California Food and Wine Blog

While we waited for our next train in Vercelli, we walked around their town center and found a little cafe just across the road from the train station. In a poor attempt to speak Italian when we didn’t know any, we ordered two Mozzarella Tomato sandwiches on foccacia bread and a couple Coronas all for about €10.

We were hungry and those really hit the spot with a perfect price point, outdoor seating on a beautiful day, and friendly workers who put up with our language ignorance.

Flavor: 3.5/5

Value:4/5

Service: 4/5

For our last night at a hotel in Ireland we stayed at the renowned Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel. We arrived late and hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and since the hotel is pretty far from the town center we opted to try their Sports Bar for a quick bite in the downstairs ‘Dungeon’.

The ambiance was nice with lots of tvs playing different European sports and comfortable seating. We grabbed a menu from another table since the bartender was a little backed up and browsed the list of brew bites. We ordered Prawns and Chips and the spicy chicken wings recommended by our waiter. The food was by far the worst we experienced on our entire Ireland/UK trip. It tasted like freezer food nuked in the microwave so hot Nathan actually blistered his lip. No flavor to the Prawns and the Chips were just limp fries that would have been better from McDonald’s. Each item was €10-€15 and very small portions.

When our waiter returned he asked how everything was and then smiled and laughed as he commented, “It’s not something you’d write home about eh?” after we replied it wasn’t very good.

The entire Fitzpatrick Hotel experience was quite poor, don’t expect to experience the 4 or 5-star rating they claim to be.

Flavor: 1.5/5

Value: 1.5/5

Service: 2.5/5

We stopped at Quinlan’s for dinner to try their fish and chips for €11.95. Nathan ordered Haddock to compare against the Cod and found them very similar but the Haddock was a little more moist and fell apart easier. The batter was a little thicker and didn’t have much seasoning other than a little salt.

Flavor: 3.5/5

Value: 3/5

Service: 3/5

We had a great experience at Treyvaud‘s, a restaurant owned by the son of one of our original Master Chefs!

Nathan ordered Banger’s and Mash for €11.95 and received a perfectly cooked sausage beautifully displayed and sitting in delicious onion gravy. Could not get enough.

Jessica ordered the stew of the day which was a Guinness and beef Irish stew. The mashed potatoes were charred and added a nice smokey flavor and the beef was very flavorful. It was very good but the Front Door had them beat in flavor and heartiness.

Flavor: 4.5/5

Value: 4/5

Service: 4/5