The Best Meal You Ever Had .... The Great Meal Discussion

[Zaukrie]

This is a really hard question. I know some places I'll never forget....there was a place in Wisconsin in a former accountant office that was amazing. Pretty sure that chef moved to Superior a couple decades ago.

There are a few spots in Portland, OR where I live now that are amazing, and many more I haven't gone to. Urdaneta is great. Departure.

In MN...Travail is worth a visit. 100%. Now I'm drawing a blank on the names of a few spots (and more than a few no longer exist).

 

[Mort]

Best meal

This one was tough. I live in Chicago which has amazing food! and I've been around a bit too!

But, best: Avec on Randolph Street in downtown Chicago. Mediterranean inspired American dining, Chorizo stuffed dates and a simple but amazing focaccia, a cheese plate and a duck dish. Paired with a wine I don't remember (only that it went really well).

Runner up: Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas. I didn't realize what the big deal with foie gras was until I had it there (had it before and thought it was no big deal). And the Robuchon mashed potatoes are REALLY something else, just a truly amazing simple dish. Only reason this wasn't number one was I was expecting a once in a lifetime meal and that's what I got (wheras Avec was a big surprise, though one I return to regularly now).

I'm going to add - most disappointing meal: Craftsteak also in Las Vegas. I LOVE a good steak, and this was supposed to be THE steak place. And best I can say - the steak was fine, definitely not great. I was expecting to be blown away (I love a good steak) and just wasn't.

Last meal:
Appetizer: Salad Olivier with bologna (yes bologna, not anything fancier) made the Russian way, not the fancy French way.

Main: A large plate of Pelmeni (Russian dumplings) made with pork (not chicken and not beef) served soaked in butter and with Sour cream for dipping (hey last meal - who cares about heart disease).

Desert: A PROPER Napoleon cake with custard that is both fluffy and crumbly.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Runner up: Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas. I didn't realize what the big deal with foie gras was until I had it there (had it before and thought it was no big deal). And the Robuchon mashed potatoes are REALLY something else, just a truly amazing simple dish. Only reason this wasn't number one was I was expecting a once in a lifetime meal and that's what I got (wheras Avec was a big surprise, though one I return to regularly now).

I'm going to add - most disappointing meal: Craftsteak also in Las Vegas. I LOVE a good steak, and this was supposed to be THE steak place. And best I can say - the steak was fine, definitely not great. I was expecting to be blown away (I love a good steak) and just wasn't.

Every time I go to Vegas, I blow a ton of money ... and I also spend a bit on fancy dining.

Anyway, it's real hit or miss. Some of the best places will absolutely blow you away, but some of them will be crushing disappointments. And it's not always easy to determine which is which from the reputation.

(Agree with you re: Robuchon, by the way.)

 

[Mort]

Anyway, it's real hit or miss. Some of the best places will absolutely blow you away, but some of them will be crushing disappointments. And it's not always easy to determine which is which from the reputation.

Very true about Vegas. But it's not just Vegas, you can't always trust a famous name!

I remember going to a well known chef's restaurant in Boston. The meal wasn't just disappointing it was bordering on inedible.

Still have a clear memory of my wife staring at my not even half eaten plate proclaiming " you're not going to finish that? But you'll eat anything!"

 

[Cadence]

Best Meal at a Restaurant

I've been to a couple of well known ones, but I don't know if I'd pay as much as it cost to go back and they don't particularly stand out in my memory (there are probably a few others I'm forgetting): Daniel, One if by Land Two if by Sea in NYC; Antoine's, Emeril's, and NOLA in NO; China Chilcano in DC

Two that do...
Brunch at Brennan's in NO
Steak and sides at the Chicago Chop House

I wonder if I'm just more in to comfort food than high cuisine. Before we had our son, we would sometimes do small, good, slightly upscale local Italian places wherever we lived. And there was a Chinese restaurant we really liked where we went to college (had our wedding rehearsal dinner there - it closed 20 years ago I think). A place back home used to have spectacular Swedish pancakes.


Last Meal

A slice of my mom's lasagna recipe (with the modifications we've made over the years)
Two squares of a Chicago tavern style pizza with sausage and mushroom's
A few stuffed mushrooms
A good loaf of french bread (sliced and buttered, maybe some garlic)
A side salad (cheese, tomato, etc..) with Caesar dressing

A small slice of chocolate coconut pecan pie
A scoop of spumoni ice cream
A beignet or 1/4 of a funnel cake

A Hefeweissbeier Dunkel (Weihenstephaner?)
A flight or two of small tasting glasses of stouts and porters - including chocolate and coconut ones

Another slice of lasagna if I've stretched it out long enough to still be hungry

 

[Guest 7034872]

I was in Jaisalmer for a month in 1991 while finishing college--study abroad stuff. I'd been getting way into my philosophy studies at that point, especially Russell (a god among mortals) and Heidegger (brilliant despite the fact the "hermeneutic circle" is a load of toff), so I did come to the table hungry after a day of reading. Maybe this colored my experience, but from going back there over the next several weeks, I don't think so. I can't remember the restaurant's name, but it was near the Monica Hotel where I stayed in the Old Fort. I got a basic vegetarian thali dish (I'm veg) and something called "desert chai." I still don't know what it was they spiced both the thali and the chai with, but it's what I have used ever since as my measure by which to judge any Indian food. I think the chai had more ginger than usual, but like I said, I honestly don't know. I just know it was good enough to remember it today and still call it the best I've had.

 

[SakanaSensei]

There's a pizza joint in Fishers, Indiana (just north of Indianapolis) called Rockstone. It has amazing American style wood-fire pizza and amazing breadsticks that pairs well with both their beer cheese and marinara sauce. It's definitely not the fanciest thing I've ever eaten (hello, ryokan stay on top of Mount Asahidake with your seven-course French meal havin' self), but it is 100% the best thing I've ever eaten. My wife and I went there often when we lived in the area.

 

[Zardnaar]

Some Syrian dishes. Can't remember the name one was a bbq spiced chicken meal the other was a bowl of spiced rice with meat in it and some sort of tangerine based sauce.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Honestly…I can’t answer either question. I can remember some truly incredible dishes I’ve had over the years, but no meal stands out. And I don’t know if I could pick out a single dish of those as supreme.

And my last meal? I’ve asked myself that question many times. The answer I give myself depends on the day.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Great topic!

I've had a lot of wonderful meals, many home-cooked, but to stay on topic I'll choose the one that pops to mind most clearly:

I'd recently moved home after college, and I was reconnecting with old friends. Two of my friends and I were working at the same summer camp (a day camp on a school campus, not a sleepaway camp). We decided to save up our money for a few weeks and go out for a fancy dinner.

We wound up going to a steak place in San Francisco called Bobo's. We bought $60 steaks, a dinner price probably 4 or 5 times what we were used to paying. I remember being absolutely famished when the steak came out.

Bobo's specialized in dry aged beef. They hung their meat and cut it back over weeks and weeks, letting the juices collect (or something to that effect). The result was, well, insanely delicious. I remember taking a bite of my steak and having to close my eyes and savor it. The texture was closer to butter than the chewy meat I was used to. The flavor was just incredible. And I felt so grown up, paying so much for such delicious food.

We all were just laughing at how amazing the steaks were. It was unbelievable, that steak could taste so good.

After dinner, a few of my friends decided to see the movie King of Kong. The next showing was in about an hour, so we found a nearby pub called John Barleycorn's. A guitarist was strumming in the corner, and two more guitarists happened to wander in. They started jamming together as we drank a few beers.

It was an incredible night, centered around an amazing dinner.