Last week I went to London for a meeting, and I got to taste kangaroo. Needless to say, it was the first time. It was served in a salad, and the vinagrette dressing overpowered the flavor of the meat (served medium rare), but it had the look and texture of beef, but a milder flavor, sort of like venison. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to order it again, but I'm glad I tried it.

Indeed, this is the second exotic meat I've tried recently. On my trip to the northwest of Argentina last December I had the opportunity to try llama - both in empanadas and as a steak served with the sauce. I found the meat reminiscent to pork, rather dry and not very flavorful in itself, but good with other condiments or sauces. Again, not something necessarily worth ordering but for the novelty aspect.

Alas, what I did not have in this very brief trip to London was either Indian food or fish & chips. Or anything, really. I had a couple of pasties - self contained bready pies with meat fillings - and they were very good. I imagine they are full of calories, but they do make a cheap and convenient meal. Other than that, I either ate at the conference or at the home of the friends I was staying with. And given the prices of the food in London (and everything else for that matter), I can't say I feel too bad about that.

I spent a few days in Belgium a couple of days ago, mostly visiting friends and eating at their home - but we did get out one day, had lunch in Brugge and then dinner in Brussels. We went to restaurants catering to the tourist trade, both offering Belgian specialties with prix-fix menus giving limited choices.

At Brugge we went to the 'T Oud Kanthuys restaurant, somewhere near a canal - I can't be more specific. Adriana had some cheese croquettes which were quite nice and I had a pate paysanne (sp?) which tasted like a million others of those. Then she had the carbonnade a la Flamande, which was quite good - just like the one I made for my Belgian dinner. I had rabbit in a wine sauce (I think), which was also surprisingly tasty. For dessert I had an apple tart, and I don't remember what Adriana had. Lunch with a coke and a beer came up to about $40 euros (service charge not included) - about $50. Not bad for a multi-course lunch of such quality.

Dinner in Brussells was at the "Aux Arcades" at Rue des Bouchers. I had the "cheese fondue", which actually was very much like the cheese croquettes Adriana had had for lunch: thick chunks of cheese, breaded and deep fried. Good but not what I was expecting - though this seems to be what they mean by "fondue" in Belgium. I can't remember what Adriana had as an appetizer. As her entree Adriana had their moules, not fried but in some sort of sauce. She was less than impressed by them. I had the carbonnade, which once again was good but I felt the beef was tougher than it had been that morning for lunch. Dessert was some sort of tart, not very impressive. In all, we felt the meal had not been as good and for E58 ($73), including two beers, it wasn't nearly as good a deal.

That was it, no other Belgian food for me. I may have to go again.

Today Desiree, the kids (sans Camila, thanks God) and I, stopped at Joaquin Deli for lunch. The new owners were there, they've taken over and nothing has changed. Indeed, the sandwiches we had were excellent, and the stock seemed to be the same as usual. They greeted the kids with some fruit gummies, which of course they loved.

I talked to them for a little bit and they seem very excited about the place, they also seem to not have anticipated how busy it gets. Still, they are planning to extend the opening hours to 6 PM, and they may change the minimun for delivery from the $25 it's now. That would be good as we rarely order that much - though given how delicious their pork shoulder is, I probably should just order a couple of pounds and have them bring it over with some sandwiches :)

The Blue Dish is closed, at least for now. Rumor has it that the owners have stretched themselves thin between the restaurant and their catering business, and they've decided to concentrate in the latter, as it's more profitable. That's too bad as I find myself in that area for lunch often and the choices are very limited: Paradiso, which is good but expensive, Cornerstone Cafe, which was disappointing last time I ate there, Viva Pancho Villa!, which is a bit too casual and unexciting for "lunching" and Zocalo, which serves sandwiches catered by The Blue Dish (which I don't really like).

Plus all my friends like The Blue Dish, and it was the sort of place where you would always run into someone you knew, so I am quite disappointed that it's closed. I hope they'll reopen and I'll keep you posted.

I've written about Marita's Sweet Potato Pie Co. before, and I'm not sure I have much more to say about it, except that we stopped by the other day for a small Red Velvet Cake loaf ($10) to take as dessert to Desiree's house, and it was very well received. The cake itself, once again, wasn't anything special. Indeed, I don't think it's a chocolate cake died red, but a plain cake died red, but the cream cheese topping was wonderful.

In addition Marita now has a website, http://www.maritasbakery.com/, where you can check out their offerings. Their website is only half-developed, though, and they clearly based it on standard format. This makes for some funny reading, for example in their mission statement you can read how they'll strive to give you financing for your purchase and how the owner, John Doe, is a member of a number of Metropolis organizations.

And they do deliver, though they have a $25 minimun order and they charge a $10 delivery fee for all orders under $100. So far they only deliver throughout the East Bay, though they hope to expand (so all of you in San Francisco who are hungering for Red Velvet Cake, may get it soon).

Anyway, it's a locally own (AFAIK) and small business, and I like that it's there.

P., my faithful reader of restaurant reviews, sends me two recommendations for restaurants to try.

I've actually been to Makiyaki, a Japanese restaurant in the Pelton Center. The small restaurant has inside dining as well as a couple of tables in the sidewalk. I remember liking it, though I've never gotten around to reviewing it.

P. says she likes Makiyaki better than Ozeki, because it's cheaper and cleaner, while offering the same menu options. The Lion King roll is particularly good.

Makiyaki
134 Pelton Center Way (in Pelton Plaza)
San Leandro
Tel: 510-895-0488

P. also recommends Mayflower in Union City for dim sum. She says it's brighter, cleaner and more popular than her previous recommendation, Hong Kong in Hayward. The dim sum and other Chinese food are excellent. It has two additional locations in San Francisco and Milpitas.

Mayflower
34348 Alvarado Niles Road (in Marina shopping center)
Union City
Tel: 510-489-8386

Thanks P. for your recommendations!