Its that time of the year when many expats intend to gorge themselves for a day starting tonight.  Pity I am still struggling a bit with some stomach bug that has blown my guts up – blocked them up mainly.  All I need is one more wafer-thin mint and I am nearly exploding.

So I was just reading about the restaurant situation in Kabul where there are now dozens of restaurants (I will assume 50) serving cuisine from all over the world.  Here in Dili, it is possible to get Southern Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, Portuguese, Brazilian, Turkish, Japanese, Macau Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, Australian (ie hamburgers, steak sandwiches, 12 inch T-bone steaks !), Malaysian Chinese and Burmese.  I may have missed one but there are definitely no Italian, Spanish, Mexican, Greek, German, Lebanese or Mickey-Ds.

I can’t say there is such a thing as a Timorese restaurant.  Nor could I say that any of them can be categorised as a fine dining experience.  One or two come close.  From time to time, you do come across exquisite dishes – perhaps when the occasional batch of lobsters hits the restaurants at prices that would make you wilt (ie cheap).

A few of the restaurants are offering Christmas lunch feasts and I hear that turkey will definitely be on the menu as it is available in the supermarket freezer.  I notice that supplies of premium beers have fallen and my favourite tipple (for casual not volume consumption) is out of stock.

I believe I have committed to 3 different locations tomorrow so it will be interesting to see how close I get to joining Mr.Creosote in gastronomic oblivion.  May your Christmas Day be stress free.