I have twice. I know that MS restaurants are controversial because they represent the best of Western European & Japanese cuisine but great restaurants in other cuisines rarely make the list. However that does not mean that MS restaurants are not great.
Mrs Cad and I have decided to try MS restaurants when we travel so I have been to two. The first one was in NYC and was seafood-based Italian. Let me tell you, if you ever wanted to try red wine braised octopus pasta, then where else but a MS restaurant would you try it? It was phenomenal and the service was great. I was craving a scotch and soda and their well scotch was a 14 year old blended. OMG like drinking the best soda pop ever. Their service was exceptional so that was an experience and best yet, we got to take my youngest so he has the experience of a MS restaurant too. And yes the food was wonderful but it struck me that a MS restaurant is about the service as much as the food and drink.
Then in Venice, we went to a MS restaurant. I think it might be our best restaurant experience ever. The service was unbelievable. I ordered an second apertif different from my first and the waiter was confused for a second because he checked our previous drink order before coming out and he wanted to make sure I did want a different drink. Of course I wanted wine with dinner and so an award-winning sommelier helped me pick. It was Venitian recipes hundreds of years old and every course the server explained to us what it was and why it was made a certain way like our ravioli had sugar on it to offset the sharpness of the cheese just like they did in the 1600s (chips of natural brown sugar, not C&H crap and the cheese was the traditional aged cheese just like the 1600s would have used). My main course was eel (probably swimming in the Adriatic that morning) under a cloche with smoke. Folks, I have been around meat smoking my entire life and I ain’t never smelled a smoke as delicious as in that restaurant. I don’t know what woods they used but I only dream of recreating it. Mrs Cad loved her course. The desserts were extraordinary. I could go on but my post is already too long.
So share your experience with eating at a Michelin Star restaurant. And tell us if it was something special beyond just eating at a really really good restaurant.
I had a fantastic Cocido Maragato lunch at a Michelin-rated restaurant in Spain. Because it was lunchtime, I didn’t get the signsture 10-meat stew, but after gazpacho, jamon croquettes, and dessert, I was pretty much in a food stupor. I plan to try the chickpeas, a regional specialty, next time I walk through.
It’s a good while ago now, but I ate at what was then a 3-star restaurant in southeastern France (it subsequently lost one of its stars). It was both seriously expensive (equivalent to about 200 of today’s dollars) and one of the best meal bargains I ever hope to enjoy.
The food was remarkable and the service substantially better than that. As the thought “You know, I think I’d like …” just starts to cross your mind, the thing you desire appears before you.
Our meal in Venice was similarly priced to the other places we ate in Venice. The NYC may have been more expensive then the average but then again, the same price as a phenomenal (not MS) steakhouse we ate at. But we never have eaten at one of those $600 per person MS restaurants where you get the tasting menu chosen by the chef. That’s when I win big in Vegas and we can get a spot at Joel Robuchon.
I ate at De Vrienden van Jacob in 2012 as part of a wedding (a Big Gay Wedding in fact) Fantastic food, and the surrounding estate (Landgoed Duin & Kruidberg) was spectacular as well.
I ate at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Torquay (of Fawlty Towers fame. I mean the town, not the restaurant…). It was a few years ago so memory a bit sketchy but I remember it being nice but not being blown away by it. In fact, a hotel I stayed at near Plymouth on the same trip impressed me more (admittedly it was pretty posh).
This is not how I normally dine though, definitely not a foodie!
I’ve eaten at Providence in WeHo, which has two Michelin stars, and it was the best meal I’ve ever eaten.
I’ve also eaten a Napa Rose at (but not part) Disney’s California Adventure. No stars, but was voted the 2nd best restaurant in California. Excellent meals every time.
For a wedding present, my aunt and uncle sent us to a Michelin starred restaurant outside Nice, France when we were on our honeymoon. Much better than a place setting of china.
Chicago. They only score in four American cities. Here’s an article on Cleveland with comments by a local Michelin-starred (for NYC) chef. Looks like his local restaurant might still be pretty tasty (and pricey), though .
While I lived in NYC, I worked on an apartment renovation for a local real estate tycoon (not Trump) for a couple of months. Once every week or two, he’d drop by the construction site and take the construction manager and a few of his favorite subcontractors ( including myself) out to lunch.
We always went to bar at Le Cirque, a Michelin starred classic (although they went of business in NYC a few years ago). I usually had either shrimp tempura or a hamburger.
The real estate tycoon would always complain about how long it took them to make his burger, even though it was never more than 10 minutes.
I will say that going to Le Cirque in my construction site work clothes and basically treating it like McDonalds is one of the most privileged things I’ve ever done, and it was awesome.
Bumped because we ate at the 3 new Michelin restaurants in Denver. All 3 were tasting menus and I ranked
1A Beckon
1B Brutø
Both excellent but different. Beckon was slightly better in my opinion but some others that have eaten at both have ranked Brutø slightly better and they are not wrong. Mrs. Cad preferred Brutø slightly but again, cannot go wrong with either one. The wine parings were phenomenal and I got to experience two lifetime experiences for the first time at Beckon - A5 Waygu beef direct from Matsusaka and a 1974 Chateau d’Yquem.
5 The Wolf’s Tailor. Wait! Fifth out of three? It was the fifth best meal all weekend just behind a Snarf’s Sandwich. One drink had so much chile in it it was inedible and I like spicy drinks (the Hot Peach at Hamburger Mary’s is my goto). Service was uninspired. The food was more Asian-bistro / fermentation experimental than gourmet and their best seasoning was a simple cumin & coriander on lamb. Will not go back again.
I ate at one just a few days ago, the one-star Chicago gastropub Band of Bohemia. It was really good, but not dramatically better than meals I’ve had in comparably priced non-starred restaurants. The one and two star places aren’t all astronomically priced; our party of three had full dinners with drinks for under $200 including tax and tip. I find the Michelin guides quite reliable; I’ve tried quite a few of their “not quite good enough for a star, but honorable mention” choices, some of which are downright cheap, and have never been disappointed.
I ate at Hawker Chan, the Michelin food stall in Singapore that won a star.
it was…fine. Their signature dish (that they won the star for) is soy sauce chicken with rice. That’s exactly what I got and exactly what it tasted like. Soy sauce chicken. With rice.
It was fine but there is a ton of other food in Singapore that is better. It wasn’t even the best food I had at the Hawker market.
It was only about 2 dollars though so I suppose one must take that into account.
A couple of times, but always when someone else was paying. La Gavroche, the Roux brothers place in London. The managing director was trying to impress a potential researcher and I got dragged along. A set menu lunch for about £50 (25 years ago) - it was OK but not even the best meal I had that day (we had an outstanding but unlauded local Indian takeaway back then). And on another occasion one of those country pubs in Berkshire, might have been another Roux establishment. All I can remember about that was that the triple cooked chips (fries) were excellent.
I’ve eaten at a few. The first one was in the south of France on my honeymoon, courtesy of my aunt and uncle as a wedding present. The next one I have booked is Dill in Reykjavik for my 25th anniversary.
Nope, and have no desire to. I’ve eaten in restaurants that deserved the honor, but because they’re not in the “select” cities, they have zero chance of getting such an award. That sort of snobbery doesn’t appeal to me.
I ate at River Cafe in Brooklyn (which has 1 star) thanks to winning a $250 gift certificate for it in a raffle. Looking at their menu, currently they just have prix-fixe dinner at $195 per person, but back in 2017 they had brunch, $50 per person, so we brought our 2 kids (older teens then) and ordered dessert in addition to brunch. It was an excellent experience, with attentive service, not (snobby in any way), delicious food, unique desserts (a pastry with chocolate shaped like the Brooklyn Bridge, which we could see right out the window.
My husband says he remembers it as one of the fanciest places where we’ve eaten, and impressive food too.
.