Switzerland: “DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!”

We’re at Biermarkt on King Street. Rob Ford isn’t here, but the place is packed with raucous 20-somethings. A neutral experience it is not.

Despite its vaunted selection, there are no Swiss beers available so I opt for pilsner. Fittingly, the last time I went to Switzerland I took a train through Plzen, Czechoslovakia (yes, that long ago) to get there. The Gruyere and Emmenthal cheese fondue is as Swiss as this dining experience will get. Shouting conversationally at my friends, I dip bread, pieces of apple and pickled vegetables into the pot. The melted cheese starts to bubble rather energetically and the waiter comes by to adjust the burner.

Honduras: Tacos El Asador (Bloor/Christie) is actually Salvadorean. But it will do as a representative of central American cuisine. The place is a tiny, colourful, chaos. Customers crammed in front, staff crammed into the kitchen. Since I had tacos a few weeks ago I chose a chorizo enchilada. It occurred to me that it was finally nice enough to eat outside, so I took my meal to a park bench overlooking Christie Pits. The enchilada was rather ordinary. But dios mio the fried plantain I had afterwards was delicious.