Best Restaurant Meal/Experience of Your Life

[weinoo]

I'm working on mine - and since I've never eaten at El Bulli, it'll take a while.

Yours?

[sped98]

Nico Ladenis at 90 Park Lane , London.....Won`t even hazard a guess at a year but prob mid 90s

[SylviaLovegren]

In the 70s (yeah, I'm old!) at the first "New American" restaurant in Seattle, Rosellini's Other Place. Started with a soup of wild local mushrooms, then a roasted locally grown quail -- done just a point, with butter, no herbs or distractions. A side of wild greens. Desert was wild blackberries, local, in flaky pastry. It was a revelation. Everything fresh and local, everything cooked simply but perfectly, everything in harmony. And served in a quiet, elegant, warm atmosphere.

A life changing experience.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Best restaurant experience thus far was in 2007 at a little, nameless grass shack restaurant on the beach in a tiny little fishing town (whose name I have forgotten, although I can find it whenever I'm close to it) in the province of Santa Elena on Ecuador's sunshine coast. I was the only customer there, and ordered their Arroz de Mariscos (mixed seafood rice.) The owner came out of the kitchen, sat down next to me, and asked me if I minded a bit of a wait; I said sure, and she called up her son. He was sent into the water with a spear, and I got to chat with the owner and chef while her son literally caught the octopus, urchins, small fish, and whatnots that went into my dinner, which was actually a quite amazing cream risotto topped with heaps and heaps and heaps of seafood; the only thing missing in the gamut was a lobster (which are not found at that area of the sunshine coast). I have never had fresher or better food, and I also remember the conversation with the owner as being very interesting.

[slschnur]

First time at Tour d'Argent with my father in 1970. Four courses (just remember the pressed duck), good wine, grand view of Notre Dame, then tour of the wine cellars. Being quite young probably helped too!

[Broken English]

I have Alinea, Masa, WD-50 and Moto coming up in the next three weeks, so it could change, but currently it is a toss up between Marcus Wareing At The Berkeley, and a small restaurant in Florence. The two meals were polar opposites, but equally special.

[Holly Moore]

I'm torn between my first shovelful of oysters at Bowen's Island, outside of Charleston SC or giggling my way through my first Grant Atchatz Tour de Force at the then Trio. Both are top of mind because they were so different from any previous restaurant experience, and they were exceptional.

[ermintrude]

Moto - Due to me booking way early and the reasaurant being booked for a party ended up with in the private dining room and by 9pm had the whole reastaurant to ourselves they had fun and so did we a briliant experience.

[ScottyBoy]

Last year at Arzak (Blog write up here). Incredible meal, service and at the end of the night sitting down with the father and daughter drinking scotch and talking California produce.

[&roid]

We went to the French Laundry about 6 years ago and it is a memory I will have until I die. My first time in a 3-star restaurant, during the time when it was rated as the "Best in the World" (whatever that really means).

Every part of the visit was brilliant and truly memorable - the ability to bring ten successive courses that each seemed better than the last was truly astounding. We had a great waiter who put us completely at ease, talking knowledgeably about not just the food but films, our home town, music...

Even when things went slightly "wrong" it made us smile: they momentarily forgot to bring my glass of sweet wine to go with the foie gras course, cue fresh piece of brioche toast arriving just as the wine did (less than a minute after the mistake was noticed), just so I didn't have to suffer the imperfection of eating slightly cooled toast.

They also managed a moment of comedy: bringing a $3500 lump of alba truffle to the table next to us, much pomp and ceremony, hand carved hardwood box, two wait staff, big fanfare then watching as the most expensive piece of food I've ever laid eyes on got fumbled after being grated to roll along the floor and under the table!

I've enjoyed a lot of meals since then but this one really set the standard for uber-high end dining for me.

[KatieLoeb]

French Laundry for me as well. Service was flawless. Water and wine glasses refilled as if by magic. Never an intrusion or awkward moment (I'd have gasped out loud at the truffle incident!)

When dessert arrived we were so stuffed we had a bite or two each and pushed them away, sated and deliriously happy. They were whisked away and replaced with two new completely different desserts within a minute. When we inquired why, we were told they didn't want us to leave not having enjoyed one of our courses. That's service!

[pastrygirl]

El Bulli, June 2005. Blown away - everything I'd hoped the experience would be.

Here are the notes I scrawled afterwards, that don't come anywhere close to describing the food. I have pictures, but not digital.

pina colada - dissolving foam w/ rum balls

parmesan marshmallows

"olives"

olive oreos

mini baguette (crispy & hollow) wrapped in yogurt croquant

pumpkin seed oil caramel drop

frozen (liquid inside) pistachio truffle

sea bean tempura w/ saffron, oyster emulsion

gazpacho - dissolving tomatoey 'cone' w/ frozen gazpacho, cilantro sprouts

steamed brioche bun w/ truffle slices, butter

consomme de 'tucapi' - brazilain thing? - w/ frozen passion fruit air

yogurt w/ butter, geranium, capers

mussels w/ assorted seaweeds

walnuts w/ brown butter, pickled tiny daisy heads

mushrooms w/ dashi cloud, sesame

thai soup w/ coconut tofu

white asparagus w/ olive oil gnocchi, lemon foam

mackerel w/ chicken foam/jus, chinese vegetable w/ vinegar

prawns w/ 'lentil of jamon'

boneless chicken wing

burrata - cottage cheesey balls w/ maple syrup, apple, pear, apricot

frozen peach schnapps w/ peach coulis

the desert - cinnamon ice cream, yogurt, strawberry, instant coffee, chocolate

guanabana foam 'teppan-nitro' w/ caviar (fruity seeds)

[annachan]

Guy Savoy - even better than French Laundry and Joel Robuchon for me....

[&roid]

French Laundry for me as well. Service was flawless. Water and wine glasses refilled as if by magic. Never an intrusion or awkward moment (I'd have gasped out loud at the truffle incident!)

When dessert arrived we were so stuffed we had a bite or two each and pushed them away, sated and deliriously happy. They were whisked away and replaced with two new completely different desserts within a minute. When we inquired why, we were told they didn't want us to leave not having enjoyed one of our courses. That's service!

We did! And so did a fair few of the other diners. The staff were great though, they just dealt with it like it happened every night (though I did wonder if the waiter fell on his samurai sword when he returned to the kitchen).

I think one of the things that impressed me most was that such a high end restaurant was as relaxed as it was, we felt completely at ease from the moment we walked in. I've eaten in plenty of places which couldn't get near producing the sort of food we ate there but which were far stuffier and less welcoming.

[j-c]

Le Pre Catalan, 3 star in Paris. It was amazing!

My partner and I had the tasting menu, and it ended up being the most expensive meal we've ever had, but it was totally worth every penny.

This was in the autumn 2009, so I can't remember everything but some things I will never forget.

One dish was Sardines on toast, it came on three diffrent plates. One plate was kind of a bouillabaisse but jellied, it was very nice.

One dish was crab , done two diffrent ways. One was a frothy soup, which was delicious, and the other one was the best thing I ever seen and tasted. A caviar pot that had been made especially for Le Pre Catalan with their name on the lid, when the lid was removed it looked like we had been given a full pot of caviar, but when we started eating we found that the caviar was only a thin coating layer on top, and that the rest of the jar was packed with wonderfully seasoned crab meat. This was amazing to eat and I will always remember it.

This was followed with many great looking and tasty dishes, service was very good aswell. We don't speak any french but that was no problem, we were looked after very well and all the dishes were explained well in english for us.

While we were having our meal I noticed this apple dessert that was served to the table next to us and I said to my partner that I wish I could have that instead of the dessert on the tasting menu. I don't know if someone had overheard me, or maybe they had just caught me stairing at the dessert, but when they brought us our dessert, my partner was given the dessert of the tasting menu, and they gave me that apple dessert. It was a cold apple souffle. The restaurant manager said to me: This is the best dessert in Paris, and I want you to experience it. I was very happy, and it was totally amazing. Was it the best in Paris? I can't tell because I have only eaten in two restaurants in Paris (the other one was Alain Ducasse at Plaza Athenee) but belive me it was good. I have a picture of it:

Here is a picture of the Crab dish aswell:

Lovely meal, lovely experience, expensive, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

[annachan]

A caviar pot that had been made especially for Le Pre Catalan with their name on the lid, when the lid was removed it looked like we had been given a full pot of caviar, but when we started eating we found that the caviar was only a thin coating layer on top, and that the rest of the jar was packed with wonderfully seasoned crab meat. This was amazing to eat and I will always remember it.

That's the exact same crab dish that we had at Joel Robuchon in Vegas! No frothy soup though.

BTW, that apple dessert looks amazing!

[Broken English]

A caviar pot that had been made especially for Le Pre Catalan with their name on the lid, when the lid was removed it looked like we had been given a full pot of caviar, but when we started eating we found that the caviar was only a thin coating layer on top, and that the rest of the jar was packed with wonderfully seasoned crab meat. This was amazing to eat and I will always remember it.

That's the exact same crab dish that we had at Joel Robuchon in Vegas! No frothy soup though.

Haha, same as at Robuchon's L'Atelier in London. Beautiful dish though, so who are we to complain that a few places do it?

[Simon_S]

I honestly think the best restaurant *meal* I've ever had was at Alinea not long after it opened. For my money it surpassed even the mighty elBulli. I don't know that you could say we experienced elBulli on an off night (because let's face it, at this stratospheric level such terms don't really apply) but recent reports seem to have a greater variety of dishes, and more that I'd like to eat. That's not to say elBulli was disappointing, but I just don't remember too many wow moments. Alinea on the other hand served up a plethora of wow moments, and had such an astonishing variety of ingredients and styles that I was genuinely blown away. My wife, it should be said, feels the exact opposite.

The best restaurant *experience* I've ever had is an entirely different question altogether. Alinea can't take the top spot here because we were so jetlagged we were falling into our desserts by the end. Not the restaurant's fault, but still greatly affected the experience. Likewise relatively simple meals have been elevated in my mind due to expectation and mood, and I can think of lots of times when I've eaten a perfect bowl of mussels sitting outside on the seashore, or a perfect rib-sticking game pie beside a roaring fire on a rainy winters' night, etc.

In any case, there are a few standouts restaurant experiences that spring to mind:

- Louis XV the day I got engaged to my now wife: Can't remember much about it except being on top of the world, and basking in the warm glow of circumstance, surroundings and service. The only dish I can recall was the amuse of vegetables, and to be honest I don't even know if the meal was any good. It simply didn't matter that day.

- French Laundry while on honeymoon: We arrived for lunch at 11:15 or something outrageous, and left at 5:30 or something even more outrageous. For all the reasons described above it was a nigh-on perfect experience. I may have eaten better food on a very few occasions, but I've never felt more comfortable or welcome in a restaurant. It was so good, I almost don't want to go back in case it can't scale such heights again.

- Pintxo crawling in San Sebastian: This might be outside the scope of the thread, but I'm not sure that dining out has ever made me happier than it did crawling around pintxo bars in San Sebastian and eating little morsels at every stop.

- Lunch in Jean-Georges with my parents: My parents had never been to the US, so decided that their 40th wedding anniversary was as good a time as any, and they kindly took us along. Historically they wouldn't be adventurous eaters, and they'd certainly never eaten at anything like the level of Jean-Georges, so I was worried that they wouldn't really enjoy it. As it turned out, they had a ball, and it was great to live vicariously through them as they sampled their first taste of many new ingredients.

- The first time I ate in a Michelin-starred restaurant: Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud in Dublin was the setting for a number of firsts. First time eating foie gras, sweetbreads, Epoisses, and all washed down by wines the like of which I'd never experienced. That was a road to Damascus moment...!

[&roid]

- French Laundry while on honeymoon: We arrived for lunch at 11:15 or something outrageous, and left at 5:30 or something even more outrageous. For all the reasons described above it was a nigh-on perfect experience. I may have eaten better food on a very few occasions, but I've never felt more comfortable or welcome in a restaurant. It was so good, I almost don't want to go back in case it can't scale such heights again.

I know exactly what you mean, I often wonder how much I would enjoy repeated visits to this sort of restaurant. there has to be something special about the trip to put it up there with the most memorable experiences.

I think I get quite easily accustomed to things and after few trips would probably be a bit blasé about things - in a way I'd never want to be about a $800 meal. I've got some friends who have been to the Fat Duck a couple of times and they found the second trip slightly disappointing for exactly this reason, the food was just as good but the surprise value had taken away some of the magic.

[Norm Matthews]

The best service/food (and it was consistently great) was at the Kona Kai in Kansas City. It isn't there any more though. The best Mahi Mahi was at a restaurant on the pier close by Pike's Market in Seattle. The best Cioppino was at a restaurant in Pismo on the beach. The scenery may have been part of that though. We had a corner table by the window and watched the sunset over the Pacific and I was dining with Joanie Sommers.

[Kouign Aman]

Best meal-while-newly-in-love was at Vincent's Sorrino's in Escondido. My love had been dining there several years, and was served exactly what he wanted, even though it was no longer on the menu. He asked nicely if it were possible, the waiter checked and said indeed it was, and so it happened. And of course, as a qualifier for this thread, the food was excellent.

[the old cook]

First experience in French restaurant..Maisonette (hopefully spelled right) in Cincinnati, Ohio..way back when drink carts werebrought to table at end of meal - with not only drinks, but cigars for the gentlemen...(1969 or so); La Petite Marmite On worth Avenue, Palm Springs, Florida on our honeymoon to experience first ever Sole Veronique; first Foie Gras in a little out of the way bistro in Paris (our first trip to Paris).

Our last trip to London, Gordon Ramsey's on Royal Hospital Road; everything from entering the dining room to food, to service was memorable. Would love to try French Laundry some day if we ever save enough money! Also in Pittsburgh back in 1968, my first taste of escargot! Seems I have discovered wonderful food throughout the years!

And finally, my grandmother's ham and dumplings, a meal I have been trying to duplicate for over fifty years.

[JulianZoetmulder]

Best restaurant experience thus far was in 2007 at a little, nameless grass shack restaurant on the beach in a tiny little fishing town (whose name I have forgotten, although I can find it whenever I'm close to it) in the province of Santa Elena on Ecuador's sunshine coast. I was the only customer there, and ordered their Arroz de Mariscos (mixed seafood rice.) The owner came out of the kitchen, sat down next to me, and asked me if I minded a bit of a wait; I said sure, and she called up her son. He was sent into the water with a spear, and I got to chat with the owner and chef while her son literally caught the octopus, urchins, small fish, and whatnots that went into my dinner, which was actually a quite amazing cream risotto topped with heaps and heaps and heaps of seafood; the only thing missing in the gamut was a lobster (which are not found at that area of the sunshine coast). I have never had fresher or better food, and I also remember the conversation with the owner as being very interesting.

That brings me back to one of the most perfect diners I've ever had. This was in Vanuatu. All our time there we'd been told about the quality of seafood on an island named Tanna. Once we made it there we were completely lost. We stumbled across a shack on a quiet section of beach with a grill, a bar and at least 50 people sat at tables on the side seemingly having the time of their lives. As soon as one of the 2 waiters who welcomed us realised our french was as bad as his english he had the owner of the restaurant who could manage a bit more serve us. Sitting watching the sunset with a cold beer in a very clean glass was enough to make us happy but after the owner told us that they didn't have a menu but we'd be taken care of we knew we were in for something interesting. The chef was spoken to, he called out to his team and two guys ran from the back to collect shellfish and seafood they were raising in the ocean not 20m from where we were sat. The same was done for every table. The cooking quality exceeded anything else I've ever had also.

One word, epic.

[carltinmar]

I'll go for THE PORT in Italy. wonderful steak and cozy ambiance. Food is very delicious too.

[Zeemanb]

Spring of 1990 in Tapachula, Mexico...stopped for the night to rest up before some border crossings, on a trip with 2 other guys to deliver a school bus to a missionary in El Salvador. We stayed at a hotel where most of the rooms only had partial ceilings, but there were drains in the floor in case of rain. They had a little taco stand attached to the basement where you could walk down from outside and sit on a retaining wall to eat. It had not been an easy drive from Phoenix, Arizona to the southernmost part of Mexico, and we still had to get the bus through the Guatamala and El Savlador border crossings. We sat and ate tacos, taquitos and hamburgers, and drank God knows how many bottles of coke and Fanta orange. It was a spectacle...late at night and they were about to close before we showed up. We basically ran them totally out of food after about an hour or so of eating. THAT was a real celebration...relief to have gotten that far with some last-meal anxiety thrown in. The food was great...roadside food culture in Latin America is joyously fun and delicious. I've had a ton of fantastic, memorable meals, but the brief moments of peaceful, happy eating during that adventure always come to mind first. I never feel like I'm REALLY drinking horchata now if it's not out of a plastic baggie.