The Best Meal You've Ever Had

[Arkhilokhus]

Talking about fish in another thread reminded me of the single best thing I've ever eaten: teriyaki shark. I had been stationed in Okinawa for a year, and got invited by some civilian contractors I was working with to a fairly upscale restraunt off-base. It happened that shark was in season, so I decided to try teriyaki shark on a whim, partly because I'd had sushi over and over and wanted to try something different. I also had some warm sake, not realizing that warm is apparently Japanese for "scalding hot". I think there are portions of my esophogus that are still burned to this day.

But the shark...dear Lord, Zeus on Olympus has not had better fare, I'm certain. I can't even find the words to describe how amazingly good it was. I'll try anyway. Perfectly tender, almost melting in my mouth, with the sause giving the meat just a hint of tangyness. Definitely a high point in my life, and I'm not much of a foody, honest!

What about you? What's the best meal you've ever had?

 

[Homburg]

Oddly enough, whenever I think of the best meals I've had, I think of the people I was with, not the food. Quite literally every one of the "this is one of the best meals I've had" moments in my life were that way because of the people sitting around the table with me, or, in a very few situations, because of the people and the setting.

Case in point, one of the most memorable breakfasts I've had was on vacation in England at the bed and breakfast we were staying at. It was a school trip in high school, and I was eating a table full of friends. The food was pretty much standard English breakfast fare, but I still remember it clearly. The eggs were over easy, done perfectly, the sausage was not as spicy as I am used to, but, again, cooked perfectly and very tasty (apparently proper English sausage is flat unavailable in the US, period), the orange marmalade for the toast was excellent, etc.

The meal was in no way particularly remarkable, and certainly would not have impressed Zeus. But the gestalt of the experience was enough that I can clearly recall that moment some twenty years later, down to BBC news playing in the background and what the china looked like.

Another example would be the first time viv, MIS, and I went out as a trio for the first time. Nice restaurant, we were well-dressed, and had a wonderful time. The meal? Good, but nothing to call your friends up and rave over. The company, however, was top drawer, and we all had a blast. Not an evening I am likely to forget ever.

If I look purely to food, there was a restaurant here called Sewell's Ordinary, long closed down. I had something, and to be honest I could not tell you what the dish was. Maybe a jambalaya sort of thing. It was fantastic. The part that I really recall was the topping, as it was a huge mass of crispy fried leek straws. Sounds weird and heavy, but it was light, delicious, and incredibly memorable. viv and I still talk about those leeks to this day. Sewell's Ordinary was one of the very few restaurants around here to consistently get five stars, and I was very sad to see it go.

That said, part of why I recall, and enjoy, that meal, was my company and the circumstances. Had I gone there with just anyone, it would likely not have been as interesting a meal.

 

[00Syd]

The best meal I have ever had, hands down, was my first steak (medium rare!) from Peter Lugers steakhouse in Brooklyn. I swear, it made me melt. The memory still makes me melt, just a little bit, around the edges.

 

[Keroin]

Honestly, too hard to choose. I'm blessed with friends with delusions of chefdom.

But there was this little plywood shack, in a dirty fishing town, on the Pacific side of Baja, Mexico, and this guy and his two daughters cooked up steak and potatoes every night. That was the whole menu. If you wanted a drink, you had to go across the street to the little tienda.

The Hercules-sized steaks were Sonoran beef and the guy cooked them over a bed of mesquite, all the while smoking a cigarette he never took from his mouth to shake the ash from. His daughters prepared the potatoes - papas rellenas - stuffed with butter, corn, cream, and who knows what else. The whole works cost about seven bucks. Meat was world class and perfectly cooked, papas rellenas were heart attack heaven, and the company - some gringos but mostly poor, hard working Mexicans - was of the highest quality.

As for my favorite dessert, that's another story...

 

[Recidiva]

I spend a lot of time on "the best meal" experience, so I don't think I've had one. Some of these I'm able to duplicate now in my own kitchen...some I can't.

Like Homburg it's usually the company that makes it extraordinary, so the one's coming to mind are with my husband.

A couple of moments of "this is the stuff"

Best clam chowder came from a little restaurant in La Jolla overlooking the surf during a sunset.

"Salt and Pepper Spareribs" in a little Chinese restaurant in San Francisco (alas, I cannot duplicate these and they are a still an ongoing quest...)

Mixed ceviche and sweet potato at a little place here in Orlando. I can do the ceviche now, I can't do the potato...yet.

Cuban sandwich in a little tiny place in Tampa.

Catfish and hush puppies at Ralph and Kacoos.

Maryland crabs on a big roll of butcher paper...nothing but mallets and squeeze bottles of butter.

It just tastes better the first time...and when someone else is making it. I get my ideas and I try to duplicate it...but it's wonderful to have a surprise just show up on the table. And some of this stuff I still can't make myself.

 

[midwestyankee]

Jean Banchet's Le Français in November of 1977. The highlight was Saumon en Croute: a longitudinal slice of whole salmon, stuffed with lobster mousse, wrapped in a clear aspic, and then in a pastry shell and baked. Dear gawd, it was the most heavenly orgasmic dish I've ever had.

To follow on Homburg's post, though, truly great meals are a multi-layered experience: food, ambience, company, and meaning. I sense that one of the most important factors in the meal that Homburg described was that it was the first time for the three of them to go out as a trio. That would have improved a trip to IHOP. In the case of my visit to Le Français (at the time, it was the only American restaurant with Michelin Guide's top rating), the company was as important as the food. My two roommates and my almost-fiancée and I were dining for the last time together before moves out of state and the upcoming marriage would split us up. Dining had been a central part of how we expressed our friendship, so we ate well to celebrate well several years of close bonds.

 

[WriterDom]

We had a mini reunion with my mother's family at Thanksgiving. About 40 people I guess. The annual reunions can be up to 70 or so. But all the women brought a dish. I am the youngest of 23 grandkids so it's an old southern family and all the women are good cooks. Just to sample everything was too much to eat.

 

[intothewoods]

I can't pick one meal! I remember many dishes, but I can't recall one meal that was the best.

I've also been completely spoiled by the meals I've had in my life. Not all fancy by any means either.

 

[Arkhilokhus]

Mixed ceviche and sweet potato at a little place here in Orlando. I can do the ceviche now, I can't do the potato...yet.

Oh, if you're in Orlando I need to recommend the chocolate ravioli from Citricos, if you've not had it before. I'm not much of a chocolate lover (I know, I'm strange that way) and I still thought it was amazing. The cedar-smoked salmon at Artist's Point is very good, too.

Look at me, I'm derailing my own thread!

Ahem.

As far as company goes, I find that I rarely recall the food when I'm with my nearest and dearest. Those times seem to push the food into the background for me. ::shrugs::

 

[Recidiva]

Oh, if you're in Orlando I need to recommend the chocolate ravioli from Citricos, if you've not had it before. I'm not much of a chocolate lover (I know, I'm strange that way) and I still thought it was amazing. The cedar-smoked salmon at Artist's Point is very good, too.

Look at me, I'm derailing my own thread!

Ahem.

As far as company goes, I find that I rarely recall the food when I'm with my nearest and dearest. Those times seem to push the food into the background for me. ::shrugs::

Oh YUM. Orlando's a great food place, I love it.

I've seen chocolate used in so many fun ways...lots of them savory. If it's anywhere near as good as a decent mole sauce, I'm there.

Vosges now makes a chocolate bar with bacon in it...and it's GOOD.

 

[Homburg]

Jean Banchet's Le Français in November of 1977. The highlight was Saumon en Croute: a longitudinal slice of whole salmon, stuffed with lobster mousse, wrapped in a clear aspic, and then in a pastry shell and baked. Dear gawd, it was the most heavenly orgasmic dish I've ever had.

I don't have a mental palate complex enough to comprehend this dish.

To follow on Homburg's post, though, truly great meals are a multi-layered experience: food, ambience, company, and meaning. I sense that one of the most important factors in the meal that Homburg described was that it was the first time for the three of them to go out as a trio. That would have improved a trip to IHOP.

Very much so. After the nice restaurant, we wound up later in a McDonalds with the girls making out a bit over some french fries. It was as significant and memorable a moment as being in the nice restaurant earlier in the evening.

My two roommates and my almost-fiancée and I were dining for the last time together before moves out of state and the upcoming marriage would split us up. Dining had been a central part of how we expressed our friendship, so we ate well to celebrate well several years of close bonds.

Moments like this are seminal, no? That same trip to England that I mentioned above had another moment like that for me. My first girlfriend and I spent our last few hours in Stratford-upon-Avon sharing fish and chips from a street vendor while sitting on the banks of the Avon River. Her father was due to PCS out of Germany shortly after and it was the last time she and I got to spend time together outside school. I still remember that moment, and, oddly enough, that fish. To date, it still ranks as one of the best fish dishes I've ever had, eaten off newsprint and tinfoil with my fingers, alongside a sweet girl that I knew I'd never see again shortly afterwards.

I will likely have fond memories of the week spent in that town in England until the day I die. I'm sure the teacher who sponsored that trip is long retired, if not passed on, but wherever you are, Mr. Van Der Hayden, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for those experiences.

 

[Homburg]

As far as company goes, I find that I rarely recall the food when I'm with my nearest and dearest. Those times seem to push the food into the background for me. ::shrugs::

In a good evening out, food is merely the spice. Company is the bread and meat.

 

[Netzach]

I was pretty impressed by the long-closed Aquavit with T. Company, food, room, all first notch.

 

[jockdom]

This thread reminds me of something my grandad used to say, "Hunger is the best cook."

I agree with some of the other posters about the company being just as important as the meal. I fondly remember Cheese fondue and raclette dinners as a kid everybody sitting around the table talking and eating late into the night.

 

[CurlyKat]

It's way too hard to pick just one dish, or overall meal. Mine has to be divided into what type of food it is....

The best pizza and overall Italian food I've ever had was in this little place in a town outside Venice. The first room you walk into will almost make you walk right back out because it just looks like an ice fish bar with some pickled veggies, but then going into the back you can get a table. Seriously, I don't think any other pizza will ever live up to it. Soooo different from American pizza, and the flavors are amazing. Good wine that's cheaper to drink than water, too. Sadly, I've just found out that place has since closed.

The best German food was in the Rathaus in Munich (definitely still open and bustling). Perfect schnitzel, amazing beer dressing on the salads, and everything else goes with these two perfectly, too. You really can't miss here. The veal is so tender, and the cranberry jam that's served with it just makes my mouth water thinking about it.

The best Mexican food, surprisingly not found in Mexico (though I did have some good stuff there) was in some town in Texas, can't remember the name now. They served homemade tortillas instead of chips, hot, thick, and fresh. Slather some butter on them, sprinkle some sugar on that, and dip it lightly in some hot salsa and you've just found heaven.

Just way too many to pick one favorite!

 

[Homburg]

The best German food was in the Rathaus in Munich (definitely still open and bustling). Perfect schnitzel, amazing beer dressing on the salads, and everything else goes with these two perfectly, too. You really can't miss here. The veal is so tender, and the cranberry jam that's served with it just makes my mouth water thinking about it.

Oddly enough, the best German food I've had was here in Virginia. You'd think seven years total in Germany and a lot of eating on the economy that I would have a German restaurant in that spot. Nope, a good friend's family owns an incredible, and totally authentic, German restaurant right here. His mother is German, and she ran a restaurant when she still lived there. When she married his dad and moved here, opening a restaurant was the natural move.

Everything is fresh, highest grade possible, hand-made, etc. The food ain't cheap, and you will wait for it, period. But it is always so fantastic that, well, it's worth it. Best schnitzel ever, best spatzle ever. My buddy J tends bar in the back, and always has killer random stuff around.

I honestly don't think I've ever paid for a drink there, unless I was buying it for myself. I the place.

 

[incubus666]

So many memories of food and good company. The very first time I tasted Uni (Sea Urchin Roe) It was served in the shell. Red spines with the top 1/3rd removed. Inside it was all black and orange. I was afraid I would not be able to eat it. Big loss of face for me and my hostesses. As instructed I picked the orange roe out dipped it in a little soy sauce and tasted it. OMG. Heaven on my tongue. For those of you that don't live close to the ocean, you know how the beach smells when you get a couple of miles away, that is what Uni tastes like.

In high school Eddy Soto was my best friend. Fresh home made flour tortillas, tamales for Xmas and New Years, both savory and sweet. Chile rellenos. Oh yeah.

A shushi shop about a 1/2 mile from my house in Japan. No powdered wasabi there. The owner grew the wasabi in his garden and grated it fresh on the shshi. What a difference. Kinda like the difference between fresh Basil and dried out of a bottle.

There is a fairly small restaurant in North Philly called Paloma. It only seats maybe 40 max. The chef is Mexican who trained in France. So you get a combination, fision?, of Mexican, French and American blending the best of all three. The chef's wife is a friend of my wife and they both have become my friends. We have eaten at Paloma 5 times and everything has been wonderful. The last time I had Medallions of Pork in a sauce that was absolutely the best thing I had ever put in my mouth. When Chef Adan came out to say hi. I told him so. I got a dirty look from my wife.

My first time in Hawaii where I got a fresh fruit cocktail with Mango, Papaya, Pineapple, and Coconut.
Mango and Papaya with a little Calamatse(sp) (Key Lime) squeezed in it. Yum.

Toro a special cut from the belly of Blue Fin Tuna. Fish tacos in Baja. Tuba, slightly ferminted sap from the coconut palm, in the Philippines.

Chile Rellenos, cheese, fillet, or shrimp filled at the Blue Adobe in Mesa AZ. They also have the best salsa I have ever tasted.

One last thing the first bacon rapped Fillet I ever ate cost $1.05 at the Enlisted Men's club in Yokosuka Japan in 1957. It was served on a sizzling platter. The first I ever saw or even heard. Of course I was making about $101 a month before taxes.

 

[eastern sun]

Bouley's tasting menu on our wedding anniversary. A total surprise.

 

[FurryFury]

I can't pick out one best meal either.

My husband could. He's way into food and cooking.

I generally like everything I eat.

LOL.

I dream about avocado rolls most lately.

Me need veggie sushi and sex!

Btw, the last time I did have veggie sushi, my husband insisted on ordering two expensive sake thingies and he was driving.



So, in the interest of safety I had to try to drink more. With sinus meds that will fuck you up quick!

 

[romantic_always]

It could very well be the Italian food I had on my first date with my boyfriend/fiancee. It had shrimp in it and I don't like shrimp, but I remember every bite and every laugh.

 

[satindesire]

Elephant Bar's Caesar salad

Olive Garden's chicken Marsala

Flair's pasta alfredo

El Chico's white dip

 

[rida]

Boar Stew we used to eat at a hidden restaurant around Siena when I was a kid. We used to drive to our beach house. It was a 10 hours drive and we would break it up by stopping for lunch at this restaurant. I don't have many memories of my childhood but I still remember how good it was.

Most recently, there are too many good meal I had. I'm lucky that I leave in a place with very high quality food.

For the "expensive but worth every yen" I have mainly two:
- an Italian meal I had with Hubby few years back for our anniversary (the restaurant is unfortunately gone as the owner decided to focus on getting his main one in Milano to get a third Michelin star): new use and combination of old ingredients that made the food feel nostalgically familiar and yet incredibly new.
- a sushi restaurant in Ginza with Hubby to celebrate yet another anniversary: we just left the chef to feed us whatever he wished ... lovely.

 

[CurlyKat]

Oddly enough, the best German food I've had was here in Virginia. You'd think seven years total in Germany and a lot of eating on the economy that I would have a German restaurant in that spot. Nope, a good friend's family owns an incredible, and totally authentic, German restaurant right here. His mother is German, and she ran a restaurant when she still lived there. When she married his dad and moved here, opening a restaurant was the natural move.

Everything is fresh, highest grade possible, hand-made, etc. The food ain't cheap, and you will wait for it, period. But it is always so fantastic that, well, it's worth it. Best schnitzel ever, best spatzle ever. My buddy J tends bar in the back, and always has killer random stuff around.

I honestly don't think I've ever paid for a drink there, unless I was buying it for myself. I the place.

This is really good to know! One of the things I know I'll miss the most when I do come back to the U.S. is all of the food here. The ingredients tend to be fresher and the style is much different. At least now I know of a good German place that'll be much closer than hopping the whole ocean!

 

[satindesire]

If it's anywhere near as good as a decent mole sauce, I'm there.

Mole sauce? Is that made from pureed moles?!

http://www.ratemyeverything.net/image/5298/0/Rate_My_Mole.ashx

Boar Stew we used to eat at a hidden restaurant around Siena when I was a kid. We used to drive to our beach house. It was a 10 hours drive and we would break it up by stopping for lunch at this restaurant. I don't have many memories of my childhood but I still remember how good it was.

Most recently, there are too many good meal I had. I'm lucky that I leave in a place with very high quality food.

For the "expensive but worth every yen" I have mainly two:
- an Italian meal I had with Hubby few years back for our anniversary (the restaurant is unfortunately gone as the owner decided to focus on getting his main one in Milano to get a third Michelin star): new use and combination of old ingredients that made the food feel nostalgically familiar and yet incredibly new.
- a sushi restaurant in Ginza with Hubby to celebrate yet another anniversary: we just left the chef to feed us whatever he wished ... lovely.

(hijack offtopic)

When I first saw your new av, I had to do a double take. Your thong looks like a boomerang at first glance. How funny and cute!!

(/hijack offtopic)

 

[Recidiva]

Mole sauce? Is that made from pureed moles?!

Yes! Baby ones. Nomnomnom.

No. More boring but less disturbing...unsweeteed chocolate and chiles.