WTF foodie moment 12: Sour Crêpe

{ I sit a a local crêperie. I am trying to choose the right crêpe for me. It's mid afternoon and I have already had lunch. I ask one of the young waitresses for her advice}

> I am struggling to chose one of your savoury or sweet crêpe, between this and this. Is the savoury one very filling?
>> Offfff courrrrrseeeeee! 

{I get that she doesn't get what I mean, as she seems to be a young visiting French girl, so I rephrase my question}

> You know, I have already had lunch, so I wouldn't have anything that is heavy on my stomach, so which one would you say is better in that regard?
>> It is up to you.

WTF?!!!!     
Since when being sour is good for any business?
Since when having airs of a princess makes you a good waitress? 
Since when treating customers as a nuisance earns the respect of any customer?

WHERE? At small crêperie in my city. 

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Pure Fiji (Online Store)

 

Pure Fiji Australia is a division of Pure Fiji, the Fijian company that sells organic body, hair and face products branded as Pure Fiji, Reniu and Dilo. I am fan of their organic coconut oil infused body scrubs, oils (best for my skin), their facial scrub and some of their facial serums.

Their website is easy to navigate, pretty-looking and clean to the eye. They have all the info about shipping clearly available and visible. They work as most online stores do: You add things to your basket, check out, ad shipping fees, pay using your preferred method, place your order and then you receive an email about your order being placed and another email when your parcel has been dispatched.

You can pay with credit card or PayPal, the latter being always my favourite, because if you have any problem PayPal will back your claim. You can  track your order online if you are registered. However, it took my parcel barely two days from shipping to delivery, I think because they send the products via one of the real shops selling in the same city not a warehouse. 
  
They sent this through a courier company so I got the parcel in the evening. So need of tracking whatsoever.

Shipping is a flat 7.50 bucks for Australian capital cities and 9.50 for regional Australia. Cheaper if you buy in bulk.

THE DOWNSIDES
> Some of the products I ordered were not in stock, even though they showed as available when I added them to my basket. Two days after placing my order, I received an email saying that one or several of the products in my order were not available, and that they will send the parcel when they were. No details about product non available or when this would be back in stock. I sorted out things with their customer service by email in two emails, as they replaced the missing product with another and the parcel was dispatched immediately. But hey, I expect any online store to clearly mark those products that are out of stock before I add them to my basket.
> The same products cost way cheaper in their Fiji or NZ websites, which sucks. You cannot use those websites because you are immediately redirected to the Australian one. You are stock with your local division even if you pay more for the same product. 

MIND
If you live in the UK, USA or Australia you are stock with your regional website, and cannot order from  any of the others even though the products are the same and the company is the same. 

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Cafe El Fútbol (Granada, Spain)

Plaza Mariana Pineda 6
18009 Granada
Spain
Ph: + 00 34 958 22 66 62
Timetable: Mo-Sun 6am to1am. 
Website (in Spanish)

Located in the charming Mariana Pineda Square, this is a traditional place to eat churros and chocolate (or churros and coffee as it is also traditional) all day long, as well as some simple traditional Spanish food and ice-cream cups in summer.  

This café is really old, with a clear Art Deco that is actually original, not an imitation. The founder was Antonio Suárez Martin, the current owner's grandfather (the owner, an old man, seats everyday in a corner at the entrance these days) and this was a originally a door-to-door fresh milk delivery business turned into the café we know today in 1922. It was originally called Café Football.  

This café is mostly known for his churros, but they are open from dawn to dusk and serve everything, Spanish breakfast, lunches, tapas and dinners, with a main focus on Spanish toasts, bocadillos (rolls), cold meat boards, traditional Spanish tapas and raciones (like tortilla de patatas, piquillo peppers filled with fresh cod, gazpacho, salmorejo, several types of paella, and many other local seasonal dishes that are little known outside Spain). You can also find cannelloni, pizza and crepes but I wouldn't go there for anything that is not traditional Spanish.

Their churros are among my favourites in the entire city, churros as churros should be, golden crispy outside, fluffy outside, crunchy but not too oily, which is what you find in other places. Their hot thick drinking chocolate is the traditional one, too sweet for my taste. 

Their coffee is OK. 

They have gorgeous ice-cream cups in summer, but I am very picky with my ice-cream and I find them good, but a bit too sweet and thick. 

The place can be extremely busy at rush coffee hours in Spain and on Sundays, and especially in winter, even the upper floor, where a large seating area is located and open for those times is packed to the rafters. Their outdoor terrace is lovely, and it is always a favourite in summer and on any sunny day if you don't mind the smoke, as this is the café's smoking area.

 

 

The service is fast but the old staff, some of whom I have seen behind the bar since I was a teen, are totally unfriendly, with a funeral attendee's face, no smile, no niceties, nothing that acknowledges the visitor as a human being unless you are a regular. I understand that sometimes they are so crowded that there is no time for anything that is not getting your order and delivering it to your table; however, the service varies little when the café is quiet and a few customers are in the café. If you are a foreigner, rest assured that is not you, or your Spanish accent or the fact that you speak no Spanish, they treat locals the same and are unwelcoming, something that greatly unnerves me. Yet, this is a classic café, and they do what they do well, how it should be, so you have to grant them that, something that explains that the business is never in decline or empty. 

They open long hours and till late, so you can go there to end you drinking night and finish by putting something solid in your belly, churros and chocolate being the traditional way of ending your outing if you have a certain age and your outing ends around midnight. Most youngsters would be drinking and partying until way later. 

 One of those places that I always visit when I'm in Granada.  

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Citybox Hotel (Oslo, Norway)

Citybox Oslo
Prinsens Gate 6, 
0152 Oslo, Norway
Phone: + 47 21 42 04 80
Email: oslo@citybox.no
Website
The head photo is a cortesy of Citibox website

THE GOOD
+ Centrally located, a a short 5 minute walk from the Train Central Station, Bus Station, the main shopping area in Oslo, and the new Opera House, and about 10 minutes walking distance from the main sights in the city. 
+ Very clean rooms and common areas. 
+ Spacious simple rooms, bigger than expected, minimalist and practical, still cosy. Very Scandinavian style indeed. 
+ Bed, desk and chair were really comfortable. 
+ Heated bathroom floor.
+ Many power points in the bedroom to recharge your gadgets. 
+ Common areas are great, with two large seating areas and large flat screens, one showing programs in Norwegian and another in English. They have plenty of small seating areas, really stylish and comfortable, some vending machines, tea and coffee facilities, a fridge, a microwave, sink and rubbish bins. 
 + The staff were lovely and very helpful. There isn't reception as such, but sometimes they get out a sort of stand that works as such. Otherwise, you have electronic concierge in the lobby, and you can always ask one of the guys at the hotel office in the lobby to give you a hand with anything. I found them very friendly, helpful and welcoming, one of the best staff I found in Norway.
+ After checking out, you can leave the luggage in their deposit room and come back to pick it up afterwards. Just ring the button in the checking in area to ask a staff member to open the main door for you. 
+ Environmentally friendly. 
+ Good value for money taking into account the utterly ridiculous pricing of most hotels in Oslo. We stayed in another hotel, two minutes walking distance from this, paid double and it wasn't as good or comfy as this one.
 + A bakery-cafe is next door to the hotel and opens long hours.  

SO-SO
= Checking in/ out is automatized, but very easy to do.
= Free WiFi all over the hotel but it was temperamental and the line dropped several times during the day.
= There are ramps for people with mobility problems, that is great, but I found, that the joints between rooms and between the common spaces and the lifts had a metallic sort of elevated lining that were a bit of a hassle to roll the suitcase, but I guess a wheelchair might have no problem. 

THE NOT SO GOOD
# No reception as such.
# No safety box in the room.
# No TV in the room.
# No phone in the room. 
# No minibar in the room. 
# No room service. 
# No toiletries, just soap dispensers. I have no problem with that, but a body milk dispenser and a hair conditioner dispenser would be a great addition.  
# No wardrobe or any storage area, just a hangers rack, which seems to be traditional in Scandinavian hotels. OK if you stay a night, it might be a problem if you stay for several days.  
 # You need to to ask for a hair drier or extra towels, waiter boiler or an extra heater at reception. There was a lonely towel in my bathroom and not especially big.
# Curtains not thick enough for all day daylight. I personally have no problem sleeping with these curtains, but other people do as the material doesn't completely block clarity at night.
# Ugly views depending on the room,  and plenty of construction going on in the surrounding area.  
# The supposed 10% discount in the attached cafe applies just after 11am. 

MIND
>  The key card also activates the power in the room. When checking-in, you will be asked whether you want one or two keys. Take the two to have the power always operational. 
> If you stay for more than a day they won't clean the room as this is why the hotel is way cheaper than similar hotels in Oslo; it just saves money. There is a visible notice in the lift about this and it is also mentioned in the check-in sheet you get. This policy is very much of my liking, but it might not be of yours. If you stay for several days and want your linen changed regularly or daily you need to arrange this with reception beforehand before arrival by email and discuss pricing. 
> This a non-smoking hotel. If they catch you smoking, you'll be fined 1000 Nok, which is about AU$160. 
> The attached café serves breakfast from 7-10 on weekdays and 8-11 on weekends. They serve lunch and dinner as well.  

 ***

Overall a simple modern comfy hotel in the heart of Oslo at half the price you find for similar hotels in the same area. Lovely hotel and staff. I will definitely go back.   

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Ibis Budget Málaga Centro (Málaga, Spain)

Ibis Budget Málaga Centro
Calle Calvo, 4 
29007 Málaga, Spain
Phone:+34 951 21 38 54

THE GOOD
+ Scandinavian sort of hotel, with a basic stylish functional room deprived of anything that is not necessary, yet very comfortable and with anything you need for a short stay. The rooms are not as small as I thought by reading other visitors' comments, certainly they aren't large, but OK in size. If you have 3-4f XL suitcases it might be a problem. 
+  Zen style decor, minimal but very pleasing to the eye.
 + Bed, desk and chair were really comfortable. 
+ TV in the room.
+ Air-con in the room. 
+ Comfy large hard bed. 
+ Spotless clean rooms and common areas.
+ Free reliable Wi-Fi all over the hotel.
+ Snack and coffee machines in the lobby.
+ Small café area in the lobby. They serve a simple breaky at very cheap prices. You can order some snacks directly from reception, good priced and OK to fill in your belly if you are hungry and there is nothing open around when you get there. 
+ Great location in the centre of the city, very close to the Central Bus Station (walking distance if you have carry-on baggage) and a few minutes away by taxi (less than 10 Euro), just 6 Kms from the airport at a walking distance from some of the major sights

in the city.
 + Unless you arrive on a Sunday, there are plenty of bars, cafes and shops at a very short walking distance and around the hotel.
+ Great hotel for a short stay.  
+ Environmentally friendly. 
+ Great value for money. I have been in similar hotels in Scandinavia and they costed me triple the price. I have been to way worse hotels in Australia and they costed me triple the price.

THE NOT SO GOOD
- Minimal toiletries. If you need more, you need to contact reception.
- No safety box in the room.
- No phone in the room. 
- No toilet brush in the bathroom.
- No wardrobe or storage place, just a hangers rack. 
- Few power points.   
- No minibar in the room.
- The café is just a small dining area for a simple breaky, which is expensive for Spanish standards and has not many options. Make yourself a favour and go to the cafés around and nearby.
- The guys at reception are sometimes overwhelmed by the avalanche of customers, especially late in the evening when there is just one person attending to the cue, the phone an the cafe. It was stressful to witness. 
- Ugly views depending on the rooms. 

 ***

Overall, a good budget hotel that delivers what promises at ridiculously cheap prices. 
  

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