I was listening to Marco Pierre White today and it got me thinking about the best meal I've ever had. I've never dined at any really fancy restaurants with Michelin stars etc but I do appreciate good food and will do some research when on holiday etc to try and find good value restaurants. So there have been many really good dining experiences but nothing that stands out as the best. My mum does a great roast, often venison, which is always great. I had a really delicious Sri Lankan curry in Dunkeld just this weekend. I just can't think of one that stands out.
The meal I had at Oaxen (
in late 2016. Amazing place, amazing food, very sad that Covid basically pushed it into closure. Two stars, expensive, but very, very much worth it.
So many amazing places.
There was an early evening dinner I had in Provence, near to Ventoux with one of my children. It wasn't super fancy but it was just effortlessly amazing - just potatoes, fish, some vegetables, lemon juice, olive oil. Warm evening sun, long shadows on the hills.
Schweinhaxe (roast pork knuckle), saute potatoes and braised red cabbage at a brauhaus in Düsseldorf.
The pork was crispy, moist, disintegrating perfection, the cabbage has been cooked for so long it was basically syrup and the potatoes were, well, amazing.
Plus the beer, brewed on site, wasn't bad either.
I've been lucky enough to eat in some great places with work in the past, but none really stick out. I suppose technically the best would have been getting a gift voucher for long service to enable us to eat at Le Gavroche, Michel Roux / Roux Jr's place in Mayfair (Michelin star but now closed) which was amazing but I wouldn't want to go regularly to that sort. I'd regularly have the cheeseboard though.....
I'd far rather go to either the seafood restaurant we went to on honeymoon on Cannery Row in Monterey; amazing simple flour dusted sand dabs, a small flat fish. Or to a little place on the harbourside near Alvor, Portugal (Algarve), also seems to no longer be there from g-maps or if it is has gone upmarket. Menu was a chalk board and a trolley of crushed ice with random stuff loaded on it depending what the boats had landed, and if you don't fancy any of them just plates of freshly grilled salted sardines with green salad and new potatoes. Simple food but fresh as, perfect.
i had a steak at the 3rd de Augusto in Malabo Equatorial Guinea.
I remember it as the best steak I've ever eaten . whether that's because IT WAS the best steak id ever eaten or because the previous 5 weeks id been eating whole cooked fish off the bone( think scales / fins/ eyeballs very much synonymous with - this was swimming 20 minutes ago) / chicken bones / super noodles is a different story.
I'm still to this day certain it was horse.
equally - the pizza hut pizza i had at Terrace after 90 miles fully loaded on day 2 of a tour in the pishing rain while very much unprepared fitnesswise was pretty "best"
view points can be recalibrated - I've eaten some pretty fancy food at pretty fancy places - but some of my "best" meals have been standard food after some good old type 2.
Alex Dilling at Cafe Royal in London, 2 stars, 16 course, unbelievable. The bill was super heavy though. L’Enclume in Cartmel comes close.
But there was also the meal I ate at a tiny restaurant near Sorrento. Fish of the day, a ridiculous tomato sauce and the best cooked pasta you’ll eat. And 2 bottles of wine.
Or the place in Rome hidden behind Termini. It looked like a right dive. But the food was so simple and so good we went back twice.
For really fancy Sonnet Restaurant in Alnwick, it opened up 2 years ago and does absolutely amazing fine dining back there on Thursday.
None find dinning is a tougher one, to try to pin down.
Two stand out, but then I'm usually a man of more humble means:
- Nick Nairn's Kailyard at Dunblane Hydro - won a free meal there and had an amazing fish pie...
- I was at Schloss Leopoldskron, the sound of music place in Salzburg, for a work week. We were treated to an evening of food and a piano recital. Four courses. A Slovak piano player of some renown apparently. Absolutely delightful - for the food and the atmosphere from the Schloss to the music.
SCHLOSS-LEOPOLDSKRON.COM
Years ago we went to a Californian place on Rose Street in edinburgh, that was good. I'd have had the meal again.
In Tenerife we stopped at a fish restaurant and were served a large grouper.... They brought out another table for the drinks, condiments and side plates. After we thought we'd finished, the waiter came back and turned the fish over for he 2nd half ..
Generally all the best places have been decent food but with good company.
My mum's lasagna.
Years ago we went to a Californian place on Rose Street in edinburgh, that was good. I'd have had the meal again.
Calistoga, it used to be round the back of the pleasance.
It was great.
As was Osso in peebles, their tasting menu was ace. Shame its gone.
A five rib ribeye.
Picked out a full sirloin at the meatmarket, separated it off the sirloin, then hung it in the chill for 8 or 9 weeks.
Completely boned out and trimmed ALL fat. Rolled it with suet on top, and presented it as my contribution for Xmas dinner.
Mum was never a good cook. believed meat is meant to be grey all the way through.I cooked it medium. Dad spent the meal talking about how amazing the meat was. Only real time i remember him happy at xmas dinner.
It was very very nice, but it was the overall with family, all raving about how flavorsome and tender it was.
It cost me even trade 80 quid(probably be closer to 200 today), this was about '98. One of the better family memories
My long since passed Nana's homemade steak and ale pie with peas and mash and a pint of Landlord.
After 6 months in some dusty shit hole eating rations that meal will never be topped.
All consumed at her dining table, in silence with her just sat enjoying the company.
Absolute chefs kiss.
Went to Chevre D'Or in Eze once with work, which was very good, but it was with work folk, so missed out on the social.
Best tho was with MrsEpic, Chez FonFon in Marseille, window table overlooking the inlet, crisp Provencal rose, bouillabaise, just wonderful
Rusholme chippy - koobideh kebab
Meal out: This place, though I might not have enjoyed it as much if I'd been paying.
BALEARRIJATETXEA.COM Christmas at home as a kid - thanks mum.
But the best? A combination of the company, the place, the atmophere, the occasion and to some degree the food. There's a few to choose from and none I'll type about here.
I could name a few contenders. The commonality is sitting in the evening sun, often in mountains, with friends, a cold beer and some kind of great food. Italian pizza, Austrian Tirolergröstl, a Thai curry in Berlin, fish stew in Oregon.
Fine dining doesn't do it for me, the atmosphere is never conducive to a "best meal", even though the few times I've done it ice appreciated the skill and craft of the food.
Rusholme chippy - koobideh kebab
Tsk. Hardly a humble brag worthy of the thread mate. 😉
Honestly its up there! I dont really like posh places mind you as im a scruffy tight git. Id usually rather have some excellent authentic food in simple surroundings with no pressure.
The only posh meal i have ever thought was worth the money was an itallian in North Berwick, due to the fantastic service about 15 years ago. Every other one, and ive had quite a few, has been an expensive dissapointment if im really honest.
Not sure about meal, but I'm going to nominate as the absolute best desert ever the tiramisu in the restaurant in the old converted chapel between Finale and Noli. The rest of the meal was pretty good, but the tiramisu was amazing.
I never thought I was a fish man, let alone a salad lover but the tuna nicoise my missus made for our first at home meal together is still to be beaten
Ynyshir - a stones throw from Dyfi bike park.
Andria - Dartmouth
both blew me away
9-course taster menu in Lofft, Cardiff. It’s a new addition to Tom Simmons’ place in Pontcanna.
It’s also the most expensive meal I have had but worth every penny.
(At the other end of the scale, fish & chips in Eastbourne after finishing the SDW were like food from the gods.)
Ynyshir - a stones throw from Dyfi bike park.
This. 30 odd courses, all amazing.
Le Gavroche (RIP) soufflé suissesse is possibly the nicest thing I’ve eaten.
PsychoSandbar (RIP), very similar style to Ynyshir, sauces to die for.
And a long weekend in San Sebastián also comes close, rounded off with a meal at Amelia.
If you prefer a 3-course meal to a fancy but technically wonderful tasting menu then The Parkers Arms near Clitheroe takes some beating.
We were in Montenegro last month and the seafood platter for 2 at Restaurant Conte in Perast was one of the best meals I've ever had. Unbelievable quality.
For me it's all about the occasion and the venue.
So....my wedding meal. We had one of our favourite places licenced for the day for the wedding - a friend's lochside garden by Loch Tay that means a lot to use for various reason - not least my father's ashes being popped in the water there. Just 40 close friends and family present. Immaculate weather (for Scotland in April). The booze chilling in crates in the loch. A local caters doing some amazing things in a very personal way. Didn't get much to eat as we were the last to go up for food and they were running out by the time we got served. But looking around at all our favourite people brought together for one time only with an epic backdrop exactly bespoke to what we wanted. The actual food - lovely, but not the headline to a once in a lifetime meal.
1:
Holiday in Florence about 20 years ago. We'd spent the days eating at hoghly recommended places which were fine, but one night went to a smallish family place, the type with kids running about and wine so cheap it's almost free.
Tomato sauce and spaghetti: the sauce probably only had 3 or 4 ingredients, but they were all fresh off the bush or from the ground, and cooked absolutely perfectly. There was nothing you could do to improve it, no matter who the chef was.
2:
Hoi Lai and rice from a street food stall in Bangkok. My Thai friend said I would love it. They were right.
Was in Sun City, South Africa for a couple of days with my then GF. We’d gone to Johannesburg to see her Dad for 2 weeks and wanted a couple of days to ourselves. Sun City is a manufactured resort in the middle of the desert, so wasn’t expecting much, but we actually had a really good time (mostly pretending to be half our age in the water park), but then the food…
So mostly, given its quite American influence, the restaurants were American chains which we were keen to avoid… We found their onsite Steak House simply called “The Grill Room” and being a bit of a steak fan I wasn’t expecting great things but what came will stay with me to my dying day… The best meat, cooked to absolute perfection (large fillet cooked medium rare in my case) that was so tasty, it’s the first time I can actively remember cutting the pieces smaller and smaller as I went along in order to make the meal last longer so I could savour it more…
It wasn’t even that expensive! Ok for South African prices it was steep, I think two mains and a bottle of wine cost us about £70… This was 2016, the steak house around the corner from her Dad’s house (which was still very good) was more like £15 for a main than £30… But compared to any £30 steak I’ve eaten in the UK, this was honestly 10x better at least!
The best curry I’ve had was in the most random of places… One of those “you know when the curry house has lots of Asian people eating there not just a load of pasty white folk, the food is gonna be good moments”… Stopped over in Thurso whilst up on the North coast of Scotland, and as anybody who’s ever stayed there will attest, dining choices are thin on the ground so wasn’t expecting much… What came was food so good, I’be contemplated making an excuse just to go to Thurso again, just for the Curry! 😂 And yes… I’ve eaten proper curry in India too (a week in Goa, the food was incredible as you can imagine), but this is still the best curry I’ve ever had…
A really amazing Lasagne - can't specify where as I've had a few...also, the steak and peppercorn pie from the Red Lion in Culross has never disappointed.
Mrs FD and I have enjoyed going to posh restaurants over the years and had varying experiences.
Lets just say the hype doesn’t always fit with the reality.
The last one we went to recently, last year was rated the best in the world. It was by no means bad but wasn’t exceptional either.
We have decided moving forward to avoid Michelin restaurants as once you’ve been to a few they all become much of the same
This is going to sound odd, but when I was little in the 60s we used to go to the Wimpy Bar in South Harrow, and that’s what I thought a hamburger/beefburger was.
A few years later my dad and his boss took me to The Great American Disaster (themed after the Hindenburg airship crash), an American burger place on the Fulham Road and yes, I know it’s only a burger, but wow - and I’ve never had one like it since. 🍔
Rhyl (yes you read that correctly). It was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. All 3 courses were delicious. Barratt’s of Ty’n Rhyl.
The best sandwich I ever ate was a crab salad from Jersey, simple fresh dressed crab, fresh salad and soft home baked fresh brown bread.
For me it's all about the occasion and the venue.
Very much this. I remember sitting eating a steak (in a roquefort sauce) and chips in a little roadside cafe outside Nice. Just a standard French cafe, nothing special, and the meal itself wasn't anything fancy or expensive.
But we were on holiday, it was sunny and warm, the scenery was amazing, we were sat with the kids and some good mates and their kids and I remember thinking 'this is the best steak I've ever eaten'. I don't know whether it was or not, but it was just one of those moments where everything just seems perfect. Probably the latter. I can still picture the whole scene in my head now and it still makes me smile.
For me it's all about the occasion and the venue.
It's interesting. I think there's a distinction between "best meal" and "best food"/"best dish". The former is about the food, the people, the service, the atmosphere all combined. The latter is about what's on your plate and nothing more.
You can have a great meal when the food isn't the best, but everything else clicks.
A couple stand out. A friend is a antique dealer and was helping a chef at a very well know restaurant redecorate, anyway, on a road ride, we stopped by the restaurant and the (very) well know chef made us some sandwiches as they chatted about bits of furniture sat in his sun trap of a garden while very very rich folks eyed us from inside the restaurant...
The other was a modest little place in Scotland - The Pier House which was just one of those occasions the stars align,it was quiet, sunny, we'd had a perfect day, we went to the restaurant in the evening and chatting to the server, my wife asked where/when the langoustine had been caught. "There, this afternoon" says the server pointing at the loch that the restaurant sits next to.
Barratts in Rhyl is supposed to be very good - never been despite being in the area on a regular basis.
Me, a few stand out meals.
Recently, Giggling Squid in Stratford - good value and exceptionally tasty - bought the recipe book !
Graphine in Manchester (sadly closed but they moved out to a hotel in the Peaks) - went in with a 50% off voucher for the standard A-La-Cart menu, took a look at the 7 course taster and wine flight - went for that - spent a fair amount (no discount) but it was fabulous. Left some hours later very happy and rather tiddly.
Cut and Craft Manchester - popped in for Sunday lunch - my word it was good and very reasonable for what you got. Gorgeous venue.
Not sure about meal, but I'm going to nominate as the absolute best desert ever the tiramisu in the restaurant in the old converted chapel between Finale and Noli. The rest of the meal was pretty good, but the tiramisu was amazing.
You just reminded me - this place! Hand written menu depending on what nonna bought at the market that day / day before it seemed. Looks like a dodgy street corner at the edge of aforementioned market, but far from it at night...
But oh my word. An evening of the best bolognaise ever, washed down with local wine, and a very charismatic retired 'merican dude trying to hit on the 6 female teachers I was there with, was a brilliant evening....
The steak at Dedan Dehors in Guillestre, an amazing place that does spectacular food. Went there 20 years ago when I was out kayaking and it was stunning, went last year when I was biking and it was still as good.
Made by me - Branston beans on Warburton's Toastie with unsalted butter. 😀
Couple of years back we were travelling down south and popped in to friend's pub which sits between Salisbury and Winchester. Hungry kids and the kitchen was closed - head chef disappeared into the kitchen and 'rustled up' some burgers and chips. Oh. My. God. He was trained as a chef at a very good restaurant - rosettes, possibly more. It was exquisite and basically inhaled by all of us. He also makes the lightest rice I've ever experienced. It's like eating a cloud.
Wouldn't have a clue, but one that always sticks with me was a tuna steak in a seafood restaurant on the banks of the loch at/near Fort William, maybe 20 odd years ago
One of my favourite annecdotes.
Pre Kids, (barely pre kids), we (she) found a bargain late minute deal at a place in the seychelles. Never been that far abroad and never been since. It was much fancier than anywhere else ive ever been.
They were super attentive, like going into flipping Milletts. Anyway, everything was amazing, so we didnt really any criticisms, but the front of house guy was insistant, so we did say that on our first night we arrived late, and because the (some months pregnant) lady had wanted to send her risotto back to get the runny egg replace with a non runny egg (a preganancy thing), we ate seperatly (ie, i had finished mine by the time it came back)
He offered us a complimentary meal, in the "fancy" restaurant at the resort. That was nice. Anyway as we are not resort types, we were already planning on striking out in the evening most nights. the only night we were free to redeem this offer, they were closed.
Not to worry. We booked in for the night we were free (and they were closed) and he said "leave it with me".
On the night we got evicted from our cabin (see photos on the website) to the bar for half an hour, and when we returned the balcony had been setup for a sit down meal. We had a waiter on hand, and had a "tasting menu", of all the food that was available in the fancy restaurant was brought up, course by course, with drinks. The food was incredible, all sorts of steaks and seafoods.
We saw it as a line on the final bill when we left, maked gratis. something like a £400 a head service to have a room meal.
Where as next week (almost exactly 10 yrs later) im taking her to the Eden Project for a "Biome VIP dinner" for her Birthday.
A total coincidence that the VIP Dinner tickets are an EO option for the Pixies performance/gig/set.
Will report back RE the food.
For overall experience, probably the Fat Duck about 20 years ago (when it was still relevant and hadn't totally disappeared up its own arse).
Honourable munch-tions to L'Enclume, Midsummer House, Marcus Wareing at the Dorchester (a couple of weeks after it escaped the evil GR empire and changed its name from Petrus), and pintxos in San Sebastian (if you can call multiple venues 'a meal').
Have dropped a Ynyshir shaped hint for my 50th next year, but if any restaurant is hard to get into I usually have to take matters into my own hands or it never happens!
This thread reinforces my view that the concept "favourite" is completely invalid. "Best" too. It's all down to context. My "favourite" drink would depend on when and where. It could be a double espresso, a pint of Bass, a Chablis, an iced coffee or just a glass of ice cold water.
I've had some glorious meals, most that I've thought worth every penny, Several tasting menus: Le Manoir de Quat Saisons (didn't regret the £625 lunch for 2), Garden Cottage, Edinburgh, Wilderness, Birmingham. A wonderful lunch on a beach in Dominican republic where the locals ran up with chairs and tables and offered us fresh parrot fish and other options, A breakfast of noodles on a little boat tied up next to other little boats with market traders at the floating market in the middle of the Mekong River near Saigon, That funny backstreet bar An Ca Curro in Tarifa, My first visit to the Karachi in Bradford...
All memorable, all looked back on with joy, some only costing 50p.
