Categories
Chinese Local Cuisine Pingtung Taiwan Travel Wellness

Enjoying Lunch at a Healthy Organic Farm

Taiwan - Pingtung - Tai Wu Mountain Farm Bed and Breakfast - Misty Vista
Taiwan – Pingtung – Tai Wu Mountain Farm Bed and Breakfast – Misty Vista

Katrina and I continue to receive warm hospitality from the people we meet in Taiwan.  Just recently we were invited by a couple of our new found friends to visit Taiwu Mountain, just above the village of Taiwu in Pingtung County.  We spent the day sightseeing, touring an organic farm (which is something Katrina just lives for), visiting a local Spanish church and having lunch at wonderful bed & breakfast and restaurant.

Taiwan - Pingtung - Tai Wu Mountain Farm Bed and Breakfast - Lunch
Taiwan – Pingtung – Tai Wu Mountain Farm Bed and Breakfast – Lunch

The delightful meal was freshly prepared for just the four of us.  It was made from fresh local meats and vegetables.  The meal included a fresh pot of organic chicken soup with wild yams, which nourish the body and help with circulation.  The individual platters contained fresh greens, handmade black pig sausage (which you wrap in fresh lettuce and onions), some gourds, and three different mullet stuffings wrapped in plant leaves.  The last wrap I ate was a sweeten dessert that was out this world.   Everything was so delicious that no seasoning was needed.  I can still recall the aroma from the food.  The meal came from their farm with a specialty brewed mullet wine to clean the pallet.  The wine was sweet and refreshing.

Taiwan - Pingtung - Tai Wu Mountain Farm Bed and Breakfast - Wine Set
Taiwan – Pingtung – Tai Wu Mountain Farm Bed and Breakfast – Wine Set

After the meal, the owner took us on a tour of the different plants that grow on their farm and how she uses them for cooking.  It was very educational and informative.  She even took the time to point out some poisonous plants that look much like the healthy ones we eat.  The place was picturesque and tranquil.  I can only imagine how peaceful it is to sleep there and wake up in the morning to nature’s song in this tranquil setting.

Taiwan - Pingtung - Tai Wu Mountain Farm Bed and Breakfast - Meeting the Chef
Taiwan – Pingtung – Tai Wu Mountain Farm Bed and Breakfast – Meeting the Chef

I would definitely recommend renting a room, enjoying a meal and staying the night at the farm.

Categories
Greece Local Cuisine Travel

Ladokola

Greece - Kos - Ladokola - Entering
Greece – Kos – Ladokola – Entering

Katrina and I just had the best lamb & sausage dinner I’ve ever eaten at restaurant called Ladokola in Kos Town.  It is a relatively new place, housed in wonderfully quaint building, opened about a year ago by family from northern Greece.  The mother and father cook up the culinary delights while their three sons serve the meals.  We’ve eaten their twice and both times were a special experience.  The food was so good I had to write about it.  It is best restaurant we’ve eaten at yet on Kos Island.

We discovered Ladokola when we asked where we could find a restaurant that served locally raised lamb from Kos.  We had learned that many local restaurant were serving lamb imported from New Zealand because it was cheaper to buy.  While I’ve enjoyed good quality imported frozen lamb and other meats from New Zealand when living in the USA, I didn’t travel all the way to Greece to eat imported lamb.  It was a Wednesday when learned about Ladokola and we immediately marched out to try it.  Only to discover that lamb is usually served just Friday and Saturday, because they slowly roast a whole lamb on spit all day.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Greece - Kos - Ladokola - The Balconey
Greece – Kos – Ladokola – The Balconey

After getting over the initial disappointment about the lamb, we decided to stay anyway to try out some of the other wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen.  After looking over the menu of traditional Greek dishes, we decided on Dolmadakia for an appetizer and the Special for the Day, the Mixed Grill for 2, which consisted of grilled:

Greece - Kos - Ladokola - The Dolmadakia

 

  • Chicken
  • Burger
  • Sausage
  • Pork
  • Fresh Fries/Chips

 

Served in plain butcher, which we found out is the English translation of the restaurant’s name, Ladokola.  Everything was delicious!  Growing up in America the only sausages I could ever find were greasy and heavy, but this sausage was everything American sausage wasn’t.  They mixed leeks into the sausage adding flavor and helped to cut the grease.  I liked it some much I started steeling some Katrina’s sausage.  I honestly never new sausage could taste that good!  After that meal we knew we had to come back on Friday for the Lamb night and to photograph everything (you can see all of my photos in my Ladokola Gallery.).

 

Greece - Kos - Ladokola - The Sausage
Greece – Kos – Ladokola – The Sausage

We started again with the Dolmadakia (one of my childhood favorites).  I, of course, ordered the lamb without even looking at the menu.  Katrina ordered Kokoretsi, which is basically a lamb sausage wrapped in lamb intestines.  Again, everything was amazing.  The lamb had that flavor and tenderness you can only get from slow roasting.  Katrina and I always share dishes when we eat out, so I even had the opportunity to enjoy her Kokoretsi.  If you have the opportunity to visit Kos, you definitely need to stop by Ladokola for a meal or two … or more.

Greece - Kos - Ladokola - The Lamb
Greece – Kos – Ladokola – The Lamb

Greece - Kos - Ladokola - The Kokoretsi
Greece – Kos – Ladokola – The Kokoretsi
.