A very plump leg of fried chicken I had in summer camp back in 1982. I can still remember the feel of my teeth crunching into the outer coating and sinking into the juicy meat, the grease dripping down my chin. I don’t think I’ve ever had a food memory as vivid in my life. There are foods I like better in general than fried chicken, but no single food experience I enjoyed more.
In my dreams, I hear that call…
To be serious, the best food I’ve tasted in the world has been in New Orleans. There was a restaurant up by the levee, in an old house, where I had roast duck with dirty rice, and I would have thrown the duck out the window for another serving of that rice.
I went to Prudhomme’s restaurant back when Prudhomme was still alive, with two friends, and we ordered three different entrees. Without a word between us, we shifted plates twice during that meal, so we could each taste the heavenly thing we had been served.
I ordered a ham po’boy with “debris” and a bottle of beer at Mother’s, and audibly cursed my stomach for not being able to ingest the entirety of it.
Oysters Rockefeller at Antoine’s may be a cliche, but are different and better than any Oysters Rockefeller I’ve had elsewhere.
There’s a little round French pastry that I first discovered in a small town in the Riviera. It’s called kouign amann, and the N.Y. Times has described it as “the fattiest pastry in all of Europe.” The kouign amann comes in several flavors, though the “plain” one is equally good. Trader Joe’s now sells them, but they’re not nearly as good as the original.
A huge spread at a little restaurant out in the country in Germany, outside Kauserslautern. It included a full roast pig, spaetzle noodles, cooked red cabbage, gravy, and roast potatoes. The pig was to die for.
Ahhh…memories.
This is more nostalgia than anything else, but half a hoagie my Dad give me when he came back from an extended work assignment. I can still remember his pulling it out of his suit pocket, explaining that it was half of the sandwich from the plane. Smashed and messy, THIS was The Best Thing I Ever Ate. SIGH Thanks Dad!
In the early 60s, my family typically spent a week at a fishing camp outside of Brainerd, MN. After a day spent fishing and playing in the woods, my grandmother would fry up crappie, fresh out of the lake, dredged in saltine crumbs and fried in butter in a cast iron pan over the fire. I have had a lot of good food in my lifetime, but never anything as good as that fish, fresh from what was then still a very pristine lake.
The first slice of warm homemade bread after it comes out of the oven is my all-time moan inducing food but…
I was really sick for a few days a couple of winters ago. I couldn’t keep anything down so had nothing to eat for over 2 days. I finally felt good enough to get out of bed one evening and I was starving. I made a pot of Lipton chicken noodle soup (not Cup-A-Soup) that I ate with a piece of warm ciabatta bread. OMG! It was so good. I know, far from a special, gourmet meal but at that time it sure tasted like it.
A couple of other times after being sick and not having anything to eat, the first thing that I was able to eat was so amazing and flavorful. One of the times it was cinnamon applesauce and another time it was orange sherbet.
Those instances always come to my mind and I can remember how good the food tasted.
On this note - for about a week after I got my braces off as a kid everything just seemed to POP with flavor - it was incredible
It was sometime late in the year 2000, I’d say. I took a trip down to Philly to visit a restaurant that was featured on a Food Network show.
The sandwich I had hit just the right proportion of meaty, cheesy, creamy, chewy, and salty. I sat there wishing that each bite would never end, and felt just a little sad when it was all over.
Now, every time I post here, I get to remember it a little.
Damn…some great stories here and really reminds me of my lack of travels!
Anywho…I have a few that come to mind:
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Wife and I got married at Sandals in the Bahamas in the late 90s. One of the restaurants at the resort served a steak dish - I can’t recall the specifics but it was to this day the best steak I’ve ever tasted. I didn’t think the location would provide any decent beef, but I was so wrong.
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First time I had the fried potatoes with duck confit from the brunch spread at Zed 451; absolutely spectacular, as was the buffalo fried chicken and waffles.
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While in Sydney Australia, a local pub served chorizo and chilli prawn pizza - being from Chicago I was skeptical but it was fantastic.
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My wife’s red sauce, with fresh herbs and tomatoes from the garden - paradise on a plate.
You don’t specify, but I’m gonna take a WAG that the sandwich in question was a cheese steak. 
A Philly cheese steak, of course, given where you were.
BBQ Division: It comes down to Bridge’s in Shelby, NC, Lexington #1 in Lexington, NC, and Smitty’s in Lockart, TX.
Don’t make me choose!!
(Although honestly, I’d choose Smitty’s, because that meal I shared with my soon-to-be wife.)
I have nursed many a hangover at Mother’s. You have to be on your toes though. When the waitress brings your food around and calls your name, they’ll give it to someone else if you don’t speak up in a timely fashion. At least, that’s how it used to be.
There was this restaurant in Hamilton Ontario when I was tracing my ancestors back to the other continent which served whole milk fresh from the farm, cooked oatmeal (by request) with a side of just-laid eggs, toast, a juicy steak and orange juice.
It was off the well-traveled path. I wish I could remember the name, but as a young adult where the drinking age in Michigan was 21 and in Canada was 18 I should be allowed lapses.
The only other thing I can add add is when I was homeless and living in a tent and found a entire field of raspberries. That and a couple of fish caught qualify me as the best meal I ever ate. Your Whatever May Vary.
I imagine that in Philly, they just call it a cheesesteak.
Icy cold oysters on the half shell in Savannah, Georgia. I think they were about five dollars a dozen.