What was your favorite Restaurant meal?

I kind of thought it would be neat to discuss eating out. Many times over I have been disappointed, but there are those few memorable meals out that stand out in our mind........here's one of mine!

The New Jerusalem Cafe'

They served the most wonderfully seasoned and prepared Hummus, Flafel, Baba Ganouji, Tabouli salad, Pita bread and Lamb K-bobs. The meals are served with some kind of an herb laced ice tea and finished off with a tasty baklava! It is one of those dining out experiences that leaves you smiling! And wishing......that the restaurant weren't located 7 hours drive south

My favorite restaurant meal was served in a place that no longer exists (well someone bought it and made it a steakhouse). It was this raspberry duck that a small restaurant in Gardiner New York called Bensons used to make. When I was single, I cannot tell you how many women I converted to duck eaters from that place alone, not to mention friends.

A lot of times people are like "duck? I am not going to eat Daffy!" until I say, "just try a bite of this" (slathered with the raspberry sauce). That usually is all it takes. It got to the point I actually had to make up my own recipe for it when the place was sold (the owner, Paul, passed away God bless him).

Of course, there are many other dishes I like at other restaurants, but I have yet to have duck served that way again, and perhaps the absence of it makes the memory fonder.

Hi Jafo,

You must have perfected that Raspberry Duck, I see a recipe in your cookbook for it, and actually would love to try it someday, I guess once I get a rotisserie. And I adore raspberry anything! I have had NO luck in finding the seedless jam though

As I think back on memorable restaurant experiences I also must mention "The Fish Wife" in Salinas, CA. They had the most strangest little restaurant, but the food was pure "heaven". They served their pan-seared fish with a mango salsa, the sides were black beans and rice with some kind of a creama sauce poured over it. And that simple little plate of food was so delicious I just never have been anywhere that had such great fish, and never has salsa like that since! The funny thing was this joint was also a fish market and they sold fish from a case like going to a deli and pick out what ya' want. There were not that many tables and there was almost always a crowd and a wait!

You know KYH you mentioned all the road miles you and your wife used to make, I'll bet you have got a whole bunch of neat restaurant stories!

I know this is about memorable restaurant dining experiences, but I have just got to share this one....READY OR NOT.

Traveling with my Dad early one Sunday morning to do an antique show in Jackson Missippi, we pulled over in some Po' Dunk town in Missippi for a bite of breakfast........as we enter the restaurant there is an Elvis Presley # blaring away on the juke box, we sit at the counter and no sooner do we get situated on our stools, here comes this huge stocky grey-headed woman with an apron on and a lit cigarette hanging from her lips with an ash about an inch long hanging off the end of it. She reminds me of a BIG stocky Russian woman complete with moustache! She gruffly asks Dad "What'll ya' ave? Dad responds "A cup of coffee with no ashes please"! Well we got the most hellacious look from her and the few local Yokels sitting around nursing their coffee! Now my Dad was scarred of no one, and really could've cared less. SO he whispers to me "Do you think we can get some toast without ashed?" I whisper back "I do not know!" So anyway we take our chances Dad whispers to me about how strange this whole experience has been we both get the giggles and hit the road again! No memorable food experience there!!!

Have a great day, Cathy

My has to be from this great place in Chicago called The Red Light....it's a french-thai fusion place and they have this amazing filet dish that truly incorporates both french and thai cooking.....if you are ever in Chicago, check out the Red Light

Funny you should mention French-Thai! I loved this one restaurant in Long Beach, CA that was French-Vietnamese, they offered the best food in the area!!! And great friendly service!

I'll bet you have got a whole bunch of neat restaurant stories!

Oh, yeah, Cathy. Do I have stories!

Unfortunately, the really memoarble restaurant meals are mostly on the other side of the coin; I remember how bad they were---either the food, the service, or both.

I think a positive dining experience has as much to do with the people you are with as the restaurant itself. A meal at a mediocre restaurant, surrounded by friends who are having a good time with each other, can be a better experience than a 4-star meal you eat alone.

For instance, after our youngest son's wedding, we went out with my brother and his wife. Because they live on the left coast we hadn't really had a chance to meet her before (only other time had been at a funeral). So the four of us spent several really enjoyable hours, getting to know each other better, and sharing stories, and so forth.

The food was certainly good enough (I'd remember if it were bad). But don't ask me what I ate. I couldn't begin to tell you.

Stories like that I can share. But actual meals? Not hardly.

A meal at a mediocre restaurant, surrounded by friends who are having a good time with each other, can be a better experience than a 4-star meal you eat alone.

Well said KYH!!!

But I do have to add my family never ate out much growing up, and I seldom do now, for me eating out is a super treat!!! I like not being spoiled.

Did you read my story on the joint in Mississippi where Dad and I stopped one early Sun A.M.? It was a horrid experience, but the laughs my Dad and I so jovially shared over that made it one heck of a memorable dining expeience, it's hard to relate just how funny it was- you kind of just had to be there--it was like the Twighlight Zone! And I can truly say we still get to giggling over it to this day 35 yrs. later


Cheers, Cathy

Cook Chatty Cathy said:

Funny you should mention French-Thai! I loved this one restaurant in Long Beach, CA that was French-Vietnamese, they offered the best food in the area!!! And great friendly service!

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Normally, I am a little leary of fusion restaurants....the can either be the most amazing place on earth, or the most horrible.....this place was just amazing...and to top it off, the first time we went was on halloween and everyone in the restaurant was dressed up in Kill Bill outifts...it was really a great experience.

I don't even like the idea of "fusion." Too often it means Asian flavors superimposed over a mish-mash of other foods, without rhyme nor reason.

That aside, in her otherwise unremarkable book, Linda Civitello presents the thesis that all cuisines are fusion. That wars, the migration of people, tourism, missionary activities, and so forth means that all cuisines have been heavily influenced by others.

My people come from a part of the world where invaders came raping through every 20 years or so, leaving behind an incredibly mixed culture. Thus, I can relate to Civitello's idea. And a close examination of most cuisines reveals that she's right.

KYHeirloomer said:

I don't even like the idea of "fusion." Too often it means Asian flavors superimposed over a mish-mash of other foods, without rhyme nor reason.

That aside, in her otherwise unremarkable book, Linda Civitello presents the thesis that all cuisines are fusion. That wars, the migration of people, tourism, missionary activities, and so forth means that all cuisines have been heavily influenced by others.

My people come from a part of the world where invaders came raping through every 20 years or so, leaving behind an incredibly mixed culture. Thus, I can relate to Civitello's idea. And a close examination of most cuisines reveals that she's right.

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Interesting, and I completely agree actually.

My favorite meals have been at the diner around the corner. They have an innovative menu using local ingredients, they are not expensive, and they're nice to my kids. Long live the Jersey diner!

I love the Cobb Salad at Bob Evans.

Liver & Onions at some truck stop in Texas while traveling across country....about 30 years ago.

Mango and chicken salad with a thick raspberry dressing and walnuts at a local diner in Rockville, MD