S Pellegrino World's 100 Best Restaurants

shanagarry

Prompted purely by the El Bulli thread, just wondering if anyone has been to any of the Top 100, and what you thought of them?

I live in South Africa at the moment so I've been to all the SA ones, 37. Le Quartier Francais, 38. La Colombe, 79. Jardine, 96. Aubergine, 98. Rust en Vrede.

I was very disappointed by Le Quartier, there was just too much going on in the dishes for me, the tastes just didn't marry. I think they will slip this year, they slipped to 10th in the local SA ratings.

It surprised me to see Aubergine there, I had a nice meal, but nothing remarkable other than the sommelier.

Rust en Vrede I adored, it's a new restaurant, so I can certainly see it climbing up the rankings, there is no reason it can't make top 30 if Le Quartier can make 37.

La Colombe is very good as well, though 38th surprised me a bit.

Jardine is probably my favourite restaurant, but a lot of that is vibe. The food is good, but not truly exquisite.

Any opinions on why the top Irish restaurants don't make it? Obviously I can only compare Ireland v SA, but I would certainly feel that Guilbaud's at least (have eaten there, Thornton's and L'ecrivain of the Michelin starred establishments) would give some of the SA ones a run for their money, certainly Aubergine, maybe Jardine. Anyone know anything about the geographical distribution of the voters?

My old boss has been to the Fat Duck and Tetsuya's, with rave reviews. The Fat Duck would be the ultimate for me.

WindSock

I would love to go to the Fat Duck. I stalked through someones facebook photos recently and it looked like a real experience.

boosh_fan

I'm going to Mugaritz in Spain in May so will report back then!