By Vicky Hampton Portuguese wine is best known for its fortified ruby and tawny ports, its full-bodied reds from the Douro Valley, and its lightly spritzy whites from Vinho Verde. All of these hail from the north of the country, but the south of Portugal is often overlooked. The Algarve region, spanning the southern coast from the Atlantic ocean in the west to the Spanish border in the east, is awash with vineyards that are rapidly catching up with their northern Portuguese counterparts in terms of quality. But because Algarve wines are relatively unknown internationally, they offer some pheno ..read more

By Vicky Hampton I first visited the Algarve way back in 2013 and wondered why it had taken me so long. I’d had visions of sunburned Brits abroad and fish & chips on every corner. But that stereotype couldn’t have been further from the truth: cool stone cottages, clay-coloured scrubland, wind- and wave-eroded Atlantic beaches and ramshackle local eateries. Not to mention carafe-loads of dangerously drinkable Vinho da Casa. It was the combination of all of this plus my first waterpark experience at the tender age of 33 (literally one of my favourite days ever!) that put the Algarve firmly o ..read more

By Vicky Hampton I have a bit of a crush on Portugal. I keep coming back for more. Over the past three years, I’ve digital nomad-ed (no-made?) my way around Porto, Madeira and Ericeira – to the point that this year I finally downloaded Duolingo and started learning Portuguese. But nomads gotta roam, so instead of returning to old flames, I decided to explore pastures new: Lagos – a small city in the western half of the Algarve, on Portugal’s south coast.   Travel to, from and around Lagos, Portugal The easiest way to get to Lagos (or indeed anywhere in Portugal’s Algarve region) is to fly ..read more

By Vicky Hampton The first green shoots for this article were planted way back in early November, when – on one particularly rainy and windy night – I found myself unable to walk more than half a block from my own front door for dinner. I didn’t have high expectations for Greek food in Amsterdam (I’d been to a couple of Greek restaurants here years ago, and they’d been abysmal) so perhaps that made it a little easier for The Greek Embassy to blow me away. This? Fifty metres from my front door? I was converted! But before singing about my new love of Greek food from the rooftops, I decided to e ..read more

By Vicky Hampton I probably say this every year, but in 2023 I feel like Amsterdam outdid itself in terms of the quality of food and breadth of restaurants on offer. Usually, my annual Top 10 is made up of some newcomers plus several old favourites that I revisited during the year. This time, however, the majority of these actually opened in 2023 (or possibly late 2022) which speaks to the culinary creativity and quality sweeping the city. From fine-dining ramen and gaijin cuisine, to outstanding Peruvian and Nepali restaurants, to wine bars that punch well above their weight, Amsterdam genuin ..read more

By Vicky Hampton Most people visiting the Netherlands know little to nothing about Dutch food before they arrive. Depending on where they’re from, they may have tried some rubbery imitation Gouda or Edam cheese, or they might be under the impression that everyone eats hash brownies for breakfast. Fortunately, neither of these are the reality. And while Dutch food is still pretty undiscovered internationally, this only makes it more of an adventure for the first-time visitor to try. So if you’re coming to Amsterdam, here are the must-eat traditional Dutch specialities. Dutch food tours in Amste ..read more

By Vicky Hampton I’ve been lucky enough to go to Spain’s sunniest city, Valencia, five times in six years. My brother lives in Valencia part-time, and I’ve visited him every year since he moved there (except of course in the dark days of 2020). So this foodie guide is very much a work in progress: during every trip, I eat in some new restaurants and re-visit some old favourites, tweaking my recommendations as the years go by. My brother is almost as much of a foodie as I am, so unsurprisingly our lunchtimes and evenings turn into a culinary tour of Valencia – tapas, paella, horchata and m ..read more

By Vicky Hampton There was a time when takeaway meant pseudo chow mein from the dodgy Chinese restaurant around the corner, or Turkish pizza from that place down the street with the giant rotating meat stick in the window. Fortunately, times have moved on. We have the internet, for a start. Which – broadly speaking – has led to more choice, a greater appreciation for authenticity, and a range of different takeaway and food delivery services in Amsterdam that are better tailored to the people googling them. All this is good news for those moments of laziness in which both cooking and going out ..read more

By Vicky Hampton The question I get asked more often than any other: what’s your favourite restaurant in Amsterdam? It’s like asking me which is my favourite child! (Or not, as I’m merrily child-free, but you know what I mean.) Of course, I have different favourites at brunchtime, or when I’m in the mood for Indonesian rijsttafel, or feel like splashing out on fine dining. But the list below is made up of the restaurants I find myself drawn to again and again when I just want good, honest food. A cosy atmosphere. Friendly service. Nothing too formal. Job done. In other words, what I call: mode ..read more

By Vicky Hampton I do realise that Asia is a large continent and that trying to cover restaurants from so many diverse countries in one article is a bit bonkers. And in fact, I’ve written separate articles about Indonesian rijsttafel, Indian restaurants and ramen joints – because those three cuisines are so well represented in Amsterdam. But for many other restaurants that would loosely fall into the “Asian” category – Chinese restaurants serving dumplings or hotpot, for example, Japanese restaurants serving sushi or street food, Thai restaurants or Vietnamese restaurants – there simply aren’t ..read more