Taste of Europe: A 14D Best of Europe Gastronomical Adventure

A trip isn't complete without food! I took CTC's 14D Best of Europe trip. Here's a glimpse of the food I had on the trip.

Disclaimer: This post might trigger episodes of hunger or higher food intake. You have been warned.

Day 0 
fly from SIN-FCO via Singapore Airlines

First meal of the day, usually served an hour after the flight has taken off. In this case, my flight was around 1:00AM, so I was eating a meal at 2AM ( Sometimes, I do hate taking red eye flights because , in general, sleep is interrupted. If only there's a way to request for meals to be served at a different timing to get that uninterrupted sleep. )

Dinner

Pasta Salmon and salad

Magnum mini almond for dessert

Breakfast

1hr before reaching the destination, I was served breakfast. As groggy as I may have felt, I still worked up some energy to wake those lazy bones and eat breakfast. 

Omelette and Yogurt

Day 1

Snack 

You're not in Italy when you are not snacking on a gelato! The trip had a stop at Trevi Fountain and right opposite of it is Bar Trevi. I just had to get 2 scoops (Nutella and Pistachio) of gelato, Primo Size at that store. It was recommended by the tour guide and indeed it was one of the tastiest gelato I've ever tasted.  

As a rule of thumb, you need to pay first and order second. Right there and then, you have to decide the scoop and if you want it to be in cone/cup. The flavors come in second. If the place is in a tourist area, you can very well order in English ( unless you are in France!)

Bar Trevi's Primo Gelato (2.50 EUR)

On the trip, I also ate a bag of chestnuts (not shown in the picture). Roasted chestnuts roughly cost 5 Euros, and they were more of the burnt and hard kind! (Yikes!)

Lunch

Italian lunch at Al Piacere Restaurant 

Reaching the destination past 12, and having done with the tour at Spanish Steps and the Fountain of Trevi. I went straight for lunch at Al Piacere Restaurant. I had pizza ai funghi as the appetizer ( and yes, it's one regular serving of pizza),  salmon steak as main, and cheesecake for dessert. When you are in a tour, you can't really point what you want to eat or request for a special menu unless you have specific dietary concerns.  

Dinner
Chinese food at Stella D' Oro Chinese Restaurant

To not miss food from home, Chinese food was served. ( But, personally, I would have preferred it if it was dining al fresco at some pizzeria and eating pasta and pizza under the stars).

But one good thing about this restaurant, the food was tasty, albeit salty especially the pork dish.  The most unappetizing Chinese food I've ever eaten was in Canada, and somehow European Chinese food trumps Canadian Chinese food!


Day 2
Breakfast
Hotel Buffet Breakfast at Aran Park Hotel

A typical hotel buffet food in Europe would consist of croissant, Pan Au Lait, Bacon, sausage, ham, cheese, scrambled eggs, buns, and fruits. ( There's no egg station for you to request an omelette or a sunny side egg).

Lunch
Chinese food at Ristorante Shanghai Da Liu, Siena, Italy

It was yet another Chinese food consisting of shrimp, chicken, cabbage, mapo tofu, fish, soup, egg and tomato. On the bright side, this restaurant has free wi-fi.


Dinner
Tuscan Dinner in La Certosa, Florence, Italy

Our non-chinese dinner was a Tuscan dinner at La Certosa Ristorante next to the Certosa del Galluzzo, a monastery. Not that the restaurant was mesmerizing, it felt more like eating at a wedding reception, serenaded by a tenor ( who by the way sells his CDs for 10 Euros. He'll gladly sign it for you too!)

Antipasto/Appetizer: French Bread with Spread, selection of Salami and Prosciutto

Primo:  Aglio Olio

Secondo:  Steak ( Too well done or too rare, it wasn't the nicest steak that I've tasted so far :( )

Contorni/Side Dishes: Roasted Potatoes,  Penne with Vegetables

Dolci: Tiramisu

Day 3
Breakfast
Buffet breakfast at Aran Park Hotel 

Own Lunch 
Lunch at La Torre

It was either this or Mcdonald's. This place was recommended by the tour guide. Pressed for time, because someone (else) was too excited to take "Power Ranger poses" at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I opted to have the quickest food that they can make at the restuarant for lunch- a panini  (Mozzarella di bufala and Tomato) and Coke! The freshest and sweetest tomato that would make you want to run for seconds. They have set meals and they have a menu is English, so pretty much, you can just point the food that you want at the menu. ( I would have preferred to eat Pizza in Pisa but there's no time for it). Also, the restaurant didn't charge for service charge (Yay!), though I suppose leaving a tip of 2 Euro wouldn't hurt them.

Dinner

Italian Dinner at Ristorante Fantasia

After covering Pisa, our next destination was Siena, Italy. The restaurant was near the vicinity of Santa Croce.  This place charges 3 Euros for a 2 L Bottle of water. Since I was still acclimatizing Europe and dare not drink their tap water, I opted to buy their bottled water.

Antipasto/Appetizer: Pasta ( Pasta certainly looks like an egg noodle pasta)

Again, when I think of a main dish, I will be thinking of pasta as the main dish, but such was not the case here in Italy. They always serve pasta as an appetizer.

Primo: Chicken

Dolci/Dessert: Custard Pudding panna cotta

Day 4
Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast at Conference Hotel Florence
I can certainly get accustomed to the amount of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, croissant, buns, and (a bunch of it!) ham for breakfast.

Lunch
Italian lunch at Taverna Dei Dogi, Venice

Finally, at this leg of the trip, they took us to the City of Canals, Venice. As everything is timed, the lunch had to be of a certain timing as well. The main activity of the day - riding the gondolas was just within reach. As always (as in any tour group that will join), I would not have a say on the dishes served. These were ordered beforehand by the tour leader.

Antipasto: Squid Ink Pasta / Tomato Pasta

Contorni/Side Dishes: Fresh Salad ( It was more of the tangy type of salad)

Primo: Salmon Steak

Dolci: Tiramisu

Snack

Gelato at a gelato bar/restaurant near zaccaria A venice Riva Degli Schiavoni in Venice. (The one with the green tent!)

You can never get enough of gelato while you're in Italy, and certainly Venice is no exception. The gelato here costs 2.5 Euros for 2 Scoop of Flavours (I chose Pistachio and Tiramisu). At this shop ( as this was part of the restaurant), you have to place your order and go to the cashier to pay. This shop has a toilet for you to use (if you're a patron of the store). 

Dinner

Chinese dinner at Chinese restaurant pagoda, Venice, Italy

You can never get enough of Chinese food in a tour. For this day I had:  Chicken with green onion, pork ribs, soup, shrimp omelette, cabbage , and fish. This is going to be our staple food from now on.

Day 5
Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast at Novotel Venetia

Their buffet breakfast consist of Bacon, Ham, Scrambled Eggs, and bread (Croissant was nowhere to be found!)

 

Own Lunch
Lunch at Easy Step Convenience Store and Rest Area
Food: Prosciutto ham pizza , chicken kebab, Mexican kebab (not in the picture), Sinalco drink (tastes like Fanta Orange)

The ambiance at this rest area wasn't that bad, except for the food. I ordered the pizza with Prosciutto ham, thinking that there's no way you can go wrong with Prosciutto, but I was mistaken! A word of advice, better eat their chicken kebab or pasta! The food there was just plain horrible, and the pizza with Prosciutto was cold and stale. The prices at the convenience store costs twice compared to the local grocery store, so basically choose wisely. 

Snack
The famous Movenpick Ice Cream of Switzerland

Even at the coldest temperature, creatures tend to eat cold food and I am no exception. At the certain floor in Mt. Titlis, there exists a Movenpick ice cream store (and a snack shop). Not to missed the opportunity, I ordered Movenpick chocolate ice cream on the cup ,while my companion picked eating their ice cream on a waffle cone.  I'd say when you are rushing for time, it is best to just eat it on a cup rather than gobble the whole waffle cone. The waffle was too brittle.

Own Dinner 
Whatever food you can find at coop

Coop is a grocery shop like Australia's Woolworth. They are a chain of grocery store. It was in this shop that I found a 1.5L of water selling for .25 cents (What a steal!).  Food here are generally cheaper too like Lindt Chocolates are selling at 3.4 CHF at Casa Grande whereas it was selling at 2.80 CHF at coop (That or they were just having a promotion).

For my dinner, I chose: Potato Salad (Nice!), Macaroni Pasta (Too tangy), a chocolate carrot cake, and cheese cake (Too much eggs and bitter tasting). I am not this hungry to finish this whole lot, I had to share my loot with my companions! 

Day 6
Breakfast
(Not so Buffet) Breakfast at Hotel Waldegg

For breakfast, the hotel offered the standard croissant , sausage, ham and scrambled eggs. The quantity of the buffet food ain't that many to choose from (and there's no bacon!). At most, you will just have two rounds of servings with the food. The croissant was sumptuous. It was one of the best croissant I've ever tasted. 

Lunch
Western lunch at Restaurant  Eiger, Jungfraujoch, Switzerland

I had lunch at Europe's highest summit, Jungfraujoch. On top of the mountain, there aint much variety of food, and the fact that most of the restaurants there are catered to tour group, leaves you with nothing much. So if you plan a full day there, better get some sandwiches by the snack shop during odd timings. At the restaurant, if you had luck, you will have a view of the mountain. Basically, the choices of food are limited (it wasn't us who picked it but beggars can't be choosers since we already paid for it). 

Antipasto/Appetizers: Cream Soup with Bread (Nicely paired with the bread and butter!)
Primo/Main Dish: Chicken and Fries (Best tasting fries! In general, Europe has better tasting potatoes)
Dolci/Dessert: Ice cream (Nice!)

Dinner 
Cheese Fondue at Le Chalet
A trip to Switzerland is not complete without tasting their cheese fondue. Basically, you'll have bread, and vegetables to dip on your fondue. The rest of the dish are appetizers for you to eat together with the cheese fondue. The cheese was smooth but it has an old cheese taste - a bitter aftertaste that didn't sit well. The bitter aftertaste might have something to do with the cheese being used over time? I know that they didn't make the cheese fresh.

Antipasto: Pasta, salad
Primo: Chicken and food that go well with the Swiss Cheese fondue
Dolci: pudding


Day 7
Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast Hotel Waldegg ( same as the previous day)

(Optional) Lunch
Western lunch at Zurmuhle Cafe And Brauhaus

After the trip to the highest point of Europe, it was time to say goodbye and head to the next country, Titisee in Germany. Apparently, Titisee is known for its lush black forest, and also black forest cake. 

The lunch at Zurmuhle was not part of the tour package and we had to top up around 45Euros for this lunch. I didn't have a clue on the place, so I opted for this lunch. Along the way, I saw some cafe, though I guess, I would spend roughly the same amount of money. Also, at this stage having acclimatized at Europe, I deem the tap water safe, so I didn't bother ordering a bottled drink. Bottled drink costs about 3-5 Euros.

Antipasto/Appetizer: Clear Soup 

Contorni/Side Dishes:Free flow Fries

Primo/ Main: Pork Knuckle

Dolci : Black Forest Cake

Dinner
Chinese dinner at China Restaurant Asia , Heidelberg, Germany

Basically, I'm back to eating Chinese food (like I have a choice). For this round, I had soup,  sambal Fish,  Pork with Peanut, some bean sprout, Pork in sweet sauce and vegetables. 

Day 8
Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast at Wyndham Mannheim Heidelberg
By far, this hotel has the best selection of breakfast items. The hotel got more selection of cheese, ham, sausage, and of course not forgetting croissant and pan au lait.
(Own) Lunch
Western lunch at Serway Burger Land

Just need to point and shoot at the catalog that the restaurant have and voila, that day I had some curry Bratswurst (6.90Euros),  Pork Snitzel (12Euros) and Pork Chop (12 Euros). 

Dinner
Dinner Buffet at Dorint Hotel

After a long drive and a canal boat tour, I reached the Netherlands. For dinner, the tour guide opted for some pasta, chicken, and cold cuts.

Day 9 
Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast at Dorint Hotel 

The usual breakfast of fruits, croissant, ham and cheese was served at Dorint Hotel. 

(Optional) Lunch 
Western Lunch at De Koe, Volendam, The Netherlands

Coming close to the end of the trip in Netherlands, a stop at the coastal town in Volendam was in place. This was at the outskirt of the city, and is one of the Netherlands' tourist spots. You can buy souvenir here at the fraction of cost you can get in the city.

This was the lunch that came with the Amsterdam canal cruise ( later in the day). The whole course  meal plus the canal cruise costs 55 Euros.

Dinner
Chinese dinner at Asia Dam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Yet another Chinese food,the last of the series. Although the food was somewhat nice, nothing beats eating Rijsttafel (somewhat closer to home, an Indonesian Dutch food), some patat - that or Mcdonald's.

Day 10
Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast at Dorint Hotel Breakfast (same as previous day)

Own Lunch
Western Lunch at Bonjour Lunch and Grill 

Rule: You have to do the point and order. Although French people understands English, they will not talk to you in English.

The waffles aren't that delicious. The burger was quite nice but it took some time to cook and with the influx of order, the kitchen could not keep up with it. I had only 45mins at that stop or be stuck in traffic. 

Also, at this convenience store, thieves are lurking around. Be mindful of your belongings and never leave it unattended. Not one second. 

I was eating lunch at this place, Bonjour rest stop, when a local guy approached our table to ask for directions. He was holding a big map and wanting to put the map in our table. I was quick at my feet to check all belongings in our table, and quickly grab anything valuable away from harm's way. Lucky, nothing was taken. 

Dinner
Western dinner at Novotel Est Paris Dinner

I had a hardened French bread (Freshly baked would have helped us eat that piece of bread or a warm soup), salad, ratatouille and cheesecake for dessert.

Antipasto/Appetizer: Salad
Primo/Main: Ratatouille
Dolci/Dessert: Chessecake

Day 11
Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast at Novotel Est Paris

Final days in Europe and will surely miss all the nice bacon, ham, croissant and scrambled eggs. The food was not as nice as the previous hotels, but this will make do. Beggars can't be choosers. 

Lunch
Le Panorama, Montmarte, Paris, France
After the city tour via the vintage cars, I headed to Montmarte to try the renowned fish fillet at Le Panorama.

Antipasto/Appetizer: Mushroom Soup
Primo/Main: Fish Fillet (yum!)
Dolci/Dessert: Apple Pie


Snack
Pierre Herme's Macarons at Galleries Lafayette
The macaron costs 18Euro for a box of 8. One of the nicest macaron I have ever tasted, and in case you are wondering there is a branch of Angelina's at Galleries Lafayette.

Dinner
Western Dinner at  Chez Edouard

The whole dinner set cost 50 - 75 Euro.You have the option to just get the main dish. It was a seafood platter + main dish costing 75 EUR.  Had we not eaten this dinner, wonder if we could just go around the place before we meet them at a certain time but sadly, there weren't option of food nearby the restaurant. The restaurant was right at the Edouard Theatre. They could have arranged for a dinner near River Siene, so I can see and marvel the Eiffel Tower at night. But they just had to set a dinner near Galeries Lafayette ( and of course around the area, the prices of food are also steep, unless you're eating a takeaway meal at Chinese restaurant)

Antipasto/Entree: Escargot, seafood platter, and a liver paste(?)
Primo/Main:  Beef (Sirloin Steak) ,  Duck, Salmon Steak
Dolci/Dessert:  Apple Pie

Day 12
fly from CDG - SIN

Breakfast
Buffet Breakfast at Novetel Est Paris 

(Time Difference) Dinner
Factoring in the time difference from the time I left Paris, Singapore would already be having dinner. For this course, I had a choice between Sambal fish or Chicken. I chose the fish.
(Time Difference) Breakfast(Again) 
And since it was a 13-hour flight, I would get my breakfast up in the air, I chose fritata over noodles.

So, in general, when you are with a tour, 90% of the food will still be Chinese food. I would have wanted to try to eat a few dishes known to that country. I don't mind some Rijsttafel  or some kroketten in Amsterdam, and was even tempted to eat their patat too ( but I was overwhelmed by potatoes whole week long and their potatoes are just sumptuous!). I hope that on my next trip to Europe, I would have a say on the food that we're going to eat.