12/27/2025
DISCOVERIES OF 2025: BARS AND RESTAURANTS
St. Augustinus once said: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page”. Indeed! Travels went far and close: Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Poland, Lithuania, Mauritius, Morocco, Spain, and Italy. Many cities, quite a few bars and restaurants to discover, enjoy, relish and according to Hans Christian Andersen “(To travel is ) to live.” Everyone can find a piece of hospitality, a corner of tranquillity, a theatre of laughter and bonds of friendship – gems of meaning of life. Even in Monty Pythonian way. 30 places to visit and to return.
BARS and CAFES
1. Spain, Jerez de la Frontera, C. Caballeros, 12, TABANCO LAS BANDERILLAS: Action and meals! Queues and noise! You cannot miss it, even it might take more than a while to get a place at the bar. For the table one needs a live reservation on a waiting list. Tapas rule here. Be brave - and go for pig's cheek, pig's kidneys in sherry, oxtail, black pudding, tripe in sauce with chorizo. All for 4.5-5 Eur. Copious amount of red wine may be needed. Half and full portions of Andalusian delicacies on offer too. Some of the taste come with the Proustian madeleine effect. Twice checked, twice merry. Especially if you run into Icelanders who know someone you know in Reykjavik. Truly United Nations for taste and party vibes.
2. Italy, Brindisi, Via Thaon De Revel Paolo, 1, LA NASSA: the waitress says: 'it is not a bar - we offer restaurant services, if you want a bar, down the embankment." Is it touristic? Very! I hate touristic. Me too. What about a solitary drink outside. There? Aha. OK, what do you want? café? No. Lungo macchiatto and local amaro (5 Eur). A bearded middle-aged guy (Christian) standing next at the bar erupts with volcanic laughter saying" you know your trade!" Imbibing the sun, in the sleeping port, listening to the repairs of bobbing boats and saluting the spring. Or maybe summer? Don't get carried away, just melt. P. S. Christian persuades to have a second go for grappa (3 Eur), observes that a world is small and vanishes in the door or, actually, for Corfu with his sailing buddies. The waitress says: that's how you make friends.
3. Italy, Gallipoli, Riviera Nazario Sauro, 91, IL FARO: the sunset bar, the postprandial bar, the campari-spritz (8 Eur) bar, the dream bar. Sun-kissed place beloved by many. The sea, the old churches, the bossa nova muzak, Americans, Polish, kissing lovers, German-Italian waiter. Light house on the horizon, seagulls by your side. Embrace the sun and inhale good vibes. Feels like mini Cadiz or Tabarca island. For real!
4. Italy, Trieste, Via della Torretta, 8, LA PICCOLA VINERIA: this wine bar is small indeed. Tucked in a small alley peppered with wine affectionadi and just curious types and couples. 6-7 wines a glass, though plenty of bottles for your indulgence. 3-7 Eur a glass. Local wines, local flavours of ham and charcuterie. Wind gusts sweep by yet good wine is good time. Try.
5. Italy, Otranto, Via Lungomare Kennedy, 11-12, SCALONI: running into the bloom of spring's and maybe even summer's allure with café lungo macchiatto (1.2 Eur) on your lips at the right preprandial time. 11:00 is the right chime for the azure sea and beach eye-shopping. Time just stops still for coffee affectionadi here. The day is on the rise and so are your spirits. Not those ones yet though. Evening comes, families with the kids join. Languishing with Negronis at hand, chit-chatting and feeling an imminent sunset.
6. Italy, Lecce, Viale Francesco Lo Re, 83 PASTICCERIA PINTI: 6 o'clock! You cannot miss Porta San Biagio and aperitivo time. Bet on Negroni and you will not be a fool on Fool's Day. Damage? As the owner says "5 Euro more or less". You ask for less, you get more. He says his posture in the pic is as complementary as potato chips. Speak German to the Italian owner. Fun conversation. People seem to relaxingly bid farewell to early spring sunset. Dolce far niente? More likely uncorking the evening. Aperīre after all.
7. Lithuania, Palanga, VILA RAMYBĖ ARTE, Vytauto 35, Before the sunset indoors. Outdoor cool is for the real northerners. Lazily stretching shadows. French-speaking bartendrix. Sunset's innuendo in the blue skies. Serenity of the soul. Nostalgia dives. Bitter Truth. That's a cocktail’s name. Ask only for Arvydas to mix up his connoisseurship. Art in his genes. The spot beloved and recommended by the late RoRa. May his soul rest in tipsy peace (tease?). Non-moraturi te salutant! Friday gently blows the Parthenopian way.
8. Spain, Jerez de la Frontera, C. Algarve, 35, TABANCO PLATEROS: Where sherries rule supreme. What else would you expect in a sherry capital? The bar swings up after 22:00. The last glass is served before 1:30 in the morning. Very popular for the aperitivo before hitting the restaurant or tapas bar. Some tapas available here too. Chorizo is a must. Sit outdoors or indoors. Fast service, generous pouring. Fino, manzanilla, oloroso start a 1.7 Eur a glass. Coronate the (third) evening with a mesmerizingly syrupy Pedro Ximenez. It is a desert per se.
9. Austria, Vienna, WEINHOF REICHL, Stammersdorfer Str. 41: Lazy and sunny Friday evening, empty streets, yet people filling heuriger - for a viertel (0.25 l) of wine (4 Eur) after 18:00. Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt rule around. Grape juice with soda is pop too. Beer's available. Local signature dishes of roasted pork, bread with crackling's fat and other cholesterol spiking dishes. Smiley service. For enjoyment and lesser worries. Under the grapes outdoors. Bring a merry and trusted company along. One of the best investments in the meaningful life. Here too.
10. Italy, Varese, Sacro Monte di Varese, Via Fincarà, 37, RISTORANTE COLONNE: a cup of ristretto at or in pure beauty of the village, churches, chapels, the hotel restaurant and mountainous vistas Of This UNESCO site. Tourists deserted the area. In-house cats meow for attention and the coffee ushers you in autumnal and melancholic serenity of the soul. Magic mountain in peace.
11. Italy, Milan, Ripa di Porta Ticinese 43, MAG CAFE: a post-work (OK, a post-museums-cum-churches) aperitivo is a need, a must, a relief. The guys behind the bar kicked mixology into the second gear. Quite a few international and invented cocktails. Venetian outdoor vibes near the canal, still no jacket required (pun intended for (old) music lovers) in the retreating November sun. A well-mixed classic Negroni and snacks (10 Eur) imbibe pleasant fatigue. A street musician starts tuning the guitar strings. What else one may need after 20 000 steps? Another Negroni? P.S. A disclosure and a give-away: Stanley Tucci was here filming Searching for Italy in 2022. A decent choice.
12. Spain, Valdegrana, Calle Las Olas, LAS OLAS BEACH CLUB: a hole to hide from the sun with a cold vermouth in hand. Extreme laid-back mode among the mid-October lazy revellers. Feisty breeze softly kills the heat. So does the shadow spell with a list on the menu. Or on the mind.
13. Mauritius, Port Louis, du Pouce, La, L'Esplanade MU, Poudrière St, TRIDENT CAFE: a good flat white (2.2 Eur) dusted with a chocolate strip cracks a morning. 9:00 seems to be the pinnacle of life around. Some rush to work, some - to school. Suits, uniforms, scooters and a random brother-in-coffee next table. Apage, woes of the world! Ave dies, te salutant potores coffeae!
14. Morocco, Casablanca, Marina Casablanca, Bd Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, PHARE DU PORT SALUT RESTAURANT CAFÉ: indulge yourself with a lungo macchiatto (1.7 Eur) after a long stroll along the Boulevard de la Corniche by the ocean. The barista will adjust water amount on your whim. The modern architecture speaks directly to you. Megalopolian? Rather Metropolitan. Friz Lang would dig it. Francis Coppola? Not sure.
15. Switzerland, Zürich, Bleicherweg 10, LA STANZA: off the old town, on in the new one. Come pre-lunch hour and one hardly finds a seat, unless stoically standing at the bar (quite a few don't mind) or outdoors to steal some sun-rays (none yet). All seem in want for indoor warmth, so when outside is +9. Chatter goes volume up, but not to eleven if you remember the Spinal Tap. No Wi-Fi. Espresso macchiatto for 4.2 Eur. And they read real newspapers here!
RESTAURANTS
1. Italy, Lecce, Viale Francesco Lo Re, 9, VECCHIA OSTERIA DA TOTUIF: if you come one day and see them fully booked at 20:00, you book them for the next evening. Do not come at 19:00, unless you enjoy dining alone in silence and among waiters. who are still in their track suits and Air Jordans. No regrets coming after 8! Next to your table are Torino fans who know how Gineitis scored two goals! When you hear a song humming in the kitchen, you rise your eyebrows and smile. When a waiter says it is a full restaurant and you reply halleluiah, this becomes your karma for the whole dinner. Halleluiah turns into an unplanned refrain for the rest of the evening, where you randomly join the waiter in a subtle hushed duo to a surprise of quite a few. The waiter tries solo every now and again too. The power of restaurant theatrics! Or the customer circus you (wanna) join. 1/4 Wine carafe is 2 Eur. Coffee is at 1 Eur. Amaros - and at 3. It is Apulia after all before it is spoilt in the high season. The mixed grilled meat set (horse escalope, spicy sausage, lamb heart, liver and lungs, pork chop. 14 Eur) is for two or the hard stomach. Spend 2 hours with the full dinner mood and this will stay burnt into your last days' image. The damage? 24 Eur. P.S. The other evening offers you lamb and dessert. Stay till all are gone, talk to the chef about the Italian football and sing 'halleluiah' with the head waiter. Marvelous hospitality!
2. Italy, Udine, Via Antonio Zanon, 13, OSTERIA ALLA GHIACCIAIA: The rule again! Ask a museum worker for her favourite place to lunch out and see the face light up. Osteria is humming. Indoors and outdoors. The staff fly like busy bees. Seasonal menu and usual menu. Not long but verrrry appetising. A rainy day calls for tagliolini artigianale al San Daniele con semi di papavero (pasta with dried ham and poppy seed, 9.5 Eur). Creamy, melting and savoury - and a saviour for a hungry soul. Let a half a bottle of house red (5.5 Eur) be perched next and don't give it a rest. Sweeten your day with custard cream and strawberries (5 Eur). Amaro di Udine (15 percent, 3 Eur) is a pure medicinal bitter. More for digestion than for the palate. Or for the brave ones. Fingers crossed.
3. Czechia, Kuks, Kuks 57, OBECNÍ HOSTINEC: a place with a view. Half a kilometre across, does lie Hospital Kuks, the splendid gem-like 18-th century Baroque manor in the middle of picturesque nowhere. Some from there, some specially here, yet all crave for well executed Czech cuisine. Kniedliki with meat and sweet sautéed cabbages (7.7 Eur), chicken rolada with fillings (7.7 Eur), Krakonoš beer (4.3 ABV, 1.17 Eur - in your face greedy business bastards from beer countries). Pancakes with blueberries, and fried cheese with sauces, oh sauces! Spirits rose high and remained there. Did I mention the scenery?
4. Italy, Varese, Viale Luigi Borri 348, RISTORANTE AL VECCHIO CONVENTO: A Tuscan delight in Lombardia. The open kitchen in the historical building of 1740. Posh interiors and a notice of Michelin in 2023. Do indulge into piallo unico di Terra (23 Eur) in which halves of first and second courses (quadrucci pasta with butter, raisins and pecorino cheese and slowly low-temperature stewed beef marinated in Chianti wine) lie neatly and tastefully on the plate. A sublime taste complemented with Langhe Nebbiolo wine (8 Eur). A place for parking your daily woes with history and taste hand in hand.
5. Italy, Treviso, Via Inferiore 33, OSTILE OSTERIA URBANA: the locals know this gourmet G-**ot, the tourists on April's Saturday - barely so. Family, couples and random loners. A rich Ripasso wine a glass - 4 Eur. Go for two! You will need it, as well as a bottle of water. In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas. Fried Iberico pork with buttery rosemary potatoes (22 Eur) or hangar beef steak (18 Eur) are cooked to perfection with all the 'mmm' saucy tricks and treats. Sometimes it is just right and the evening flies into a nightcap. Or two! Who counts? You'd better! Moderation is your salvation.
6. Spain, Madrid, Calle del Gral. Lacy, 10, Arganzuela, MESON RESTAURANTE AS FONTES: where the locals pass by for Sunday's chill. Or a bottle of wine for 6 (actually 2 bottles, but who counts?) A beer with complementary snacks opens the slow pre-evening. Then attack a savoury long boiled pork and potatoes soup that the waiters eat in between their duties. It is not on the menu, but with a small portion of luck and humility, you may get it. Vino tinto goes without saying. The damage? 11.5 Eur. The bar stools taken, life exhibits a calm pulse here. Hola!
7. Mauritius, Port Louis, Angle Route, Royal Rd, CHU MAN HAO: No nightlife in Port Louis (for that go north). Public transport shuts at 20:00, bars are available at newly built, eerily empty, unproportionally priced, beautiful and Potiomkin-vibe Waterfront area. The capital goes to sleep early, fertility rates, as the local say, stays low. Bar culture is in sketches and in tatters. Your plan A and B are the China town. Restaurants in town wrap up around 20:00. Some stay as late as 20:30! Thanks for that too. The most popular Phoenix beer is at 3 Eur a large and coooold bottle straight from the fridge. Sip, read (better a book), text and talk to incoming diners. Table next hosts a family of a... banker with his kids. Dinner time. Follow suit. Ask and order the same. They will help and chat goes on! Noodles with chicken, pork, fried egg (5 Eur) is genius in simplicity. Husband-and-wife hospitality. All love the darting puppy. Some come just for a the patting'n'stroking. Shriek of uncontaminated joy. Kids, naturally, go bonkers about the dog and nearly take him home. No TV sets! Very neighbourly and warmly atmospheric. The usual suspects greet each other and the hosts play UB 40 on their phones. We will turn this place in the first proper bar in Port Luis!
8. Italy, Lecce, Via Principi di Savoia, 18, CIRO Pizzeria: real oven, real pizzas. Starting at 6 Eur. Half a bottle of red is also real (7 Eur). Never short of regular customers. Works only in the evening. Off touristic routes, as the only foreigner was a Georgian from Germany. Cats and dogs drop by here too. On different statuses. Cute though.
9. Morocco, Rabat, Medina, Ocasa, SNAC CHAAB: you cannot be in a bad place in the bazaar, but where neighbours shout "Viva Barça! 5:2!". Luncheon. Or sweet mint tea time. Muezzin has just proclaimed the call to the daily prayer (ṣalāt), freshly baked bread sellers on wheeled stalls. The rush of bazaar does not subside. Tomato soup, stew tajine with chicken meat and liver, mint tea (4.6 Eur) let you stretch your legs and observe the neighbourhood buzz.
10. Poland, Suwalki, Korczaka 2a, Tomcio Luch Pasta: for the Italian lunch. Pastas, pizzas, raviollis, gnocchis at 8-10 Eur. Reservations needed, as the 50-seat place never lacks a stream of content customers. The chef Tomasz Chomicz honed his skills of pasta and sauce making in 2020 with the certificate. He's been twice voted as the most favourite chef in Suwalki recently. And he is in the kitchen! Home-made lemonade at your palate. A well kept secret already operating 4 years. We will return at least thrice.
11. Slovenia, Koper, Čevljarska ulica 8, ATRIJ: a full place for the lunch our is not a bad omen. Local recommendation. Lunch set - for 9 Eur. Salad, soup and a main meal. Chicken thighs as home cooking. Local beer at 3.5 Eur. Student discounts. English spoken. Do trust a heartily non-thin head of staff. He oversees darting waiters well.
12. Lithuania, Kintai, Kuršių 8, KURŠIŲ KAVINĖ: a gem relatively unknown. Google reviews put it at 4.7/5. Can be even more. A very welcome and naturally warm service as if one visits someone's home. A restaurant is in the area between Curonian Lagoon and river Nemunas delta. Stick to the local produce, which is fresh fish delivered from the vicinity. Fish soup (5.5 Eur) of Zander - rich stock, bursting flavours. Fish and chips (12 Eur) and Zander with the sauce of yesterday sourced cantarelles and artfully laid salad (14 Eur) are big in portion and taste. Your would not want to be anywhere else being there. Ah, a beer here fits like a glove. The damage? As 37 Eur for two. Where is that bib gourmand award yet?!
13. Italy, Brescia, Via dei Musei, 4, VASCO DA GAMA: museum workers on low it well. Again like in Udine and Arezzo. Lunch spot tried and tested by (and for) the brescensi. Full array of choices. Lunch sets available for 16 Eur, combining halves of primi and secondi. For pescatarians - tortelli pasta with cod and marinated salmon, for carnivoirs - beef stewed in beer and polenta with casoncelli pasta with cheese. A glass of wine - 6 Eur. The experienced waitress knows recommendations. You will not find a new India in the taste, but you saviour Brescia's offers.
14. Morocco, Fes, Rue Lballajine, EL BELAGINE: Get lost. Literally. Forget the Internet. Stroll astray. Don't navigate. It is medina maze anyway. Run into unexpected and saviour what you are given - or what has just been prepared in wood oven. Kafta with eggs, fish tajine, mint tea (of course) - 4 Eur. The cook supports Barça and his neighbour - Real. Messi or Christiano (not the Ronaldo!)? The universal langue and smiles in abundance. Like your belly after lunch.
15. Mauritius, Port Louis, Pointe aux Sables, beach-street food: husband and wife meal treats. Boulette is fresh, hot and on demand. Pieces of chou chou, saoma, cheese, meat with savoury broth and chilli pasta (2.7 Eur). You need that tamarind juice with ice (0.4 Eur). 2 glasses. Merci! Ah, the siege continues. This is only-Sunday special by the locals living round the corner.
