Memorable Meals

[chara]

And now for something completely different.

Over the years I have had some memorable meals....often the company alone made them memorable but got to wondering what memories others here have of truly memorable meals.

I'll add later depending on response but as a taster...Invited to A Family Gathering at The Leaping Deer Restaurant in Hong Kong many years ago.....the shock..pleasant ..of real Chinese cuisine making me wonder what I had been eating on Friday nights that was called Chinese!

[JaneB]

I dread to think what you were eating Chara!!

Memorable meals for me?  Anything my mum cooked.  She was the best cook ever.

If I’m showing off, then eating in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Sydney tower.  Can’t remember what the actual meal was though!!

[My Blood Is Blue]

My Nan was Italian and so any home cooked meals by her were amazing!

In terms of an experience it would probably have to be some random hotel we were staying in as a kid (not even sure where we were or why) and on the next table was George Best! I was too young to really appreciate who I later met and got an autograph from, but it's a nice story to tell.

[xceleryx]

Maybe not quite as appreciated at the time courtesy of youth, with age and some hindsight however I'd have to say some of my favourite meals were had at my nonna's place. Not only was the food itself something one simply couldn't get anywhere else, but it's also something a lot of others never culturally experienced either. Even though I eventually transitioned down the path of veganism, something nonna simply couldn't comprehend, it's still a period of food I'll always appreciate when looking back. 

[Mark Kelly]

I went to India on business and absolutely fell in love with the place but whilst there stayed in a beach front hotel in Mumbai and the food was absolutely incredible , I don't eat meat so to experience tandoori paneer was a mind blowing experience and a world away from the Paneer we get in the UK , I kept having to make sure they understood I was vegetarian and didn't eat meat as it was so incredibly delicious. 

[Blue Moon]

During my days as a member of Hampshire Cricket Club, I wanted to book lunch at the restaurant at the old ground at Northlands Road. Alas, no joy - they were full. I explained that my aged mother-in-law - herself a veritable cricket almanac and great company at a match - didn't talk between overs, knew the run rates and teams for tests going back to the thirties - and my young son, and both would be unwilling to come to the match if they were not well fed. Somehow, the mention of a young son ("keen as mustard, slow right arm") moved things, but we'd have to sit next to a large group behind some screens. I agreed. Come the day, we were perusing the menu when my mother-in-law asked who was making that awful din behind the screen. "Oh, that'll be Mr Smith, Mr Botham and Mr Gower, I think". My lad was probably too young to get too excited, but my mother-in-law was totally knocked out.

[Holymoly]

Quick aside but Mrs Moly and I have taken to using Gousto/Hello Fresh/Mindful Chef for the evening meal. While it can appear to be a bit pricey once you've exhausted the initial deals if you bounce from one to the other you normally get offers to return. The real savings are in the huge reductions in food waste though. The recipes are amazing too. They can almost make vegan meals vaguely palatable 😆

[RDCW]

Growing up in Africa my abiding memory is of lavish braaiis (barbecues) - vast rump steaks, peri peri chicken, boerwors (a spicy beef and pork sausage sold by the foot rather than the pound), meallies (barbecued corn on the cob), monkey gland sauce (😄 Google it) and coleslaw. We thought Africa had the best barbecue in the world.....until I discovered that the Americans were so far ahead of us it was pitiful !

Before having kids late in life my wife and I spent a lot of time in posh restaurants Gordon Ramsay, Chez Nico, Vong, Foliage (those last 3 gone now), Le Gavroche etc etc. My favourite was a Brazilian Japanese restaurant in Chelsea whose name I forget! We had a lavish, multi course meal with accompanying wine, but as I was enjoying dessert I bit down on a big chunk of glass which was in the mousse! My mouth was bleeding copiously and it was obviously a bit of a shock. My view as a hobby cook is that whilst stuff like that is unpleasant and somewhat alarming, I have had stuff break off in the kitchen and stuff happens. Anyway, we ended up getting our lavish meal for free and an invitation to go back to the restaurant for another meal on the house, which of course we accepted and were encouraged to go large on the menu and wine list - happy days!

[RDCW]

1 minute ago, RDCW said:

Growing up in Africa my abiding memory is of lavish braaiis (barbecues) - vast rump steaks, peri peri chicken, boerwors (a spicy beef and pork sausage sold by the foot rather than the pound), meallies (barbecued corn on the cob), monkey gland sauce (😄 Google it) and coleslaw. We thought Africa had the best barbecue in the world.....until I discovered that the Americans were so far ahead of us it was pitiful !

Before having kids late in life my wife and I spent a lot of time in posh restaurants Gordon Ramsay, Chez Nico, Vong, Foliage (those last 3 gone now), Le Gavroche etc etc. My favourite was a Brazilian Japanese restaurant in Chelsea whose name I forget! We had a lavish, multi course meal with accompanying wine, but as I was enjoying dessert I bit down on a big chunk of glass which was in the mousse! My mouth was bleeding copiously and it was obviously a bit of a shock. My view as a hobby cook is that whilst stuff like that is unpleasant and somewhat alarming, I have had stuff break off in the kitchen and stuff happens. Anyway, we ended up getting our lavish meal for free and an invitation to go back to the restaurant for another meal on the house, which of course we accepted and were encouraged to go large on the menu and wine list - happy days!

Apparently Brszil has the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan, so the restaurant wasn't as outlandish as you might think!

[chara]

@RDCW...brings back a similar memory but not quite so exotic...in a past marriage my then wife became a vegetarian...no problem and non meat meals were very good and she had no issues with cooking other dishes.

A visit to a Vegetarian Restaurant off Regents Street...still something of a novelty back then...biting down on some spinach and a small piece of stone resulted in a broken tooth...not a fan of spinach at the best of times and dislike it even more now!

Some compensation ..struggled for with Insurance Company ...sorry Popeye!

[Blue Moon]

Only had mezze today, but if you’re in Kingsmeadow, Noura Lebanese restaurant is worth a look. See https://nourakingston.com

[RDCW]

On 14/01/2024 at 19:35, Blue Moon said:

Only had mezze today, but if you’re in Kingsmeadow, Noura Lebanese restaurant is worth a look. See https://nourakingston.com

I love Lebanese food! If I can get down to a women's game I'll defo go there!

[Alex]

On 24/01/2023 at 14:53, Mark Kelly said:

I went to India on business and absolutely fell in love with the place but whilst there stayed in a beach front hotel in Mumbai and the food was absolutely incredible , I don't eat meat so to experience tandoori paneer was a mind blowing experience and a world away from the Paneer we get in the UK , I kept having to make sure they understood I was vegetarian and didn't eat meat as it was so incredibly delicious. 

You were luckier than me in Mumbai. I was very careful what I ate. No street food, only ate in expensive places and didn't eat meat.  I made the mistake of eating salad, probably washed in the local tap water. I was on a stopover to Hong Kong and after getting there after a flight from hell thanks to being leaky at both ends, I collapsed exhausted in my hotel.

For ambience, the hotel had a 'soundscape' designed by a French 'conceptual artist' that was a mixture of waterfalls, chicken noises, street markets...etc that for some reason was piped into my room, but due to my condition I was too ill to get turned off. So I lay writhing in my sheets for several days with terrible stomach cramps vowing to hunt down the conceptual artist and torture him similarly with horribly unpleasant sounds.

[Alex]

1 minute ago, Alex said:

You were luckier than me in Mumbai. I was very careful what I ate. No street food, only ate in expensive places and didn't eat meat.  I made the mistake of eating salad, probably washed in the local tap water. I was on a stopover to Hong Kong and after getting there after a flight from hell thanks to being leaky at both ends, I collapsed exhausted in my hotel.

For ambience, the hotel had a 'soundscape' designed by a French 'conceptual artist' that was a mixture of waterfalls, chicken noises, street markets...etc that for some reason was piped into my room, but due to my condition I was too ill to get turned off. So I lay writhing in my sheets for several days with terrible stomach cramps vowing to hunt down the conceptual artist and torture him similarly with horribly unpleasant sounds.

All equally memorable, but from a negative perspective 

[Alex]

On 01/02/2023 at 10:10, RDCW said:

Growing up in Africa my abiding memory is of lavish braaiis (barbecues) - vast rump steaks, peri peri chicken, boerwors (a spicy beef and pork sausage sold by the foot rather than the pound), meallies (barbecued corn on the cob), monkey gland sauce (😄 Google it) and coleslaw. We thought Africa had the best barbecue in the world.....until I discovered that the Americans were so far ahead of us it was pitiful !

Before having kids late in life my wife and I spent a lot of time in posh restaurants Gordon Ramsay, Chez Nico, Vong, Foliage (those last 3 gone now), Le Gavroche etc etc. My favourite was a Brazilian Japanese restaurant in Chelsea whose name I forget! We had a lavish, multi course meal with accompanying wine, but as I was enjoying dessert I bit down on a big chunk of glass which was in the mousse! My mouth was bleeding copiously and it was obviously a bit of a shock. My view as a hobby cook is that whilst stuff like that is unpleasant and somewhat alarming, I have had stuff break off in the kitchen and stuff happens. Anyway, we ended up getting our lavish meal for free and an invitation to go back to the restaurant for another meal on the house, which of course we accepted and were encouraged to go large on the menu and wine list - happy days!

And Le Gavroche, will miss that place!

[Alex]

Pre and post match meals near The Bridge in The Hardwood Arms (when you could still get a table before their Michelin Star) and Bibendum when I was trying to woo my now-wife, trying to make sports games a fancy experience, were always the most memorable though.

[Sciatika]

Nice to know it worked.

[RDCW]

15 minutes ago, Alex said:

And Le Gavroche, will miss that place!

Yes! We only went once, but it's probably my favourite. I'll never forget the visit of the fromagier 😋 to the table and his delight when we asked him to choose for us!

[chara]

Checked out the Lebanese Restaurant mentioned earlier....so impressed with the menu I rushed to local information regarding the same cuisine in Denver and the Metro area...wide variety but not one anywhere as appetising or beguilling as the one mentioned..really big downer!!

Maybe the hint is in a conversation that came to mind as I typed..way back during a visit to UK I had a somewhat pretentious "lady" ask me 
"What do you do for culture in Colorado?"..my reply.."We shoot people."...sigh.

[Alex]

2 hours ago, RDCW said:

Yes! We only went once, but it's probably my favourite. I'll never forget the visit of the fromagier 😋 to the table and his delight when we asked him to choose for us!

I learnt to cook as a student during uni holidays working in a kitchen under a former chef from Le Gavroche, which ignited my love of cooking, French food, Michelin restaurants..etc

[Alex]

Which was around the time I started talking to you on these boards Mr Williams.

[Alex]

And I of course meant Harwood Arms above, predictive text 

[RDCW]

2 hours ago, Alex said:

Which was around the time I started talking to you on these boards Mr Williams.

👍 and it's always a pleasure to talk to a fellow foodie like you !

Edited January 29 by RDCW

[Alex]

A recommendation for you and others is The Sportsman in Seasalter near Whitstable in Kent, great value for a Michelin-starred pub. When I lived in London,  brilliant weekends with the wife were a couple of nights in The Hotel Continental in Whitstable overlooking those sunsets in the bay that Turner  painted. Meals were in the Sportsman, Wheelers in Whitstable, the Whitstable Oyster Company and buying seafood in the port from those stalls that serve seafood from the boats. Spent afternoons doing cultural stuff in Canterbury. The evenings always ended listening to live bands with a few pints in the Old Neptune as the sun went down.

Edited January 30 by Alex

[Alex]

On 23/01/2023 at 22:11, chara said:

And now for something completely different.

Over the years I have had some memorable meals....often the company alone made them memorable but got to wondering what memories others here have of truly memorable meals.

I'll add later depending on response but as a taster...Invited to A Family Gathering at The Leaping Deer Restaurant in Hong Kong many years ago.....the shock..pleasant ..of real Chinese cuisine making me wonder what I had been eating on Friday nights that was called Chinese!

Yeah I was blown away by the food in HK too Chara. That restaurant on a boat that sank when they moved it, Jumbo's was super fun even if it was very tacky and silly. 

Them there were  the nights out drinking in Lan Kwai Fong (spelling probably wrong).  The buzz of that place, bar after bar after bar, all heaving with people from all over the world. It really felt , this is Asia, this is where all the fun is.

I've heard it's changed now and those bars are all fairly empty and closing due to changing demographics. Singapore apparently, that was pretty dull when I visited, is now apparently the super fun place to visit in Asia.