Established in 1990 the pub was owned by Tony Moogan from Liverpool, England. It was voted the best soccer bar in the USA in 2002 by FSC.
Their web site claimed “British pub and restaurant in Santa Monica – we serve British beers and British Food such as Fish & Chips. All of our food is home-made in our kitchen. Try our delicious pies! We are a renowned Sports Bar and have won many awards as the Best Soccer Bar in the USA – come and watch the live English Premier League games, World Cup, Champions League, NHL, NFL and International games on our large Hi-Def screens. We are home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and have the NFL package. Home to a friendly British staff and customers. Frequented by Santa Monica locals and visitors alike.”
This place was great. A typical Irish pub in that you could be from anywhere, walk in and enjoy a pint and bite while feeling like you’re in a local living room. They shared this experience with me. The staff was a family of friendly faces. Everyone was cool and got along well. Davey was a cool bartender. He had a thick accent and I don’t think he heard as well as he could have but his mind was always going. Barney was always cool with everyone and always hand his finger on the pulse of the neighborhood doings. All the staff girls were locals and just lovely. All were strong, smart and driven.
I loved going there for Happy Hour and getting $5 pints. Rich, the road worker, would almost always be there along with all of the other locals. For breakfast they offered King Size, English or Scottish Breakfast and all were a solid plate’s worth of food to help anyone feel better.
I’ve watched many big sports games in that place. The Kings winning the Stanley Cup was a good time as was any Sunday during the NFL season. During big English football matches the place could be so packed the crowd would spill into the parking lot and out onto Lincoln Blvd as seen below.
Sunday nights were reserved for the famous lamb dinners they prepared. Sometimes they would sell out if you arrived too late. The other option was the roast beef dinner. Personally, I much preferred the lamb and almost never asked for the roast beef. On a couple of occasions I actually stuffed 2 lamb dinners into my face!
Sunday lamb dinner
They also had a low rise stage that many entertainers performed on. The photo below was the image painted on the wall behind the stage.
The Cock n Bull was an awesome place and is forever cemented into the history and souls of many south side Santa Monica locals.
Currently, after a couple years of closure, the old place is being renovated to become another Mexican restaurant. Oddly, there are a few well established Mexican restaurants within a couple blocks walk, so competition for Mexican food might swing in the favor of the consumer.
Thank you very much and forever cheers Cock n’ Bull.
In 1989 Project Angel Food was founded by a woman named Marianne Williamson. She was joined by David Kessler, Ed Rada, Howard Rosenman, Freddie Webber and dozens of volunteers who bonded to create a program that prepared and delivered food to folks living their lives with HIV/AIDS.
Their Mission Statement: ‘Project Angel Food nourishes the health and spirit of vulnerable people facing critical and life-threatening illness, by preparing and delivering medically tailored meals with love, care and dignity.’ Their service is an outreach of the Los Angeles Center for Living which helps people with life-threatening illnesses. The Center for Living provides numerous programs such as The Clean Team, Project Night Life and hospice care. They would also prepare lunch for drop-in clients, but as fewer and fewer were able to leave their homes, lunch was delivered to them.
It was then that Project Angel Food was born and 36 years later the program is still cooking and delivering.
After being court ordered to attend community service for running a red light scam supported by disgraced former LA City Council member Kevin de Leon at the 1st street bridge, I was ordered to do community service. Being interested in food I chose to help out at Project Angel Food. Their operation is set up in the old Otto Nemenz camera rental store on Vine St. in Hollywood. Upon entering I noticed the place is organized and very clean. In the kitchen the first thing you notice is a huge banner announcing the million meals prepared in 2020 spread across the wall. Their brochure claims they produce 2700 daily meals or 1.5 million meals a year. Once you see how this place operates you’ll see how they’re able achieve these big numbers. Project Angel Food can produce large amounts of food and they have technology helping the pro-active staff to package the numerous nutritious meals. There is a huge amount of kitchen activity and the team keeps this place extremely clean.
Project Angel Food operates by an extremely efficient kitchen staff led by Chef Juan who sees all and keeps all the plates spinning on time.
The people here worked really well together and everyone seemed genuinely happy. This operation is doing so well in their Hollywood location that they are expanding.
In these high tech times you might be surprised to hear that spam isn’t just for emails. Spam is a versatile ingredient you can find served a lot of ways in many fine dishes like eggs, stir fry and fried for example. I even saw a spam monkey bread recipe online.
For breakfast I decided to use up the spam in my kitchen cabinet and came up with the following delicious day starter, spam n eggs. I added a little white cheese on top to melt into the mix.
Have you ever heard of a Turkey Devonshire sandwich? Well I hadn’t until Christmas 2024 when I found myself looking for a recipe for Turkey ala King and discovered the Devonshire sandwich recipe. The photos looked good and hearty and the sauce reminded me kind of eggs benedict, which I love.
The photos I saw featured layers of freshly sliced turkey, bacon and tons of cheese sauce delicately layered over some toasted sourdough bread. Some of the photos had sliced tomatoes jammed in the cheese sauce. None had onion which I think I’m gonna add as a side to my west coast version along with adding a couple of thin slices of ham. The traditional version is excellent but you are welcome to try my version and let me know what you think.
I’m still thinking about a name for my version as I tweak this classic recipe. (The Venician, a Cheesy Bird Sandwich, Turkey Lava, Cheezy P, the Gobbler, the Boardwalk, etc) I may even create a version served in a roll or with eggs and/or potato’s on the side.
The Turkey Devonshire sandwich originated in 1934 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is typically served as a hot open-faced sandwich on toasted bread with hot turkey, bacon, tomatoes and a cheese sauce. The sandwich is similar to a Kentucky Hot Brown, which it will be compared with in a future post.
The Devonshire is credited as being created by Frank Blandi (1907-1999), a Sicilian American, who first served them at the Stratford Club located between Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield and Shadyside neighborhoods. The sandwich was named after Devonshire Street, located one block away. This sandwich was the ‘go to’ in the 1960s and still remains a local favorite 65 years later.
Some say this sandwich design was borrowed by the 21 Club’s popular chicken hash, which was a dish of diced chicken covered in Mornay sauce and then browned which leans towards the Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich.
Frank Blandi’s Original Devonshire Sandwich Recipe
Cheesy Cream Sauce
3/4 stick butter, melted
1 cup flour
1/4 lb cheddar cheese, grated
1 pint chicken broth
1 pint hot milk
1 tsp salt
a splash of Sauv Blanc (optional)
Melt butter in deep pan and add flour, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth and then hot milk, stirring all the while. Add cheese and salt. Bring to boil, then cook slowly for 20 minutes, still stirring. Cool to lukewarm. Beat with wire whip until smooth before using. This makes enough sauce for 6 Devonshire sandwiches.
For each sandwich:
1 slice toast, crusts trimmed off
2 slices crisp bacon
4 thin slices cooked turkey breast
2 thin ham slices (optional)
thick tomato slice (optional)
thin white onion slice (optional)
sliced or shaved sharp cheddar
Cream Sauce
Melted butter
Parmesan cheese and paprika
Preheat oven to 450.
In each flat, individual oven-proof casserole dish, place 1 slice of toast and top with 3 slices bacon. Add 5 thin slices of cooked turkey breast. Cover completely with cream sauce. Sprinkle with a little melted butter, then with the combined Parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Layer slices of white toast at the bottom of a casserole pan. Layer Turkey, ham and/or crab meat. Cover that with tomato, onion and slices of cheddar cheese and stick it in the broiler to help the flavors blend together. When sufficiently heated pull and top with cheese sauce and bacon slices.
Bon appetit.
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Directions;
Fry bacon and remove from pan.
Drain.
Set aside.
Melt ¾ stick butter and add flour while stirring.
Add chicken broth.
Stir.
Add hot milk.
Stir.
Add cheese and salt.
Bring to boil.
Reduce heat.
Cook slowly for 20 minutes, stirring constantly.
Cool to lukewarm.
Whip cheese sauce with wire beater until smooth.
Place 1 slice toast in a casserole dish and top with sliced bacon.
Add slices turkey.
Cover with the cheese sauce.
Sprinkle with a melted butter, Parmesan cheese and paprika.
Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown
The only options are tomatoes. Most writers who tried it both ways recommended adding the tomatoes, so I included them. I also took the liberty of adding sliced ham and onion and possibly a few capers to this mix of flavors.
It wouldn’t be weird to prepare this dish on toasted english muffins or oven pop up rolls either.
Did you know that Portugal consumes 20% of all cod fish caught on earth?! Oddly, cod is not found in the waters surrounding Portugal but the fish is so popular that the Portuguese people have more cod recipes than there are days in a year! Portugal has long had a love affair with cod, especially salted cod. The fish is more than just good food to the Portuguese, it is a part of their culture and everyday life.
Cod air drying.
Cod was introduced to the Portuguese people by Viking nomads. The Vikings captured abundant amounts of cod in the cold seas off the Nordic countries and tried to preserve the fish by letting it dry in the open air. During the Middle Ages the Vikings began preserving their cod with salt, which they learned from the Romans and the Basque. The Vikings obtained salt from Portugal and traded for cod. The Portuguese had plenty of salt to sell and cod fish became a solid source of food amongst the Portuguese people. Meat was expensive in Portugal during these times and supplying fresh meats and fish to the interior of the country was a complicated task. Salted cod was an easy and inexpensive food alternative, easier to provide throughout Portugal and became a popular thing to eat.
Dried Salted Cod
In the mid-1500s a Portuguese expedition heading to India saw Newfoundland for the first time and Portuguese cod fishing began. The Portuguese fishermen were eventually driven away by the English and French corsairs that dominated the fishing activities in the region during these times.
Cod fishing was a hard and dangerous job. These fisherman led a life of sacrifice, as cod fishing was done the traditional way. Sailing from Belém, Lisbon, the cod fishing ships were luggers and sailing ships, which towed dories used for line fishing and had the capacity to carry between 900 and 950 tons of cod. The fishermen were forced to row away from the main ship, sometimes two or three miles, to manually fish with lines and hooks. Each man fished alone for hours until their small boat was full of cod. While fishing they encountered freezing winds, fog, strong waves and icebergs. Some didn’t make it back to the fishing ships and died at sea. If they did make it back to the ship they would then unload, scale and salt the catch making for even longer work days. After reaching land, the fish was washed to remove all the salt and dried until dehydrated. The codfish drying process took place outdoors in the Algarve, on the South Bank of the Tagus, in Setúbal, Figueira da Foz, Aveiro and Viana do Castelo.
On the 9th of July 1920, the Portuguese Fishing Company was founded by four small shipowners. They set up headquarters in the old facilities of the Lisbon Company Cotton Factory in Olho de Boi, Almada. To reduce foreign dependency and guarantee the country’s food supply, Antonio Salazar, Portugal’s leader at this time, centralized organized fishing activities, encouraged the creation of cooperatives and formed cartels that handled the supplies thus beginning the famous Codfish Campaign began in 1934.
During World War II, Portugal maintained its fishing activity. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, two cod fishing ships, ‘Maria de Gloria’ and ‘Delães’ were sunk by Nazi submarines. An agreement with the Allies would state that these Portuguese cod fishing ships be painted white to signal Portugal’s neutrality in the conflict and allow them to safely sail the Atlantic, thus becoming known as the ‘White Fleet’.
White Fleet at sea
In 1957, Portugal was already the largest salt codfish producer in the world and peaking. By this time, wheat and codfish were the commodities with the greatest impact on both the country’s diet and its trade balance.
The last three large cod fishing ships set sail for Newfoundland for the last time in 1974, coinciding with the fall of the dictatorship and the peaceful revolution of April 25th which brought democracy to the country.
The Portuguese still love codfish today and it is said they have 1001 ways of cooking it. Presently, 70% of codfish comes from Norway and the Portuguese are always taking sustainable consumption, climatic change and versatility into consideration.
SALT FACT: Portuguese salt (Flor de Sal) is internationally popular and is similar to French salt (Fluer de Sel). Portuguese salt is collected from evaporation pools of sea water like they do in Nicaragua. With an area of 360 hectares or just under 900 acres, the Samouco Salt Pans in Alcochete were the main source of salt farming near Lisbon.
Carbonara is a popular dish throughout the world. Luca Di Leo from Barilla pasta says, “One of the great traits of pasta is its extraordinary versatility. You can combine it with pretty much anything. A carbonara base allows one to create different variations from experimenting from a roasted artichoke to sautéed shrimp. You can also make a great variation of carbonara with spices different from black pepper. Carbonara is a truly global recipe which can help bring people together.”
Carbonara di mare or “seafood carbonara” is an Italian beach favorite. For instance, in place of cured pork, three-star Michelin chef Mauro Uliassi substitutes virtually anything from the sea; smoked trout, small raw clams and even canned tuna. Norbert Niederkofler, another Michelin three star chef famed for his “Cook the Mountain” philosophy, has created Tyrolean Carbonara, a reinterpretation that features Italian Alpine ingredients including leeks, Malga cheese, dehydrated speck powder and spelt flour fusilli. No beaten eggs appear in this version – instead, he places one whole yolk on top of each bowl of hot seasoned fusilli.
Italians might embrace variations but there are limits. A national culinary crisis arose when the French attempted to reinvent this beloved dish as a quick one-pot meal. This action dubbed “Carbonaragate” sparked international debate and outrage among Italian food writers, bloggers, chefs, home cooks and pasta makers. A video demonstrating the French style carbonara went viral, being viewed by more than a million Italians. They were appalled to witness bow tie pasta cooked in the same pan as diced bacon and onions, finished with crème fraiche and an unidentified cheese, topped with a raw egg and parsley. Commenting on the social media uproar, Adam Gopnik said in New Yorker magazine ‘Carbonara purists cannot stop the pasta revolution.’ He argued that the concept of one-pot pasta has already ‘swept through American kitchens’ citing the popular Martha Stewart and Food52 recipes. Two Michelin star chef Marco Sacco offers a middle path. “In the kitchen, the protection and care of tradition must be able to coexist with the desire and the possibility to innovate and experiment” he explains. “The original recipes must be defended and preserved, just as an artistic asset is protected in a museum or a UNESCO site. But this does not mean that maximum freedom should not be given to experiment, innovate or adapt to the territory with new ingredients. After all, it is just food. Various lands offer various cultures and preparation techniques can differ just like people do.”
Traditional Carbonara Recipe Ingredients
12 oz of spaghetti 7 oz of guanciale 4 whole medium eggs (1 egg per serving) 1 cup + 1 tablespoon of grated Pecorino Romano ground black pepper
Step 1 – Boil the water for the pasta while you prepare the carbonara sauce. Remember: 4 cups of water for every 3.50 oz of pasta and 1/2 tablespoon of coarse salt per 4 cups of water. Cut the guanciale into small pieces and cook in a skillet over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir occasionally so that it cooks evenly. The more the guanciale cooks, the more its fat will melt and its meat will become crispy. The level of crisp is up to you. Some people like their guanciale well cooked and others prefer it soft. No need for oil: guanciale is already fatty, oily and fabulous on its own. If you want, you can add a tablespoon of cooking water and emulsify. This will create a great oily sauce to season the spaghetti nicely. When it’s ready, turn off the heat, cover with a lid and set aside.
Step 2 – Prepare the pecorino cream. In a bowl put the eggs and pecorino Romano cheese. Use the whole egg. Pecorino Romano, the only cheese that is recommended for making carbonara, is a very salty and flavorful Italian cheese so there is no need to add salt.
Step 3 – Add freshly ground black pepper and mix quickly until you have a creamy sauce.
Step 4 – This egg and pecorino cheese sauce should be quite thick. Set it aside for the moment. The water should now be boiling so add the salt and cook the spaghetti. If you chose a fairly large pot, the spaghetti should fit comfortably without breaking them. Whole, unbroken spaghetti is best, so you can more easily roll them around on your fork.
Step 5 – Drain the pasta when ready. Then place them in the skillet, over high heat, to season well with the guanciale. At this step, we have reached the crucial moment of spaghetti carbonara. Not to put tension on it, but this is the fleeting moment in which you can make an immortal dish or one that will be a real failure. So now you have to be quick, ready and ruthless. Here’s how to do it:
Step 6 – When the spaghetti and guanciale sizzle in the pan, TURN OFF THE HEAT, otherwise the eggs will overcook and you’ll end up with scrambled eggs and pasta! Now quickly add the eggs and pecorino cream to the hot pasta and stir. The pan is not too hot, this way the eggs will cook without lumps. Pay attention to the consistency, which should be creamy, but not runny. If you notice that your carbonara is too runny, add some grated pecorino cheese. On the other hand, if you see that it’s too sticky and dense, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of cooking water.
Step 7 – Carbonara is ready. With the help of a ladle and a fork, create a pasta nest and place it on a plate.
Step 8 – Add what’s left of the guanciale, freshly ground black pepper and grated pecorino romano to taste.
There are many quality recipes online. Check these sites out to get started.
This form of eating called Tapas can be traced back many moons to when bar owners used salty meat strips to cover drinks and keep the flies from swimming. The salty meats promoted thirst amongst the patrons and drink sales thrived. Soon the drink covers became other salty creative snacks and a bar culture of food was born. Spain gets most of the credit for this type of nourishment as many of the ingredients used in creating these food gems are found abundantly in their region.
This salty sales theory is why in the 70’s and early 80’s many bar owners in the US offered free peanuts to bar patrons. Peanuts were cheap and salty and the President (Jimmy Carter) was a peanut farmer. Jimmy’s brother Billy was a famous beer drinker. See how these things go together. The cool thing was back then that many places just let you throw the empty peanut shells on the floor like at a hockey game.
The Dude of Food was really impressed in Donostia/San Sabastian. While visiting this beautiful Basque place many great items were discovered. I stumbled upon a place named Bar Desy that invited me to try tons of great foods including an extensive tapas menu. I went back to Bar Desy a lot, sometimes 3 times a day, for the next week. The staff was great and I even met the owners father.
The top photo is one I took after I created a few tapas for my Brazilian girlfriend to enjoy while listening to some Samba and sipping on wine. We would look deep into each others eyes and share moments that made the world outside go quiet. Love was in the air. I digress.
Anyways as stated, the Dude of Food created the above pictured tapas. On the various breads are oil, cheese, meats, tomato sauce, veggies, sardines, salt and herbs. Tapas are fun to make, great to share and super enjoyable to eat.
Below was my first pass by the home made tapas table.
Body builders, fighters, athletes, nutritionists, historians, archivists and intelligent eaters everywhere all agree that eggs and chicken are good sources of protein and carbs are good for a body in motion. They too would agree upon the fact that vegetables are good for folks. So when I mixed eggs, chicken, potatoes, celery and onions together, in theory, I made super food, no? The recipe ingredients follow at the end of article.
Super Food photo: p3
I started by peeling, cubing and boiling 3 potatoes in salted water. I use and love my Oneida knife. I’m not endorsed by them but this knife and I have grown together in the kitchen and we both try to look good while staying sharp.
You can add steamed peas to the mix if you like. If so now is the time to retrieve them from the freezer and steam a cup full of them. Once steamed, cover and let sit.
Vegetables
Now is the time to chop the vegetables, onions and celery, while the potatoes are warming up. I like to leave the onion a little chunkier and dice the celery up pretty small as you can see in the photo.
Peel and chop up the hard boiled eggs.
Remove the meat from the precooked chicken thighs.
Love my Oneida knife
Once the potatoes are cooked you need to drain them and return them to the hot pan. Add the chopped onions, celery, eggs and chicken to the warm potatoes. If you are adding peas add them now too. Stir in the mayo, mustard, vinegar, relish and spices. No need to stir hard or use mixer as the potatoes are soft and will become mashed if you mix vigorously. It’s not bad, as some may prefer the texture, but personally I like the potatoes to maintain some cube shape. The taste is the same.
Once mixed you can enjoy warm with crackers or cool in fridge and enjoy in lettuce bowls later or between toasted sourdough slices in the morning with a slice of cheese. It’s a bit like tapas and goes great with wine, anti pasta salads, appetizer trays and sunsets.
Now getting back to the nutritional status of being called a ‘super food’. I think it certainly qualifies for the title as it tastes ‘super’. The Dude of Food fully approves and recommends trying this. This new super food group deserves all 5+ Golden Fork Awards if any are to be given.
3 large gold potatoes 4 hard boiled eggs 4 chicken cooked thighs 3 chopped celery sticks 2 chopped green onion stalks 1/4 chopped white onion 3 spoon fulls of mayonnaise 3 circle squirt of yellow mustard 1 spoon full of dill relish 2 cap fulls apple cider vinegar Add salt, pepper, paprika to your taste.
Additional options could include but certainly not limited to: avocado, peas, sour cream, ranch dressing or raisins. If you add grapes then we probably aren’t friends.
1 six pack of your favorite beer or 1 bottle of favorite wine
1 cup rice
6 chicken thighs
8 oz tub of diced baby bella mushrooms
1/4 onion
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon minced garlic or 2 chopped garlic cloves
Olive oil
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream - optional
chopped parsley - optional
1 cup peas - optional
Salt and black pepper
Herbs (thyme, sage, tarragon, rosemary, paprika)
Preparation:
Pour your favorite beverage into a glass and collect your ingredients including pans and utensils. Remember to pick a pan large enough to hold everything at the end as we’re doing 1 pot style.
Open the package of chicken and individually rinse each piece in cold water and dry with a paper towel.
Season your chicken with salt, black pepper, herb mix. Some folks put everything in a bag and shake the dried chicken in the bag. Dealers choice here but if your chicken isn’t dry it just makes a mess. I prefer the sprinkle on both sides method. Also don’t neglect your drink. Your beer might be getting warm.
Pour enough olive oil to barely or lightly cover surface of pan and heat on medium-high heat. When oil is hot, carefully place the chicken thighs skin-side down in the hot oil and leave to fry for roughly 5 – 6 minutes. The chicken skin should not stick to the pan if cooked right. Flip and continue to fry on the other side for another 4 – 5 minutes. Both sides should be lightly crisped.
Remove seared chicken from oil, letting the oil drip back in pan, cover and set aside for now. Do not refrigerate the chicken. Now is a good time to sip your drink or refill if needed. I always keep my beer close so I am easily reminded.
Turn the heat down just a bit and in the still hot and now empty oiled chicken pan add garlic, butter, parsley and onions and simmer for 6 minutes or so. If adding peas add them now too. Still frozen is OK but I prefer if the peas have sat out on the counter for a bit and thawed. Once the peas have simmered for a couple minutes you can add the mushrooms and continue to simmer until the onions are soft and nearly clear.
Add washed rice on top of the simmering veggies and stir. After the heat has toasted the rice for a couple minutes pour chicken stock into the mix. The thing to do is de-glaze the pan as you stir in the added stock to the rice by giving it a gentle stir. Remember not to scrape metal spoons on pan bottoms when stirring. Use a wooden spoon to stir. I try not to use plastic utensils although I have a good one just in case.
After about 10 minutes or so place the chicken on top of the steaming rice in the pan and reduce the heat. Now would be when you would add the heavy cream if choosing to do so. Let the whole thing simmer together for another 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is soft. Sprinkle some chopped parsley on top, stir, cover and let sit for a couple more minutes while you top off your drinks.
One of the things I noticed about people returning from the island of Ometepe was that they all projected a relaxed vibe. Being on vacation at the beach I was already relaxed but I was curious about this vibe other folks were experiencing. They all said they had just returned from visiting Ometepe and the surrounding areas.
Taking the ferry from Rivas to cross to the island is easy, inexpensive and takes an hour. The boats run pretty frequently and make it easy to get back to the mainland if needed during daylight hours. The town of Moyogalpa is there like a patient friend waiting to greet the arriving ferry travelers. The town is a neat little arrangement of approximately 6 square blocks that you can find nearly everything you might need. There are many places available to stay between the 2 volcanoes on this big island and everything can be arranged once arriving in Moyogalpa if a pick up hasn’t been arranged already. There are a bunch of places to choose from within steps to regroup, have a beer, get some food and/or contact folks for arrangements. Read on.
My arrangements were made for me. I needed to be 3 blocks up and 1 to the right of the port to a place known as Hospedaje Siero. The family that run this place are great. Lucy holds down the rentals while her husband Abraham is handling the remodeling that was going on. The photo below shows the old school material delivery happening one morning.
In the foreground you have the construction delivery going on and in the background you will see the orange canopy Krisdalia. I’d visit Krisdalia for instant mocha coffees in the early mornings. The mom and daughter team were nice people. Both the hostel and Krisdalia next door were easy to find and provided an excellent area to call home.
The island consists of 2 volcano cones that protrude through an enormous lake that feels like a wave less ocean whose perimeter claims roughly a 55 mile figure eight ride. Renting a motorcycle from Green Expedition was easy. They are reputable, trustworthy and came with a good recommendation which I share here. https://www.instagram.com/greenexpedition/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D
Along the same main street from the ferry and steps from Green Expedition is El Picante Restaurant. They offer a knowing staff, pleasant atmosphere, good blended drinks and delicious food too. The owner Jan knows many things, is very helpful and a great host. Many hours were spent here. Visit here for sure. Even Kurt from Canada recommends El Picante as you can read below.
The next place up and on the same side of the street hosts a sign that says La Cocina de Mami and offers rooms to rent also. This is an awesome place to go for breakfast. The other thing I loved besides how nice the staff was is the chicken pasta.
The last place you should seek out is up the main ferry exit road and when you get to the island circle road which is about 5 blocks up go right. About 2 blocks down on the volcano side is a small sign letting you know there is delicious food waiting to be created for you at Comedor Alma. We were always welcomed warmly there and treated like family. Everything we had on the menu was good. It is as local as you can get when it comes to eating in Ometepe and added to a great experience while visiting the island. https://www.facebook.com/memitoelnica/videos/estamos-transmitiendo-desde-el-comedor-almamoyogalpa-isla-de-ometepe/376300624389041/
Thank you to all the locals whose paths crossed with mine and for sharing your beautiful place and vibes with me. Muchas gracias. The Dude of Food
