# What is the best meal you've ever had? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980 "2016-02-24T15:59:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/41 "2016-02-25T17:06:40Z")
> [@Nefario](#): > > One meal I remember was a seafood stew at some restaurant near Faneuil Hall in Boston. Kinda spicy with small mussels in the half shell floating in it. Excellent. [Durgin Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durgin-Park)? ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/42 "2016-02-25T17:13:12Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Durgin Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durgin-Park)? Maybe! šŸ™‚ From Wikipedia ā€œThe service is also a partial hold-over from the time of its founding as the waitstaff have been encouraged to adopt a ā€œsurlyā€ attitude and ā€œbacktalkā€ the clienteleā€ I remember it being surprisingly good for being somewhat trendy and gimmicky. I do remember stepping down to enter an older brick building. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/43 "2016-02-25T17:21:15Z")
The first time I had tortellini: I grew up eating very bland food (meat-starch-frozen vegetable) because both my parents are terrible cooks. When I was 14 my mom got her friend to take me to a dinner & fashion show in Toronto - Dini Petty from Cityline hosted it, I think it was a fundraiser for something to do with Mary Kay Cosmetics. I had no idea what this pasta was but it was like nothing else in the room existed while I was eating it. Best nachos I ever had in my life were at a bar/restaurant on the corner of St. Lawrence Gap in Barbados. Theyā€™re made with that cheese that you can only get in Barbados. I made my husband take a picture of me taking a bite of nacho just so Iā€™ll never forget them. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/44 "2016-02-25T17:22:35Z")
Breakfast is my favorite meal, and the best one Iā€™ve ever had was at the [White Gull Inn](http://www.whitegullinn.com/) in Door County, Wisconsin. I have dreams about their coffee cake and cherry stuffed french toast. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/45 "2016-02-25T18:35:30Z")
The _steak au poivre ala creme_ with a heaping helping of fresh Belgian frites at a small corner pub in Brussels was a memorable meal on several occasions. I made a point of going there every time I visited the city. _Moules provencale_ (a stew with mussels, onions, tomato) and frites, also in Brussels. Trout, crisply fried, stuffed with bay shrimp in Oslo. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/46 "2016-02-25T20:07:00Z")
Thereā€™s been a few, but hereā€™s two that took took place outside, whilst standing up: - the Seafood Hut in Oban in Scotland does the freshest possible seafood - itā€™s literally a hut down by the harbour where the catch is landed. The food is served in polystyrene cartons, and is absurdly cheap, and thereā€™s a sink so you can wash your hands afterwards. The scallops and langoustines are sensational. - A random fries vendor on a random street in Brussels. Itā€™s the first time I ever had chips with mayo, and it was a game-changer for me. Utterly delicious. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/47 "2016-02-26T01:19:10Z")
Scallops broiled with butter and garlic, at some seafood restaurant in Galveston. That was 30 years ago, and I have pretty much given up eating scallops since then, always end up disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/48 "2016-02-26T02:10:55Z")
**seal\_cleaner** ā€“ were the scallops in Galveston fresh? Fresh scallops are the best way to go, and I donā€™t to eat ā€œpreviously frozenā€ anymore. I can taste the difference. Could be that the Galveston restaurant used some kind of concoction that added that extra bit of yum and you just couldnā€™t ID it. ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/49 "2016-02-26T02:11:44Z")
As a kid, I went with our mother and aunt to a no-frills up-the-alley Chinese restaurant. The two basically ordered just for the heck of it. I ended up eating half a roast duck, various hamonado meats, cold cuts of century egg, sea cucumber and sea weed. The only no-stop banquet I organized was during our daughterā€™s Christening. 40 people of whom 6 were pure vegetarians, two were exclusively seafood and vegetables, and the rest were meat processors. I had our office cafeteria manager organize it because she (or her crew) happened to be one of the best cooks I know. Menu: blanched oysters fish ginger stew with potatoes and cabbage stuffed tilapia in foil shrimp salad (one hot, one cold) Hainanese-style stewed chicken leg quarters aroz ala Valenciana (pork and chicken ā€”no seafood nonsense in my paella) The salad bar included seaweed (Caulerpa lentillifera) drizzled in apple cider and vinegar, salted duck eggs, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, Japanese sweet corn, sweet potatoes. Dessert was egg flan, various gellatos, fruit. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/50 "2016-02-26T02:32:55Z")
Iā€™ve had so many good meals that itā€™s difficult to pick a standout. Some are good on quality, some on quantity, some on the element of surprise, some on atmosphere. If you asked me my most memorable meal, once in Bavaria I was served a dish called Jagerbraten with Spatzle. It was a roast cut of venison, not at all gamey, with champignon mushrooms and a cream sauce. Then once when I lived in Japan, and I was in good graces with a local sushi proprietor. Basically I would give him $300 and invite him to give us the works. How many times I wandered out of there with a bursting stomach and a swimming head. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOldKJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc79bd/32.png) [@GoodOldKJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOldKJ)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/51 "2016-02-26T02:44:08Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > shortly after i was married, the decision was made by my grandmother and her surviving siblings and in-laws to sell the family farm. We had one last family gathering at the old farm house. The older ladies cooked all day, making fabulous, complicated, food with on-site fresh ingredients. We had chicken and dumplings, fresh green beans, scratch-made yeast rolls, and rhubarb pie. And all of this was prepared on an old wood-fired stove. > > My new husbandā€™s comment ā€œwow, i didnā€™t know food could be this good.ā€ that was pretty much the consensus around the table. Those 80-year old ladies who had cooked since childhood were wizards in the kitchen. love this! \*\*\*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980/52 "2016-02-26T02:59:17Z")
I canā€™t pick just one but most of my really stand-out meals involved being outside all day and dying of hunger and then having just all the stops pulled out on the shared meal. - Dutch oven chicken and cherry pie after a dog trial. Iā€™ve had real, dig a hole, cowboy type dutch oven cooking three times in my life and all of those meals are in the top 10. - Grilled beef ribs at an outdoor wedding. I never pick beef ribs, always pork and I still donā€™t because I think that particular experience can never be matched. - I once helped gather cattle on a really hot summer day near Pioche, NV and I went about 10 miles on a horse that quit me on Mile 5. I canā€™t remember the specifics of the meal- I think it was a cold chicken pasta and a really fresh salad but after that long, hot day it was awesome. Any Basque meal Iā€™ve had has usually been great. The baked lamb dish at The Star in Elko, NV is my #1 choice. Last one is not an outdoorsy one but when I was a kid, my grandparents used to spend the summers on the Oregon/Washington border and brought home tons of salmon. We had a seafood Christmas with chowder, smoked salmon and crab that was the best Christmas ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-meal-youve-ever-had/746980.md?page=2)