Wanderlust. A term thrown around of late but what does that even mean?! A strong desire to travel. But for me, it means so much more.
My recent travels took me to one of the most beautiful places I have been to. Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of being whisked away to the island of the white buildings and blue seas that I often saw on TV. If you’re a Bollywood fan, please refer to Mehrbaan from Bang Bang (if you know you know!) The island went by the name of Santorini. I felt as though my dreams finally came true when Z and I took a rather early flight to Greece. With no sleep, and the dream of visiting the beautiful island we boarded the plane. I have to share some pictures…
Santorini was nothing like I imagined – it was so much better! The moment I set my eyes on that vast mass of sea all I could say was Subhanallah, over and over again! In total awe of the One that made this beautiful Earth!
Onto the food, in general, the food in Santorini is amazing! Some photos of food I came across in Santorini that you might have seen on Instagram…
Onto the food, in general, the food in Santorini is amazing! They genuinely don’t understand the concept of halal or when I asked my taxi driver whether there was a mosque nearby he didn’t understand why I was calling the church mosque! But the good news is, their fish is amazing! Its so fresh and tastes like nothing you will have tasted anywhere else.
As we walked around Oia, the northern, posher part of the island where you see all the hilly white buildings, we found ourselves looking out into the most beautiful view I have ever seen, and I seem to have had the fortune of travelling a fair bit. As we were in awe of out surroundings, we saw a restaurant that looked nice so, as a typical Londoner, made a booking for the next day.
The next day we out our gladrags on and went to Lauda, a fine dining restaurant in Andronis, one of the most beautiful hotels in Santorini I had seen!
They led down a steep stairway and all I could think was I’m going to have to climb up all these stairs on a full stomach in a few hours! But once again the view overtook every emotion within me… Once again, subhanallah!
We were taken to our table by the edge of the cliff, a stunning view especially as the sun had just started to set.
The menu was simple, but enough to confuse a foodie like me that wants it all!
So we began ordering… But before our orders came out, we were presented with a selection of breads, and condiments of goats cheese, butter and salt
Each bread was different and divine.. You know its a good indication of the meal when the bread is on point – poppy seeds, charcoal bread, sundried tomatoes and breadsticks. Not a massive fan of goat’s cheese but it tasted so good with these breads.
Our appetiser came out… Tuna Tartare with Mango and Passionfruit Puree.
Our lovely waiter, Notice, explained that it was recommended by the chef to mix the mango and passionfruit mix into the meat. So I did and it was an amazing. The tuna chunks were meaty, fresh like you’ve never tasted before and the mango and passionfruit made for a beautiful combo.
Next came our mains.. Organic Risotto with Herbs Pesto, Mushrooms and Feta Cheese for me and Cod fish for Z..
Risotto for me is one of those global dishes that taste the same in every corner of the world, right? Wrong!! As with everything else in Santorini, the risotto was so special. Our waiter brought out a grater with a mushroom truffle…
The risotto was light and the taste of mushroom was fresh. The portions were a bit too generous for me and I wasn’t able to finish my dish. I have to say, the Greeks LOVE their feta cheese, I am they put it in absolutely everything – breakfast, croissants, pies, pizzas! But it was great on the risotto and wasn’t too strong a flavour as, we soon found, most of the feta in Santorini tended to be.
My friend had the Cod Fish, with potato moussein and lime sauce.
Now Z loves a food photo but I had to stop her from devouring this so I could get a few shots in.. (The struggle of a food blogger is real!)
The cod was so tender and alongside the like sauce was faultless.. I loved the combo, who would have thought to put fish and lime sauce together. Brilliant! Again, the fish was so fresh, it added a whole new dimension of taste and texture.
Stuffed by all the carbs we had very rapidly consumed, we were ready to go and crash at the hotel! Little did we know our waiter was going to convince us to have a dessert! (Okay fine, we didn’t need much convincing!) So our lovely waiter suggested the Caramel extravaganza. We agreed and we’re so glad we did! A beautiful dessert although a little too rich for my liking.
We were expecting the bill to be a bit of a shocker, especilly considering it was one of our last nighst in Santorini and we’d been spending our Euros like we had a wad of cash on tap (which clearly was not the case!) But I was pleasantly surprised to know that the total came to around the equivalent of £55 a head, which for the service, food and view wew got, I was rather surprised. I would have paid more for this experience (but let’s not complain about that too much!)
Food – 8 out of 10
Service – 8 out of 10
Price -7 out of 10
Atmosphere – 8 out of 10
Experience – 10 out of 10
Overall, giving Lauda a total TLH score of 9 out of 10.
Address: Oia, Santorini, Greece
Website: http://www.andronisexclusive.com/en/
Halal Status:Not halal, but lots of fish and vegetrairan options