Cantina Laredo in Covent Garden

Warning: This is not a typical Mexican Food Tour post.  After reading over my notes from our dinner and remembering our experience fondly, I did a little research and fact checking via good ole Google.  (I learned my lesson after the San Miguel fiasco!) While browsing, I stumbled across several reviews that I would say did not reflect my experience at all.  Was it timing, an off night, or were the bad reviews a direct result of not enough Tex-Mex experience by the writer?  Because of these new found theories and questions, I have separated this post into two parts.  The first part is my unbiased review before I discovered differing opinions-  simply how we felt about the food, service and experience.  The second part disects what made our reviews so different than the others, and, by figuring that out, if we can better understand how different cultures process food.

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We had heard  how amazing Cinque Terre was for years before we were able to make it to this cluster of villages on the West Coast of Italy.  To give you an idea of what to expect, in case you haven’t heard, the word most often used to describe Cinque Terre is beautiful, closely followed by relaxing and easy.  The average day here consists of laying in the sun, drinking wine, and eating seafood; which is to say this is a beautiful, relaxing place.  However, Cinque Terre literally means five villages, and each of the five has its own atmosphere and amenities. So, any trip to Cinque Terre would be incomplete if a visitor didn’t take enough time off from drinking wine by the Medeterranian to see each one.

Now, like I mentioned, everyone we spoke to loved their time in Cinque Terre, but no one seemed to be able to describe how to actually do the hike through all five villages.  In fact, all the advice we could get was that there is indeed a trail that lead between all five villages, and no matter where you stay, you can do the hike.  We booked a room in Riomaggiore, so here we are going to outline our tips and trials so anyone else wanting to hike through all five villages can be prepared.

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My immediate impression after trying the “famous hotdogs” from BAJARINS BESTU in Reykjavik, was that they were pretty good but short of extra-ordinary.  I mean, they were hot dogs- plain and simple.  Then suddenly weeks later and thousands of miles away, thoughts of the lamb, pork and beef dog snapping as I bit into layers of remoulade, ketchup, mustard, raw onions, and crispy fried onions made my mouth salivate.  That’s right, I was struck with a hot dog craving, an Icelandic hot dog craving.

This sudden craving came out of nowhere!  I’ve never had a hot dog craving before…I have TACO cravings!  We rushed out to the supermarket, intent on recreating this famous Icelandic delicacy as best we could, to satisfy my tongues wanderlust and get things back on the Mexican track.  Incase you’ve never been to Iceland before- or have and know exactly what I’m talking about- here’s how you too can experience the famous dog without leaving your town! Continue Reading