UNIQUE DINING

When it comes to eating out, there’s always something new and unique to try. But if you are looking for something extra special from your dining experience, take a look below at my selection of the unique and wonderful  to try in 2017!!

DINING IN THE DARK@ BANGKOK

Excluding one sense amplifies the others, so by turning off the lights DID at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit faiths to upsurge diners’ gratitude of palate and aroma. Visually impaired staff leads you to your table in the pitch black where, once seated, you can work your way through several courses of surprise dishes or preselect a cuisine of your choice, all in total darkness. It also takes away your verdict so you cannot presume your meal and entirely changes the way you react. Steered by the blind, they become your eyes. The plus is that you also end up making a contribution to the Foundation for the blind in Thailand as a part of the proceedings are donated for this cause.

BRUTALLY LOCAL @BERLIN

You may just go past Nobelhart & Schmutzig, if you haven’t heard of it as it looks as if it’s shut, but ring the bell and Sommelier owner Billy Wagner would welcome you well. What makes this so unique is that in a place like Berlin, they have dared to create a menu which uses only local ingredients and head Chef Micha would agree that it could be quite a Herculean task.For example there is no lemon for acidity and no pepper for seasoning, as both are not locally grown and yes no chocolate for desserts or olive oil for cooking; they do it so well that they already have a Michelin star to their credit.

In their quest for original flavours, the ten course offers seafood, fish, game, dairy and vegetables in rustic preparations served up into masterpieces of precision. A flawlessly cooked piece of Baltic cod served in a carrot soup with dried camomile is just an example of decadence.

BREAKFAST @ NEWCASTLE

Can easily be rated as the best place for Breakfast in the world; ‘Three Bean Espresso’ has an irresistible standing for dependably good coffee and fresh, quality food. Owner Ben Armstrong schedules to make approximately the whole thing from scratch on site, such as smoking salmon, cooking baked beans, creaming corn, culturing butter, buttermilk, cottage cheese and ricotta replete with auxiliary portions of crusty La Tartine organic sourdough toast! Don’t guess to find the same dishes every week. What’s on the menu replicates what Ben has foraged at the weekly Wednesday Newcastle City night market! I still can recollect the taste of those meaty, full flavoured ox heart tomatoes that you will never find in a supermarket.

You would come across the word ‘live’ sprinkled through the menus; live cultures, probiotic yeasts or bacteria, have been prudently cultivated to offer delightfully stimulating drinks, slaws and salads. The ‘life changing’ bread, with its mix of seeds, nuts, psyllium and chia capped with a tap of in-house made live cultured butter is an absolute must try.  Bircher muesli  is gluten free and made with  grated apple, seeds and grains and comes with garden-fresh Angelina plum and poached bliss pears with a spoonful of Greek style bequest yoghurt…I could go on!!

my story first published in HT City