Take my advice...

Only in Europe will you have the following experience... and I am sure plenty of ex-pats can attest to this. You get tired of the food that is native to the area you live in and you seldom venture out of your realm because it's often a disappointment.

When you have your guard down and you are traveling you wonder if things are different elsewhere. Next time you have that thought please think back to reading this - STICK WITH WHAT'S LOCAL! No matter how good something sounds you will leave thinking I could make something 50 times better at home and be 50€ richer in doing so.

Absolutely steer clear of a restaurant that serves Indian, Italian, and some third cuisine. Yes, we have restaurants that are 'jack of all trades - master of none'. I assume as long as they set up shop in tourist districts they know they are going to make a killing and the people will never be back.

I didn't heed my own advice and, once again, I left severely disappointed.

I can insert whatever ethnic food that is not common here or anywhere near by (Mexican, Caribbean, etc.) For this adventure we tried Caribbean and I had read online that someone recommended it. I should have known by the name (Papa Joe's), but even still, I try my very hardest not to be prejudice, but this has happened too many times...

As soon as our appetizer came I knew we were in for it and I was happy that I didn't order anything remotely Mexican. I also clearly understood why they had an enormous drink menu, which these places often do, probably because people get liquored up and think they had a good time. No joke, the nachos that Stefan ordered were round tortilla chips and three saucers containing: guacamole (from a jar), sour cream, and 'salsa' (which was actually sweet and sour sauce) - that was it.

Next was dinner. It was unfortunate that we had already placed orders because we should have left, but the conversation was nice so before we knew it dinner was served. Stefan ordered the Saffron seafood Jambalya and I ordered a coconut chicken dish. Mine was served with rice, which brought me back to school days in the cafeteria. If they can send that awful rice over here you would think they could send decent food along with it. The coconut aspect was as if they opened a can of some coagulated drink mix and poured it over the chicken. Stefan looked at his and said 'on the menu it showed prawns...' as he dug to the bottom looking for them.

The highlight of the meal was a small British boy coming in with his parents and waiting to be seated. Near the 'wait to be seated' sign is a chair that says 'Papa Joe's chair' and something about only Papa Joe sitting there. Without hesitation after his parents told him he couldn't sit there, he asked the host (think with the best British accent) 'Are you Papa Joe?' Then he said 'Can I shit (it's the accent mixed with a slight stutter)--sit...in your chair'. I could not stop laughing. The man didn't understand him and he politely asked again saying 'I wanna sit in your chair.' They were whisked away to the table and sadly his wish wasn't fulfilled.

Neither was mine... would it kill someone to have decent 'exotic' food over here?