I’ve had the pleasure of being to quite a few very good restaurants in my time (It explains my waistline:()
My most enjoyable was Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower. Fantastic food and more atmosphere than two mortals can take without eloping!
Another is Charlie Trotters in Chicago. The food, wine, and service is quite simply beyond compare. The portions are on the small side
(God what a Midwestern thing to say!)
But it doesn’t matter because each bite was pure heaven.
So what is the best meal/experience you’ve had in a restaurant?
This place called Hong Kong in Cloquet, Mn. It’s a pretty long drive from my house, at least an hour and a half, but I like it. Yep, I’m going to have to go there sometime this week.
The restaurant itself is beautiful, every server I’ve come in contact there was nothing short of incredibly kind, the food is really good, and every fortune cookie I’ve gotten has had a really positive fortune in it.
The Hungry Farmer.
Maybe not the best, but good food, and the coolest restaurant I’ve been to in awhile. I don’t know if it’s a chain or if there’s just the one we went to somewhere in Colorado but it was overall great (especially the brocolli and cheese soup in a bucket).
I think it would be the Thai vegan restaurant in Anaheim CA, or the vegan Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, SF CA. Both were sublime, and I felt robbed that I only could order a few items.
There is also this Armenian restaurant in San Diego that has fabulous. Oh, and another vegan restaurant (I cannot remember the name) in San Diego…hmmm…I need to look these places up.
I intened to eat at both the places in San Diego in a few weeks, since I’m going there. I’ll remember the names then!
I have a few that have to be some of the best places I’ve ever eaten at:
Patina–one of the best sommeliers in the US works there, and the guy is a genius of pairing wines with meals. Had a John Dory filet with braised cabbage and applewood-smoked bacon that was to die for.
Lucques–Suzanne Goin, who has been awarded by several groups and magazines as an up-and-coming chef has opened a French-Mediterranean-Californian style restaurant that is really amazing. I’ve never been disappointed by a trip there.
Campanile–I’ve only had lunch there, as I’ve met for lunch dates with a friend (who works only one block away), and they have the most decadent lunches ever–my favorite was a fettucine with truffle sauce. The bakery/pastry kitchen is run by Nancy Silverton–one of the top pastry chefs in the US. She rocks.
Sometimes the best things happen in the damndest places. The best restaurant I ever went to was one I stumbled upon in Destin, Florida- Les Saisons. Incredible tastes, incredible sauces, incredible service.
Sometimes the best things are in more typical places, like Napoleon’s in Toronto. We trusted the chef when he offered to prepare a survey/sample for us. As close to an orgasism as eating could ever be. Indescribable! (A few years later, Napoleon’s was bombed, maybe by a jealous competitor, maybe by the Mob. In any case, the chef had enough and went back to France).
Italian - Machievelli’s in DC, somewhere near the Capitol or Library of Congress. Unfortunately I don’t think it exists anymore, but they had great pizza and a wonderful environment.
Thai - Pad Thai in Highland Park, NJ. Most colorful presentation of excellent Thai food. Very reasonably priced.
Ethiopian - Mama Deste in DC area. Very good doro wat and injera, but a bit pricey (again, I don’t know if they’re still around - it’s been years since I was there).
Mexican - El Cholo’s in La Habra, CA. We started going there when it was just someone’s house (you could tell you were sitting in a one-time bedroom or den, weird).
Chinese - Kowloon Kitchen (take out only) in La Habra, CA. Beijing in Pocatello ID for sit down.
Seafood - Kiffa’s. Invitation only.
Fun - Poor Richard’s in LA. This is a sentimental favorite of mine. A great place for kids (a real restaurant, not Chucky Cheesey) with toy trains and giant stuffed swinging bears.
I second everything Brachy said, Mr kiffa BBQs the best marinated fish… mmm,mmm, good.
I also congratulate her on her wonderful memory for restaurant names! But she did forget the place in WashDC out on Mass Ave that steams lobsters/seafood and the Chinese seafood restaurant a few miles out beyond that in Rockville MD. But for the life of me I can’t remember the name of the most memorable restaurant - western Chinese/Islamic - in LaHabra. It’s one of my all time favorites
The best chocolate dessert can be found in Dakar Senegal at a restaurant behind the Taranga Hotel - its the one with the pier jutting out into the water. You have to order it when you first arrive because it takes lots of preparation. It’s basically four pieces of chocolate desserts depending upon the whim of the prime chef: chocolate cake, truffle, souffle profiterole and fudge for example.
My cousin is the executive chef there, and when my family went out West a few summers ago about 10 family members went to eat there. Steve gave us appetizer and dessert samplers. I had the best salmon I’ve ever had. What also made the evening memorable was the lightning storm- we could see the space needle and the rest of the Seattle skyline being illuminated by lightning from across the sound.
Lamsai: I will not even dignify that comment with a response.
Anyway. When I was in Paris in 1999 with my mom, we found this little crêperie by Place Monge. Everything there was crêpes. I had a ham and cheese crêpe for dinner and a crêpe Belle Hélêne (whipped cream, chocolate, marron cream, and pears) for dessert. Unbelievable. I don’t know if it was the best, but it was certainly the most memorable.
I should also mention Schwartz’s, a local landmark. It’s tiny, cramped, noisy, always stuffed to the brim, badly-decorated, and expensive, and also serves the most incredible smoked meat this side of Tel Aviv.
My very best favorite place to eat is the Ishnala Supper Club hidden away near the Wisconsin Dells. There is no other place like it. They even provide the old fashioned and long forgotten “relish dish” on each table. I’d fly to Wisc. just to eat there one more time.
Oooh, hard to say, since looking for a good place to eat while we are on our little road “adventures” is one of the things my hubby and I enjoy. Most of our adventures are confined to Florida.
For steak, the best was the Kissimmee Steak Co., in Kissimmee, FL (on I-92 near Orlando.)
For seafood, in Florida, it was Alma’s Seafood and Italian Trattoria in Melbourne. In Georgia, I forget the name of the place, but it was right off I-95 on the way to St. Simon’s Island. Great view, right over the salt marshes and really good food and service. Mmmmmmm…
