Foodle

Daily Happy Hour in San Diego 🌮🍹

@blancotacostequila has a new HH menu available from 3-6pm on weekdays & open-2pm on weekends! Find them in Fashion Valley & Coronado🌮

We ordered:
🍋‍🟩Margarita Pitcher ($20)
🧀Green Chile Queso ($7)
🐠Tuna Tostadas ($12)
🍗Chicken Pastor Skewers ($8)
🌮Traditional Carnitas ($6)
🌮Chicken Pastor ($6)
🌮Ground Beef ($6) Less

How long is the wait in the blocks-long line at @peacheysbakingco at the Minnesota State Fair? I WAS SHOCKED! I heard they doubled their donut-making capacity but I still couldn’t believe how short the wait was in this massive line. DONT BE INTIMIDATED! And ooooh is it worth it!!! So glad @chefaz turned me on to these two years ago!! Less

A new London opening, Impala by chef Meedu Saad is the type of restaurant that Dubai both lacks and needs. By type, I mean a homegrown licensed establishment serving a modern interpretation of cuisine from the wide Arab world. Something I have preached for a while, ever since Q’bara sadly shut shop a decade ago. A game-changing restaurant that was ahead of its time and hindered by an inconvenient location.

Why?

Let’s take an example. When travelling to Japan, for instance, we prioritise Japanese fare at casual izakayas and ramen bars right through to upscale sushi omakase restaurants, like residents do. To ensure that both Dubai visitors and us dwellers seek out culinary traditions and innovations from the UAE* and wider Middle East, we need a diverse collection of restaurants championing regional cuisine at all levels, in particular licensed - the gap in the market. Shawarma joints, as good as these may be, will not suffice alone.

To clarify, I certainly don’t want Impala imported to Dubai, however budding restaurateurs here would do well to take inspiration from the overall concept and its immediate success.

Whilst researching restaurants for my recent London trip, Impala topped my list, and when reservations went live four weeks in advance, I managed to secure a table for two at this busy, hyped Soho establishment.

All explained in my longform review. Plus several more recommendations from a summer visit to the capital, along with my personal Google maps link of 80+ restaurants. Link in bio. Or comment and I will DM you the link.

* Note: this post addresses broader Middle Eastern cuisine which includes Emirati fare, but for my musings specifically on the latter, I have linked into another review.

So do you think Dubai’s restaurant scene would benefit from this kind of novel concept? Or are we missing something else? Pray tell 🙏🏼

#UAERestaurantsUnite #foodiva London Restaurants Dubai Restaurants @impala.soho @meedu_saad @super8restaurants Less

ANOTHER MONET

@theselvarosa

Beautiful from a distance… but once you get closer, the illusion starts to fade.

That was my experience at Selva Rosa.

There’s no denying the presentation. The food is beautiful, the restaurant is beautiful, and the ambiance sets expectations pretty high. But unfortunately, the flavors never quite caught up with the aesthetics.

The lobster flautas were generously stuffed, especially surprising at only $16. Unfortunately, the lobster had a noticeably fishy taste, which might explain that surprisingly low price point. Personally, I’d rather pay more and get a better-quality lobster. Generosity only matters when what you’re being generous with tastes good.

The steak was the standout and genuinely very good. I loved the flavor and texture of the fried leeks, but the dish felt like fat on fat with nothing acidic, fresh or bright enough to play the balancing role. A great steak that deserved better supporting actors.

Then came the salmon.

They somehow managed to kill the fish twice!!

It was so overcooked and hard that we actually sent it back. The salsa felt like something anyone could easily whip up at home, and surprisingly, the white rice was solid. Ironically, I ended up eating the white rice with the steak… and those two actually worked better together.

Selva Rosa is a great-looking restaurant with good decor, energy and ambiance, but for me, that experience simply didn’t translate onto the plate.

Sometimes a big menu gives you more options. Sometimes it spreads the kitchen too thin. I think a shorter, more focused menu here could allow them to execute fewer dishes at a much higher level.

There’s definitely potential. The steak proved that.

Don’t believe me. Go try it yourself and let me know what you think. 👇

#mexicanfood#peruvianfood#orlando#lobster#birria Less

📍 @two_pups_coffee by day, @notions.dublin by night 🍷 🍽️

Perched outside a cafe on the corner of Francis Street in the Liberties, Saturday evening bathed in August sun, a table of shared plates and a bottle of Piedmontese white in a cooler at arm’s length; Notions could be as cool and continental as Dublin gets in 2026.

The evening flip of perma-queued cafe Two Pups, where the food is flavour bomb plates to share and the wine list is accessible, sectioned by headings like “elegant & playful” and “lil’ funky”. The focus here is organic, biodynamic, minimal intervention bottles from smaller European vineyards. Sorry Boomers, natty wine it is.

Read our latest restaurant review in The Sunday Times Ireland app and website (link in bio!) or scroll through for some of what we ate ➡️

⭐️ 7/10 Less

On the lake by the levee, between the streets named Flounder and Drum, visiting the old school @deaniesonhayne .

Roast pork and rice, crabmeat stuffed redfish from the lengthy daily specials.

No relation to the better-known Deanie’s of Bucktown fame, but instead a New Orleans East institution for local flavor.

#wherenolaeats #igersneworleans #nolaeats #nolafoodie #neworleanseast Less