mmm-yoso!!!

Fools and Kings

**** Fools and Kings has closed

One evening a few months back, I was looking for a place to grab an early dinner with the Missus. She wanted something different. I returned to the menu at Fools and Kings, a fairly eclectic collection of small plates....with dishes from some of our favorite places; Spain, Peru, and heck even North Africa. Over the next month or so we visited this quaint and rather discreet little eatery in Mission Hills.

Come to think of it; we've always had  a table on the little patio out front....I don't think we've stepped into the dining room!

The menu is a fairly tight one, not too many dishes, but the range, at least in geographic terms is vast. The menu is broken up into five sections; Salads, Bocaditos (appetizers), Crudo, Flat Breads, and A la Carte items. All items are meant to be shared.

Funny thing; I'm not much of a Sangria person, but I did enjoy the White Sangria, especially during the hot spell we had a few months back. While it edged toward the sweeter side; I think the lychee and cinnamon gave it a nice refreshing and "clean" taste.

On our three visits, we were basically the only people eating at Fools and Kings, of course it was early in the week and for dinner; like 430-5pm or so.

Each meal started with some Canchita, which always made us smile as it reminded us of our favorite little place in Miraflores.

Anyway, just like other posts of the same ilk. Here are our picks and pans.

Our favorite here is the Stuffed Piquillo Peppers ($10).

The peppers are stuffed with crab and goat cheese, a nice, rich combination....creamy, savory, sweet, milky, a tad of mild heat from the peppers. Served on a toasted and pressed, yeasty and light bread, it was very much a "Montedito". This was by far our favorite dish and we had it on every visit. The simply dressed greens added a nice bitterness and "green" flavor to temper things a bit. In fact, we thought the greens in most of the dishes were nice and simple.

We both also enjoyed the Lamb Sausage ($14).

This reminded us of Merguez, a bit more meatier, but it still had those nice spices that reminded us a bit of what we had during almost every meal in Tunisia.

The Missus enjoyed the Lentil and Burrata Salad ($8).

Of course, She loves puy lentils and corn...and Balsamic Vinegar. The burrata had a light milkiness, a mild acidity, and was very soft, but not runny. I actually enjoyed the yeasty bread, as I thought this salad was like something I make at home.

I really didn't care much for the Sauteed Wild Mushroom with Burrata ($10).

For some reason, I didn't care for the milky-acidity of the burrata, along with the texture of the cheese combined with the earth flavors of the mushrooms. It was a bit to much with the truffle oil; even for me a truffle oil lover. I mainly enjoyed the greens and the bread.

Sadly, our two "pans" were both of the Crudo we had.

We gladly waited the 20 minutes or so for the Cebiche ($14), you know how much the Missus loves Her cebiche. And this would have been pretty good; that leche de tigre was nice and bright in flavor, great acidity, I even asked for another spoon to eat my canchita in the leche de tigre.

The problem was that the fish was still partially frozen; we bit into ice crystals with every bite. It had also spent a bit too long in the leche de tigre. The camote, sweet potato had very little flavor was quite mushy.

On our next visit we tried the Tuna Carpaccio ($15). I dunno about combining Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Soy Sauce....like that Yellowtail with Olive Oil and Soy Sauce in in my previous post on Sushi Noguchi; I find the flavors really clash.

The fish was decent quality, but also on the mushy side....I believe they mix duck pate in with this? It was just a strange mish-mash of flavors and textures for us.

Overall the service was friendly and relaxed. Our dishes did take a while, but we were in no rush. Prices aren't bad....but this might sound a bit strange based on the wide geographic swath of the various dishes. But the menu just seems a bit limiting for us; there isn't that two or three dishes we want to return for. At least not for a while. Maybe when the weather turns warmer that White Sangria will call to me. Until then I might just "wander very far, Very far, over land and sea....." Yeah, go ahead and call me Nature Boy:

"And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"

Fools and Kings
4015 Goldfinch St
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Tues - Fri 430pm - 10pm
Sat - Sun  10am - 2pm, 430pm - 10pm

San Francisco - Mourad

Much like our trip to Portland in 2015, part of reason was just to rest in air conditioned goodness....which is what we did after lunch at China Live. We awoke refreshed and decided on a short stroll before dinner. We decided to just take a stroll down Market to the Ferry Building.

It was a nice stroll, past the hustle and bustle, the street merchants were just closing up for the day.

We walked through the Ferry Building, giving the Missus a chance to check out various places as possibilities for tomorrow's lunch.

We  walked through and past various shops.....most were closed or closing for the day. And then headed out back to the Ferry Terminals and just basically sat and watched.

I guess this must seem just routine to folks who live in the Bay Area; but for us, it was just relaxing and fun.

A short time later we decided to head to our dinner destination. Our good friend Candice had recommended Mourad, a Michelin Star restaurant that serves Moroccan inspired cuisine with local ingredients and modern techniques. The location was a few blocks from our hotel on New Montgomery Street. We were a bit early for our reservation, so we had a seat at the bar. Our mixologist was quite the showman and very knowledgeable. I had, what might be the best and one of the most expensive ($24) cocktails I've had in recent memory. A magical concoction called "Legend of the Brave".

A blend of Scotch, ciociaro, jalapeno-pineapple shrub syrup, "Scotch mist", and blood orange, this had that nice combination of smokey-savory-bitter and not-too-sweet flavors I enjoy in a cocktail. The Missus had some Scotch and is now somewhat enamored with it.

Soon enough, we were notified that our table was ready. It was in the upstairs portion of the restaurant.

Mourad does have a tasting menu and what they call "la'acha" family sized meals....which based on what we saw on two other tables would be just too much for the Missus and I. We ordered a couple of dinner items and two sides, which turned out to be more than enough for us.

The first three dishes were brought out together.

Things started off with the Lamb Tartare ($18), which was topped with sliced green apple.

The tangy green apple added a nice crunch but really didn't add much to the overly salty tartare. Ditto the wheatberry. The sodium level just wiped out any flavor the tender lamb would have.

Next up; what they simply call "Eggplant" ($18) on the menu.

This dish featured a wonderful range of textures and flavors. From the tender earthy eggplant and oregano, the brightness of za'atar, the crunchy, very clean-brininess of the cucumber. On occasion you'd have the distinct, nutty, resinous of pine nuts mixed in. The bread was hot and wonderful. The puree was slightly smokey, mildly sweet, but also on the salty side. It was best used as a spread for the bread.

When the Foie Gras ($26) arrived....well, we weren't too sure about it. Wrapped with shredded and from what we could taste, pickled green papaya and topped with freeze dried strawberries (??), this was very good!

The crunch, mild sourness of the green papaya and the light sweetness of that trendy freeze dried strawberries to complement the richness of the creamy foie gras was nothing short of amazing. We could detect the slight fragrance of rose water as well. Add to that crisp, buttery, and slightly sweet brioche toast and this was easily my favorite dish of the evening.

In a display of almost flawless timing, our last dish and two sides were brought out seconds after we had finished our first three dishes and our table cleared. We both thought the service at Mourad was very professional and pleasant.

The Duck Basteeya ($25) was presented to us as Chef Lahlou's signature dish.

You really couldn't fault the presentation. The filo dough around the eggroll-chimichanga-ish basteeya was light and crisp; it had been put together perfectly. Unfortunately, while the duck confit was lovingly, we found this to be much too sweet for our taste.

I enjoyed the Heirloom Bean Shakshuka ($10); topped with a "ying-yang" of  bread crumbs and what tasted like a feta cream.

The beans had a wonderful texture; just enough of a bite and I enjoyed the blend of flavors in this one.

The Missus really loved the Kale ($10).

This was a wonderful braised kale dish; the Harissa, something I use quite often in my cooking adding some zip. It was a wonderful, hearty dish.

Overall, we enjoyed our meal at Mourad; there were some nice surprises and the meal ended with two comforting dishes. The service was excellent. And that cocktail! I think we'll be back...probably to eat at the bar.....some foie gras, eggplant, kale, and beans......and a couple of those cocktails!

Mourad Restaurant
140 New Montgomery St. #1
San Francisco, CA 94105
Hours:
Mon - Fri 1130am - 10pm
Sat - Sun 5pm - 10pm

 

Sidi Bou Said (Tunisia): Dar Amilcar, Le Chargui, and a Tuna Pizza(!) from Tam Tam

Our time in Tunisia had been quite a whirlwind, from bustling, confusing, and hustling Tunis, to amazing El Djem and Sbeitla, the vast desolation of the Chott el Jerid, and the beauty of the Grand Erg Oriental, our days had been full. It was time to wind down a bit. Which is why we decided to stay out of Tunis and stay in the village of Sidi Bou Said. Located to the North of Tunis, this town has gained a reputation as a town for artists. The whole town is draped in white colors with bright blue doors, windows, and trim. It gained protected status in 1915 and while researching Tunisia, I constantly came across the word beautiful and relaxing in descriptions of the town. The Missus and I were kind of bushed by this time. You see, even though you might think we go like crazy when on vacation, we're not like many of the, ahem, Chinese or Korean tourists we see. We don't do well in tours, we have the attitude of "we'll return someday", so if we miss something, so be it. We try to take in a bit of where we're visiting, not just blitz through a place to say we've been there, another notch in our belt. Most times it is the journey, not the destination that really makes the trip worthwhile. And though we have so many photos, it's the stories, most of which never make it to the blog, that we remember....like the time I was poaching wi-fi from across the street by sneaking into the restaurant of the Hotel Carlton in Tunis. You could only get decent wifi on the balcony of the restaurant. It was past dinner and the place was closed so I just walked in. As I was checking email and such, a team of men walked in and started fumigating the place....no masks, gloves, nothing....they were just blasting the place! Of course this is where we ate breakfast in the morning. It made me wonder if this was a regular event and what effect it had on the breakfast each day????

Anyway, wanting to enjoy Sidi Bou Said, but not wanting to hang with all the tourists up the hill in Place Sidi Bou Said, we chose a little place called Dar Amilcar. Both the Missus and I had our doubts when the taxi drove up to this street.

Right across from a huge empty lot, full of brown withered grass and trash was a compound with the sign Dar Amilcar in front.

Once we entered into Dar Amilcar and was greeted by the owners and the staff, we knew this was the right place. On the first floor is a spacious lounge and eating area, where breakfast is served.

Though we didn't spend much time down here, some of our most memorable moments of our time in Sidi Bou Said were spent here....more on that in a future post.

There are three suites and a bedroom in the guest house....ours was the Asdrubal Suite, which was huge......

 We ended up spending four really nice nights here. Like much of Tunisia, the wifi was a bit spotty, but that really didn't matter.

We came to really enjoy our walks into Sidi Bou Said proper. Being away from all the crowds of tourists was nice....as were the quiet nights.

It was about a 20 minute walk past the train station, the mosque and the busy coffee shop past Place du 7 Novembre to Rue Habib Thameur.

Up the cobble-stoned hill was where most of the tourist action took place.

Though we loved the views.......

 The colors and architecture, we ended up coming up here only three times during our four night stay, twice to eat, and once to get ripped off (just joking).

The place was often crawling with tourists and somewhat pushy touts and just wasn't our scene.

Though the people watching could be interesting at times. Along with all the European tourists, it seems like folks from around Tunisia came to visit Sidi Bou Said. It was a little peaceful and pleasant oasis (of a different kind) outside of busy Tunis.

In spite of all the tourists and visitors, we found the food in Sidi Bou Said to be pretty good. Yes there were some tourist trap coffee shops and restaurants, but sprinkled amongst them were places like the simple, straight-forward, and reasonably priced (for the area) Cafe Restaurant Chargui.

Located through a little portal, in an area that was probably once a courtyard, this restaurant is very, well.....bright and white, and potentially very hot. We were the first customers of the day so we got a little covered and raised gazebo. It seems that the sun shone very brightly around these parts.

The menu was simple and the prices not bad......of course you'd pay more for the "Couscous Royale" (20 Dinar), but if you keep it simple, the prices aren't bad.

Like a simple Salade Tunisienne (4 Dinar - $2.50):

Or the Salade Mechouia (5 Dinar - $3).

This was an interesting version. First off, it had a nice spicy kick to it, which helped to lift the entire roasted pepper salad. I also think there was some tomato in this. The acidic component balanced things out nicely.

The Merguez Grille (10 Dinar - $6), also had a bit of spice to it. It wasn't the run of the mill spiced lamb sausage.

They sure love their soggy fries in Tunisia....along with over-cooked pasta!

The brik was just ok, the egg was overcooked (2 Diner - $1.20).

After lunch we wandered around a bit, then hit the market (an interesting post on that is coming up) for some H2O, had a nap and a lazy afternoon.

We were still kind of just unwinding, so we decided on a very popular place on Avenue 7 Novembre called Tam Tam.

The place looked quite modern, in fact, the place looked like it could be dropped into a mall in the US and fit right in....say along with one of those places like California Pizza Kitchen.

 I quickly saw something on the "specials" menu that I pointed out to the Missus...the Seiches Grille.

For some reason, countries other than the US seem to be able to cook cephalopods....and the thought of it grilled over olive wood just seemed delish.

Of course, this was still Tunisia, so there was the bread.....

And of course Harissa.......

The seiches were not bad......

Salt, pepper, and not over-cooking these buggers.......

As for me, I decided on something that went against all of my sensibilites......

For some reason, the thought of a tuna and cheese pizza just sounds wrong. But why not, right? The "tuna" here, like in Europe is pretty good quality stuff; it ain't "Chicken of the Sea". And you know what? I was pleasantly surprised.

 Just in terms of being a pizza this wasn't bad. The crust was nice and crisp, light, and yeasty. The tuna actually went well on this....I was surprised at the amount of very mild flavored tuna. It was put on the pie after baking so the mositure content was still good. I'll be the first to admit, I was totally wrong about this.

Though I won't be going out of my way looking for it, I rather enjoyed it.

After dinner we walked around a bit, then headed back to the Dar Amilcar........the Missus went on a rampage with the iPad (we found an area in the room that got a decent signal). I just turned on the television.....

We were settling in for a relaxing couple of days.

Remember that empty lot across the street from the guest house? Well, even that was growing on us.....it looked really nice out there as the sun set.

Thanks for reading!

Djerba (Tunisia): Restaurant de L'ile and it's Tunisia Night!

After watching the low keyed fish auction and having a cup of "Cafe Express", it was obviously time for lunch. I had a place in mind....down the streets of the Souk.....

We found Restaurant De L'ile. The place was immaculate...clean and bright in the very Mediterranean way. It was also totally empty for lunch.....perhaps the combination of of "all inclusive" resorts and Arab Spring was having an effect.

The menu had a ton of Tunisian "standards" and toruist dishes....but this was Houmt Souk, on the island of Djerba....we were having seafood.

Things started out with some "amuse/appetizers" to stimulate our appetite and tastebuds.

 Along with the standard bread and harissa was a carrot "puree" of sorts...the Missus was ready to hate the stuff, but really enjoyed the spices mixed with a touch of sweetness.

Along with this was a plate of "thon" (tuna) with braised potatoes which was very tasty.

First up was the "salade aux fruits de mer".....a seafood salad.

Nice, well prepared seafood, nothing fancy, but quite solid.

Then tuna with tomato sauce.....

The tomato sauce had a touch of spiciness and was very tangy. They cooked the fish to death.

 If you've read my previous posts on meals in Tunisia, you'd know how much I'd taken to brik, the wonderful deep fried pastry, filled with a fried egg and sometimes seafood. This was the "Brik aux fruits de mer"...the seafood filled brik.

This one wins the "runny egg award".....I was almost mesmerized by how runny the egg was.

The yolk was profoundly "eggy", reminding me of how eggs used to taste when I was a kid. It was a bit too much for the Missus, though I enjoyed it.

There is of course, the communication barrier, which displayed itself in the calamare....we ordered it "grille", but got it fried. The squid was very tender, thought the batter oily and mushy....oh what could have been.

We finished off with the Octopus in Tomato Sauce. I'm not sure why most of what we have here in the states is like tire rubber. This was quite tender, though not as good as our favorite.

 In the end, this was the best restaurant meal we'd had in Tunisia.

After lunch we found a taxi....on the way back to the resort, the Missus saw a pastry shop and had the cabbie stop.....to buy pastries! You know, this being Tunisia, he didn't bat an eye and the Missus bought him a box of confections for his trouble.

We had a nap in the afternoon, went for a walk, and as is our "MO" went to dinner early. After our previous dinner, with the themed "Italian Night", we were curious what "Tunisia Night" would be like.

We peeked out to the patio and saw that the really nice young man...the one who had gotten the Chef de Cuisine to get the Missus some mechouia the night before was working. He waved us over to the little two-top he was waiting on....there was no doubt that we wanted him to be our waiter tonight. We went out and grabbed our plates and when we returned he had created a little bouquet of sorts for our table. This was such a sweet touch.....

And while I felt bad for the folks who had to be "in character" for the dinner......

We also found a dish we really loved.....it was black and tarry looking and was in a container that looked like a flower pot. The flavor however was profound....rich, beefy with some heat, and a tongue coating texture that we found enjoyable. No one seemed to want to eat this stuff....in fact, the Chef de Cuisine came out to talk to us, just because he was happy to see folks enjoy this so much.

It was made with something we had never come across before Molokhia....of course we came home and found the stuff being sold in Nijiya, but at that time this was all new....still is, because we were told this preparation takes two days.

In the end, even though I'm not fond of these "all-inclusive" resorts, we did enjoy our time.

As our cab took us to the airport and back to Tunis, we reflected, not only on the Tunisian Cabbies dream....they all want Cadillacs and Lincoln Towncars....really! But also on how relaxed and kind folks we came across were.....

Djerba (Tunisia): Restaurant Aladin and the Green Palm

Our basic travels around Tunisia, except for the last few days in Djerba and La Marsa had come to an end. We were dropped off at the Green Palm by Ben, who would be picking us up tomorrow for a short tour of Houmt Souk and Erriadh. The Green Palm is located, along with what seems like a zillion other "all inclusive" type reports in the Zone Touristique. The objective is to keep you on the property or in the properties clutches the entire time. No outside food or drink allowed on the premises, distances between properties can be a bit of a hike......

The facilities are decent, there are "animation team" (I didn't even know what that was until we got here) events, a large pool, and the Missus started whining from the moment we arrived feeling trapped.

There's a definite lack of atmosphere at places like this.....you can tell, Club Med ain't for us. I will say, the folks here are really nice, more on that later.

So after freshening up, the first thing we did was to go for some lunch.....not in the hotel. We walked about a mile or so and stopped at a place where all the cab drivers were eating called Restaurant Aladin.

You can always count on cabbies, cops, and other civil servants to find places that are reasonably priced with decent fare. And this was not an exception. The food was simple, the lettuce was iceberg, but it was a decent meal, and very cheap.

The brik was a bit overdone, the egg too overcooked.

The merguez was quite good though......

For some reason, the Missus kept wanting more tomatoes.......

It was a decent meal that filled us up nicely.

We picked up some bottled water on the way back to the resort....not knowing at the time that outside drinks of any kind were not allowed.....what ensued when we passed by the guards was nothing short of hilarious. The guards stopped us and spoke to us first in French, then German, the Arabic......yeah, we really looked like we spoke those languages. We kept talking to them in English, which they didn't speak. Finally, they got a clue and asked us, "you.....English?" When we nodded in agreement, they pointed to a sign on the wall......the was WRITTEN IN FRENCH! What? I told them, "no francais, no francais....." By this time, even they were laughing, and they passed us through.

We also came to find out that there was no wifi reception in our rooms, so I ended up getting some "cafe express" in the massive lobby area, while checking email and even doing a short post.

Later that evening, as we were getting ready to go to the dinner buffet, I recall looking out off the terrace at the empty lots and other resorts thinking to myself, "this is going to be a pretty rough two days...."

Tunisia: Chott El Jerid and Douz

We left Tozeur a hair after 8 in the morning, but the sun was already blazing down on us. We were headed through the Chott el Djerid, Douz, Matmata, then finally arriving in the Sahara at Ksar Ghilaine where we'd spend the night in what was called a "first class tent" in the Sahara.

The Chott el Djerid is a huge salt lake of over 7,000 kilometers and stretches into Algeria. I've heard folks saying that it's not much to see....but the Missus and I were mesmerized by the stark, seemingly endlessness of it all.

There's a causeway about 6 feet over the salt. Ben told us that before the causeway was built, you basically drove on the sand and sometimes took your chances through the water that fills the lake during the short wet season. Ben found a ramp down to the sand and drove out into the salt.

We stopped and got out to take photos....but it's really hard to capture the great, vast, wide, nothingness......

Details really stand out when you have a backdrop like this. Like the little camper parked on the salt 50 meters or so away from us. A French woman peeked out the back when we stopped, then opened the door and gave us a wave. This really isn't the place I'd like to spend a couple of days if you ask me...but the desolation must be attractive to some.

If this place looks a tad familiar, it's where Luke Skywalker contemplated the two suns in Star Wars. Yes, folks, we were on Tatooine. Actually, we visited the Tunisian city of Tataouine a bit further during the trip.

The salt can actually be peeled off in layers...and is quite salty. The little remaining water from the wet season was slowly evaporating in the lower areas leaving a red oxidized residue. All od this, combined with the fata morgana made this quite memorable.

From there we headed through Kebili and then Douz, the gateway to the Sahara. Ben stopped at the outskirtsof town at what looked like a cafe....but was a tourist stop for all things like driving ATVs to flying in an ultra lite, to riding camels. Guess which we picked?

Even though it's a very touristy thing to do, we really enjoyed riding the camels. Once you get used to the way the camel rises up and sits down and the gait, it a pretty easy and enjoyable ride. We also noticed that the camels have some very distinct personalities...they also make sounds that would probably not be real great in the general public. It was indeed much better to ride a camel than to eat one!

This was our first taste of the desert and we were just plain fascinated by the fine sand and the endless dunes.

As we drove off to lunch, Ben told us the desert around Ksar Ghilaine, the Grand Erg Oriental is totally different from here.

We stopped for lunch at a little mom and pop restaurant right outside of Douz.

These restaurants usually serve a complete meal, comprised of brik, soup, couscous, finished with mint tea....which is what we had. It was a pretty hefty meal!

As we were finishing up with our mint tea, a young man walked in with what looked like a giant rodent in his hand......after doing a double take, we realized it was something else....a fox perhaps?  I suddenly realized it was a baby Fennec Fox. I tried to take a photo, but it was too darn fast, this is the best shot I got.

After lunch we headed East....... here we saw tons of camels hanging out along the road. Those camel crossing signs were there for a reason!

There are no wild camels in Tunisia. All the camels we saw belonged to someone and seemed totally unfazed by traffic....in fact, there would be a camel lying right in the middle of the road, refusing to budge. All the cars had to go around it! I was told that one had to drive carefully during the night since camels loved the warmth of the asphalt and would sometimes sleep in the middle of the road. So how did the camels get back to their owners? We were told that camels always return to the same watering hole when in need for water.....the owners would usually find them there.

There you go...more than you ever wanted to know about camels I'm sure! Thanks for reading!

Tunisia: The ruins at Sbeitla (Sufetula) and lamb by the side of the road.......

After leaving Kairouan, Ben drove us about 65 miles south to the outskirts of the town of Sbeitla. Here, seemingly in the middle of nowhere are the ruins of the Roman city of Sufetula. I've read that the Roman's ability to maximize usage and conservation of water and the soil proved perfect for growing olives. Sufetula became a prosperous Roman town. One can imagine what this town looked like in it's heyday based on ruins left.....

There's a theatre, which I read was in a poor state, but looked decently restored and preserved to me.

Sufetula's most mentioned ruins are the three temples, which are indeed very dramatic looking.

 From the left to right, the temples of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva. During the second century, these were considered among the most beautiful in the world.

After the decline of the Roman Empire, Sufetula was still doing well under Byzantine Christian rule. So well, that Gregory the Patrician, for a number of reasons, revolted against Constantinople and declared himself  "Emperor" in 646. It wasn't to last very long as the Arabs invaded and Gregory was killed in battle.

Notice anything? Much like El Djem, we were the only people visiting...... As I pressed Ben on this, I was told, "the Europeans come, they stay on all inclusives, they see ruins in Rome, so they don't think these are worth a visit. The resorts have everything for them, so they think, why leave? The one thing they do want to see is the Sahara, you'll see them there."

Right in back of the temples are the ruins of several churches. In the ruins of one of them you can see the baptismal font, like the one we saw in the Bardo Museum.

Walking down the "streets" was a surreal experience, just the sound of the wind blowing through the grass, birds, and our voices among the ruins.

Walking up the path we came to....well, what looked like an empty field.

We were told that under the soil lies an Amphitheatre. Hopefully, it'll see the light of day again....

On the way out, we checked out the Byzantine "house", which seemed like more of a fort. You had to go up stairs in order to enter.

 The place felt really cramped, no windows means that it must have been pretty dark. Small rooms, some of which looked like held livestock, in a fortress like structure, just seemed to reflect the times......fear, paranoia, a silo mentality.....a feeling of impending doom hanging over you.

Based on history, I guess the fears were well founded as the Arabs destroyed the town in 647AD.

From Sbeitla, we headed off to Tozeur, where we'd stop for the next two evenings. Along the way, we passed a number little shops lining streets. It was an interesting sight; the shops would be grilling meat out front, there'd be a sheep's pelt or two hanging out front, we even saw one where a sheep was being dispatched in front of the shop....the ultimate sign of freshness! The Missus asked Ben to stop at one of these shops....for lunch. A great idea! So driving down one of the roads, Ben picked this one as there seemed to be a good number of customers.

So, what we soon figured, the lamb pelt signifies that the lamb was killed fresh, the more pelts the better....how many lambs you went through during the day. If you enlarge the picture above, you'll see the cuts of lamb....these guys are awesome butchers, hanging from the ceiling. You walk on in, pick your cut, and how much of it you wanted. This place had been busy, only leg cuts left, but with Ben's help we got a half kilo, enough for a nice meal.

As the folks went to work on our lamb, we took a seat.....this being Tunisia, a whole baguette was soon provided.

Along with two different types of mechouia.....the type we were used to having, covered with a nice layer of olive oil.

Which was nicely flavored...this had some seasoning to it.

And a wonderful, smokey rustic version that was my favorite to date.

For me this had the complete package......onions for pungency, tomatoes for some acid, there was some spice to it. The roasted peppers added a nice smokey component. The Missus told me, "this would make a killer salsa..." Which cracked me up; we started calling it salsa from here on out. Even the harissa tasted like it had a bit more bite.

Meanwhile, the folks went about cutting our portion from the leg hanging on the ceiling.

I'd been wondering about the unique smell and flavor of items that we'd had grilled....I was told that they grill over olive wood, which imparts a unique flavor to the food.

Soon enough our lamb arrived.....

This was amazingly tender....I really had a hard time believing it was grilled leg of lamb.....juicy, tender, simply seasoned with salt. It was my favorite meal in Tunisia to date.

After the meal, Ben told us it was nice that we actually spent money supporting the local economy, not only in the resorts. I recall telling the Missus that all these places would need is for somebody "like Bourdain coming here and saying how great it really it is for it to become chic....." Of course we still hadn't met a single American during our entire trip yet!

Kairouan(Tunisia) - Morning in the Medina and Brik for breakfast

We slept quite well in Kairouan, the previous day was pretty hectic and the La Kasbah Hotel was quite nice. As usual, we got up very early, about 5am or so. We enjoy taking early morning walks when we travel. You get to see a city waking up and also the crowds are less severe. Kairouan's medina is known as being probably the least commercial and touristy of all the larger cities in Tunisia, so I wanted to see what it was like. We asked the doorman where the medina was and he pointed to right around the corner.

The medina looks quite fortified, surrounded by walls over 30 feet high.  These walls were erected during the early part of the 18th century, though recorded history of the medina goes back to before the 8th century.

If  some of the medina looks somewhat familiar, it might be because it was used to depict Cairo in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's kinda funny, we were hitting a bunch of movie sites during this trip. One of the stories I heard was that the character "Sallah's" house was an actual house in the medina, but when they did a shot panning across the top of the city, they had residents remove over 300 television antennas for a day so they could shoot.

 There is a feeling that the medina here is rather unspoiled....the streets are rather wide, the back avenues consist of residences, I'll show you much more in a later post.

The Missus and I really enjoyed walking through here, it gave us a feel of what daily life might be like in Kairouan. As we made our way through the streets we started to see folks opening their shops and making their way to work in the morning.

It didn't take very long for us to make our way to the other end of the medina.

As we  headed back through the medina we came across this little shop doing quite a bit of business.

In the shop, a gentleman sat, legs crossed, above a large cast iron pan, that looked like a wok. He received a ball of dough from a young man with striking green eyes and hair the color of the Grand Erg Oriental. When I asked Ben about this later, I was told that it's not unusual for Berber to have even blue eyes and blond hair!

I saw the gentleman get the dough started in the hot oil, which never smoked, I confirmed later on that it was grapeseed oil, which has a high smoke point. He then added an egg. I told the Missus, "man, I wonder if that's how brik is supposed to really be made?" I then asked the woman waiting for her fried dough  and a couple of those with eggs by pointing to the dough floating around.....she confirmed it was indeed brik.

Folks were buying this stuff in quantities of four to six. The prices were also pretty cheap, something like 0.4 Dinar (25 cents) for a hefty sized piece of fried dough and 0.6 (35 cents) for one with an egg. Soon the woman had her order filled. The guy behind the pan spoke to another man asking for his order.....he pointed to us, basically informing the "chef" that we were next in line. Folks here in Kairouan were more reserved, but very gracious. So, of course we had to have some brik.

After handing the cook some dough, the young man waved us to the counter in back to have a seat. he also showed us the sink in case we wanted to wash our hands. In a couple of minutes, our brik arrived, steam rising.....

The dough was crisp, light, but still with some substance, and not greasy at all. We soon discovered a very nice thing about the dough, it was studded with caraway seeds, which just brought it up another notch.

The egg was wonderfully runny, it seemed to have been poached. You eat this with your hands, when the young man saw us digging in, he kindly brought us a few more napkins!

This is why we travel....I mean the sights are great and all that, but having brik in the back streets of the medina in Kairouan, well that's like the cherry on the top of the most wonderful ice cream sundae......

 I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

 

Tunis: Morning at the Medina, the Bardo Museum, Chez Slah, and a small dinner

After taking our morning walk we headed back to the hotel to have some breakfast. Not much to say, it was nourishment and the woman working there seemed much more interested in getting the television in the corner working so she could watch something on it, than making sure everything got out to the buffet station. On this morning the coffee was ok....the next day it was like mud.

We usually sat outside on the balcony........the best place to actually get some decent wi-fi reception.

While eating and going through emails, we made some preliminary plans for the day. We try not to plan too much. For us, it's better to enjoy what we're seeing in rushing through things. We really weren't feeling in the mood for what craziness the Medina would hold once business was going full tilt. It was however, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. We decided to check it out early before the crowds are pushing you along and the vendors are grabbing you back......

We walked back down Avenue Habib Bourgiba for what seemed like the tenth time in just under 24 hours......

I snapped this photo of the Municipal Theatre of Tunis. The facade is distinctive of the Art Nouveau movement and the building was completed in 1902. It's still a functioning theatre as a later photo would show.

Most of the shops in the Medina weren't yet open when we arrived....just as we had planned. The romantic notion of a maze of warrens and paths do add an air of intrigue.....

The Missus and I do look at things differently. She was drawn to the brightly colored doors. Each one seemed unique, though we would find that you could learn a lot about who actually owns or lives behind these later on. It seemed that the Missus couldn't help but stop at every colorful door, and there were many of them, without snapping a photo.

I, on the other hand was fascinated by what was above ground. All these buildings were multi-story, blocking out the sunlight in areas.

You got glimpses of some stunning and impressive architecture just by looking up. The combination and contrast of colors are a photographers dream.... I just wish I were a better one!

There are passages that are covered....they can seem kind of spooky at times, but most of them held coffee or shisha (hookah) shops with older men sitting around. It was here that we saw two men in a little shop prepping couscous......

He stood over two large bowls....slowly adding water until he got the right texture......

 Then it was off to be steamed.

In the middle of the Medina is Zaytouna Mosque, the oldest in Tunis. It's a fairly large building and the Minaret can be seen from quite a distance.

We managed to walk completely through the Medina and out to Place de la Kasbah at what is the western entrance on the Medina. Apparently there are some government buildings here as we again saw armed soldiers and placed cordoned off with barbed wire. Still, we saw happy children being dropped off for school....teasing and laughter all around.

Here's a photo of the monument in the square.

Things were starting to pick up in the Medina so we started back the way we came. We ran into a very talkative gentleman while we were looking at Zaytouna Mosque and somehow got talked into checking out the view from on top of one of the buildings........

Here's the minaret of the Zaytouna Mosque.

And another view from above......

So we did the requisite sit through of the carpet dude, then even went to the guys "cousin's" fragrance shop and actually bought some pure citron oil...it would come in handy in warding off mosquitoes later on. Then when we got back to the mosque we offered the guy 10 dinars(about $6.25)...I mean, we know he was getting a cut of the 30 dinars we were paying for the scented oil and all....and he had the nerve to ask for 40($25 US)?!??!! We tried to bargain, but he was adamant on getting 25 dinars($15.50)......in the end, we told him to go get his money from his "cousin". The shops were now open and much of the cobblestone was covered in stuff. It was time to beat as hasty retreat.

On the way back up Habib Bourgiba we decided to stop at the very busy...even for this time of the morning Le Grand Cafe du Theatre, right next to the Municipal Theatre for some "cafe express" (espresso). It was a good cup and the service here was quite nice. Since it was still early, the Missus and I decided to check out the Bardo National Museum. We understood that the place was still being renovated and the revolution probably leaves much up in the air, but we'd probably not be back this way again anytime soon, so why not. We asked our Server about getting to "le Bardo...metro leger". We didn't understand much French except for his pointing and the part about "Place Barcelona".

I could handle "place Barcelona" and unlike Rue de Yugouslavie, it hadn't changed its name! It was also easy to ask about. Place Barcelona is one of the major transfer points for Tunis's métro léger (tram) system. It was easy to ask for the ticket counter and find the gate for the right tram.

We had noticed something a bit earlier....young women, those that looked like high school or college aged, and dressed in more western attire seemed more likely to speak English. And even if they didn't they tended to be nicer, without some "racket" going on. We asked one young lady and when we came to the Le Bardo stop, she made sure to let us know. We actually made it across the busy street looking for the museum.....we walked its perimeter, pass the tents of folks who seemed to be demonstrating or protesting something, only to find out we had gone the wrong way! We back-tracked and made it to the dusty parking lot of the museum.

We found the ticket window and found that tickets during the renovation were only 4 dinar (about $2.50 US) and the usual 1 dinar "camera permit" was waived. It was basically half price. We really didn't expect much as we put on the shoe covers(we didn't know that you'd be walking on mosaics), but our visit surely exceeded the price of admission. There were only mosaics on display, but many of them were beautiful, like this one of Neptune and the Four Seasons from Dougga.

It's hard to put into photos, but you can see how large some of these mosaics were to the right.

One funny thing was that we asked the security person to take a photo of the both of us....he really got into it and ended up moving us form mosaic to mosaic, directing and posing us, taking photos. The Missus and I couldn't help but crack up! It was odd, yet very funny....of course we tipped well, in retrospect, I'm sure this is another source of income for him during these lean times.

One of the most striking objects was the baptismal font from Sbeitla, a site we'd be visiting in a couple of days.

In the end, it was well worth the price...though we'd be even more impressed with the mosaics at another museum a day later.

We decided to catch a taxi back to Ville Nouvelle, the area we were staying. Would you believe we'd done all of this and it was only 11am? We got back to Habib Bourgiba and decided to grab some lunch. After the last couple of meals, I wanted to go "high end"(relative in terms), and the Missus agreed. So off we were trying to find Chez Slah...the address I had was 14 bis rue Pierre de Coubertin. Now finding Rue de Courbertin was fairly easy......but finding Chez Slah took a bit of work. We finally settled on a small industrial looking side street.......

Next to what looked like an auto repair stood a pretty entrance to a courtyard.......

We saw a young man basically scrubbing down the patio area.....man, folks in Tunisia were really clean.....the restrooms of almost everywhere were so clean. Anyway, apparently it was before opening time. The gentleman who opened the door pointed at his watch....we'd have to return at noon. Well, the mall is fairly close by, we took a walk and rehydrated.....and returned at noon.

The dining area is fine, nothing really special......when the wait staff found out that we spoke no French...well, they took our drink orders, but we had to wait for the waiter who spoke English! It was both humorous, but also humbling in a way. We eventually got our orders placed....and the plate of harissa, olives, etc, arrived along with the bread.

The Missus actually loved the piece of "thon" tuna, provided. She also jumped at the chance of finally being able to try some Tunisian wine and order a half bottle of the rose(meh) and the blanc, which was fairly decent, the crispness stood up to the Tunisian influenced dishes.

The Salade Mechoua was pretty good, the best we'd had so far. The Missus; "man, what is it that I'm liking so much?" Me; "they actually have salt in this...."

While it would not hold up as the trip went along, it was the best we'd had to this point......simply because it was seasoned well.

The brik we didn't enjoy too much, the egg was overdone and it was on the greasy side.

But man, the grilled calamari was very good. The amount of salt was right on, there was a distinct flavor, smokey and nutty, that I would later find was because it was grilled over olive wood.

There was a good amount of tenderness and even that slight hint of what I call ocean sweetness, ever so rare in the calamari we have here in the states. Even though I'd have better later on, this was my favorite dish to this point.

I decided to order the mussels; the Missus isn't a big fan of mussels as most of what She's had are dry and tasteless. These were simply done, sauteed in white wine, they were also tiny, but were packed with flavor and almost melted in your mouth.

We didn't enjoy the side dishes very much. I had been excited to try the Tunisian version of shakshuka...expecting eggs poached in a harissa. tomato, and red pepper sauce. This was basically a mechouia base with tomato....eggs were added in and mixed looking like scrambled eggs...sort of like if your were supposed to temper eggs, but screwed up and they ended up scrambled. This was also surprisingly bland, considering the other dishes.

The frites....well, what can I say? How about soggy and greasy? I'd about given up on having decent potatoes here in Tunisia....after just one day!

Unfortunately, we had also ordered grilled "fresh" fish. Going though the offerings, I wa assured that the best bet was the "dourade"......which our Server, who actually knew more Japanese than English told me was "madai"......Sea Bream, which is really good stuff, I've had some awesome madai nigiri. Strangely, because I told our Server we'd be sharing the fish, they ended up chopping it in half! Giving the Missus the back half and me the head! Oh, and it was grilled to death......add to that the slightly sour and fishy taste of something that didn't seem to be real fresh.

The Missus couldn't bring herself to eat more than two bites........

 Still, the meal ended on a high note. We'd requested the seasonal fruit as our dessert. First to arrive was this rather large mixing bowl of what looked like whipped cream.....well it was whipped cream....very old school whipped cream. Ever had those dreams about having some strawberries as a garnish to awesome whipped cream? Well this was it.......

These are what I call "third world strawberries", small, but super tart-sweet and picked when perfectly ripe. I put a dollop of whipped cream on my plate, this was apparently a misstep as our waiter made that clucking noise and proceeded to grab the bowl and put three more huge serving spoonfuls of whipped cream on my plate! Man it was good, not too sweet, slightly sour and tangy....the real deal.

Our meal ended on a high note. Total cost 84.800 TND, about $53.75. To me a bargain, to the Missus maybe not. By the time we left, the place was full of French expats who seem to be their usual clientele. I'm pretty sure the regular person on the street can't really afford to eat here.......

We picked up some "eau mineral" on the eay back to the room. The Missus took a nap while I snuck down to the patio and I actually worked on a post or two. Evening rolled around and we took a walk....we passed a Zara store and found that the prices were the same as the US(She's got it memorized)! And yet, the place was packed! We weren't very hungry and stopped at one of those really cheap Pizza-Panini-Crepe-Pasta plces on the avenue to grab something small.

The Missus went with the crepe de fromage-ouef(cheese and egg crepe), which was pretty nasty but only 2 TND - $1.25:

I went with the Merguez Sandwich, which was not bad.....2.4 TND - $1.50.

The merguz were fine, the bread decent, don't know what to do with the olives since they still had pits....biting into one would have been a surpise had you not checked. The frites were standard for Tunisia. The harissa on the sandiwch worked quite well. Could have done without the guys smoking like it was going out of style, but hey, we're in their country, you gotta roll with it, you know?

Still. the Missus had already gotten Her fill of Tunis. I'd have ot think about something for the trip back!

Tunis: Restaurant Le Caire, what is Zgougou and does it belong in ice cream, and morning in Tunis.

It was quite a scene, Avenue Habib Bourgiba......the Missus was taking a rest, as I wandered back out to pick up some "eau de mineral....no gas", that would be bottled water. On the map, there are streets perpendicular to Habib Bourgiba, but many of them are almost alleyways. Right around the corner from the Hotel Carlton was one of them Rue de Caire. On these sidestreets there are tons of restaurants and one of them is Restaurant le Caire. Not in the mood for more busy places, this tiny restaurant close to the hotel, not too busy, away from the crowd on the street, was where we decided to grab something to eat.

 The restaurant had a couple of tables filled, it seems by locals or Tunisian tourists.....not much French being spoken, they were ordering in Arabic. Looking at the menu, this appeared to be Sfaxian as well. The guy running the place was really friendly and as soon we sat he brought out a tray with "today's catch".

We placed our order based on what we saw.....funny thing was, later during our meal, the plate was brought out to the table next to us and it looked like exactly the same seafood, in exactly the same position on the plate was brought out. I'm guessing these were the "stunt" fish....used for ordering purposes.

Soon enough the bread and Harissa was brought out.

This was a bit better than lunch, with a mild garlic taste, but still rather monotone in taste.

The Missus had also ordered a salad, I thought it was mechouia, but She had ordered Salade Tunisienne....which kind of freaked Her out when it arrived with what looked like canned tuna topping it.

The Missus hate canned tuna. In fact, there's only one brand I eat, She must dramatically leave the room! So I knew this was going to be interesting....well, there's not only one brand of tuna I eat, I do enjoy many of the Spanish, Italian, and French labels of canned tuna, but sheesh, they cost an arm and a leg. I knew this was mediterranean tuna, so I told the Missus, "I think it's worth a try." Not the best, but the Missus thought it not bad. She did enjoy the ripe tomatoes, diced cucumbers, olives, with just some olive oil and lemon.

I also wanted to finally try some brik, basically a very thin pastry called warka, thinner than even filo, filled with a raw egg and a variation of other items, tuna, onions, harissa, capers, etc.....

Some places will even ask you how you want your egg done.........

It's deep fried to a golden crispness, when done well it's wonderfully crisp and light, and the magic happens when you cut it open.

The Missus didn't care much for the tuna in this and though I enjoyed it at the time, it would pale in comparison to versions we would have later on.

My grilled fish tasted fresh, was grilled nicely, the skin nice and crisp, flesh moist, but again was lacking in salt.

It was better than what we had for lunch though. The frites were the typical soggy and dry version we had earlier. I was also served a plate of very bland and over-cooked rice. Now I'm from Hawaii where we joke that every meal should come with "three carbs"....well considering the big basket of bread, the fries, and the big plate of rice........what can I say?

The Missus again ordered crevettes grille - grilled shrimp.

These shrimp were nice and sweet, just a tad overcooked, but not bad. The only complaint.....yeah, you got it, lacking in seasoning! Of course it came with frites as well as a huge plate of overcooked, bleh pasta. We were to find out later that folks really cooked their pasta to death because it was thought to help "digestion"!

As we left the restaurant, darkness had fallen on Tunis. The demographic on the street had changed....the young men were still drinking coffee, now joined by older men, but the women who were seen out and about shopping or eating ice cream were gone.

The Missus decided that She wanted to try some ice cream, which along with various pastries seemed to be very popular. Right next to the hotel was a little shop wher the Missus got a two scoops and we sat in the now empty table across from the shop. The top scoop was a delicious pistachio flavor. The bottom scoop tasted very odd, not necessarily sweet, but strangely familiar. Turns out the Missus had selected zgouguo as Her other flavor. Zgougou is a Tunisian dessert based on nuts from the aleppo pine.

Tunisia is a Muslim country. All the women and young women we had seen with respect to what folks wear here in San Diego dress rather modestly, from those who are covered from head to tow completely in black, with even eyes covered, to those in jeans and blouses. So we were rather shocked to see two women get out of a cab in very mini-mini skirts and walk to a blackened out and partitioned doorway next to the hotel. I could only draw one conclusion.......which the Missus didn't believe. Hmm.......

The next morning we got up bright and early. Breakfast wasn't ready yet so the Missus and I decided to take a look around. As we entered the lobby of the hotel I could hear a woman yelling at someone....now this was at 5 in the morning! The guy in the lobby saw us, sheepishly smiled and told us in English, "no worry, some friends make joke with each other!" As we stepped out of the hotel we saw one of the women from the night before, now dressed with a nice shiner around her eye in addition to her mini-skirt. Must have been one heck of a joke. I looked at the Missus and told Her, "really now....you don't believe me?" And was dismissed with a wave.

This is Rue de Caire in the morning. I walked up and took a photo of the restaurant. We'd find a multi-floor shopping mall near the end of the street with a Monoprix Supermarket in it later in the day. Great place to pick up water and other items.

The streets were empty and it made for a nice walk.

Here's another photo of the Cathedral of St Vincent de Paul.

This is Bab el Bahr also known as Porte de France.

Bab el Bahr means "sea gate" and before the French arrived this gate opened from the Medina to a path to a lagoon. The French built the European part of the city outside of it and destroyed the walls of the medina. They called this the Porte de France a dividing point between the Old and European sides of the city.

It was nice to able to walk around crossing the street without having your head on a swivel.