IPA in Accra Almost five years ago, I poured a pint of Scotland’s Black Isle Blonde for a Ghanaian chef who came into the bar I worked at in Edinburgh. We bonded over our love of the beer, and he told me all about his country, which I was, coincidentally, about to visit. This new … | Continue reading
Skyr in Reykjavik The first thing Iceland would like you to know about Skyr is it isn’t yogurt. It is at first glance. It’s sold next to the real yogurt, and comes in a variety of delightful fruit flavors, like yogurt. But it is not yogurt. The difference is Skyr is more solid th … | Continue reading
Raspado in Tucson I had no idea what a raspado was before I went to Arizona. It’s a Mexican-style shaved-ice drink, named from the Spanish raspar, which means “to scrape.” It can be topped with fruit, flavoring, syrup, and various condiments. It can be sweet, savory, spicy, or al … | Continue reading
Tea in the Nineveh Plains The men stir their tea. They speak, stare, and listen. Then, they stir some more. Some strangers—now fellow-travelers and, indeed, friends—and I have been traipsing around the Nineveh Plains all day. We’re on our way to Mosul. The Western journalists amo … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Hello, all! I’m Alexa, R&K’s senior producer, filling in for Cara on this week of good and bad Cuba news. First, the good: we published Colombian journal … | Continue reading
Coconut cookies in Kabul The Slice Bakery opened while I was briefly living in Istanbul, but even in Turkey, I heard that it had become a gathering point for young people in Kabul. Visitors to Istanbul from Kabul would talk about meetings and debates over coffee and pastries—Turk … | Continue reading
Cider in Cornwall We had driven five hours from London to get to St Ives, on the western tip of Cornwall, England. On single-lane roads on which we were the only car, past cliffs looking over the Celtic Sea, under bridges with faded EU flags tied onto them, flapping in the wind—t … | Continue reading
Pork sausage and marshmallow salad in Tavistock, Ontario Defeat makes you hungry. Or maybe it’s the fact that we dragged ourselves out of bed at 6:00 a.m. to make it to the World Crokinole Championship on time. Either way, two intense hours of disk-flicking have failed to get us … | Continue reading
Urak in Goa It was hot and humid. The monsoon season was still a few weeks away; just the right weather for downing a few pegs of urak. Feni might be the more famous Goan brew, distilled from the cashew apple, but urak—the fruit’s first distillate—is the drink of choice for Goans … | Continue reading
Encebollado in Esmeraldas It’s noon, and the whole flat is waking up, hungry, with thumping headaches. Trying to piece the together the night before is a daunting task. The best way to do it is over some encebollado, Ecuador’s famous fish soup. We head out, tired and sweating on … | Continue reading
Mint tea in the Sahara We had been driving off-road through the Sahara near the Moroccan-Algerian border for what seemed like a day, but was probably closer to two hours. Every bump along the landscape became more pronounced. The rattling of the truck grew louder, drowning out th … | Continue reading
HAVANA, Cuba— It’s 11 p.m. on a pleasant, breezy Wednesday night in Havana as I walk into one of the city’s public parks with for-pay Wi-Fi. I’m in the Vedado district, the city’s entertainment hub, which is filled with tall modernist buildings, art deco walk-up apartments, and p … | Continue reading
The small city of Le Mans will be transformed this weekend as hundreds of thousands of spectators flock to see the famed 24-hour speed-car extravaganza. | Continue reading
Mezcal in Mexico City Upon moving to Mexico City, my husband and I immediately set out to determine our happy-hour spot, a place to cut through the smog that stuck in the back of our throats and watch the brilliant, dusty sunset. La Nacional is a casual mezcal bar, not hidden awa … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. This week, we published a series of photos following the Green Cross, a group of medical students offering aid to both sides of the conflict in Venezuela. … | Continue reading
Breakfast in Vienna I had just flown in from Kiev to Bratislava, in Slovakia, then took a bus to Vienna, another hour-and-a-half’s journey. My body was tired, but I was very hungry. Crisp air clung to the streets as I approached Vienna’s Naschmarkt—a vast food market with over 10 … | Continue reading
Whisky in Antarctica In March, I boarded a ship to Antarctica to shoot a documentary on climate change. The Ocean Endeavor departed from Ushuaia, on the southernmost tip of Argentina, and sailed around West Antarctica for 10 days. My fellow passengers were a strange mix of scient … | Continue reading
Fruit gaspacho in Morelia I was on my own for the day in Morelia, the Spanish-style colonial capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan. I’d tagged along with my husband on a business trip, and spent the one full day we’d had together sick in the hotel, with that feeling of a cat … | Continue reading
Beer in Budapest The “ruin pub” is a Budapest institution, and the place to be any night of the week in the Hungarian capital. The premise is simple, smart, and sometimes illegal. You take a piece of ground that is abandoned and falling apart. You fix it up (but not too much), op … | Continue reading
Palata in Yangon After walking around Yangon’s famous Shwedagon Pagoda, I found streets overflowing with roadside eateries and barking dogs, my stomach growling under the burning sun. Plastic stools, street hawkers, and endless rows of restaurants crowded the roads of Burma’s bus … | Continue reading
Beer in Pyongyang After my first afternoon in North Korea, happy hour had never sounded better. I was there with a group of runners for the Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon. Since we landed, it had been a whirlwind of tension and adrenaline, beginning with an intimidating … | Continue reading
Jidan guan bing in Beijing On his return to Beijing after two years away, my friend wanted more than anything else to eat jidan guan bing. The oily wrap—literally translated as “poured egg pancake”—reminded him of early mornings when he was a student, lining up outside of a stree … | Continue reading
KAYSERI, Turkey— I should admit that during my first year in Turkey, I was—aside from the chunks of meat that restaurants like to smuggle into innocent-looking beans—a vegetarian. Though I enjoyed the wealth of meat-free mezzes, salads, and sarma on offer, one day I asked myself, … | Continue reading
For this special edition of our weekly Drunken Screed, we at Roads & Kingdoms asked some of our favorite Brits to have a drink or five and weigh in on the surprisingly exciting U.K. general election. Grab a pint and join us as we rant, rave, and revel over last night’s vote. My W … | Continue reading
Beer on Hatta Island Pulau Hatta—Hatta Island—is a little island that the Dutch once named Rozengain that sits in the Banda Sea. Brutal wars raged here during the 16th-18th centuries. Part of the larger Maluku archipelago of Indonesia, the Banda Islands—then infamously known as t … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Happy Thursday, dear readers! It’s been a very busy week for me, as, in addition to following the now normal never-ending news cycle, I’ve been packing for … | Continue reading
Costeñitas in Colombia We arrive at La Popular in Barranquilla. The decoration, the chairs, the tables and, of course, the name of the bar, are meant to emulate the ambience of the traditional tiendas–-street corner stores that also serve beers. If it weren’t for their night-club … | Continue reading
Beer in Paris The black-clad cops crouched and walked backwards slowly, their faces shielded, their bodies taut in readiness. The first line of marchers approached them, a 30-foot distance between the two groups. It felt like watching one of those iconic protester-cop face-off pi … | Continue reading
There is the dark web, and there is the Russian dark web. I got a searing brainful of it when I was covering the Caucasus and Eastern Europe a decade ago: Bloody footage from inside the Beslan massacre; Chechen fighters slaughtering young Russian recruits on ogrish.com; the Dnepr … | Continue reading
Pasita in Puebla First it was cemita, a huge round sandwich that Poblanos, inhabitants of Puebla, are so proud of. Then it was cremita, a vanilla pudding, in a place called California that resembled one of those U.S. restaurants from the 70s that I had only seen in movies. By the … | Continue reading
Arepas in Caracas The smell of burnt corn slowly crept into my dreams. When I woke up, I’d run down the stairs with Christmas-morning excitement to see my mom standing over the budare, a thick iron pan cured for years and used for making arepas. The coffeemaker whistled and thund … | Continue reading
Flat white in Melbourne I have an emergency: a desperate need at 4 a.m. for coffee, good coffee. Instead of capitalizing on this gift of time and silence, my body is on GMT+2—Johannesburg time—and by 6 a.m., the deprivation taunts me. There are free Anzac biscuits in the hotel ro … | Continue reading
Apfelwein in Frankfurt It was the first round of the French elections, and I happened to be in the Schengen Zone—the 26 European nations without border controls between them—fresh off the plane from the United States. Frankfurt, Germany, to be precise. After chatting with people … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Ramadan began last week, and a very happy holiday to all of you, dear readers. But it’s been a very dark few days in some of the places that would be celeb … | Continue reading
Shabati eggs in Mexico Growing up, my family spent summers on Long Island, at a house my grandparents bought when I was born. There were 16 of us there at a time, counting aunts, uncles, and cousins. My Persian grandmother fed us all, spending the day in the kitchen while we bike … | Continue reading
Tsingtao in Lisbon The only thing better than a greasy plate of cheap Chinese food and a stupidly cold Tsingtao is the mission to track these items down. In a city awash with dining options, secret Chinese restaurants have become a favorite among students and tourists craving a b … | Continue reading
Pão and Pastel de Nata in Dili A simple menu on the counter of Padaria Brasão lists two savory items: pão com chouriço and pão com ovos fritos. My knowledge of Portuguese is rudimentary at best, but from the photos alone it’s obvious what’s on offer. We order one of each, two cof … | Continue reading
Assyrian wine in Istanbul When we lived in Istanbul, my wife and I called it “the Last Supper wine.” It had a print of the Da Vinci painting on the label, not as a proclamation of its particular genius but because it was a communion wine made by Assyrians outside the city of Mard … | Continue reading
Curd rice in Bangalore This city sometimes feels like a wide river I am trying to ford to reach my friends on the other side. We tell ourselves we are too busy or that the summer this year is particularly hot, and that is why we cannot meet more often. We don’t always tell the [… … | Continue reading
Pancakes in Chisinau At the London Pub in Chisinau, capital of Moldova, they try hard for that expensive steak house feel. It’s dimly lit, with little lamps on the tables. The menu is extraordinary, the waiters neat, if taciturn. It’s somewhat spoiled by the big-screen TV that bl … | Continue reading
Traveling is difficult. Let us help. Ask me about all things food and travel at advice@roadsandkingdoms.com. Q: My goal next year is to move to southwest France for less than one year (as that way I can get by with a long-stay visa). In asking around about financial matters, I’ve … | Continue reading
Tinto de Verano in Andalusia It was lunchtime deep in the hills of Andalusia in the south of Spain and I was dying for something cold and refreshing. Naturally, sangria was the first thing that came to mind. But they had only red wine sangria at this tiny alfresco café in Ronda, … | Continue reading
Sign up for R&K Insider, our collection of the most compelling happenings in food, politics, and travel from across the web. Thursday is upon us once again, dear readers, and this week, I’ve been thinking about food fights. Not the fun kind, like our paella battle royale last Thu … | Continue reading
Toast on the Isle of Wight While moving through the town of Cowes at a pace usually reserved for dawdling teenagers, the ‘Well Bread’ shopfront enticed all of our appetites equally. In the 18 years since we first met in a little commuter town outside London, my school friends and … | Continue reading
Ale in Yangon It’s a quarter to six in Yangon, and it’s finally getting cool enough to sit outside without sweating through my shirt. It’s April, the hottest month of the year, but the sun has mellowed into a fuzzy red orb and the mosquitoes have yet to marshal in earnest. There’ … | Continue reading
Coffee in Bacalod The colorful pre-war jeepney lets us off in the middle of a busy street. We make our way through the market in search of an early morning caffeine fix. Meats, fresh seafood, and vegetables are on display as we push against people haggling loudly. The aroma of co … | Continue reading
Vodka in Poland I had just finished a summer week at a winter resort teaching English to Polish business people outside of Wrocław, Poland and now, with the celebratory bonfire growing, it came time for my Polish students to teach me how to drink. Vodka seems to be the only drink … | Continue reading
Brunost in Norway The house I grew up in was sold the year after I left home, and I never saw it again. It’s in the Trøndelag region of Norway in a village called Å—a single letter word meaning “still river,” named for a stream where the water sometimes runs so slowly you can see … | Continue reading