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The Age
4 days ago
- The Age
When it comes to eating overseas, forget what's new. Go for what's old
This article is part of Traveller's Holiday Guide to bucket-list places to eat. See all stories. After a lifetime of chasing the newest hotels, hottest restaurants and latest food trends all over the world, I've changed my mind. Maybe it's just my age and stage in life, but I'm starting to place a new value on all things old. On a recent eating holiday in Brussels, I relinquished my obsessive need for the shiny and new, and instead spent time researching and discovering the old, the classic, the historic and the tried-and-true. It's quite the switcheroo, to ask 'what's old?' but Brussels is the perfect city in which to celebrate old-school cool. Suddenly, I was sitting at a dark, heavy, wooden table in a Belle Epoque dining room at La Roue d'Or, which opened in 1882; its muralled walls painted in homage to Magritte. The menu lists real Flemish and Belgian food, not just mussels and frites for the tourists; things like carbonnade (beef and onion stew, cooked in beer), and stoemp (carrot and potato or swede mash). The waiters are old, and have seen it all, but still bustle about carrying heavy trays that must kill their knees. Many of the tables carry a small brass plaque of the names of regular diners, just in case someone else imagines they can sit there. Lunch was at the legendary beer hall, La Mort Subite, now a classified historic monument. It's cheap, wonderful, and opens a window to a culture that has been brewing beer for a thousand years, and knows instinctively what goes well with it. That turns out to be big trays of cold meats and cheeses, and tartines of jellied tête pressée (basically braised and pressed calf's head, smashed onto a baguette). The oldest restaurant in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records (which may or may not be correct) is Sobrino de Botin, or Casa Botin, in Madrid, which dates to 1725. It's a very old-fashioned, beautiful, lace-curtained, tiled restaurant that, these days, is full of tourists. But never mind because it is also full of cool, summery gazpacho, served at the table, and the kitchen is aglow from the huge medieval oven; every shelf around it lined with young pigs in terracotta dishes. Terrifying, but compelling. London is filled with exciting new restaurants, but, oh, give me the old ones. Like the 138-year-old Sweetings in the City, for terribly English potted shrimps and skate wing and bacon, with puddings of spotted dick or steamed jam roll. It's lunch-only, with no reservations, but happiness is getting a seat at the mahogany counter, nursing a half-pint of Black Velvet, made with Guinness and French champagne.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
When it comes to eating overseas, forget what's new. Go for what's old
This article is part of Traveller's Holiday Guide to bucket-list places to eat. See all stories. After a lifetime of chasing the newest hotels, hottest restaurants and latest food trends all over the world, I've changed my mind. Maybe it's just my age and stage in life, but I'm starting to place a new value on all things old. On a recent eating holiday in Brussels, I relinquished my obsessive need for the shiny and new, and instead spent time researching and discovering the old, the classic, the historic and the tried-and-true. It's quite the switcheroo, to ask 'what's old?' but Brussels is the perfect city in which to celebrate old-school cool. Suddenly, I was sitting at a dark, heavy, wooden table in a Belle Epoque dining room at La Roue d'Or, which opened in 1882; its muralled walls painted in homage to Magritte. The menu lists real Flemish and Belgian food, not just mussels and frites for the tourists; things like carbonnade (beef and onion stew, cooked in beer), and stoemp (carrot and potato or swede mash). The waiters are old, and have seen it all, but still bustle about carrying heavy trays that must kill their knees. Many of the tables carry a small brass plaque of the names of regular diners, just in case someone else imagines they can sit there. Lunch was at the legendary beer hall, La Mort Subite, now a classified historic monument. It's cheap, wonderful, and opens a window to a culture that has been brewing beer for a thousand years, and knows instinctively what goes well with it. That turns out to be big trays of cold meats and cheeses, and tartines of jellied tête pressée (basically braised and pressed calf's head, smashed onto a baguette). The oldest restaurant in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records (which may or may not be correct) is Sobrino de Botin, or Casa Botin, in Madrid, which dates to 1725. It's a very old-fashioned, beautiful, lace-curtained, tiled restaurant that, these days, is full of tourists. But never mind because it is also full of cool, summery gazpacho, served at the table, and the kitchen is aglow from the huge medieval oven; every shelf around it lined with young pigs in terracotta dishes. Terrifying, but compelling. London is filled with exciting new restaurants, but, oh, give me the old ones. Like the 138-year-old Sweetings in the City, for terribly English potted shrimps and skate wing and bacon, with puddings of spotted dick or steamed jam roll. It's lunch-only, with no reservations, but happiness is getting a seat at the mahogany counter, nursing a half-pint of Black Velvet, made with Guinness and French champagne.
Sydney Morning Herald
10-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Island resort offers a wonderfully laid-back escape from winter
This article is part of Traveller's Holiday Guide to the best of the Pacific. See all stories. The hotel Little Polynesian, Rarotonga Check in After landing at tiny Rarotonga airport, the drive to Little Polynesian is easy: the quiet main road runs around the entire edge of the island, one lane each way, so it's a breeze to navigate – just watch out for wandering (tame) dogs. There are a couple of dedicated parking spots, or just pull up on the grass verge outside its stone walls. The resort's cathedral-style reception is light and airy, with views over the infinity pool to the glinting blue lagoon of your dreams beyond. The look Set in lush gardens with a backdrop of volcanic mountains and the ocean beckoning beachside, Little Polynesian is your textbook tropical escape – it's also adults-only for added peace. A quick stroll down a frangipani-laden path brings you to your villa fronting Titikaveka Beach, considered one of the South Pacific's best. The contemporary decor breaks from the traditional Polynesian dark-wood look, instead featuring lots of white and wicker throughout. The room
The Age
10-06-2025
- The Age
Island resort offers a wonderfully laid-back escape from winter
This article is part of Traveller's Holiday Guide to the best of the Pacific. See all stories. The hotel Little Polynesian, Rarotonga Check in After landing at tiny Rarotonga airport, the drive to Little Polynesian is easy: the quiet main road runs around the entire edge of the island, one lane each way, so it's a breeze to navigate – just watch out for wandering (tame) dogs. There are a couple of dedicated parking spots, or just pull up on the grass verge outside its stone walls. The resort's cathedral-style reception is light and airy, with views over the infinity pool to the glinting blue lagoon of your dreams beyond. The look Set in lush gardens with a backdrop of volcanic mountains and the ocean beckoning beachside, Little Polynesian is your textbook tropical escape – it's also adults-only for added peace. A quick stroll down a frangipani-laden path brings you to your villa fronting Titikaveka Beach, considered one of the South Pacific's best. The contemporary decor breaks from the traditional Polynesian dark-wood look, instead featuring lots of white and wicker throughout. The room
The Age
10-06-2025
- The Age
Stunning Japanese hike is like stepping into an (animated) movie
This article is part of Traveller's Holiday Guide to Adventure & Outdoors. See all stories. At the top of her voice, apropos of nothing, a fellow hiker yells: 'silence boy!' It echoes into the nothingness, unsettling birds and sending a lizard scuttling for cover in the undergrowth. It startles me too. This is rather a bolshie line to take up here on this balding rock peak with clouds so thick we can barely see which false step might mean disappearing over the edge. But my guide sets me straight. 'Silence boy!' is a famous line from the 1997 cult anime film Princess Mononoke, directed and created by animation behemoth Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. The stern words are spoken by Moro the wolf goddess to Ashitaka, a young warrior who is on a quest to reunite humankind and nature. The words are oft-repeated in Japan; it's a J-culture reference you might see emblazoned on a T-shirt if not scrawled on a wall. This lofty spot, credited as inspiring the scene in the movie, is Taikoiwa Rock lookout, the highest point (1050 metres) on the titular walking trail through Yakushima Island's epic Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine. Given the cloud cover, I can't match this view with the film scene, but earlier on the hike we are fortunate enough to pass through Moss Covered Forest or, as it's known by fans, Princess Mononoke Forest. Getting to Taikoiwa Rock might be a dopamine hit, but the real high is walking through the magical natural world of one of Japan's most-watched films. Yakushima Island is itself rather special. It is one of the southern Osumi islands, and is about 60 kilometres south of Kyushu mainland in Kagoshima Prefecture. It is roughly circular and can be circumnavigated via a 132-kilometre road. The island's 13,000 or so residents orient their way around this road like a clock face – the forest fringed Anbo River is at 3 o'clock; the undersea Hirauchi Kaichu Onsen, only accessed when the tide reveals its natural pools, is at 6 o'clock; and the 88-metre Ohko-no-taki waterfall – with the island's longest single drop – is at 8 o'clock. Two days earlier, I arrived at Miyanoura, the island's main hub (about 1pm) after a two-hour hydrofoil ferry ride. There's a small airport on the island, but the passenger ferry is the way to go. From the port, the gaseous emission from Sakurajima, Kagoshima's belching stratovolcano, fades into the distance as a palette of moody blue islands appear on the horizon. About 90 minutes into the journey, when the ocean begins to roll, Yakushima – the 'Alps on the Sea' – looms large ahead, a mountainous behemoth with a magistrate's wig of silvery cumulus clouds. Covering about 500 square kilometres, Yakushima is almost entirely mountainous, its central dominating peaks tickling the clouds above 1800 metres. In the centre of the clock dial is Mount Miyanoura-dake, Kyushu's highest mountain, topping out at 1936 metres. One fifth of the island has been designated UNESCO Natural World Heritage on account of its exceptional biodiversity. This demarcated area towards the island centre has subtropical coastal vegetation, high-altitude bamboo grasslands and, in between, the showstopper – primeval temperate forest where many of the island's endemic yaku-sugi cedar trees grow. These trees are said to be between 1000 and 7000 years old. Indeed, many tourists visit the island for this arboreal wonder alone.
