Author: Hayley Pogue

Battle of the Boards: Venissimo vs. The Barrel Room

| Hayley Pogue

Hello, all!

I am back from Europe and in my beautiful hometown of San Diego, California. I have been busy with work and the excitement of summer, so I haven’t posted on here for awhile.

Since returning, I decided to convert to a ketogenic diet for a month or so. A keto diet consists of low carb, high fat meals with the goal of getting into ketosis, which means that when you use energy, you’ll burn fat instead of glucose.

My diet is mostly meat, cheese, and dark green veggies. My new love? Cheese and charcuterie platters.

I’d had these before, but there’s something about eating them on keto that makes them even better. So I’ve been on the hunt for some great boards in San Diego.

My favorite? Venissimo.

An amazing place to have a date or even sit and eat a cheese and charcuterie platter by yourself, Venissimo’s cheeses and meats were SO incredibly fresh and tasty. The cheese on the left was a truffle cheese and is an absolute must-try.

Another great place for a tasty board is the Barrel Room.

You get to select 6 items for the board – we chose 3 cheeses and 3 meats, but you can do any combination you want. The most memorable item on this board is 100% the brie. I might have to return just to get this board and have all 6 items be brie.

Do you have any recommendations for cheese and charcuterie boards in San Diego?

Seduced by Salzburg: Bärenwirt

| Hayley Pogue

After we’d had an incredible meal, we decided we needed to get dessert at the restaurant, too. (Prior to this, every dessert we’d gotten was from a place other than where we’d had dinner.)

This was a good move.

I had a stuffed pancake – it was stuffed with vanilla ice cream and served with unsweetened whipped cream. It was incredible.

My brother had the apple strudel, which he’d rated at a 9.9/10. It was sweetened primarily by the apples rather than by sugar, which lent a very delicate sweetness that was complemented by a vanilla sauce and unsweetened whipped cream.

Seduced by Salzburg: Bärenwirt

| Hayley Pogue

About 5 minutes walking distance from our favorite beer garden, Augustiner, there was a restaurant that – like the beer garden – was highly recommended to us by both our friend and our lonely planet app. The first night, we tried to show up without a reservation and were turned away. The second night, we had the sense to ask our hotel to make a reservation for us. When we showed up, we realized that when our hotel called, the restaurant was booked. So, right then and there we made a reservation for the following night.

Finally, on our third attempt to get into that restaurant, we were seated on the back patio. It’s not much of a view despite its close proximity to the river. What it lacks in views it makes up for in hospitality and food quality.

I got the fish special, which was salmon and some other type of fish with hollandaise sauce, asparagus, and potatoes. We also got a gnocchi for the table, which was insanely good. While my plate was delicious, I was envious of my mom’s fried chicken salad – the restaurant is said to have the best fried chicken in Austria.

The restaurant also has my favorite beer from the nearby brewery, but unfortunately they had run out by the time we got there. Get there early to get the best of both worlds! Mains €12-20.

Seduced by Salzburg: Gasthaus Zwettler’s

| Hayley Pogue

My whole family looooooved this restaurant. I got the chicken salad, which was nicely seasoned and not at all overdressed. The highlight of the meal, though, was definitely my mom’s selection: the spinach dumplings (which you can see a smidge of at the top of the image). The spinach dumplings were buttery and incredibly filling, and I’ve never had anything quite like them. This place is a must. Mains €11.50-18.

Seduced by Salzburg: Fabi’s Organic Frozen Yoghurt

| Hayley Pogue

Hello, beautiful 😍

This frozen yogurt place is amazing and I’m so sad that I didn’t get a chance to go back a second time. They have one flavor of yogurt (lightly tart, not too sweet), and what seems like an endless array of toppings to choose from. I topped mine with a chocolate nut blend, blueberries, raspberries, and crushed and toasted almonds. With two toppings, a small is €3.30. I got a small (yes, this is a small) and 4 toppings, so mine was €4.50.

Seduced by Salzburg: Augustiner Bräu

| Hayley Pogue

“Since 1621, this cheery, monastery-run brewery has served potent homebrews in beer steins, in the vaulted hall and beneath the chestnut trees of the 1000-seat beer garden.” (lonely planet)

Recommended to us both by a friend who was born in Salzburg and by our lonely planet app, we knew Augustiner was going to be a cool experience. What we didn’t know was how hooked we would get to their home-brewed beer.

I noticed a slight honey taste, and little to no carbonation. I also noticed how damn strong the beer was, but not until I was already turnt. Anyone know if I can find this beer in the states? I don’t know if I’m ready to part with it.

If you’re not a beer drinker, this location also has a ton of traditional Austrian food stands. One night, we got some beers and some of the food from the stands, including a cheese-filled bratwurst, a spicy bratwurst, a normal bratwurst, some radishes, some pretzels, sauerkraut, smoked salmon, and an apple strudel. One of the best experiences of my entire trip; it was so much fun and oh-so very tasty.

Hungry in Hungary: Dobrumba (again)

| Hayley Pogue

We thought we’d made reservations at a restaurant, but it turns out the restaurant didn’t actually exist. Not sure how we made reservations there, but let’s just forget about it.

A friend of mine from school lives in Budapest and we were meeting him for dinner. We met up with him where our original dinner spot was supposed to be, and we decided to take him to Dobrumba (where we’d had our first meal in Budapest).

This time, I got the chicken schwarma.

Wow, it was incredible. It came with lots of vegetables and a sauce that I couldn’t quite identify, but which definitely had a hint of curry. The meal was delicious and I completely cleaned my plate despite the fact that we’d also had appetizers. I must admit, I will miss Dobrumba.

Hungry in Hungary: Gelarto Rosa

| Hayley Pogue

Wow wow wow. This was SO tasty and beautiful. The shop is a bit overwhelming, as you have to pay first and then tell them what you want. The small is 2 flavors, the medium is 3, and I think the large is 4. I got 2 flavors: white chocolate lavender and salted caramel. They complemented each other perfectly, and neither were too sweet. When I was done, I wanted another. Must-visit.

Hungry in Hungary: Firkász

| Hayley Pogue

This Hungarian retro-style restaurant was a last-minute decision with a fantastic ambiance. They have nightly live music starting at 7pm (we were too early to hear it) and a good wine list.

I ordered chicken? I think? And it came with egg noodles that needed some seasoning or acidity or something. After this meal, we all agreed we didn’t need to eat Hungarian food again, although I’m sure that this restaurant was the best we could have possibly tried. Mains 3500-7990Ft.