Sunday, March 30, 2014

Hôtel d'Angleterre - Afternoon Tea 2014

In early 2010, I posted about Hôtel d'Angleterre's afternoon tea. I remember at the time, I quite enjoyed it but somehow I didn't really feel the need to go back until very recently. Largely because a friend of mine told me they had greatly improved the experience over time. I figured I would have to go back and check for myself! And, let me tell you, I was not disappointed! The scones and finger sandwiches are hands down my favorite items on the cake stand. The cakes and pastries are very good too, but as far as I'm concerned, they're definitely not the main event.

Overall, afternoon tea at Hôtel d'Angleterre is a highly pleasurable experience!

Pictured below: scones, various finger sandwiches including an egg salad sandwich and a chicken salad sandwich and finally an assortment of pastries.











Denise's Art of Burger

Yes, dear reader(s), today we'll be discussing Denise's Art of Burger... because if there is one thing Geneva needs, it's a burger joint. ANOTHER FREAKIN' BURGER JOINT. But here's the thing, contrary to appearances, there is actually no plot to try to force feed the Genevan population burgers -- or "gourmet" burgers as business owners would have you believe -- however, without wanting to get on the conspiracy theory bandwagon, I am fairly confident there is a plot to feed you barbecue sauce and caramelised onions. For, yes, dear friend(s), Geneva's food scene is slowly being taken hostage by unbelievably bad burger toppings. And I am having none of it!

Enter Philippe Chevrier's Denise's Art of Burger, the newest addition to Globus' food court. The burger joint is no exception to the rule, and left to its own devices, it will gladly layer your burger with generous amounts of caramelised onions and barbecue sauce. However, you, the customer, should know that things can be different. You can actually enjoy a burger that isn't overpowered by the taste of toppings that take away from your eating experience... well at least they certainly take away from my eating experience.

Anyway, it turns out that once you ask the right questions, Denise has a couple of alternatives on hand. One of them -- and so far my favorite -- is a béarnaise sauce in lieu of the offensive BBQ sauce.  And as far as onions go, they don't seem to load up on regular raw onions in their kitchen, so I was able to get them to substitute spring onions instead. Fine by me!

The fries are a little unexpected, they come in a curved shape that is probably intended to help you scoop the dips they are served with. Which brings me to my next point: condiments. By default, your fries will come with mayonnaise and a house ketchup. Yep, folks, Denise's Art of Burger clearly makes its own ketchup. And while that is definitely a step in the right direction -- I have, after all, often complained about Geneva's unwillingness to serve up anything that didn't come in a little Heinz container -- one problem remains: their ketchup is... well... not good. So kudos for making the effort, but now let's work on improving the recipe.

Denise's Art of Burger also offers a wide range of desserts. My personal favorite is the cheesecake, it's perfectly fine just as long as you don't try to compare it to anything you may have had, say, across the ocean.

I should also mention that Denise's burgers aren't limited to just beef, if -- among others -- a lamb, salmon, veal or vegetarian burger is what you're in the market for, you're in luck! One word of advice though: I'd skip the chicken burger (truth be told, I haven't actually tried the others). I was somewhat underwhelmed. Just sayin', folks. Overall, if I were to recommend a burger, I guess it would be the bacon & cheese. I'm actually not a huge fan of bacon on my burgers, but the bacon cheeseburger's sesame bun is vastly superior to the plain bun you'd get with the basic burger. Furthermore, I know many of you do like a little bacon on your burgers.

Needless to say -- this is Geneva, after all -- Denise's burgers don't come cheap, a bacon & cheese will cost you CHF 20 and a basic burger menu which includes sides of fries and a salad as well as a dessert and a drink will run you CHF 30.

Pictured below: a bacon cheeseburger, a basic burger, a chicken burger, fries, house ketchup and mayo and a cheesecake at Denise's Art of Burger.

















Sunday, March 23, 2014

A Showcase of Beautiful Food Photos

I thought I'd do something a little different this time and showcase beautiful photos from Flickr. There's such a wealth of content on the image hosting website, it is difficult to choose just a few photos for a blog post but here's an initial selection I hope you'll enjoy!


Fettucini Alfredo by Amy Pospiech


Cupcakes by Keith Chu


Shrimp Lo Mein by Matt


Pastrami sandwich by Leon Brocard


Koshary by Wedstock 2011


Pepperoni pizza by Hungry Dudes


Brownies by jeffreyw


Dim sum by Morten Båtbukt


Naan by stu_spivack


Sushi by keg-shine


Garlic bread by Jasmin Foo


Pad thai by stu_spivack


Falafel wrap by Gloria Cabada-Leman


Gnocchi by Enrico Matteucci


Cheeseburger by entity


Lemon meringue pie by makemesomepie


Pea risotto by Anna Mayer


Fried chicken and biscuits by Niall Kennedy


Sour Cream Apple Pie with Pecan Streusel by I Believe I Can Fry


Cinnamon rolls by Timothy Vollmer


Spinach, ricotta and green garlic ravioli by Robb & Jessie Stankey


Pot stickers by Naotake Murayama


Fish & chips by David Ascher


The photos above are provided under the Creative Commons license. All photos have been changed for the purposes of this post, they have been resized, cropped and the colors were also altered some. Furthermore a stroke was added to each photo to remain consistent with previous blog posts.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Capocaccia Acacias Soon Closing?

I hear Capocaccia's location in Acacias won't be around much longer. The restaurant's managers will apparently be shutting it down in the very near future. It's too bad, it was the perfect spot to stop for a quick meal if you happened to be around the neighborhood. The food was decent and fairly inexpensive.

I was able to enjoy Capocaccia's pesto pasta on a couple of occasions:

Linguine pesto - Capocaccia, Geneva.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Green Mango

I recently discovered a fairly new restaurant in rue de la Terrassière. Green Mango seems to be the newest addition to the list of Thai restaurants in Geneva. And because I love Thai food yet feel many of the Thai restaurants here leave something to be desired, I was eager to try something new and different. Thankfully, I was not disappointed! The food is fresh, the service is more than pleasant, and the space, while small, is actually rather cosy. I will say, however, when the place is at capacity, the service does tend to be a tad slower than it should be. But as long as I'm in no particular hurry, and the quality of the food remains high, I'm quite willing to forgive the delay.

Pictured below: duck salad, dim sum (which I especially recommend) Pad Thai and a delectable fresh mango and sticky rice dessert

Duck salad at Green Mango - Geneva, Switzerland

Duck salad at Green Mango - Geneva, Switzerland

Pad Thai at Green Mango - Geneva, Switzerland

Mango and sticky rice dessert at Green Mango - Geneva, Switzerland

Comptoir

I think Comptoir is one of those places you're supposed to like. It's supposed to be hip, modern and bohemian or whatever. But truth be told, the Paquis located restaurant never really grew on me. However many of my friends do enjoy going there, so every so often I do end up having a meal there. But frankly, I always felt the food was nothing to write home about. Though in fairness, I must admit their sushi is actually quite good and fresh.

Pictured below: eggs rolls and vegetable noodles.

Egg rolls at comptoir, Geneva, Switzerland

Soba noodles at comptoir, Geneva, Switzerland

Saturday, March 1, 2014

CNN's World's 50 best foods

Not exactly recent but definitely worth a mention, CNN got users to vote on the world's 50 best foods a couple of years ago. Some of the results may be a little surprising, but I can definitely get on board with a list that includes cheeseburgers, fettucini alfredo, maple syrup, fajitas, pizza, fried chicken, fried rice, fish 'n' chips, gelato, dim sum and pad thai among others!

Check it out:
Your pick: World's 50 best foods

pizza