Matera, Italy: Great Food, Good Prices And A View Of Sassi Di Matera

Il Terrazzino

Vicolo San Giuseppe 7
75100 Matera, Italy
Phone number: +39 0835 334119
Website: ilterrazzino.org
Prices: €€€€

Off of Piazza Vittorio Veneto on a small alley on the east side of the piazza, you will find Il Terazzino. Go down the winding stairs to this restaurant and pizzeria of very good quality and reasonable prices with a terrace view of Matera's famous (UNESCO) sassi where Passion of the Christ and other movies were filmed.

A large, nicely appointed interior set in into the cliff has ancient vaulted ceilings and several rooms with plenty of space for 30-40 tables. We were warmly welcomed by the owner who took our order because the servers had not yet arrived. We ordered the house wine (€3.50 per 1/2 litre), a deep red served slightly above room temperature and a good value.

The Tourist Menu is just €18 and includes primo (pasta or soup), secondo (meat dish), and contorno (fries or salad), mineral water, and dessert (spumoni or fruit). I had the Cavatelli alla Boscaiola (€8 ala carte), fresh pasta in a tomato sauce with mushrooms and ham served with grated goat cheese to top it with. The serving was healthy and the flavor delicious. The pasta could have been a bit warmer in order to melt the goat cheese after mixing, but, otherwise, it was a good selection. I also had the Salsiccia di Maiale Arrosto (roasted pork sausage - €8 ala carte) and a side of fries. The sausage was a bit spicy, but flavorful and well cooked, and the fries plentiful, large, and hot.

My wife had the Pizza Ai (Quattro) Formaggi (€7.50) with mozzarella, grana padana, gorgonzola, and emmenthal cheeses and without tomato sauce. The pizza was very well done and comparable quality of those in Naples where pizza was born with plenty of cheese and a thin, yet firm, crust.

We ate extremely well for under €30, the service was excellent and the interior roomy and rustic, and would not hesitate to return in the future.

CombatCritic Gives Il Terrazino 8 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Eight Bombs Equates To:

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Title: Matera, Italy: Great Food, Good Prices And A View Of Sassi Di Matera

Key Words: Il Terrazino, il, terrazino, Matera, Italy, Sassi di Matera, Sassi, pizza, pizzeria, view, centro, Italia, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, restaurant, menu, review, Yelp

Translation for Civilians: WTFO! = "What-The-Fuck ... Over!"

Airbnb - Eureka, CA: Terri Dropped The Ball And Airbnb Fumbled For A Safety

Serene Views (Terri)

Eureka, CA, United States

Airbnb - Terri's Serene Views (Eureka, CA)

As a frequent traveler and regular Airbnb customer, I made an "Instant Book" reservation for the very first time at Terri's "Serene Views", a private room in Eureka, California with this description:

"My place is close to close to beaches, Old Town, Henderson Center, Hiking, Parks, great views, restaurants and dining. You’ll love my place because it is in a beautiful, private, quiet neighborhood overlooking the golf course, tucked into a green belt forest with a comfy bed, private bathroom, use of the kitchen and big private backyard"

It's "close to close beaches", must be pretty damn close, anyway ... Instant Book is a feature that allows you to enter your dates of travel and if a listing's calendar has no occupancy during that time, you can get an instant "confirmed" reservation instead of waiting for the owner to get back to you. Sometimes it takes days to get a confirmed reservation from some of these ding-a-lings, so when I saw what looked like a nice place at a good price, I cancelled a reservation I had made on another site and booked with Eureka Terri ... BIG MISTAKE!

Here is my confirmed Instant Book reservation:

An hour-and-a-half later, I got a message from Terri:

"Looking forward to meeting you!"

BUT ... nearly four hours later, as I was prepping for my trip, I received this surprising and inadequate message from Terri:

"My family requests a visit during this time. Hope you find a suitable replacement. Thank you."

Here was Airbnb's CONFIRMATION OF MY CANCELLATION:

UNSAT ... FUBAR ... My week in Eureka is now Tango-Uniform  and I am scrambling to find a place to stay for a week in my price range ... thanks, for nothing Terri and Airbnb!

Now I'm going to have to pay hundreds of dollars more because some Airbnb Airhead, an unprofessional newbie, could not keep her calendar up-to-date. It makes Airbnb look bad because they condone this behavior and should not have been allowed. What is the purpose of Instant Book if your confirmed reservation can simply be cancelled on a whim by the host? Useless ... both Instant Book and Airbnb's response to the situation because when I sent them a message communicating my dismay, all I got was an automated response telling me, to paraphrase: "we're too busy and important to respond to every customer ... sorry, you are on your own bub!"

CombatCritic Gives Eureka Terri And Airbnb 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On MY WALL OF SHAME ... More Bombs Are Better!

One Bomb Equates To:

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Title: Airbnb - Eureka, CA: Terri Dropped The Ball And Airbnb Fumbled For A Safety

Key Words: Airbnb, Airbnb.com, Terri, Eureka, California, room, private, serene, view, accommodation, hotel, reservation, confirmed, cancellation, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, review, Yelp

Translation for Civilians: FUBAR = "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair"

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Caffetteria delle Oblate: It's The Bomb!

Caffetteria delle Oblate
Via dell'Oriuolo, 26, 50122 Florence, Italy
Phone: +39-055-263-9685
Website: CaffetteriaOblate

You will not find an air conditioned bar with better prices and a better view in Florence! Located on the top floor of the Bilblioteca Oblate (Library), kitty-corner from the entrance, you will find this small caffetteria with cheap drinks and snacks. Catering to the many students hanging around outside, you pay a little more to sit inside, but it is well worth it.

We had a caffé macchiato, bottle of water, and a peach iced tea, coming to just €4.50, the price of a tea at most places with a view like this.

The inside is simple with Formica-topped tables, colorful 80s-style chairs, and a wooden plank floor, but the view of the Duomo's dome is imposing and spectacular.

A great place to rest and have an inexpensive snack after a day of walking around Florence ...

CombatCritic Gives Caffetteria delle Oblate 9 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!  

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Title: Cafeteria delle Oblate: It's The Bomb!

Key Words: cafeteria delle Oblate, cafeteria, Oblathe, caffé, coffee, snacks, Duomo, view, cheap, value, travel, menu, water, library, Bilblioteca 

Varkala (Kerala), India: India Jones and the Temple of Gloom

I had heard that this place was "the best" and being #4 of 59 restaurants in Varkala on TripAdvisor I would have thought it was a sure bet, but nothing is for sure except the grim reaper and the taxman.

To be fair, I made several visits at various times of the day and I have to say the service was dismal nearly every time. On at least three occasions I sat at my table for 15 minutes or more and was totally ignored (I many times purposely do not make a fuss to see how long it will actually take), having ultimately had to either get up and ask for or retrieve my own menu. On one occasion one of the servers, who I will call "India Jones" because of his long hair, unkempt beard, tattered shirts, and "local" Kerala dress (he wears a sarong as a skirt even though he is obviously a westerner), moped around, conserving energy I assume, and lumbered past me at least ten times, never asking me if I needed a menu or wanted to order. I sometimes believe that I am invisible here because employees constantly walk by without even acknowledging my existence. 

Chicken Salad Sandwich - 230 Rupees

The coffee and teas are good, coming in large (10 ounce) mugs, but are a tad overpriced by Indian standards.  The food looked good from what I saw others order, but is also a bit more expensive than most places. I have to admit that the only things I tried were the the toast, three large, thick pieces of brown bread with butter and jam (80 rupees/$1.30 - I had to provide my own peanut butter even though the menu claims they make a crepe with it), a large bowl of fruit muesli (100 rupees/$1.60 and not so large) which was not bad and a fair deal, and their chicken salad sandwich (230 rupees/$3.75 with cheese), a huge disappointment.  The bread, a small baguette (see photo above) with sesame seeds on top was the highlight, but what little chicken salad there was oddly enough was served warm, the chicken mostly dark meat and full of gristle, and the mayonnaise had a rather disgusting sweet taste like Miracle Whip, which I loathe. Disappointingly small and lonely on the plate with no garnish, it was one of the worst meals and values I had at any restaurant in my nearly four months in India.

The place has potential with its incredible view and open air feel, but the servers need to do something about their simultaneously apathetic and arrogant attitudes and start acting like customers are important.  As far as the food was concerned, I was not impressed, but the coffee and masala chai were pretty good. The only reason I am giving them 5 bombs and not 4 is because they are about the only place on the cliff that consistently opens early (6:30), so if you are an early riser like me, not always by choice, you can at least get a coffee or breakfast with a sea view no less.

CombatCritic Gives Coffee Temple 5 Out of 10 Bombs ... More Bombs Are Better!

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Title: India Jones and the Temple of Gloom

Key Words: Coffee Temple, coffee, temple, Varkala, cliff, beach, Kerala, India, restaurant, cafe, food, menu, tea, sandwich, breakfast, view, sea, CombatCritic, TravelValue, TripAdvisor

Himalayan Café and Restaurant: Fast (Free) Internet, Nice View, Tasty Food, Excellent Prices

Himalayan Café and Restaurant
Bhagsu Road (100 meters east of Main Square)
McLeod Ganj, India

Cuisine: Breakfast, Coffee/Tea, Tibetan, Chinese (Italian and Thai Available High Season)

Prices: $$$$$

Terrace and View of McLeod Ganj

I literally stumbled upon the Himalayan Cafe and Restaurant (the streets here are rough, rough, rough) while walking on Bhagsu Road, heading from the main square in McLeod Ganj toward Bhagsu Village (heading east). I might have missed it had I not seen the sign advertising "High Speed Internet", so I walked up the steel staircase to the terrace (right).

Terrace

The covered terrace at the top of the stairs has several tables with a few overlooking the valley below and all have a nice view of the Himalayan foothills. The indoor café below has just a few tables, but is warm and inviting with a few western-style tables and one large table with Asian-style seating (pads).

Chicken Thenthuk and Tibetan Butter Tea

The menu (see photos below) is varied and the prices reasonable. They have breakfast, Tibetan and Chinese dishes year round with Italian and Thai selections during the high season. I had Tibetan butter tea (40 rupee - 65 cents) and the chicken thenthuk (100 rupee - $1.60), a Tibetan dish of handmade noodles (long, wide, and thin, then cut into small pieces) in broth with a variety of fresh vegetables. The butter tea actually has butter in it and is slightly salty, creamy, and rich, an unusual taste that works quite well actually. The chicken thenthuk was warm, delicious, and filling, chock full of veggies and noodles, and just what I needed on a cool Fall day.

Lamb Thukpa

My friend had the mutton (lamb) thukpa, a large bowl of broth with assorted vegetables, and long noodles (that look like spaghetti), topped with fine slices of crispy lamb. Chili sauce is a condiment here and can be added to any dish, making it hot and spicy, but all the dishes I have tried are well seasoned and excellent with or without any additions.

Indoor Café

Easy to miss if you are not looking closely, Himalayan Café and Restaurant is a quiet respite from the hectic pace on the street below, offering free, fast wi-fi and a chance to unwind over a cup of coffee or tea, a light snack, or a full meal. The service is efficient, but even though their English is good, I did not feel quite as welcome as in other local restaurants.

CombatCritic Gives Himalayan Café and Restaurant 8 Bombs Out of 10 ... BOMBS ARE GOOD!

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Key Words: Bhagsu Road, breakfast, café, Chinese, Dharamsala, food, Ganj, Himalayan, Himalayan Café and Restaurant, India, internet, Italian, McLeod, McLeod Ganj, menu, restaurant, Thai, tibetan, view, travel, value