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Food / drink 🍗 Best meal you've ever eaten?

michaelskis

michaelskis

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The other day my wife and I were talking about our upcoming trip to New Orleans. Now one thing you need to understand about me is I am a foodie... I mean I really love GOOD food. I won't go to a fast food restaurant because I know it is just not worth it.

We made reservations for a really old restaurant while we are there and were reading some of the reviews about. One in particular caught my attention... It just simply said "Best meal I have ever had," and it got me wondering if it really was. I mean some people might say it, but it is the best. Of course my ADD went into over drive and down the rabbit hole and I tried to think about what was the best meal I have ever had.

When I asked my wife, she quickly referenced several, but said she could not decide which was the best. It included a dinner at my parents house when we were still dating. It was winter and my mom made lasagna with cheesy garlic bread and side salad. She mentioned a brisket I smoked a few weeks ago, along with an anniversary dinner we had at a really nice restaurant in Raleigh NC, and a meal she ate on our honeymoon.

For me, I really don't know. I have had some amazing meals, but I really can't think of one that rises above the rest.

What about you. What was THE best meal you've ever eaten? If you can't just pick one, what are the major contenders?
 
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For me the best meals were never about the food, but who I'm with.

Had a crab bake on the beach with the crew of my ship and random people. It was just a good time.

Oysters and beer on the Folly Island beach.

Thanksgiving at my cousin's house even if my wife complained about the food nonstop because it wasn't traditional turkey day stuff.
 
I can't say that there was one. For me I have to include my grandmother's skillet fried chicken & white gravy when I was young is way up there. As far as NOLA is concerned, it was a crayfish etouffee on the northside of town (no idea of the name of the restaurant).
 
I did a 4 day hike on a section of the Appalachian trail, it rained on most of the trip. Because of the weather, we ended up staying in crowded shelters, so I only ate non-stove meals like cold oatmeal, granola bars, beef jerky and the like. On the fourth day, it wasn't raining when I woke up so I heated up some water and made a freeze dried beef stroganoff. I thought that was the best meal ever. A week later back at home, I cooked a pack for supper.... it sucked.
 
My husband's lobster dinner is truly the best meal ever - @Hink has been the recipient of that and I believe @MD Planner will be next this fall

Restaurant - that's a tough one - can't really nail down one and yeah, it's more the company as well as the food
 
I'm headed to Ruth's Chris tomorrow night in celebration of Mrs. completing her BSN. Been before but I'll let you know. Main meal, cannot think of one although RCS the first time was great. We go to Sundance for our anniversary dinner and two years ago they served potatoes that likely could be the best side I've ever had. Truly delicious. Went again this year and asked if they still had the potatoes and the answer was no. :(
 
An ice storm kept me from leaving North Carolina after I took my daughter back to college for spring semester. When I had an opportunity to leave, the best route was through central Virginia. I made it to Luray at dusk and decided not to risk continuing through the mountains on a snowy night. I checked in to a motel and went to a place the clerk recommended.

I ate upstairs in a lovely restaurant. A man played guitar and sang. I had a steak and baked potato. It was a simple meal one one of the best I remember.
 
We are "waste money on food" level foodies... we try as hard as we can to eat at the "best" restaurant in every city we go to. My list, in no order except for Aska being the best.

My list includes:
  • Aska in NYC - my favorite by far. Scandinavian
  • Smyth in Chicago. American classic.
  • Pineapple and Pearls in DC.
  • Dishoom in London. Indian
 
Hink said:
We are "waste money on food" level foodies... we try as hard as we can to eat at the "best" restaurant in every city we go to. My list, in no order except for Aska being the best.

My list includes:
  • Aska in NYC - my favorite by far. Scandinavian
  • Smyth in Chicago. American classic.
  • Pineapple and Pearls in DC.
  • Dishoom in London. Indian
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Bougie GIF by Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks
 
Not sure it even exists anymore, but my best meal ever was Maryland Crab Cakes at City Lights restaurant in Baltimore's Inner Harbor back in 1994.
 
In late summer 1999, the first meal at a restaurant after the week of Yellowstone back country hiking having had eaten only dehydrated meals and filtering stream water all week.
 
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Big Owl said:
I did a 4 day hike on a section of the Appalachian trail, it rained on most of the trip. Because of the weather, we ended up staying in crowded shelters, so I only ate non-stove meals like cold oatmeal, granola bars, beef jerky and the like. On the fourth day, it wasn't raining when I woke up so I heated up some water and made a freeze dried beef stroganoff. I thought that was the best meal ever. A week later back at home, I cooked a pack for supper.... it sucked.
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That reminds me of a really good meal I had. We'd spent about 3 or 4 days in hiking in North Georgia. It was cold and rainy the entire time. While we ate ok it was standard backpacking fare. It was one of those times you felt you could never get warm. One of my friends mentioned there was a restaurant near our stopping point. It was a place called the Dillard House which is a fairly nice all you can eat Southern buffet. We were able to change into dry clothes, but I'm still surprised they let us in. The food was delicious, warm and filling.

My best meals would probably be Thanksgivings when my grandmother was still alive. She and my aunts were some of the best cooks/bakers I've ever come across.
 
It was November of 2012, I was a 21 year old university student living in Montreal who had just stopped being Vegetarian. One night, me and some Punx went down to "Bar Biftek" ("steak bar" but they served no food) to slam back some cold Labatt 50's. While walking inebriated along Boul. Saint-Laurent, we stumbled across the mighty MAIN DELI & STEAKHOUSE.

It was at The Main that night, where I first tried Montreal Smoked Meat. That may very well have been the best meal of my life. Sadly the institution is no longer with us, another casualty of the "Eliteification" (evolution of Gentrification) happening allover that part of town, Le Plateau Mont-Royal.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/the-main-deli-closes-down-1.6837084

Smoked Meat is one of my favourite things ever and may very well contribute to my downfall ;)

https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/smoked-meat
 
Big Owl said:
I did a 4 day hike on a section of the Appalachian trail, it rained on most of the trip. Because of the weather, we ended up staying in crowded shelters, so I only ate non-stove meals like cold oatmeal, granola bars, beef jerky and the like. On the fourth day, it wasn't raining when I woke up so I heated up some water and made a freeze dried beef stroganoff. I thought that was the best meal ever. A week later back at home, I cooked a pack for supper.... it sucked.
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You bring up a legit point. What's 'good' is highly subjective, and even the same meal prepared and consumed by the same person can provide entirely different experiences depending on one's inner state. Offhand, I'd say the tastiest thing in that moment I ever had was probably a rather unremarkable salad with nothing more than lettuce, onion, croutons, bacon bits, and loads of Catalina dressing in it. Yeah, I was experiencing the munchies.
 
KFC was a staple when we went home to Louisville to visit family. Here, we'd pick up a bucket of chicken for family events or impromptu meals together. Once, I brought a bucket of chicken to an impromptu camping event, and I remember it as one of the best meals I ate.

If i got it for lunch today, it would taste greasy and bland. But add people that I love and a happy event, and it would be delicious because I associate Kentucky Fried Chicken with happy times.
 
Went to the 2010 APA National Conference in New Orleans with my wife back in 2010, stayed at a hotel in the Garden District adjacent to a streetcar station. Nearby across the tracks there was an Emeril Lagasse restaurant. Made reservations, got dressed up, and ate dinner there. WOW! Best meal ever! Blew a few Franklins on wine, too! Great times, great memories!
 
Maister said:
You bring up a legit point. What's 'good' is highly subjective, and even the same meal prepared and consumed by the same person can provide entirely different experiences depending on one's inner state. Offhand, I'd say the tastiest thing in that moment I ever had was probably a rather unremarkable salad with nothing more than lettuce, onion, croutons, bacon bits, and loads of Catalina dressing in it. Yeah, I was experiencing the munchies.
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Good point, about good being highly subjective. I have found that nostalgia is big factor. Growing up my family frequented a greasy spoon, a type of place that had a name on the sign but all the locals called it by a nickname, which in this case was the first name of the chain smoking owner. I always thought the burgers were the best. As I got older and tried what friends called the "best burger ever" at their childhood greasy spoon, I realized that my place wasn't really the best burger ever and theirs wasn't either. It was good but not great. My childhood greasy spoon is still open but it's changed ownership at least 3 times. It's not the same.
 
Not sure about the best, but I've had a few memorable ones:

- Poogan's Porch (Charleston SC), probably 25 - 30 years ago before the rise of the Food Network, back when food TV was limited to whatever your local PBS affiliate showed as filler on weekends - pretty much my "holy sh*t, I can actually afford food this good???" epiphany.

- Juniper and Ivy (San Diego), several years ago back when Richard Blais was still involved in the kitchen.

- Ceviche and an ice-cold Estrella Damm in some hole-in-the-wall bar in an alley a couple of blocks off of La Rambla in Barcelona.

- Brasserie Les Halles, NYC (original location), well before Bourdain passed.

- Lee, Toronto - black sesame creme brulee - best frigging dessert ever.

- Wake Island Air Field, Thai "beach house" - various preparations of yellowfin, wahoo, and skipjack caught that morning (partially by me), with several Thai sides and condiments, and a whole bunch of cheap beer. Not a bad way to pass four hours...
 
To a Jaguar, the best meal they can imagine is probably a big fat adult Capybara. Jags love Capybara and they will eat it raw straight off the bone ;)
 
There's an upscale Italian restaurant in downtown Louisville called Vicenzo's. This isn't your nonna's Italian cooking - it's Italian cuisine.

On a lark many years ago, an old girlfriend and I decided to pop in for dinner, only to discover it was by reservation only. Not deterred, I told them I had a reservation under my name - William Baggins (my friends all call me Bilbo :cool: )- for 6:30 seating. They couldn't (of course) find such a reservation, but somehow found us a table.

The meal was delicious and the wine excellent, though I can't honestly remember enough to say it was "the best". I can safely say top 10.
 
Gedunker said:
On a lark many years ago, an old girlfriend and I decided to pop in for dinner, only to discover it was by reservation only. Not deterred, I told them I had a reservation under my name - William Baggins (my friends all call me Bilbo :cool: )- for 6:30 seating. They couldn't (of course) find such a reservation, but somehow found us a table.
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Should have suggested maybe the reservation was under the name Underhill.
 
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