[BMWGUYinCO]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

Years ago, 2010. Whatever the fancy steakhouse is in the Bellagio that puts you at water level. Outstanding meal. I'm wanting to say even back then it was about a $500 tab with tip.

My wife and I just ate there in June, it's called "Prime".

Here in Colorado we go to Shanahan's Steakhouse - consistently the best steaks I've ever had!

[leopard print]

Originally Posted by tranquility

Anyway, generally-speaking many fancy places are super-overrated imho, I've been to virtually all the fancy restos in HK, I'd take a hearty bowl of pho vs many of them. They tend to verge too much being artsy instead of hearty and actually being satisfying.

Agreed. I assumed OP meant dining out/higher-end restaurant experience, service, etc. It's fun to do every once in a while, but it's not my preference. If it was dining in general, I'd say a backyard bbq with friends, some prime tomahawks, and good scotch wins every time.

[HappynHealthy]

In Virginia its the

https://www.theinnatlittlewashington.com/

An amazing dining experience, been there a few fortunate times.

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by BMWGUYinCO

Victoria & Alberts in the Grand Floridian in Disney World.
It wasn't simply the price that set it apart, it was the room, decor, the harpist playing in the corner, the personalized menus, presentation, etc.

Putting it on my list since we live close by

Originally Posted by HappynHealthy

In Virginia its the

https://www.theinnatlittlewashington.com/

An amazing dining experience, been there a few fortunate times.

I read about that place one and would love to go there

[Captain Blood]

My two most memorable were:
Allred, halfway up the mountain in Telluride. Spectacular view, New Year's Eve. Good but not great surf and turf. The table next to us had the head of GE Japan, he was taking a break from dealing with the Fukushima disaster. Had a great conversation.

Faire Street social, Dublin. The food in Ireland had been OK, which means better than I expected. but damn! Rabbit stew, black cauliflower, sphere of chocolate. Definitely one of the top five meals I've had in my life. This was seven or eight years ago. I think it's still there.

[JMcLellan]

This was a while back, I think 2008 ish. Was on a work trip traveling through Sonoma and Napa, CA. We stayed at the Chalk Hill winery in Sonoma and attended a private wine and food tasting event. The food was prepared by a chef from France and he fed us all sorts of amazing things. One thing I remember was filet mignon with a crazy-good chimichurri sauce. It was incredible!

One of the best overall meals I've had in recent memory was Steak 48 in Chicago but disclaimer I wasn't the most sober for this experience.... Was there with my wife and another couple. We did a bar crawl for several hours and stumbled into this place with no reservations but there were seats at the bar. The food and drinks were on point-- black walnut old fashioned was the drink of choice.

[UncleWede]

Mexican orphanage, went down with dad/KofC group. When we showed up they went out and slaughtered a lamb (or something) That night they built a mesquite fire. We all gathered around this pit of coals, they tossed the meat directly on said coals, then passed it around the pit like we were cavemen, each taking a few bites then passing it along.

Similar, up at lake Nacimiento. Brother had shot two boar with a single shot. Brought back a nice cut of backstrap. No seasoning, just threw it on the BBQ, overlooking the lake, then passed it around the family for everyone to get a bite.

[ezaircon4jc]

One of my most memorable would be the restaurant (I can't remember the name) in the Floating City in Hong Kong in the late 70's. IIRC, we had to traverse people's boats (homes) to get there.

Too many others to list.

[megf]

Graffiato in DC which is now closed. Had an amazing tasting menu. Nothing pretentious and the portions were huge.

Had a meal at the French Laundry and though it was an experience, it was just OK.

[Captain Blood]

Also:
Miss Wilkes boarding House, Savannah Georgia. Amazing fried chicken and sides.
But we always ate well in Savannah.

Bolognese, neighborhood Services, Dallas. Amazing restaurant, and that's probably the best pasta I've had in my life.

[Markr]

Roly’s Bistro in Dublin (Ballsbridge) - upstairs is best, old fashioned service and really good food. We go there every time we visit family in Dublin, which is quite often - never disappoints.

They also have a bakery downstairs and their walnut and apricot bread is always worth picking up and taking home for later!

[brettcp]

Been fortunate to have traveled to many places around the world and have had incredible food. I'd consider my wife and I to be somewhat of restaurant enthusiasts. The south of France stood out as having some incredible meals.. but several years ago I was in Orlando and stayed the Waldorf, had dinner at a restaurant there in the hotel called "Bull & Bear".. it was some of the best food I've ever had, and not just one item in particular, but everything we ordered was what I'd consider to be some of the best examples of that particular dish I've ever had. Ended up going back again the following night.

I just looked it up and seems its still there. Maybe someday I'll be back in Orlando and hope its as good as it was several years ago.

[OkieSnuffBox]

I don't know how I forgot:

Road side jerk chicken stand in Jamaica with the ocean in view and a cold stripe. Outstanding. The real stuff, not the toned down for tourist BS.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by leopard print

Agreed. I assumed OP meant dining out/higher-end restaurant experience, service, etc. It's fun to do every once in a while, but it's not my preference. If it was dining in general, I'd say a backyard bbq with friends, some prime tomahawks, and good scotch wins every time.

So....when's my invite??

[leopard print]

Originally Posted by tranquility

So....when's my invite??

Haha. Give me a holler next time you're in LA!

[MunkyTool]

Providence in Los Angeles.

Most Michelin restaurants I've been to have been overrated but this place blew away our expectations. Highly recommend to anyone that can afford it.

$295 a person before add-ons, drinks, tax, tip etc...

[Tyga11]

Chicken Parm from DeFalco's in Scottsdale.

[dradernh]

Gee whiz, do not get me started!

Experiences:

Lunch – Chez Panisse in Berkeley; Zuni in San Francisco.

Dinner – the live-in chefette's cooking at home. No kidding. We've lived in and been to quite a few places around the world, where, when we were just tourists, exploring local foods at all levels was always part of the reason for visiting.

My take is that a capable home chef with access to high-quality provisions can predictably turn out meals that are comparable to a standard just under the level below the top restaurants. We have a niece who is a trained chef; when queried, she's confirmed this perspective of mine.

Meals:

I wouldn't know where to start. A small one-star restaurant in La Rochelle, where everything was exquisite, including a white wine of a type I'd never heard of before that was a perfect accompaniment to the main fish dish. The fish, its preparation and sauce, and the wine, were all remarkably understated and, to my taste, perfectly matched. How is that going to be topped? It can't. That was a "simple" mid-day lunch.

Congee in Hong Kong. I was introduced to congee while the wife was living in HK. Think "comfort food". I stayed in San Francisco during that time and upon returning after my first exposure to congee, I headed to Chinatown to find out where I could eat congee each morning before heading into the office. Living on Telegraph Hill, it turned out that I lived only a few blocks from the restaurant that best met my needs.

Masa's in San Francisco, while Masa was still alive. The end of Masa's tenure is a very sad story.

There were tens more of top-line SF, East Bay, and Napa Valley restaurants, all headed by people doing their best to stand-out from the crowd. One restaurant that always stood-out was Fleur de Lys at 777 Sutter Street, and it had since the 1960s.

Maharani in San Francisco's Goan Fish Curry. I never set foot in the restaurant, but I must have ordered that dish delivered fifty or more times. I always made sure I had a chilled Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer to go with it. A match to die for, hands down.

Any one of a dozen or more hawker stalls in Singapore. Also, any Sundanese or Peranakan restaurant in that city. Flavor, anyone? Talk about a contrast to one's fave brekkie dish of congee.

Any of a number of restaurants in the Costa Brava of Spain, where the food and seafood are fresh and wonderfully prepared, and the prices are remarkably inexpensive compared to the rest of Europe.

Reindeer scallops with cloudberry sauce in Finland, anyone?

I feel fortunate to have lived in a world of incredible abundance, including gastronomical abundance.

[sygazelle]

Way too many to decide the best.

With Covid, we've cut back on travel and going out. My last truly memorable dinner out was in Prague at Bellevue Restaurant. Service and food were both outstanding. I just checked and they've had to close due to covid. What a shame.

One of my favorite go-to places is Mustard's in Napa. It's not fancy or expensive like the French Laundry, but I like it a lot. They have outdoor dining right now in the garden. Really nice.

[GTS Daddy]

Nobu 57th st in Manhattan or Addendum in Yountville.

[dreamingat30fps]

I'm not into the super fancy places, I guess I'm just not a fancy guy, if there is a dress code it's pretty much a nonstarter. So we tend to go to more casual places and more hole in the walls.

That being said it's hard to pick a favorite as we have been to many places when we were traveling in the RV. When I'm home I also tend to have my favorite places for each food item. Like I have my ramen place, I have my steak place, my veal parm place etc and I don't tend to try different things at those places.

Just blurting out some places I remember.

- Hole in the wall seafood/italian place in Bostons North End. I can't remember the name but it only sat a handful of people. We went both times we went to Boston, however I think after it was featured on some TV show and I believe it became a lot more difficult to get a table. Also I recall across the street there was this cigar bar in the basement of some building that was pretty awesome also.

- Cochon in New Orleans, can't say I'm a fan of New Orleans, sorry just didn't care for it the one time we visited, however I still recall cochon being fantastic.

- St Elmos in IN and Pete Luger in NY. Don't recall which had the better food, I just remember both experiences were great. The best steak I've had was probably at Mahogany (had to look up the name) in Oklahoma City, but the other two were memorable experiences overall.

- Jackson Lake Lodge. I don't recall the name of the actual restaurant, but the lodge has a patio area and they serve drinks and food. I honestly don't remember the food, it was probably average, but the patio sits right in front of the tetons with an unobstructed view. Honestly they could be serving PB&J sandwiches for all I care.

- Lastly I will mention one experience we had. It was in Mexico at one of the resorts there. I believe it was for my bday or maybe they had messed something up and were trying to make up for it I don't remember exactly. But they booked a "special" meal for us at one of their restaurants, again don't remember the food, but I remember for dessert they clear off the whole table and brought this huge piece of glass. The chef then came out with a cart and started painting with chocolate and sauces on the glass. When he was done he had made some kind of art and placed one of every dessert they had on it. I still remember that it was pretty cool.

All that said I'm sure there's a million other outstanding places we have eaten at, but those are the first that came to mind.

[GTS Daddy]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

I'm not into the super fancy places, I guess I'm just not a fancy guy, if there is a dress code it's pretty much a nonstarter. So we tend to go to more casual places and more hole in the walls.

That being said it's hard to pick a favorite as we have been to many places when we were traveling in the RV. When I'm home I also tend to have my favorite places for each food item. Like I have my ramen place, I have my steak place, my veal parm place etc and I don't tend to try different things at those places.

Just blurting out some places I remember.

- Hole in the wall seafood/italian place in Bostons North End. I can't remember the name but it only sat a handful of people. We went both times we went to Boston, however I think after it was featured on some TV show and I believe it became a lot more difficult to get a table. Also I recall across the street there was this cigar bar in the basement of some building that was pretty awesome also.

- Cochon in New Orleans, can't say I'm a fan of New Orleans, sorry just didn't care for it the one time we visited, however I still recall cochon being fantastic.

- St Elmos in IN and Pete Luger in NY. Don't recall which had the better food, I just remember both experiences were great. The best steak I've had was probably at Mahogany (had to look up the name) in Oklahoma City, but the other two were memorable experiences overall.

- Jackson Lake Lodge. I don't recall the name of the actual restaurant, but the lodge has a patio area and they serve drinks and food. I honestly don't remember the food, it was probably average, but the patio sits right in front of the tetons with an unobstructed view. Honestly they could be serving PB&J sandwiches for all I care.

- Lastly I will mention one experience we had. It was in Mexico at one of the resorts there. I believe it was for my bday or maybe they had messed something up and were trying to make up for it I don't remember exactly. But they booked a "special" meal for us at one of their restaurants, again don't remember the food, but I remember for dessert they clear off the whole table and brought this huge piece of glass. The chef then came out with a cart and started painting with chocolate and sauces on the glass. When he was done he had made some kind of art and placed one of every dessert they had on it. I still remember that it was pretty cool.

All that said I'm sure there's a million other outstanding places we have eaten at, but those are the first that came to mind.

Wait a minute, doesn't Peter Luger have a specific dress code or has that faded into the past?