50 euros is a decent deal.

I don't like red as a color theme in restaurants 

because most of the time, they are awful, dimly-lit and with glossy surfaces.

Mama Roma pulled off the red theme well.

Their pizzas are warm and freshly made.

I don't dig their ciabatta-like pizza dough.

It's slightly too greasy and chewy.

D.I.Y. Bun Bo Nuong

Hey, can't keep going to restaurants for my Bun Bo Nuong fix.
It looks like a simple enough dish to make at home.
There are quite a few components to gather
but nonetheless, it is actually quite easy to make.
We bought ready made, frozen Cha Gio (spring rolls) to make it a Bun Cha Gio Bo Nuong
There's a good recipe. There are many on the internet.

Bun Bo Nuong in Paris

I got a Bun Bo Nuong fever.
I just can't get enough of them these days.
It's an awesome meal for the summer, so fresh and light.
Love the mint in the vermicelli.

At Song Heng, a tiny Vietnamese restaurant on 3 rue Volta in Paris,
we had to line for 30 mins for a bowl of Bun Bo Nuong on a Saturday afternoon.
They just have 2 things on the menu, the Pho or the Bun.
It's easy to know what to get- THE LARGE BOWL OF BUN! Pronto!
It's not the best Bun, but it's good enough.

P.S. In France, a Bun Cha Gio Bo Nuong, which with beef and spring rolls is commonly called a Bo Bun.

Lac des ilettes Big Catch

It's Mont Blanc on the background.

I was at Lac des ilettes for a barbeque party
and saw this awesome big catch by an amateur fisherman
while taking a stroll around the perimeter of lake.

The fisherman was very gracious and let me take a photo of him and his beautiful golden fish.

Wedding in Chamonix

Hors d'oeuvres! J'ai faim deja!

A verrine of avocado puree with creme fraiche, shrimps & grapefruit.

Yum. I had about 4 of them!

A verrine of gazpacho with a drop of pesto.

Had another 4 of these!!

The lovely restaurant.

Verrine of asparagus and crayfish, tartare of crunchy vegetables, with shellfish foam.

Tournedos of veal, jus of rosemary, potato gratin with crunchy vegetables.

A plateau of Savoie cheeses with nuts and fruits.
(Beaufort, Reblochon, Tomme & Goat cheese) 

The dancing starts before the dessert is served.
I don't care much for dancing.
Certainly don't mind lining up for a piece of cake!

Mon ami's sister, Lili got married!
The wedding dinner was held in a lovely wood lodge restaurant in beautiful Chamonix.

A short trip in Berlin

My chicken sandwich at Kamps.
I love sandwiches & bake goods shops in Germany.
They are good, simple, clean & cheap.

Jacqueline's ham sandwich at Kamps

My Bun Ga Nuong from Monsieur Vuong.
WTF. The portion is small. 

Chingping's Pho at Monsieur Vuong.
She is very kind to share some broth with Joanne & I.

I remembered a very good falafel I had near friedrichstrasse the last time I was in Berlin in 2006.
Couldn't find it. Got a falafel from this shop instead.

Not too bad... but not the good one I had in my memory.

Love this chocolate box design.
Das Original! ☺ 

This beer label is awesome too.