Restaurant Books

I've lived in L.A. for just a month, so natives (or at least those who've lived in the area long enough to understand the freeway system) may not find this book as useful as newcomers will. But if you're in a boat similar to mine -- or even if you're not -- I highly recommend it, particularly for its guide to coffeehouses. No matter where you live in L.A., you're sure to find the chains (Starbucks, Seattle's Best, etc.) nearby -- and if you're like me, you may wonder whether anything else is out there. This book assumes you want something unique, and it tells you where to find it (from Malibu to Newport Beach, Downtown to Van Nuys). But my favorite part of the book is the brief but valuable information on parking, seating, and ambience. The descriptions let you know at a glance whether you'll find a cozy chair or couch to curl up on, and what sorts of people you're likely to find at the next table over.

Ingrid Croce has 3 restaurants in Old-Towne San Diego, California.

Last year, I was eating Ingrid's luscious Fetticine Alfredo (recipe included!) when I saw a book displayed called Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made.

Apparently, singer Jim Croce's widow had spent a couple of years there working and recuperating after her husband's death, and the authors came into her restaurant one day and they ended up trading books with her (she details her stay in Costa Rica in Thyme In a Bottle).

Well, I looked through The Last Country The Gods Made and ended up buying it a couple of months ago on Amazon and the writing's particularly engaging for a nonfiction book- parts of it almost read like a novel (kinda like Ingrid's book!). The photographs really grab ahold of you too. It's one of the best travel books I've ever read.

Weird, huh? The Croce's, cooking and the Costa Rica connection!

The section on practical information about Barcelona includes the airports, climate, currency, customs regulations, electricity, entry formalities, health and insurance, tourist information locales, where to find more detailed maps, additional reading material, security concerns, telephones, time, and disabled visitors' access. The sections on opening times of shops, markets, banks, post offices, restaurants, and museums and the listing of public holidays will help you plan your visit so you aren't disappointed by closures. Additional information about restaurants and places to see will help you plan your trip so you don't have to spend a fortune.

Used the Time for Food books for Madrid and Barcelona. My wife and I ate wonderful local cuisines at a wide range of places (the haute cuisine and piano player in a converted 16th century church in Madrid Vs the seafood market stalls in Barcelona!) and had a wonderful time. Descriptions were on point (we could identify which places we preferred), and often mouth watering. For me, a vacation with poor food is a disaster, and these tiny books made Spain a place we want to re-visit. My highest recommendation.

The specialty of the Time Out guides is getting inside the local culture and nightlife. I have used the Time Out guides for London, Paris, & New York. My favorite Time Out guide is for the king of nightlife cities, Madrid.
For this guide the Time Out people bring all their style and insight, but it is a 5 star book on a 3 star city,meaning that Edinburg has not as many museums or theatres, etc, as London; here the Time Out guide is very helpful in spending time like and with natives.
This guide does a very good job of covering Edinburgh, gives information on Glasgow, and the areas of interest above, below, and to the East of Edinburgh.
The first 30 pages covers the history of the Scotland, Edinburgh, and the current conditions, just enough to give an overview. The next 70 pages covers Edinburgh & its suburbs, with good detailed information on the sights of interest, including websites. 20 pages on hotels/accomodations; 41 pages on restauranets/cafes/pubs/bars; 25 pages on shopping;and the next 40 pages covers art galleries, what to do with children, music, theatre, nightlife, sports, etc.
Then 20 pages on Glasgow, 20 pages on day trips, & 20 pages on the traveling-tourist essentials.
Scotland is a dificult area to cover since it is unlikely you are going to spend a week in Edinburgh for itself as you would in London. I would have liked to see the Time Out guide split 50/50 on Glasgow & Edinburgh. Time Out guides are always skimpy on pictures, the Eyewitness guides make a good combination with them.
The maps are good, and if you are going to stay in Edinburgh you really must get this book. For me, staying in Glasgow as a base of operations for a week, and day-triping to Edinburgh, Striling, Arran, Loch Lomond, & Ayr, I still found this book quite helpful and was glad I got it.

This is a fat book: 415 pages with small type. It's probably too heavy to throw into a daypack as I travel around London on my upcoming trip, so I've ordered its smaller sibling, the Time Out London Cheap Eats, for that role.

However, if I were spending more than a few days in the city, I would definitely bring along this book. It is chock full of restaurant reviews, with very real-world considerations (such as whether a baby carriage can fit between the aisles), and not-always-positive write-ups that nonetheless give you a strong sense of what the place is like. One, described as "not for the faint of heart," explains that diners are hurried to vacate tables and the service is haphazard, and that "it's hard not to make new friends as you cosy up on long canteen-like tables." But the food is good (not that we in Phoenix know what "the usual North African crowd pleasers shine here" might mean, given a dearth of such cuisines). Each listing has the address, phone, web site, tube stop, hours, credit cards, and average prices at lunch and dinner. This is exactly what I look for in a restaurant guide.

It's also remarkably well organized. The main listings are by cuisine (29 of them, from African to Vietnamese), plus another section for cheap eats (some of which are noted in the main section, but this is where you find their list of the best fish & chips), another for drinking (pubs, bars, wine bars), yet another for shops and cooking classes. Indexes and maps help you find restaurants by area ("what's near the Tower?") and alphabetically.

An introductory section gives out the yearly Time Out awards, and shares top recommendations for brunch, kid-friendly places, late dining, etc. It's particularly welcome given the huge number of options available.

I can't speak to the veracity of the opinions expressed in the reviews. Ordinarily I look up what a guide says about a place I've been to, and use that judge how much I'll trust their rating. However, I've spent very little time in London in the last few years, and the couple of restaurants whose names/locations I remember don't happen to be listed. (I wouldn't have considered them Top Anything so I'm not surprised.)

Overall: I'm very pleased with this book. Considering its weight and the distressing exchange rate, I think I'll be happier with the Cheap Eats version.

This guide is remarkably honest and isn't afraid of being critical when needed. Establishments are accurately described in all aspects, warts and all. A much more refreshing guide than Frommer's or Fodor's, which tend to be 'neutral' or saccharine in their praise of places that have flaws needing mention. And yet, Time Out grants truly praiseworthy restaurants due credit, so that you know they've earned the praise, unlike the other two guides, who seem to think that every place is either excellent or very good. My week in London was greatly benefited by this book.

For natives, and non-natives alike this guide is a must have. The restaurant choices are solid and I have made much use of the accommodations information when out of town guests come to visit. It is geared to a somewhat younger crowd, but is FULL of useful information for all. It prevents you from wasting any time looking for places to go and places to eat that aren't worthy. All of their recommedations are on the money.

Time Out publishes a superior dining guide that includes enough quirky categories to satiate the adventurous. Whenever we get together in a large group, we always consult our Time Out NY guide. For such small blurbs, the writing really captures the spirit of restaurant, the best flavors, and the occasional downfall. Guide includes a section on Dive Bars and encompasses Brooklyn and Queens. Time Out's writing is geared toward 20somethings to 40somethings, though its picks certainly encompass all ages. Personally, I find Time Out more reliable than Zagat ratings. Possibly because personal opinions seem more readily available.

Incidentally, the London Time Out guide was one of the first things my husband's sister pulled out when she was looking for a restaurant to take us out to in London.

If you're a city slicker, club crawler or any other stripe of sure footed cement stomper this is the guide for you. While your at it check out TimeOUT's other city guides London, Paris? pourquoi pas mon amie? Just thing for those urbane urbanites!