The Food of Telluride, Colorado

On July 15, 2020July 15, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Food5 Comments

The town of Telluride has managed to keep a small-town feel despite being a popular destination for tourists. Excluding the restaurants that are located in the Mountain Village, there are only about 36 restaurants in Telluride. During our visit, which was obviously impacted by the pandemic, not all restaurants were open and some were only open for pick-up and not for inside dining. The town did make every effort to have as much outside seating as possible in order to allow for people to enjoy the scenery and still be able to enjoy food from the local restaurants.

Spicy Tempura Rock Shrimp with Shishito Peppers

Beers at the High Pie Pizzeria and Taproom

Typical of any resort area, restaurants of varying price ranges and styles of food can be found. There are casual restaurants as well as fine dining restaurants, but like almost anywhere in Colorado, even in more upscale restaurants, people tend to dress casual. We went to several restaurants during our short stay and enjoyed a variety of food. We also had a couple of glasses of wine at the Historic Bar in the Sheridan and a couple of beers at the High Pie Pizzeria and Taproom.

Winter Warmer Beer at the Smuggler Union Restaurant and Brewery

On our first night in Telluride, we enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal at Rustico where we had Caesar Salad and Spaghetti Rustico. For a more casual dinner, we ate Barbeque Ribs with Mac N Cheese at the Smuggler Union Restaurant and Brewery. On our final evening in Telluride we decided to splurge and have dinner at The National, which is a newer fine dining restaurant where we had spicy Tempura Rock Shrimp and a 5 Spiced Duck with a Fig, Sage and Pecan Pudding as well as a Sweet and Sour Huckleberry Sauce.

Ornate Ceiling in the Historic Bar at the Sheridan

Scrambled Eggs with Poblano Peppers at The Butcher & The Baker

Since we wanted to get and do some hiking early, we went out early and stopped for brunch before getting on the trail. The first day we went to The Butcher & The Baker and the following day we went to Baked in Telluride, both of which offered fresh baked food. We only ate one lunch in the Mountain Village as we spent most of our time in the town of Telluride itself. This was our second time in Telluride, but it has been a while and we certainly enjoyed the food and drinks that we had during our short stay.

Eating Food in the Countryside of Vietnam

On March 4, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Food, Vietnam4 Comments

We took a couple of day tours outside of Hanoi that included a local lunch, which is a great way to eat simple meals that are traditional to the region. Obviously, you can get wonderful local food in the city, especially street food in Hanoi, but eating in the countryside can give you a completely different experience. The variety of food that we were able to try was almost overwhelming, especially during our tour of Perfume Pagoda where we basically had a banquet meal.

Almost every meal that we had in Vietnam had fruit of some sort, but bananas were often eaten as dessert. Beef, pork, chicken, and fish were all represented, but we also had goat stew and an egg omelette dish as well. It is typical in Vietnam to add peppers or a spicy pepper sauce to any dish so that you can control your own heat level. It was interesting that the meals that we ate in the countryside were different than those that we ate in the city. Since these were part of a tour, they were obviously meant to spotlight the food of the province, which we truly enjoyed.

We always encourage people to get out to smaller towns and villages when visiting a country. Trying the food in those locations is as much a part of the experience as seeing people in an authentic setting. Having the opportunity to try so many various dishes was definitely a highlight of our time exploring the countryside of Vietnam.

Eating Like a Local

On March 27, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Food, Recipes, Travel Tips11 Comments

We’ve always recommended that you eat local cuisine when traveling. It is another way of experiencing a culture and understanding the way that they live. In order to do so, we’ve always gotten recommendations from locals and not just people at the hotel. We have tried such a wide variety of foods over the years, some of them pretty normal, and a few that have stretched our gastronomic limits. Here are a few of our more memorable eating experiences.

Cuy in Ecuador – We had read about this local dish before we went to Ecuador, but we were apprehensive about actually trying it. Cuy is actually a Guinea Pig, so it is hard to wrap our heads around trying it, but when we finally decided to give it a try, we actually liked it.
Pork Stomach in Germany
Cow Stomach in Germany – That is what it said on the menu, but it was really a cow’s intestine stuffed with pork, vegetables, and potatoes to create a kind of large sausage. If it wasn’t for the translation on the menu, we wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but it was definitely delicious.
Tilapia and Plantains
Eating Fish in Banana Leaves in Panama – When we visited the Embera village in Panama, we were treated with a local meal of fish and plantains cooked and served in a banana leaf. We also had something similar during our trip to Ecuador when visiting an indigenous village in the Amazon. That is definitely eating like a local.
Crawfish Etouffee
Crawfish Etouffee in New Orleans – We had so many amazing meals in New Orleans from turtle soup, jambalaya, fried oyster po’boys, etc., but one of our favorite was the crawfish etouffee.
Pique Macho
Pique Macho in Bolivia – Considered a local favorite in Bolivia, it is a mix of rice, fried potatoes, hot dogs, tomatoes, beef, onion, and peppers (and sometimes egg). It is a LOT of food. We shared a half-order and still couldn’t come close to finishing it.
Delicious Squid in Estepona
Whole Squid in Southern Spain – We’ve had squid plenty of times, usually fried as calimari and on occasion grilled, but we’d never had it served whole. We went to a local restaurant where they didn’t speak English and the owner just pointed us to the meal of the day, which turned out to be grilled squid. It was amazing.
Seafood Tower
Interesting Shellfish in Amsterdam – We ordered a tower of seafood when we were in Amsterdam and we were served a variety of shellfish. Some of the them were pretty normal, but there were a few things on there that we had no idea what they were. We gave them all a try, but we didn’t care for everything.
Cabbage and Grape Leaf Rolls in Romania
Stuffed Cabbage and Grape Leaves in Romania – It was definitely a little different than any stuffed cabbage that we’ve eaten at home. Served with polenta and a spicy pepper, it was very much a local experience.

Needless to say, these are just a few of the things that we have tried during our travels, but they definitely stand out in our memories. The only thing that we have refused to eat was puffin in Iceland. It wasn’t because we were afraid that it wouldn’t taste good, we just believed that serving puffin was depleting the species and we didn’t want to contribute to that. We will continue to try different dishes and look forward to finding that surprising meal that we never expected to eat.