[Tsujigiri]

     Despite the long-running joke here about eating instant ramen to fund headphones, I've heard snippets of conversations on these boards that suggest that there are some hardcore foodies here. So, for those of you who do have a great appreciation for food, please describe the last great meal you had (or any meal from before that has remained vivid in your memories). Pictures are always a plus.
 
     I'll start with my experience last night at Culina, located in the Los Angeles Four Seasons. They're a modern Italian restaurant particularly known for their Crudo, a kind of Italian sushi. I tried the kampachi, ahi, and sea urchin, and found them all to be fresh and well-balanced in flavor. The sea urchin in particular stood out for being extremely tender and having a subtle lemon agrumato that did not overpower the natural flavor of the sea urchin.
     Next we tried the risotto and truffle croquettes, wagyu meatballs, spinach lasagna, and ravioli. The meatballs and lasagna were balanced and well executed, but the croquettes and ravioli really stood out. The ravioli was cooked with brown butter, but was remarkably light and delicate. The corn served with it added a complimentary sweet note, and the sage served as an excellent counterbalance.
     Following these, we tried the lamb, brussels sprouts, and mushrooms. All had rich and textured flavors, although some of the vegetables had a heavy dose of acid. The meat was prepared perfectly; rare enough to bring out the full flavor, but extremely tender at the same time.
     For dessert I tried the budino, a multi-layered pudding of hazelnut, coffee, caramel, and creme fraiche. The different elements gave the dish a good depth, and the salted caramel topped it all off superbly.
     Overall, it was an excellent meal. Unfortunately, I have no pictures (I thought it would be poor form since I was being taken out by someone I did not know that well). Also, I don't remember what three of the wines that we had with the meal were, but I do remember that one of them was the 1999 Grands Echezeaux DRC Grand Cru. This was the first wine of that caliber that I've tasted, and it was really incredible. On first tasting it, it is slightly sweet, but later the tannins start to assume a stronger presence. It maintains wonderful balance the whole time, though, and has excellent depth. The finish is also quite long; I counted over 30 seconds.

 

[TheJazzyH]

I'm not much of a foodie myself, but a couple weeks back I ate at a traditional American restaurant in Gresham, Oregon called the Truffle Hunter with my family using a Restaurant.com gift certificate.
 
We started with some garlic Parmesan fries for an appetizer. They were perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the seasonings added an nice extra kick to the flavor. Unfortunately they were a little too greasy, which really limited the amount of fries I could stuff myself with. 
 
Before our entrees arrived, me mom was brought her Hungarian mushroom soup, and I my taco soup. The Hungarian mushroom was one of the house specialties, and I could tell after stealing a single taste for myself. It was very smooth, creamy, and just thick enough to fill you a bit without stuffing you too much before the main course. My taco soup, as you might guess, is all the ingredients of a taco mixed into soup form. The result was basically chili, but thinner. It was still tasty though.
 
After a long wait, our entrees finally came. My fish and chips turned out to be quite good, with plain fries that were easier to eat than the appetizer, and fish that was nice and crisp on the outside, although I would have preferred it a little juicier inside. The sauce in my mom's Gorgonzola pasta, unfortunately was a little sharp to my taste buds. It was also drowned in olive oil. I didn't get to try my dad's pot roast, but he certainly enjoyed it. His mashed potatoes appeared to be very finely mashed, to say the least. Our meals also came with homemade bread with cheese sprinkled on top, with was absolutely delicious, being perfectly warm while staying soft and fluffy.
 
All of food I mentioned here, except the soups, was served in super-sized portions. By the time we gave up eating, we still took home enough leftovers to compile lunch the next day. Needless to say, we didn't order dessert, no matter how good people were saying it is.
 
Overall, the meals were generously large, and considering that these dinner entrees cost $12-20 each, I think that the Truffle Hunter managed to deliver on both quality and quantity, although the two could be better balanced. The waitress was also friendly enough, although I only recall seeing her working the whole time we were there. In the end, I had a great time, and even without the gift certificate, I believe my family would have gotten our money's worth.     

 

[jjinh]

Quote:

Despite the long-running joke here about eating instant ramen to fund headphones, I've heard snippets of conversations on these boards that suggest that there are some hardcore foodies here.

 
Good food isnt always expensive... the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant I've eaten at only cost me about $10 (and the food was alright too!)

 

[Tsujigiri]

Jazzyh, thanks for the thorough review!
 
Jjinh, details please!

 

[Magick Man]

My house: A rare Chateaubriand, with red potatoes au gratin, steamed asparagus, and a 2006 Clarendon Hills Moritz Cab-Syrah. One of the best parts is the leftovers. Mmmm...

 

[Tom Yum Goong]

My gourmet-english is terrible :|
Was a 4 course menu at La Belle Epoque in Travemünde, Germany.
You could definitely taste the 3 Michelin stars they call their own! Was the second Michelin restaurant I visited so far. Other one was in Hong Kong.

Google Translator won't help you much here, but take a look at the menu if you want to

http://www.columbia-hotels.de/casino-travemuende/pdf/speisekarte-lbe.pdf

 

[jjinh]

Quote:

Jjinh, details please!

 
I dont travel to eat but, yeh, you'd have to go overseas. I think Tim Ho Wan is the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant around. It's a yum cha restaurant with a few branches in HK. And many Michelin-starred chefs in W. Europe (e.g. in London, Paris, etc) either have 'cheap' lunch-time set-menus (same food as dinner for a fraction of the price) or run bistros with decent quality food.

 

[Tom Yum Goong]

Quote:

 
I dont travel to eat but, yeh, you'd have to go overseas. I think Tim Ho Wan is the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant around. It's a yum cha restaurant with a few branches in HK.

Been there
I had to wait for 4 (!) hours to get one seat in there, but they are serving the best Dim Sum I ever had the pleasure to eat.

 

[jjinh]

Did you go to the one in Mongkok? I think the queues are less at the other Tim Ho Wans (and they have better decor).
 
I'm not sure about the other branches but you can order take-away at the IFC one (actually in HK Station and not the easiest place to find...). Take-away means you get your food in like 15 minutes. It's a great place to go if you happen to be in the train station to express check-in your luggage!

 

[Tom Yum Goong]

I didn't even know about the other ones and went to the one in Mongkok... Oh well, I visited two temples around there and looked for some non-fake jade at the jade market

 

[Tsujigiri]

Quote:

My gourmet-english is terrible :|
Was a 4 course menu at La Belle Epoque in Travemünde, Germany.
You could definitely taste the 3 Michelin stars they call their own! Was the second Michelin restaurant I visited so far. Other one was in Hong Kong.

Google Translator won't help you much here, but take a look at the menu if you want to

http://www.columbia-hotels.de/casino-travemuende/pdf/speisekarte-lbe.pdf

That looks incredible! Nice thing about German is that they build words very logically, so you can figure out what stuff is by breaking the words down. My family's actually planning a trip to Germany soon, so I'll have to brush up on my culinary vocabulary in German.
 
Quote:

 
I dont travel to eat but, yeh, you'd have to go overseas. I think Tim Ho Wan is the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant around. It's a yum cha restaurant with a few branches in HK. And many Michelin-starred chefs in W. Europe (e.g. in London, Paris, etc) either have 'cheap' lunch-time set-menus (same food as dinner for a fraction of the price) or run bistros with decent quality food.

I figured that it might be a lunch item if you were able to get Michelin rated food at that price. You're right; there are a lot of screaming deals out there from great restaurants for lunch. It sounds like the restaurant you're describing is really down to earth. I believe there's a Michelin star rated ramen restaurant in Tokyo that only has two tables. They only accept reservations, and make no exceptions for celebrities, rich people, etc. I have a lot of respect for restaurants like that that eschew the glamor of culinary celebrity and stick to tradition, because you can see that a true love for food is their only motivation. I'll have to try Tim Ho Wan if I'm ever somewhere where they have a branch...

 

[arnesto]

 
 
Last year I was in Paris and I wanted to try eating some Foie Gra.
 
There are a lot of different varieties of it, and most of the Foie Gra that I tried, I didn't like it.
 
Most people eat Foie Gra cold with toast. This type is also usually mixed with other ingredients similar to our American meat loaf.
 
But if you ever get an opportunity to eat raw Foie Gra like in this picture of the salad.
 
Or pan fried on sliced beets with some sea salt. It was like heaven in my mouth.
 
The pictures that I posted was part of a 4 course set lunch.
 


 

 

 
 
 

 

[Spareribs]

Nice photos. I’ve tried foie gras a few times in America and didn't think it was interesting and this was at fancy restaurants.

I finally found a great version of foie gras in Paris at a rundown looking cafe where the waiters were wearing sneakers and jeans and wow, the foie gras was outstanding. I really fell in love with it.

If you can’t visit France or other countries to find great food and you live in America, in my opinion the best food city in America is Las Vegas. I know it sounds crazy but the city has so much money and they really go out of their way to get the top chefs. And the competition to get customers into the casinos is fierce.

 

[F208Frank]

Mine was Jiro (Japan). I liked how they serve you really fast.

They pace the meal pretty quick. I went there with my wife and she enjoyed it a lot as well. Probably my favorite meal of all time as I do love Japanese food.

My second favorite taste wise is Le Cinq (Paris) as the food was really really good, and I had the most amazing orange juice ever that to this day I still day dream about it once a while. It was not just fresh squeezed OJ, it was fresh squeezed OJ with their variety of oranges and holy F it was divine. I actually went back the next day for breakfast just to get the OJ again and to my surprise, they changed it up to using a different variety of oranges!

My honey moon was basically 3 nice meals in Paris instead of spending a bunch of money on the wedding. We spent 0 dollars for the wedding, we are loners.

My most memorable dining experience was probably at Epicure (Paris). The customer service was absolutely amazing and that is something I do not even care for. I was still wowed at how tight of a ship they ran.

My most underwhelming meal of all time, and also the most expensive was MASA in New York. It was an OK experience but for the money, it was ridiculously underwhelming.