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Michelin Star Food

  • 15-10-2010 8:48am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,677 ✭✭✭


    Just following Professional Masterchef on BBC got me wondering what the general consensus on Michelin Star dining is?
    Over-rated? Too expensive? Over-hyped?
    I've never eaten in one but would like to at least once.


«1

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,737 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    I've never eaten anywhere with a Michelin star but it seems to me to be overhyped. For one thing I've never understood the obsession with 'presentation', it seems to me that it's another word for 'not enough on the plate'.

    Feckin' 'cuisine', give me a plate of 'food' anyday.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 75 ✭✭johnnycee66


    I've eaten in a few, both here and in France, and the experience is worthwhile. Yes, it can be rarified and hideously expensive, but to see and experience that level of attention to and passion for food can be amazing. Given that we feast with a number of senses, the experience is a broad one. It can be full of pretention and status, but if you enjoy your food and cooking, and enjoy the visuals of well-presented cookbooks and articles on food, then you will enjoy the "real" experience of having that level of expertise translated to your plate (in my humble opinion lol!!!!!)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 106 ✭✭Eradicate


    Are there any michelens in |Ireland??


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 274 ✭✭duckworth


    Eradicate wrote: »
    Are there any michelens in |Ireland??

    Patrick Guilbaud's is the only one with 2 stars.

    Thorntons used to have two, but lost one a few years ago.

    Chapter One, L'Ecrivain, Bon Appetite and the Cliff House Hotel all have 1 star.

    There's a couple more up North too.

    As to the original question - I'm a bit biased, in that I really love this kind of food. I know it's very expensive, but I think it's worth it for the skill and time put into the preparation of the food.

    Abroad, it tends to be much cheaper. I ate in a restaurant in Spain with a star, and the 7 -course tasting menu was only €40 - that's about half of Chapter Ones and probably a quarter of Guilbaud's.

    Sometimes you come across something that blows your mind, and you remember it for the rest of your life (at least I do anyway).


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 75 ✭✭johnnycee66


    Guilbauds, L'Ecrivain, Chapter One and Bon Appetit (not sure if it still has its star, presume so) in Dublin, Cliff house in Waterford, Deanes in Belfast are the ones I know. There may be others.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 52 ✭✭YIA


    A few.
    Chapter 1
    Patrick Gibo's (not correct spelling)
    one or two up north as well.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 35 johnnysexsmith


    I've eaten in all of the starred resturants in Ireland a couple in London and a few in the south of France

    It is expensive but as the poster above said to experience the attention to detail and love of good ingredients is something special

    Remember you don't have to spend a fortune on tasting menus or dinner. Lunch in Guilbaud's is less then €40 per person!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,453 ✭✭✭Shenshen


    staker wrote: »
    Just following Professional Masterchef on BBC got me wondering what the general consensus on Michelin Star dining is?
    Over-rated? Too expensive? Over-hyped?
    I've never eaten in one but would like to at least once.

    Had it once.
    It's more than just the food, it's a whole experience around it, with everything tweaked and pinched to absolute perfection. I think you have to be highly anal to want to cook it, and you have to be willing to splash out a fortune to eat it, so I do understand why to most people it's just over-the-top overpriced nonsense.

    It's a bit like opera... if you like it, it's an incredible sensual experience. If you don't, it's ridiculous and annoying.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,274 ✭✭✭Curry Addict


    ive eaten in a few and overall it is worth it for the experience in general. sometimes u will get food that doesnt work for your particular taste but
    usually u will get something that blows u away either the starter or main
    course.
    as others have already said there are cheap ways to do it, especially in the current economic climate.
    I had a particularly good experience in Benares Indian resturant in london, as an indian food lover, it blew me away as its a few levels better than the best here, an an experience of a lifetime.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,677 ✭✭✭staker


    Shenshen wrote: »
    Had it once.

    It's a bit like opera... if you like it, it's an incredible sensual experience. If you don't, it's ridiculous and annoying.

    That's a good way of putting it.
    duckworth wrote: »

    Abroad, it tends to be much cheaper. I ate in a restaurant in Spain with a star, and the 7 -course tasting menu was only €40 - that's about half of Chapter Ones and probably a quarter of Guilbaud's.

    Where in Spain? Just I was thinking of going to Madrid in January...
    kylith wrote: »
    I've never eaten anywhere with a Michelin star but it seems to me to be overhyped. For one thing I've never understood the obsession with 'presentation', it seems to me that it's another word for 'not enough on the plate'.

    Feckin' 'cuisine', give me a plate of 'food' anyday.

    I'm of that train of thought usually too, but the way Michael Roux whips up those dishes and Greg's desert groans just make me want to taste it once:)


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 274 ✭✭duckworth


    staker wrote: »
    Where in Spain? Just I was thinking of going to Madrid in January...

    It was down the south of Spain, in Andalucia - it's nowhere near Madrid unfortunately. However, Spain is the probably the real cutting edge of the food world at the moment - up north is particularly good, but if you're going to Madrid I'd imagine you'd find plenty of reasonable Michelin-starred places. Egullet forums are a good place to check for the food scene in any place.

    Just a note - they eat weird and wonderful things in Spain - it might not be to everyones taste. On the three times I've been in the restaurant I mentioned above I was served - Strawberry Gazpacho, Cuttlefish with the ink still in it, Raw Sardines, Raw Oysters, garlic soup with grapes in it, and even chicken breast cooked rare(Although judging by other diners' reactions this was unusual even for the south of Spain)

    It's a foodie's dream, but I can see why a lot of people wouldn't like it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,119 ✭✭✭✭event


    Ate in Chapter One, was the best place ive eaten in in Ireland.

    Ate in Gary Danko's in San Francisco, it was bloody amazing, maybe the best place ive eaten. Experience alone was incredible


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭catho_monster


    Lunch in Thornton's is 25quid, for that price its surely worth a try? I have tried it and I do love it.
    Early bird in Chapter One is likewise cheap for what you get, and there is no fear of not being fed enough there. It is total comfort food.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 18,300 ✭✭✭✭Seaneh


    In Ireland they are over priced, but everything in this country is over priced when compared to other European countries.

    I've eaten in 4 of the 5 restaurants in the republic with stars and tbh it's bloody good food but about 50% more expensive than the same level in London.

    Tasting menu in Thorntons is €125 + wine (cheapest wine is €41 per bottle so thats €145.50 per person).

    Tasting menu is Lindsay House (now closed) was £104 including wine (our wine was priced on the menu at £38).


    So Thorntons rougly £23 more per person than Lindsey house was. And Lindsey house was one of the pricier starred restaurants in the Soho/Covent Garden area.



    If you can afford it, it's worth it, but if you're struggling to be able to afford to eat out more than once in a while at normal rates, I don't think it's worth the sacrifice you'd have to make.



    Before anyone points out that the tasting menu in RPG is somehting like €80 per head, thats a 4 course menu, both Thorntons and Lindsay house had 8 courses.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,565 ✭✭✭southsiderosie


    +1 big time for Spain. However, I'd bypass Madrid; get thee to the Basque Country. And I'm saying this as a former resident of Madrid and a current resident of Bilbao (nom nom nom). :P


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 578 ✭✭✭Caros


    My partner and I had our first Michelin star experience this past week in Sorrento, Italy and I can honestly say the €250 we paid for 2 tasting menus and 2 bottles of wine and 2 espressos was worth every cent. The service, the presentation, the food was sublime.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 66,122 ✭✭✭✭unkel
    Chauffe, Marcel, chauffe!


    Haven't been to any of the newly Michelin starred restaurants, I'm afraid. Of the older ones Thorntons is my one and only favourite. Some restaurants like GB are run to perfection, better than a superbly designed V8 engine. The best food in Ireland is served in Thorntons though imho.

    And did I mention that the 3 course lunch menu has been €25 for about a year now? The best food in Ireland for an incredibly low price.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 159 ✭✭congress3


    Seaneh wrote: »
    In Ireland they are over priced, but everything in this country is over priced when compared to other European countries.

    I've eaten in 4 of the 5 restaurants in the republic with stars and tbh it's bloody good food but about 50% more expensive than the same level in London.

    Tasting menu in Thorntons is €125 + wine (cheapest wine is €41 per bottle so thats €145.50 per person).

    Tasting menu is Lindsay House (now closed) was £104 including wine (our wine was priced on the menu at £38).


    So Thorntons rougly £23 more per person than Lindsey house was. And Lindsey house was one of the pricier starred restaurants in the Soho/Covent Garden area.



    If you can afford it, it's worth it, but if you're struggling to be able to afford to eat out more than once in a while at normal rates, I don't think it's worth the sacrifice you'd have to make.



    Before anyone points out that the tasting menu in RPG is somehting like €80 per head, thats a 4 course menu, both Thorntons and Lindsay house had 8 courses.

    But the Lindsey house price's were in sterling which overall probably worked out the same or even more expensive than Thornton's


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,677 ✭✭✭staker


    +1 big time for Spain.

    Just looking at the S Pellegrino top 100 resteraunts in the world,3 out of the top 5 are spanish,9 in top 100 overall.
    The Cliff House Hotel, which would be nearest to me,looks priced ok in that 3 courses with wines costs about €100.With that we'd have to stay the night, which is where it gets too dear for my pockets.
    I wouldn't mind but I've holidayed 4 times in Spain in the last 3 years and never thought of this, darn BBC has a lot to answer for!!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,325 ✭✭✭Eviledna


    I was lucky enough to be taken to a 3 Michelin Star restaurant, the famous Daniel in NYC. It was, by far, the most exquisite, amazing and memorable meal of my life.

    It was Valentine's day 2007 and the OH had booked it months in advance. The meal was set, suggested for Him and for her. A tasting menu of 8 courses, it was just so gorgeous, each meal was like eating art, the flavours, colours. I tried oysters, lobster, carpachio, habachi, caviar, gold leaf, truffle and rare filet mignon all for the first time, all in one meal. It was unbelievable. I'll never forget the madelines, freshly baked and orange-blossom scented. There was no fuss, no liquid nitrogen, just brilliant food, presented in an awe-inspiring way. We had a waiter each, and they synchronised their serving.

    It was, without a doubt, the most amazing restaurant I have ever been, or probably ever will be in.

    They even gave you a sumptious lemon cake to go home with. I remember the snow on the ground outside and the feeling of being rich for a day at the young age of 24. It was the most romantic night of my life.

    The must have been the most expensive poos of my life the next day also! :D


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 18,300 ✭✭✭✭Seaneh


    congress3 wrote: »
    But the Lindsey house price's were in sterling which overall probably worked out the same or even more expensive than Thornton's

    I factored in the currency difference.
    The difference in € would be about €26 per person.

    Total cost for 2 people for 8 course tasting menu (including wine) in Lindsay hosue would be about €235.
    Total cost for 2 people for 8 course tasting menu (including wine) in thorntons would be about €290.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,900 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Seaneh wrote: »
    I factored in the currency difference.
    The difference in € would be about €26 per person.

    Total cost for 2 people for 8 course tasting menu (including wine) in Lindsay hosue would be about €235.
    Total cost for 2 people for 8 course tasting menu (including wine) in thorntons would be about €290.
    There is a place in hong Kong, that has a star.
    it was opened by the chef from one of the top class hotels nearby, it was slow at the hotel so he wanted his own place I think.

    Anyway, described as the best value food in the world. The prices range from about 1-5 euro for various noodle, pork bun, dim sim type dishes


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 42,362 Mod ✭✭✭✭Beruthiel


    staker wrote: »
    Just following Professional Masterchef on BBC got me wondering what the general consensus on Michelin Star dining is?
    Over-rated? Too expensive? Over-hyped?
    I've never eaten in one but would like to at least once.

    I will never forget my first dining experience in a Michelin Star restaurant many years ago.
    The Arzak restaurant in San Sebastian, the Basque region of Spain.
    Until then, I never knew that food could taste like that!
    Juan Mari Arzak is a god. A rock star. A genius!
    His talent when combining flavours brings your taste buds to a whole new level.
    It's thanks to him that I now have great expectations when going to a restaurant. I plan my holidays around a michelin star restaurant. I have found that some are better than others and that it really is all down to that one man in the kitchen.

    I went to Patrick Guilbaud once and found him over rated for the price he charges.
    My three top restaurants in Ireland are:
    Chapter One.
    L'Ecrivain.
    The Cliff House Hotel (in Waterford)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,453 ✭✭✭Shenshen


    This thread had got me thinking about treating myself to a Michelin Start meal again...

    And then I had a look at their sample menus, and as usual there are no vegetarian options at all (apart from two starters)

    :(


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,407 ✭✭✭✭the beer revolu


    Shenshen wrote: »
    This thread had got me thinking about treating myself to a Michelin Start meal again...

    And then I had a look at their sample menus, and as usual there are no vegetarian options at all (apart from two starters)

    :(

    Contact the restaurant you're interested in - they might do a set vegie menu for you


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,453 ✭✭✭Shenshen


    Contact the restaurant you're interested in - they might do a set vegie menu for you

    I'm afraid I don't trust them enough for that...
    I know it sounds silly, they would probably do all right, but on the few occasions when I had to do that with other restaurants in the past, the result was incredibly poor indeed... and on more than one occasion more expensive than anything on the regular menu.

    Ah well... I'll have to stick with Cafe Paradiso, or go abroad I guess ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,038 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    I've eaten in Guilbauds, but to be honest, the food on the tasting menu in Jacob's Ladder was more interesting. The food in Guilbauds was definitely absolutely top level, but it was a dinner, rather than a tasting menu, if you know what I mean. The level of service was very high, though to be honest, it was a bit too high for me personally. Having two waiters assigned to your table while you eat (and having eight or nine descend on the table to lay out the meal at serving time) was just a bit... creepy.

    I've avoided L'Ecrivain after my father had to send back a meal as inedible there once (yes, around christmas time, but it's L'Ecrivain for flip's sake). Chapter One is still on the list and I missed out on Mint.

    Still though - that tasting menu in Jacobs Ladder was better food than I've ever eaten anywhere in Ireland, ever; and I've eaten in non-michelin star restaurants in Vienna (Novelli) and Geneva (Perle du lac) and other places which had better food than in Guilbauds. So the Michelin star - while it means you're definitely going to have a wonderful meal - doesn't mean you're going to have the greatest meal of your life, ever...


    (and hell, every so often I *need* to go somewhere like acapulco's and the michelin star can feic off :D Good meals aren't always about technical proficiency, sometimes it's just what you want to eat and who you want to eat with...)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,678 ✭✭✭nompere


    Shenshen wrote: »
    Ah well... I'll have to stick with Cafe Paradiso, or go abroad I guess ;)

    I'm a committed omnivore, with a liking for plenty of blood oozing out of my meat, and I'm firmly of the view that Cafe Paradiso is just about my favourite restaurant in Ireland.

    In France I've tried a couple of starred restaurants close to the Loire, and been amazed by the food on the tasting menus. I've also been appalled by the mark-ups applied to wine. That took a lot of the good out of the food experience.

    Too many times in and around Saumur I've seen wines on restaurant lists at around 5 times the retail price in the local supermarket. It makes some of our local restaurants look quite philanthropic in their pricing of wine!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    nompere wrote: »
    I'm a committed omnivore, with a liking for plenty of blood oozing out of my meat, and I'm firmly of the view that Cafe Paradiso is just about my favourite restaurant in Ireland.

    It's remarkable that a vegetarian restaurant appeals to so many carnivores. I'm another who regards it as a must whenever I am in Cork.
    In France I've tried a couple of starred restaurants close to the Loire, and been amazed by the food on the tasting menus. I've also been appalled by the mark-ups applied to wine. That took a lot of the good out of the food experience.

    Too many times in and around Saumur I've seen wines on restaurant lists at around 5 times the retail price in the local supermarket. It makes some of our local restaurants look quite philanthropic in their pricing of wine!

    Measure the markup in absolute rather than relative terms. The local supermarket at Saumur will sell you quite decent wine at about €8, of a quality for which you would pay about €15-20 here.

    I'm not completely sold on Michelin. There are things that their inspectors seem to value for which I have little regard, particularly an approach to presentation that I think OTT. For me "cheffiness" is a term of disdain (except when applied to food I cook and serve, when it is a joke).


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,678 ✭✭✭nompere



    Measure the markup in absolute rather than relative terms. The local supermarket at Saumur will sell you quite decent wine at about €8, of a quality for which you would pay about €15-20 here.

    A bottle (a perfectly good one) of Saumur Champigny, that Intermarche had for €3.00 was being sold for €15.00 in the town. That wasn't a starred establishment. Twice, in consecutive years, a good, but not remarkable Sancerre (not completely local) in different starred establishments cost €50.

    Of course it's possible to eat and drink in French restaurants at reasonable prices, but I have often felt that they were taking the piss with wine prices.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,565 ✭✭✭southsiderosie


    Sparks wrote: »
    (and hell, every so often I *need* to go somewhere like acapulco's and the michelin star can feic off :D Good meals aren't always about technical proficiency, sometimes it's just what you want to eat and who you want to eat with...)

    Amen to that. One of the best meals I ever had was at a roadside stand in rural Jamaica where the owners made their own jerk rub and roasted the meat in an old oil drum. For $5 you got half a chicken dripping in sauce and its own juices served on a 2-inch thick hunk of bread which soaked everything up. Divine.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    nompere wrote: »
    A bottle (a perfectly good one) of Saumur Champigny, that Intermarche had for €3.00 was being sold for €15.00 in the town. That wasn't a starred establishment...

    That's a €12 markup. Most Irish restaurant would have a bigger markup than that.

    As a generalisation, the wines you find in French supermarkets are a bit lower quality than those you find in caves or buy direct from the producer. If the restaurant was selling you exactly the same wine as Intermarché, then I suspect that you were not getting the quality that you should expect from a decent establishment.

    I have never found Saumur Champigny (a wine we like in this house) as cheap as €3. Generally I expect to pay €6+, and have happily paid more for some of the better ones.

    I agree that €50 for a Sancerre (another wine we like) is high, unless the wine was exceptional.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 47 sharonl


    Have eaten in Guilbauds and the whole experience definately worth it. Food and service was amazing. We went to celebrate our honeymoon and marriage during the summer and have decided to make a tradition out of it and try and go for our anniversary every year. Got the 4 course lunch menu for 50 euros a head and thought it was fantastic value for such a high quality experience.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,678 ✭✭✭nompere


    That's a €12 markup. Most Irish restaurant would have a bigger markup than that.

    It's a 500% mark-up on a retail price. Irish restaurants get pilloried (and rightly so) for a mark-up of more than 300% on wholesale.

    If I was posting on boards.fr this would be in the Rip Off France forum!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    nompere wrote: »
    It's a 500% mark-up on a retail price. Irish restaurants get pilloried (and rightly so) for a mark-up of more than 300% on wholesale.

    It's only 400%, and it's still only €12. And are you sure that it was the same wine that you saw in Intermarché? Same producer, same year, same label?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 73 ✭✭2hellr2conaght


    Hi all,

    I am in the industry and info here is based on fellow chefs or my experiences.

    Nevin Maguire, 2 people for dinner and accomadation 500 - 600 euro.

    Cliff House (Waterford). Tasting menu 125 euro for 8 courses. This went on for over 4hours which brought the drink bill to 480euro. Plus bring someone nice to look at as its in the middle of nowhere.

    Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal. 6 People on cheapest wine course and cheapest tasting menu approx. 230 sterling a head.

    Roux Brothers. 6 people came to 1,400 sterling. This was St.Patricks Day and they were Irish so drink bill may have been to blame.

    Any questions please ask... thanks


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 66,122 ✭✭✭✭unkel
    Chauffe, Marcel, chauffe!


    Hi all,

    I am in the industry and info here is based on fellow chefs or my experiences.

    Nevin Maguire, 2 people for dinner and accomadation 500 - 600 euro.

    Cliff House (Waterford). Tasting menu 125 euro for 8 courses. This went on for over 4hours which brought the drink bill to 480euro. Plus bring someone nice to look at as its in the middle of nowhere.

    Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal. 6 People on cheapest wine course and cheapest tasting menu approx. 230 sterling a head.

    Roux Brothers. 6 people came to 1,400 sterling. This was St.Patricks Day and they were Irish so drink bill may have been to blame.

    Any questions please ask... thanks

    I'm not quite sure what the point is you're making in that post compared to Irish Michelin starred restaurants?

    Anyway, Ireland has never had any 3 star restaurant and the UK only ever had 2 of them, one was closed down for 3 months this summer because of human sh1t levels in their seafood (Blumenthal) and the other is owned by Ramsey. I'm planning a trip to London and I'm going to dine at the latter. I'll report back here in due course :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    Hi all,

    I am in the industry and info here is based on fellow chefs or my experiences.

    Nevin Maguire, 2 people for dinner and accomadation 500 - 600 euro.

    Cliff House (Waterford). Tasting menu 125 euro for 8 courses. This went on for over 4hours which brought the drink bill to 480euro. Plus bring someone nice to look at as its in the middle of nowhere.

    Fat Duck Heston Blumenthal. 6 People on cheapest wine course and cheapest tasting menu approx. 230 sterling a head.

    Roux Brothers. 6 people came to 1,400 sterling. This was St.Patricks Day and they were Irish so drink bill may have been to blame.

    Any questions please ask... thanks

    You can get the same tasting menu for €85 or include optional selected wines to suit each course for an extra €40. I was there recently and thought it was excellent. We just ordered the €85 menu and bought wine separately.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 342 ✭✭antoniosicily


    unkel wrote: »
    I'm not quite sure what the point is you're making in that post compared to Irish Michelin starred restaurants?

    Anyway, Ireland has never had any 3 star restaurant and the UK only ever had 2 of them, one was closed down for 3 months this summer because of human sh1t levels in their seafood (Blumenthal) and the other is owned by Ramsey. I'm planning a trip to London and I'm going to dine at the latter. I'll report back here in due course :)

    You are forgetting the first 3-starred restaurant in UK which in 2010 got its 3 star for the 25th year in a row, the owner is also a very popular chef :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭catho_monster


    One post to tell us that? Gee thanks, but I think I'll trust Beruthiel's taste more than yours.

    EDIT: well now my post looks ridiculous, when the silly post before me was deleted :p


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 66,122 ✭✭✭✭unkel
    Chauffe, Marcel, chauffe!


    You are forgetting the first 3-starred restaurant in UK which in 2010 got its 3 star for the 25th year in a row, the owner is also a very popular chef :D

    Oops forgot that one :o:D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 638 ✭✭✭Rusty Cogs 08


    Is there a dress code for Guilbaud's ? (lunch)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 40,038 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    Is there a dress code for Guilbaud's ? (lunch)
    Yeah, shirt, pants, shoes, and most importantly, wallet :D

    Seriously, there wasn't a dress code for dinner, so there's not going to be one for lunch beyond the usual "don't dress like a hobo" one.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 32 tphelan


    Its a strange rating system used by michelin. I thought it used be be more about the technical brillliance of the food along with hedonistic dining experience provided on a consistently excellent basis. Its seems to be changing however. They recently awarded a star to Hong Kong restaurant where main courses are ~€5 and has now become the cheapest michelin dining experience in the world with little to no service to be spoken of.

    Compare that to the Byerley Turk restaurant at the K Club which is the best restaurant that I have eaten at in terms of technical brilliance and hedonistic dining - and they don't have one. Yet Thorntons on the Green which are way behind Byerley Turk [IMO] have a star??

    Does anyone know the criteria that are used?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 35 johnnysexsmith


    unkel wrote: »
    I'm not quite sure what the point is you're making in that post compared to Irish Michelin starred restaurants?

    Anyway, Ireland has never had any 3 star restaurant and the UK only ever had 2 of them, one was closed down for 3 months this summer because of human sh1t levels in their seafood (Blumenthal) and the other is owned by Ramsey. I'm planning a trip to London and I'm going to dine at the latter. I'll report back here in due course :)

    The issue with the Fat Duck was with Oysters specifically - served raw it could happen anywhere


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,479 ✭✭✭catho_monster


    tphelan wrote: »
    Does anyone know the criteria that are used?

    This article says 'The first star is for the food alone, two stars also takes in the service and ambience and three is exceptional'

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/07/chefs-fear-editor-michelin-guides


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 32 tphelan


    The issue with the Fat Duck was with Oysters specifically - served raw it could happen anywhere

    yes - anywhere with lower than expected quality and safety standards to allow contaminated food be served to customers. You wouldn't expect food poisening from your local diner never mind paying a couple hundred pounds for the pleasure!


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 18,300 ✭✭✭✭Seaneh


    tphelan wrote: »
    yes - anywhere with lower than expected quality and safety standards to allow contaminated food be served to customers. You wouldn't expect food poisening from your local diner never mind paying a couple hundred pounds for the pleasure!

    It's more an issue of a trusted seafood supplier failing than the kitchen. There is NO way for the people in the kitchen to know the oysters were comtaminated.
    The only thing they can check is if the oysters are fresh, alive and healthy, once this is confirmed there shouldn't be a problem. The problem seems to have been that the oysters came from an area where human waste is present in the water and were not subsquently filtered properly.


    Like the previous poster said, it could happen ANYWHERE. I highly doubt They will be using that supplier for anything again, ever.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 544 ✭✭✭looperman1000


    Thanks for that Seaneh, i had always wondered what had happened there with Heston's place. That clears it up totally.

    For myself, not so long i ventured to L'Ecrivain and Chapter One for my Girlfriend's birthday. I found them both out of this world. I picked a fault with the coffee in L'Ecrivain that i felt was rushed out and didn't looked great.
    I actually met Derry at the Taste Of Dublin Food Festival and mentioned it to him. Nice chap, he acknowledged the comment and told me that his coffee was not in the right place yet.
    Prices were in around the same price i think. I think if its a once in a while treat its well worth it. I think its important for food to look great and smell good for eating, it really enhances the experience of diniing, at least for me.
    Service in both places, again, excellent.
    About the small portion sizes, i feel if you go for a tasting menu, you think to yourself, yes, the portions are small. Upon leaving though, you really are totally satisfied and i really like my grub! :-)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,858 ✭✭✭Bigcheeze


    For those looking for a value Michelin experience, Bon appetit are doing kir royale + 3 course dinner + bottle of wine for €99.95 for 2 people during the month of November. Tuesdays to Fridays.


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