The 50 Best Restaurants in the World...

[mmhollis]

I saw a feature on the Fat Duck on the BBC and their menu didn't look that great...I don't know how the rest of you feel but my taste buds say French food is generally overrated.

 

[gherrmann]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Whether it's overrated or not is one thing (and I agree it is up for debate). Calling it crap is another and it shows that either you have no clue (sorry to be blunt), or you just don't know how to express your thoughts effectively. I suspect it may be a bit of both, considering the tone of your last paragraph

Calling it crap in the context of a list purporting to identify the "top" 50 restaurants in the world is, in my opinion, reasonably accurate and -- I would have thought -- something that most people would understand to be a comment on relative merit. (Daniel may not accurately be described as crap in the context of a comparison with Arby's or IHOP, but that's really not what we're talking about.) Apparently, I was wrong at least as to you -- either that, or you disagree with me and are trying to turn a rhetorical point into a straw man to discount my comment on the merits. In either case, I will reiterate my point in less metaphoric terms: Daniel is, in my view, far from one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, and it enjoys a popularity that far exceeds the food and overall experience it delivers. I did not mean to suggest that it is actually composed of excrement.

 

[ChicagoRon]

Originally Posted by mmhollis

I saw a feature on the Fat Duck on the BBC and their menu didn't look that great...I don't know how the rest of you feel but my taste buds say French food is generally overrated.
Your tastebuds may be in the minority on that one. I believe the reason French cuisine gets so much more run on lists like this than other cuisines is "degree of difficulty"..... it is the most technically demanding and uses the rarest and most delicate ingredients. Also, you have touched on one of my pet peeves.... you cannot judge a restaurant by reading its menu. Menu design is important, and a component of greatness, but it's nothing if you don't taste the food.

 

[audiophilia]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Wow, Canada did not sneak one into the top 100. I guess it's that VQA stuff, eh eq1

I'm not surprised at all. Les Halles in Montreal, North 44, Scaramouche, Canoe, Auberge du Pommier, Susur here in Toronto. Pretty good, but not in the same universe as many mentioned on the list.

 

[TheIdler]

Originally Posted by iammatt

Chez Panisse is a funny thing. The food is not creative, the room is not elegant and the service is not great. On the other hand, everything tastes amazing and the ingredients they use are second to none. I think it retains its place on these lists because it is the single most important restaurant, historically speaking, in the US. The entire organic farming industry and boom of good food in the US can be traced back to CP.

+1 Plus, I have to say, it is a pretty good value.

 

[Fade to Black]

Originally Posted by iammatt

You wouldn't want somebody developing a complex for having eaten at the wrong l'Atelier, would you? Too bad the real thing isn't around anymore. That was a restaurant that deserved a list unto itself, perhaps with Girardet.

I've heard the same from my parents who ate at the real thing. I'm not a fan of L'atelier at all.

ive never been to the Nobu in London but if its anything like New York i imagine that restaurant is a bit past its prime. Always liked Matsuhisa in LA more.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

I believe the reason French cuisine gets so much more run on lists like this than other cuisines is "degree of difficulty"..... it is the most technically demanding and uses the rarest and most delicate ingredients.

.

I am not sure I would agree with this - some asian cuisines use some pretty rare ingredients that are used extremly fresh.

 

[Fade to Black]

some? Chinese cuisine is the end all, be all of Asian cuisine (and some would say world cuisine as well)...i think 4000 years is enough time to get it right.

 

[bigbadbuff]

So the list is ****, I'm glad I posted it

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by Fade to Black

some? Chinese cuisine is the end all, be all of Asian cuisine (and some would say world cuisine as well)...i think 4000 years is enough time to get it right.

"some" as in Asia is a big place, and parts of asia have ****** food. but, yeah, I'd say that chinese and japanese food are big on rare and fresh ingridients.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by bigbadbuff

So the list is ****, I'm glad I posted it

Well it's a good conversation starter

No doubt that it captures a lot of the best restaurants in the western world but, of course, all lists of that type are quite subjective. My issue with it is the absence of risk - no real surprises here as most of these top 50 are well known, high-starred and well-reviewed restaurants. Where are the hidden gems?

 

[Manton]

I worry that Communism (or something) has made the Chinese bad at cooking their own cuisine. The Chinese food I have had in China was really lame compared to the food I can get here, and especially in SF. Hong Kong was the great exception -- fabulous meals there. But "fancy" places in Shanghai and Beijing really disappointed.

 

[Fade to Black]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

"some" as in Asia is a big place, and parts of asia have ****** food. but, yeah, I'd say that chinese and japanese food are big on rare and fresh ingridients.

japanese cuisine has a heavy emphasis on rare and fresh ingredients, but that's the extent of it. The technical ability required of really high level chinese cuisine is much more complex.

but Manton is kinda right, the Chinese food one gets nowadays, even that passed off as haute cuisine feels watered down and disappointing. IMHO the best kind of Chinese food isn't the stuff usually praised to the heavens, like Abalone or Shark's fin, but rather "home cooking" one would get in a rural setting in mainland China. Lots of hidden gems if you know where to look.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Manton

I worry that Communism (or something) has made the Chinese bad at cooking their own cuisine. The Chinese food I have had in China was really lame compared to the food I can get here, and especially in SF. Hong Kong was the great exception -- fabulous meals there. But "fancy" places in Shanghai and Beijing really disappointed.

As an aside, my father told me that the best ‘overall’ food experience he ever had in his life was in Hong Kong.

Jon.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Fade to Black

I've heard the same from my parents who ate at the real thing. I'm not a fan of L'atelier at all.

ive never been to the Nobu in London but if its anything like New York i imagine that restaurant is a bit past its prime. Always liked Matsuhisa in LA more.

I love Matsuhisa. I would go there in college when looking for something super special. A lot of people don't realize that the NY Nobu (and all others) are just copies of the original, but being from NY, they wouldn't

. The original is heads and shoulders better, for service, atmosphere and food.

Robuchon was next level ****. It was like nothing else that I have seen since. The tastes and presentations were otherworldly.

Originally Posted by Fade to Black

some? Chinese cuisine is the end all, be all of Asian cuisine (and some would say world cuisine as well)...i think 4000 years is enough time to get it right.

Agreed. Really, for grand cuisine, you have France and China. Japanese food can be very tasty, but it is not an incredibly complex cuisine. The techniques in Chinese and French are way ahead of anything else both in complexity and refinement.

Originally Posted by Manton

I worry that Communism (or something) has made the Chinese bad at cooking their own cuisine. The Chinese food I have had in China was really lame compared to the food I can get here, and especially in SF. Hong Kong was the great exception -- fabulous meals there. But "fancy" places in Shanghai and Beijing really disappointed.

Food in Cuba is awful for the same reason. The food has no taste.