Have you ever been to a Michelin star restaurant?

B.A._Baracus · 23-04-2014 03:15PM

*meow*

Well enjoy your michelin restuarants. More Jimmy Chungs for me :pac:

Boskowski · 23-04-2014 03:29PM

I was in one on a business trip over in Germany. It was actually a small hotel and it's restaurant happened to have a star.
But it was nothing like what people report here. No pretentious little this and that's. It was normal enough food for the area like a mix of Badensche and French cuisine which is basically what Badensche Küche is anyway. Normal enough food and normal enough portions. Just the quality was very good. Prices were highish fair enough but I was on expenses so that wasn't a problem anyway

Ann Landers · 23-04-2014 03:54PM

Lia_lia wrote: »

I love it when restaurants serve small portion sizes. Most restaurants serve ridiculously huge portions, just too much.

I have to agree, most restaurants overdo the portions. I'd love to see portion sizes and prices coming down.

But I do think there's such a thing as too small of portions too.

23-04-2014 04:15PM

Lia_lia wrote: »

I love it when restaurants serve small portion sizes. Most restaurants serve ridiculously huge portions, just too much.

I'm sure a lot of restaurants would provide you with a half portion then as you may have a small appetite. When I eat out I want value for money and that means being full to the brim. Without eating my gf's leftovers its rare I'm fully full after eating in most restaurants so reducing portions sizes would be a big no no.

Ann Landers · 23-04-2014 04:27PM

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

It's almost like professing a preference for treating yourself to a good meal in a high-end restaurant is showing ideas above your station. That having a well-dressed plate of scallops or a nice piece of wild venison is showing contempt for the punter happy to have a burger. When it isn't.

I love art, I love museums, I love drawing and painting. I love a well-presented plate of food. However, I really dislike fussy plates of food where the food would have to have been over-handled to get it right. There is a point where it becoming anally-retentive fussing and general food-bothering.

ComputerKing · 23-04-2014 04:31PM

Ya I have and I go regularly to them. I've been to all the ones in Ireland and a good few in the UK and further a feild. I don't think people here understand what your getting your not going to eat and go home stuffed its the whole experience the atmosphere and the amazing food. Now that being said there are many restaurants that don't have Michelin stars that should and many that do that shouldn't.

sopretty · 23-04-2014 04:36PM

No, I haven't.

But I do recall being in a bar in London and asking the doormen where the nearest indian was (think Brendan Grace's sketch where he's looking for CURRY! )

Anyway, it happened to be across the road - so myself and my friend dandered over full as pinkeens with the drink, had a curry each and a bottle of wine. Total of £140 sterling. Yes! Sterling.

I had to pick up the bill, as she hadn't received her first pay-check yet (apparently).

It was this place http://www.mintleaflounge.com/mezzanine-champagne-bar.html

The bill left a bitter taste in my mouth. Food and wine were divine though.

Only for we were trying to be all posh when we went in and realised what sort of place it was, we would have high-tailed it to a less 'affluent' area lol.

HeidiHeidi · 23-04-2014 04:39PM

This thread could go round and round in circles for ever :eek:

Posters seem to be competing to have THEIR point of view accepted by everyone else - whereas in reality people's priorities and preferences differ, so everybody is never going to agree.

I like square stuff. My sister likes roundy stuff. I like deep colours. She likes pastelly things. This is not to say that square stuff or deep colours are better than others - just that I prefer them. No amount of her telling me a gorgeous round-necked top or roundy-toed pale pink shoes are gorgeous is going to convince me that I should/could love them.

So banging on about how pretentious it is to even think about going into a Michelin-started restaurant when you'll only be served morsels that will cost you a mortgage payment (I'm paraphrasing here, before someone attacks me for misquoting them), or insisting that a plate of steak'n'spuds is yer only man - or indeed anything in between - is almost certainly never going to change the opinions of someone who simply thinks/eats/wants different to you.

Phew, just had to get that off my chest.

(Meantime, please keep the recommendations for fine dining restaurants coming - I haven't been to many, but the ones I have been to I loved, and Cliff House is currently top of my to-try list

)

Ann Landers · 23-04-2014 04:42PM

Lilith Drab Metro wrote: »

People can be very precious about their hobbies. Tell a foody you only eat to replenish your energy when you're hungry and they look at you like you kicked a puppy.

I love food but don't get why people have a problem with people who just regard it as fuel. I have a few people in my life who regard food this way and are perfectly happy with this. What's wrong with it?

And the people I know who don't get excited about food tend to eat much more sensible portions and more healthier in general from what I've observed.

Ddad · 23-04-2014 04:44PM

Having eaten in a good few of these restaurants and worked in a couple, I would like to offer an opinion.

The standards and quality you'll generally experience in one of these eateries is what distinguishes it from a normal restaurant. To cook and serve to these standards is hard but to do so consistently is very difficult. If your looking for a feed you'll find better places to go than one of these places. If your looking for an experience, indeed one that can broaden your palate and sometimes your mind these are the places to go.

Many people wouldn't go to the theatre to watch a play because they'd perceive it to be stuck up and boring, many people wouldn't know a decent piece of architecture from a garden shed, many of us wouldn't know a good painting from a piece you'd pick up in Ikea.

The main thing is to recognise that therebMay be a gap in your knowledge. A gap you may or may not want to plug. I've eaten in two of what were to be perceived to be the best restaurants in the world at that time and both experiences were amazing. I can still remember almost all of the courses, textures, colours, flavours . I've spent similar amounts on nights on the piss with nothing to show but a sore head, a light wallet and some questionable stains on my shirt. I've spent those amounts on concerts, car hire, flying lessons, bungee jumps etc.

The experiences that really stick in my mind are the ones that were worth the money. Funnily enough most of the concerts and pissups weren't.

These sort of experiences aren't for everybody. If you think a Big Mac is the culinary summit of human kind this is never going to your idea of a good time.

For the record I have never felt hungry after one of these meals, I've struggled to finish the last one or two tasting menus including the cliff house one last week which was excellent.

Don't knock it till you've tried it over some kind of inverted snobbery. If you have tried it and it wasn't for you more power to you. Everyone to their own.

Ann Landers · 23-04-2014 04:47PM

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

No, but that is an example of an extremely simple meal that can be extraordinary when made with decent ingredients. It can be exciting to source these ingredients and prepare something stunning. The smell of good Italian garlic, the taste of decent tomatoes (the quality of the the vase majority of tomatoes in Ireland is awful), the sound of crusty bread being cut. I don't think everyone gets that feeling. Which is okay. It takes all sorts.

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Sorry. I have to laugh. :pac:

Reminds me of that scene in 'Friends' where yer man is getting off on Monica describing the food prep she's doing. :pac:

RoboRat · 23-04-2014 05:02PM

Opinions, opinions... everyone has one and they are neither right not wrong.

Some people like the Michelin star experience, some think its over rated. Some people like large portions, others don't. There is no right or wrong. Personally I think anybody who spends €2,000 on a bag or pair of shoes in insane, my wife would disagree and that's her right (as long as she doesn't use my card).

Anyway, it happened to be across the road - so myself and my friend dandered over full as pinkeens with the drink, had a curry each and a bottle of wine. Total of £140 sterling. Yes! Sterling.

I do have to make a comment on this, surely you looked at the menu and price list before ordering?

Calibos · 23-04-2014 05:04PM

You know you're starting to get old when you realise that a 'Fiends' pop culture reference probably has at least 50% of the youngin's in the thread scratching their heads? "Who the Fcuk is Monica???"

e_e · 23-04-2014 05:04PM

jaja321 wrote: »

By the way has anyone see 'Jiro dreams of sushi'? A 3 star, in a subway station with no toilet on site. Hardly pretentious. I would absolutely love to try it and would have no issue paying a high price to do so.

Great movie!

Calibos · 23-04-2014 05:05PM

The Watch Forum!!

You spent HOW MUCH !! on a watch!!!!

sopretty · 23-04-2014 05:06PM

RoboRat wrote: »

Opinions, opinions... everyone has one and they are neither right not wrong.

Some people like the Michelin star experience, some think its over rated. Some people like large portions, others don't. There is no right or wrong. Personally I think anybody who spends €2,000 on a bag or pair of shoes in insane, my wife would disagree and that's her right (as long as she doesn't use my card).

I do have to make a comment on this, surely you looked at the menu and price list before ordering?

Aye - but we were too drunk to care. Think the waiter recommended a wine and since we were pretending to be posh (wouldn't have taken a genius to work out that we weren't) we just nodded and said that that would be fine.

A pair of thundering eejits!

RoboRat · 23-04-2014 05:13PM

A pair of thundering eejits!

A mistake you wont make again!

My mate went to the Burj Al Arab to impress his missus. Cocktails cost just under €250 for 4 and Dinner came to over €800 for 2. He said the food wasn't even that great! Imagine paying over €1,000 for a dinner and few drinks :eek:

HeidiHeidi · 23-04-2014 05:14PM

RoboRat wrote: »

A mistake you wont make again!

My mate went to the Burj Al Arab to impress his missus. Cocktails cost just under €250 for 4 and Dinner came to over €800 for 2. He said the food wasn't even that great! Imagine paying over €1,000 for a dinner and few drinks :eek:

Was she impressed? :eek:

RoboRat · 23-04-2014 05:16PM

Was she impressed?

They're married now so yes, I would assume so!!!

OldNotWIse · 23-04-2014 05:17PM

RoboRat wrote: »

A mistake you wont make again!

My mate went to the Burj Al Arab to impress his missus. Cocktails cost just under €250 for 4 and Dinner came to over €800 for 2. He said the food wasn't even that great! Imagine paying over €1,000 for a dinner and few drinks :eek:

Just had a look at the website...feeling pretty small and thoroughly average about myself now... Like a worker ant who has just crawled out from under a rock and noticed another world

davo2001 · 23-04-2014 05:19PM

El Guapo! wrote: »

Yeah but what's the point in spending a fortune in a restaurant and still leaving hungry. If you're charging a lot then the least you could do is make sure your customers leave satisfied.

Yeah, I've been to two (one UK and one in Ireland), left full both times (comfortably full, not stuffed), but then again, I'm not a pig.

sopretty · 23-04-2014 05:22PM

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Just had a look at the website...feeling pretty small and thoroughly average about myself now... Like a worker ant who has just crawled out from under a rock and noticed another world

Lol - just googled and found this

"Burj Al Arab suite-only accommodation offers discreet check-in within your rooms"

Discretion comes at a price.

RoboRat · 23-04-2014 05:24PM

Just had a look at the website...feeling pretty small and thoroughly average about myself now... Like a worker ant who has just crawled out from under a rock and noticed another world

Check out the new Hard Rock Hotel in Playa de Bossa Ibiza, €1500 per head. :eek:

http://www.hrhibiza.com/

Ann Landers · 23-04-2014 05:35PM

awec wrote: »

This is baffling.

"These chips are pretty average and I could probably make better myself, but at least you gave me loads of them."

Actually, lots of inexpensive to medium-priced restaurants do really excellent chips. No need to pay MS prices OR to look down sniffily on chips. A homemade, beautifully-cooked chip is a very fine thing indeed. And if there's lots of them, yes, that's wonderful. Good chips need to eaten in abundance.

Ann Landers · 23-04-2014 05:39PM

brinty wrote: »

This is a debate where people will fall one one of two sides.

1) Foodies (who want quality) who'll appreciate what's on offer and know they'll be eating several courses of small but wonderfully produced and presented food as every Restaurant generally advises on a sampling menu of 5-8 courses (so they'll be well feed)

2) Non foodies (who want quantity) who just want a big lump of steak/meat and some spuds and a few onions on the side and a "bucket of Pepper sauce" to completely destroy the flavour of the meat!!! :eek:

Really? You don't think there's anyone outside these two viewpoints?

Jamsiek · 23-04-2014 05:41PM

MagicMarker wrote: »

pretentious restaurant surrounded by pretentious people is about as appealing to me as a hole in the head.

A bit if an unfair generalization don't you think?
Nothing wrong with people spoiling themselves or enjoying top quality food when they want.

MagicMarker wrote: »

I'm a simple person with simple tastes. Give me a burger and a cold beer and I'm as happy as a pig in shít.

You can like both post restaurants and burgers and beer too.
I like restaurants but I also enjoy a burger and beer when I feel like it.

HeidiHeidi · 23-04-2014 05:43PM

Ann Landers wrote: »

Really? You don't think there's anyone outside these two viewpoints?

This thread is starting to polarise along those lines though, despite the best efforts of the middle(ground) -men :eek:

ManofStraw · 23-04-2014 05:58PM

I cant understand the close minded attitude of some people, oh no none of that "fancy food stuff" for me they are all a bunch of pretentious arseholes with small portions. A nice meal doesnt have to be a Michelin star restaurant but I hate the way that people just write things off. Personally I think the reason some people write it off is because they are afraid of being laughed at if they don't understand something on the menu.

maxwell smart · 23-04-2014 06:01PM

Ate at the chef's table in what was Gordon Ramsey's restaurant in the Ritz Carlton. Had the €100 a head tasting menu and I can still remember every bite I took.

The food was designed to taste great together.

There was even a margarita sorbet for course 4(or 5) to cleanse the pallet. And the portions were small but I was stuffed after it.

Most incredible meal I have ever had and worth every penny.

RasTa · 23-04-2014 06:04PM

I've being to 6 or 7, all 1 stars and in different countries. I love them however am noting that they are all the same food wise and presentation, you can get a decent enough feed that wouldn't be to far off the food level in somewhere like Vintage Kitchen.

However the service is were it really shines and I do love it. I wouldn't be too bothered about going again but it would have to be a 2 star.

Have you ever been to a Michelin star restaurant?

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