Well Deserved Highly Rated Restaurants
 

Since there is an active thread about overrated restaurants, I thought it might be equally interesting to have one where the restaurant lives up to its hype. I'll bet we find significantly more disagreement here than in the other thread.

Here are a couple.

San Francisco,
Michael Mina

Santa Barbara
Bouchon

New Orleans
Commander's Palace
Emeril's

CityZen in D.C.

Here are mine.
 

Gary Danko in SF: phenomenal food, great service, reasonable prices (for a high-end place)

Daniel in NYC: incredible experience and great food

Alto, Gilt (NYC)
Roussillon (London)
Taillevent (Paris)
Laurie Raphael (Quebec/Montreal)
Enoteca Pinchiorri (Florence)
Patrick Guilbaud (Dublin)

And agree that CityZen (DC) and Daniel (NYC) are pretty darn good too.

DB Bistro (also by Daniel) in NYC is excellent too. Best Tarte Flambee I've had outside of Alsace (and that includes Paris).

Agree with Michael Mina. Expensive for what you get, so I think Gary D's is a better deal. But MM's food is fantastic, no question about it.

Commander's Palace is amazingly good. Huge portion size, also, not like the California dainty little portions. We were very impressed.

Coi - San Francisco

Have to disagree with Gary Danko though. Great good - horrible, overbearing service in an awful space. Remove half the tables and then I might go back.

Would agree and add Sanderin.

I disagree with Emeril's.

I agree about Gary Danko -- just a wonderful dining experience!!
I also agree with Taillevent in Paris -- probably the finest dining experience I have ever had.

I would add:

Beittedine, London -- some of the best Lebanese food I have had
Benares, London -- very good, albeit expensive, new Indian cuisine
Hiramatsu, Paris
Benoit, Paris
Lai Wah Heen, Toronto
Matsuhisa, Los Angeles
Charlie Palmer Steak, Las Vegas
Yew, Vancouver
Jade, Singapore

I thought Coi was totally weird. It is neat though, with the 11-12 course meal. But the flavors were totally strange--like soy sauce and cherries, fish with chocolate, etc. Just very strange stuff. Maybe it's changed now. I was there about 1 year ago.

Where is Jade in Singapore? I hope it's not Crystal Jade.

A few
 

Not necessarily the best meals I ever had, but lived up to expectations and in many cases surpassed, in no particular order:
Combal.Zero in Torino
China Blue at Conrad in Tokyo
Made in China in Beijing
(way back in the day) Spice Market in Bangkok
the main Chinese restaurant in the Grand Stanford in Hong Kong
Xu in Ho Chi Minh

On a less happy note Gordon Ramsay in Tokyo is perhaps the most disappointing meal I've had anywhere in world (although I don't think it ever got rated high enough that I should have been surprised.) The whatever it is in the Grand Hyatt in Shinjuku is a close second for that "award?" And that was long before Bill Murray supposedly got lost there.
best
adg

+1

I would have to disagree with Michael Mina. For the type of food they are trying to produce at their prices, there are a handful of other restaurants I'd rather go to. I would definitely go to Gary Danko (see below) over Michael Mina. Also, those trying to get a quiet dinner may be surprised at the noise level.

I would agree about the great service and reasonable prices (for that type of place) but I would never say phenomenal food. Consistent and good food, yes. In fact, I was tempted to put Gary Danko in the overrated thread, but in general they somewhat live up to their hype.

I agree on Daniel in NYC. Very good food/experience.
I would add Tru in Chicago. I had an incredible tasting menu meal there in November. It was worth every penny.