There is a great feeling when you have walked for hours, stumbled upon a kiosk, the type your local health clinic would probably advise you to avoid, but Imodium in hand you try the delights of this humble street vendor. Only hours before you brushed your teeth with $2 mineral water and now whatever is behind the kiosk is meant to stay there and thoughts about whether the oil has been fried more than five times does not cross your mind. Yes, when travelling we all want to try street food. At less than a few dollars a head, there is little room for disappointment. There is something to be said about the joy of eating street food; having little care for food etiquette, meeting and observing fellow travellers or locals, and shamelessly wiping your greasy hands on your jeans. More often than not it will be the one meal that pleases all your senses.

Street Food has been the trend of 2011 in London, and I have enjoyed eating at numerous farmers’ markets and food festivals during the year. Every few weeks I hear about a new street food restaurant opening. I recently tried Beirut street food at Yalla Yalla’s second restaurant off Oxford Street.

Aesthetically it does a good job: the yellow, black and off-white colours create an unusual but cosy environment.  The space is large and is composed of a brightly lit room with shared wooden tables, colorful paintings and rustic chandeliers. The concept is rather appealing: Beirut street food. However it is pretty much the same hummus, falafel, tabbouleh and halloumi that you would find in most Lebanese restaurants.

Strip away the catchy name, the convenient location and excellent décor, and you are left with poor service, small portions, average food and an unexpected diner bill of about £30 a head. My Beiruti cocktail (a mixture of gin, fresh strawberry, lime juice, sugar cane and pomegranate juice topped up with Prosecco) was probably the highlight.

Yalla Yalla attracts many people and will probably continue to do so, due to its informal setting and a trendy notion of street food. The food itself is a small part of the overall dining experience. As long as you know that before going it can make for a dining option. I doubt I will be going back there soon; as for me street food should be eaten on the street. It is very hard to recreate the same feeling and sensation one experiences on the street within the walls of a central London location.

 Yalla Yalla, 12 Winsley Street, London, W1W 8HQ, +442076374748

(Photos courtesy of Tibits)

As a vegetarian it is very annoying when vegetarian restaurants cater for the vegetarian duck or vegetarian sausage consumers. Or worst when you see a repeat menu of the same 10 vegetarian dishes being circulated from one restaurant to another. We have good tastes and high standards, and believe it or not we are not all hippies who stroll through London with a backpack. There are few restaurants in London which try to give vegetarians an up market option. Vanilla Black is one such restaurant; but is it worth an average of £50 ahead?

We vegetarians do not want to be isolated. We want to be embraced.  Tibits on Heddon Street does just that. I was attracted to this chic boutique restaurant by its beautiful design, the laid back alfresco dining and the eclectic mix of people. On entering I had no idea it was a vegetarian restaurant.

Founders Reto Frei, and his brothers Christian and Daniel Frei do not market Tibits as a vegetarian restaurant. All three who have been vegetarians from a young age wanted to promote the “flexetarian” concept; of people who do not feel defined by their dining choices, but will choose vegetarian as another interesting alternative. Take a look around and you will find your alpha male, a couple on a date, a family, a group of trendy university students, business men and your health conscious women.

Choose from a variety of 40 dishes on the food boat. Cold salads range from taboule, fruity quinoa salad, apple ginger and fig tofu and a dried bean and walnut salad. Hot dishes cover all flavours from Middle Eastern to Greek. It is a vegetarian’s ideal pick and mix, with the majority of ingredients being organic, without additives or colourings. Tibits works on the Brazilian concept of per kilo; you pay for what you eat and not for the coriander garnishing! Once you have chosen from the delicious selection your plate is weighed at the counter and you are charged per gram. (Dinner – £2.20 per 100g, lunch – £2.00per 100g and breakfast £1.70 per gram.)

Whilst you get your food quickly there is no rush to finish it. Edmund the London manager tells me, whilst we may think the guy drinking cappuccino for five hours ought to get back to work, we would never ask him to leave. You have all the time in the world to enjoy your food, watch people pass by, or finish off that piece of work. It is rare for service to be incorporated into the fast food model, but the staff at Tibits are simply great, warm and friendly.

Deserts at Tibits are equally good. There is something for everyone from cheesecake to rice pudding, muesli with tangy cranberries to fresh fruits, and even a delicious mango mousse. Remember your plate is weighed so try not to load with only your eyes!

Only moments away from busy Regent Street, the fact that Tibits has a children’s play area with a man size black board and numerous games is an extra bonus. The Swiss trio have thought of it all, making it a destination for all, from families to alpha males, vegetarian or not!

Tibits is one of the few vegetarian restaurants I will be returning to. With a menu that changes every day there is something to look forward to each time.

Tibits, Heddon Street, London, W1B 4DA, +442077584110

Quilon in Westminister is a true gem of a restaurant. Chef Sriram Vishwanathan Aylur’s South west coastal Indian menu is progressive yet deeply connected to his roots. It is quite rare to find black cod and tempered asparagus on the same menu as masala dosa and avial.

I went to Kerala for the first time last December, and I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth and the hospitality of the local people, that is significantly distinct from the more northern regions I have travelled to. From the minute we entered Quilon we felt a very similar warmth and hospitality. And I am not just talking about the attentive waiter. The waiters at Quilon really have a personal desire to make sure your every need is met, you choose the best food for you, and you simply enjoy your meal and experience at Quilon. Seconds after my dinner partner had bit into a chilli and the eyes were signalling for some sort of palette soother, a waiter had brought us a home made yoghurt with fresh pomegranate and pineapple.

For starters I would definitely try the mini masala dosa, which is a thin rice and lentil pancake filled with tempered potatoes and served with sambar. This is quite well complimented with the crispy fried cauliflower tossed with yoghurt, green chilli and curry leaves. A perfect combination of traditional South Indian dishes.

To cleanse the palette we were served a hot spicy Rasam in an aperitif glass. Rasam is a traditional South Indian soup, prepared with tamarind juice, tomato, lentils and spices. Unlike traditional palette cleansers this was more heart warming than refreshing. Nevertheless I love Rasam so I could have happily had 2 more glasses!

If you are as indecisive as me or simply want to try everything, I suggest ordering a combination of four curries that would make a Thali. I went for the crispy okra, coconut with asparagus and mange tout, avial (battons of snake gourd, long beans and carrots cooked with ground coconut, green chillies, cumin and yoghurt) and lastly mango curry.  The asparagus and mangetout was more like a salad than a curry, but it complemented the flavours of the stronger curries quite well.

The lemon rice (basmati rice tossed in lime juice, curry leaves, split bengal gram and pure ghee) accompanies all four curries well. I also tried the delicious appam, a soft centred lace edged pancake, which is made facing the guests. If you want to try something quite different try the egg white paratha, which is whole wheat layered bread topped with beaten egg and cooked on a skillet.

The problem with wanting to try everything is that it leaves little room for desert. The deserts themselves sounded so tempting, ranging from lentil cappuccino to hot rice kheer. If you want to keep things light on the stomach I would suggest the baked yogurt which comes in a set of three: lychee, mango and orange. The baked yogurt is delicious. All three flavours are fresh and natural, and once wrapped around a creamy homemade baked yogurt…it is just heaven!

I could not recommend Quilon enough. There is a reason why Quilon has been awared amongst many awards a Michelin Star. For approximately £35  – £40 a head,  Quilon offers everything a perfect meal should, great food and above average service. Do not have high expectations of the decor that the likes of Porte des Indes impress restaurant goers with. Even though Quilon is part of the Taj group it has a modest yet elegant back drop.

Quilon, 41 Buckingham Gate,  SW1E 6AF, +4420 7821 1899, London

So here I am, back in London. 2 years of incredible food, wine and people have flown past me. First few weeks back and I have learnt to just accept that cappuccino, vino rosso and a carb filled dish will just not be the same! Lets not even get into men and general fashion senses…that will require a face to face conversation!

Spoilt by great brunches at places like Globe in Milano, I was in search of a great brunch place in London with enough vegetarian options to satisfy a food snob and a vegetarian family with high standards. Ottolenghi in Angel, with smaller deli’s in Nottinghill and High Street Kensington, is a vegetarian’s paradise. As soon as we entered, my eyes were already eating, my mouth was watering, and I had already planned to order everything that was beautifully presented on the open food display.

Yotam Ottolenghi, has really brought to life fresh, healthy food perfect for a feel good Sunday brunch. For lunch you can select three to four salads, ranging from roasted butternut squash with soured cream, paprika and coriander  to roasted root vegetables, fennel and red onion with horseradish and lemon thyme.

There are about 10 delicious and varied salads to choose from, so there is plenty of choice!

There are a few vegetarian main dishes and cold fish and meats, but rest assured the meat and vegetarian dishes are really kept apart and on different tables.

Make sure you leave room for deserts. I felt like I was in food paradise and having an affair with my low sugar low carb promise. If you can resist the temptation, then you just don’t deserve to eat here! I recommend the rhubarb cheesecake with a hint of ginger…just divine.

So for about £20 a head, choose three to four filling salads and a seductive desert.  I recommend the Angel branch for the true Ottolenghi experience. I felt the Nottinghill branch was too rushed, small and simply did not have as much choice.  I am really looking forward to having dinner at Ottolenghi. If you can’t make it to London to eat at Ottolenghi, you can buy Yotam’s fantastic cook books or follow his weekly vegetarian column  in The Guardian.

So London does have some great food places. I am really looking forward to discover more of them!

Ottolenghi, 287 Upper Street, Islington, London, N1 2TZ, 004420 7288 1454

In most of Italy restaurants only serve lunch between 12.30 to 15.00. As you go from shop to shop in this Christmas frenzy, timing goes out of the window and before you know it you have missed your lunch slot. De Santis on Corso Magenta is a very small gourmet panini restaurant that is open from 12.00 to 24.00. A true blessing in Milan!

Imagine choosing from 200 different types of paninis. Each one with fresh ingredients, served between De Santis special fresh grilled bread, and then presented on a wooden board. This is no Subway! I am talking about basil flavoured goats cheese and marinated artichokes as just one of the tempting options.

Quick service, warm and rustic atmosphere, and fantastic paninis for approximately 10 euros a head. If you ever get a craving at 17.00 on a lazy Sunday you know where to get a delicious panini.

De Santis, Corso Magenta, 9, 003902875968, Milano 

I was recently told that I normally only write about the places I love. So, here is a place I do not recommend spending 100 Euros on: Joia, a Michelin star vegetarian restaurant in Milan. Pietro Leemann, the chef of this quite famous restaurant has come up with a very creative and unique menu. It is really difficult to choose from a menu when you have no restrictions, as everything is vegetarian! I chose to go with the Zenith menu, a 14 course menu at 100 euros per head. (The 8 course menu was at 80 euros.)

To wet our appetite we were given quite literally a small boiled carrot in a yogurt sauce. My sister was not impressed! (Background: before my sister’s visit I received texts such as: ”can we go to Napoli to eat pizza?” A boiled carrot was not quite what “Eat, pray, love” had portrayed to her!) Each course did get better, the flavours got more intense, and the colours more dramatic. There was clearly a careful logic in the flow of the menu. However, we would go from one course thinking it was a creative explosion of flavours in our mouth to simply disliking a particular dish.

Out of 14 dishes, I absolutely loved about 5, 4 were good, and I disliked 5. On average that does not merit 100 euros a head. We also felt that some concepts like frothed parmesan or ginger, or raspberry sauce were repeated far too often, for what was supposed to be a highly creative menu.

What is interesting about the menu is that each dish is given a very distinct name, from “An apparent egg” to “Simone was thinking of me”, which is then reflected in the ingredients and the type of presentation. I have to say I almost burst out laughing when we had the “Gong” desert. The waiter brought a gong for me to hit before I bit into what was actually a delicious desert. We did not appreciate being served on a plastic tweety plate for the “I remember” desert, in a Michelin star restaurant.

If you are being taken to Joia, I think it is an interesting experience and would suggest being open minded. Perhaps go for the 8 course menu. On the other hand, if you are forking out 100 Euros yourself there are better restaurants in Milan where you can get more value for your money.

Joia, Via P Castaldi 18, 0039229522124, Milano

It has been a year that I have been trying to go to Innocenti Evasioni. Finally I had the perfect excuse to totally indulge, not look at the prices on the menu and just go full out! I did not quite tell my dinner date that this was not a normal Saturday night restaurant. As we entered and we saw a “Jeunes restaurateurs d’Europe” plaque on the wall, I got that look, the “oh did you not check the prices on the website” look.

Homely, elegant and classic. A simple intimate layout, that by no means is posh, but restaurant eticacy is advised and southern Italian story telling can probably be left for another occasion!

When you are presented with such a tempting menu, it is difficult to share an appetizer and just have a main course. Have each course!  Innocenti Evasioni’s menu changes every month based on what is in season. Choose your antipasto carefully as I would not give top marks for mine; a stack of cut pumpkins and apples ! My first course was phenomenal – tortellini filled with chicory, pine nuts and grapes in a red wine sauce. I savored each and every bite! For my main course I enjoyed a wonderful display of porcini mushrooms and chestnuts layered between some sort of chestnut disks. For desert I could not resist a homemade sorbet of fichi d’india (prickly pear cactus fruit) with almond milk. Absolutely divine! To our surprise when we came to the end of our fine dinning experience we were presented with a dish of mini deserts…a perfect way to end a lovely meal.

We spent 80 euros per head, but we went all out, including an appetizer wine and a Barolo. I think you can easily dine at Innocenti Evasioni for 60 euros a head. The only negative thing I can say about Innocente Evasioni is the secluded location. If you do not have a car or scooter, take a taxi as we found it quite hard to find.

Innocenti Evasioni, Via Priv della Bindellina, 0039233001882, Milano

…wherefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father and refuse thy name;

or if thou will not, be but sworn my love,

And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Walk around the streets of Verona and it is hard not to feel like you are in the magical world of Romeo and Juliet. As you pass through the lovers’ houses and wonder the little streets of Verona, try to resist the tourist trap of dining at Osteria di Juliet or Trattoria di Romeo. When it comes to the matters of the stomach, you can leave Romeo and Juliet aside and instead dine at Osteria da Ugo (Vicolo Dietro S. Andrea 1/b, 0039 45 594400, Verona).

Whilst approaching Osteria da Ugo, which is tucked away behind the centre of Verona, we could hear the loud clatter of plates, the theatrical voices of Italian families and babies screaming. This is exactly where we would find a good Italian lunch on a Sunday.

I am not going to ruin the surprise of what you can eat here. Trust me, just go there, indulge in food from Veneto and make sure to try the torta with cheese, truffles and leeks…divine. For meat eaters, this place is a sanctuary or so I was told by my friend! And the deserts…well just take a look at this…yum!

 (Above picture – courtesy of Osteria da Ugo)

Don’t you just love it when you stumble upon something that you almost never expected? In our search for an Indian restaurant in Durban, one wrong turn here, another wrong turn there, we came across something that looked some what like a cafe. Had it not been for the food photographer, carefully arranging and rearranging food creations to get the picture perfect photo, we probably would have walked straight pass this little gem.

Neil Roake, author of the cook book “Shiny Happy People”, has created an inspiring and uplifting cafe: Freedom.

It is one of those places that draws you in slowly. First we were intrigued by the food photographer and the wonderful display of cakes on the planks of wood outside the cafe. A few steps later we discovered a converted freight container which was jazzed up and carefully created into a modern cafe.

This then lead us on to the small yet very cute garden, at the end of which was the open kitchen where we could see Neil himself cooking up some delicious dishes.

As much as we wanted Indian food, Freedom has a character that one can not escape. Once you enter the garden you almost feel part of the set up, as if  you had personally been invited to Neil’s kitchen. The atmosphere is fresh and informal. This newly opened cafe gives you a sense of a start up, and if like me you love food then Freedom gives you so much inspiration to start up your own kitchen!

If you have time on your hands Freedom is a perfect place to sit back, sip a cup of tea and just watch Neil’s assistants creatively work their way around the kitchen. And you will have to sit back for quite a while; in the true slow food culture way. It is totally worth the wait. Fresh ingredients prepared with passion and displayed creatively. I had a red pepper and paprika soup. Simple, but by far the best red pepper and paprika soup I have ever had. The menu is contemporary – perfect for a light yet filling lunch.

If you are looking for a place to stay near Florida Road I highly recommend The Concierge which is in front of Freedom. The hotel carries on the boutique feel of the cafe.

You feel secluded and in a special place, yet only a few roads away from Florida Road. Both Freedom and The Concierge are slightly above average Durban prices; but that is the price you pay for an intimate setting with careful attention to design.

Freedom Cafe, 36 Campbell Avenue, Greyville, 0027313094453, Durban – South Africa

The best thing about travelling around Turkey on business, is that all Turkish clients go out of their way to feed you and at some of the best local places.

In Konya I was taken to Feslegen. My client was shocked to find out that I was vegetarian and to ensure I was fed well, he ordered every great vegetarian option on the menu. And oh my god were they great! I normally chat away whilst dining…not at Feslegen! I was just amazed at how fresh the ingredients were and how each and every vegetable was delicious.

A simple green salad with capers, carrots, tomatoes and sweetcorn was so juicy and sweet. The fresh yogurt was like cutting into gelato with a spoon. The sauteed ladyfingers and egg plant were hitting the spicy spot. The presentation of the sun dried tomatoes was so appetizing. The hot yogurt soup was almost better than Indian kadhi. And all this food combined with frothy home made ayran (turkish lassi) was just perfect!

And then it was time for desert. One trouser button had to open as there no way I was leaving without trying the pumpkin halvah in a sesame sauce with Eastern black walnuts (the fruit of walnuts). Divine and surprisingly not too sweet.

If you are ever in Konya for business or visiting Mevlana’s tomb, check out Feslegen.

Feslegen, Mahmuriye Mah, Istasyon Ferit Pasa Cad, No 27, 00903323222203