I've eaten at Per Se and Jean Georges in New York.

Per Se was a whole experience. We went for Saturday lunch and did one chef's tasting menu and one vegetarian with wine pairings. The meal lasted nearly 5 hours!

At Jean George (Central Park, in Trump) the $39 2 plate lunch is an absolute steal. We ended up with 4 dishes each, one of which was dessert. One of the courses, yellow fin tuna ribbons with avocado and spicy radish, was one of the best things I've ever eaten.

Had the tasting menu with wines at the ledbury here in London again a couple of days ago and it was as stunning as ever. It's certainly my fav fine dine restaurant anywhere in the world. I love the simplicity and lack of pretentiousness about the whole place. It's just classy and elegant every step of the way.

My wife is pregnant and they effortlessly swapped out dishes she couldn't have on the tasting menu with new ones.

Was at Ledbury a few days ago and had the vegetarian tasting - really good

Didn't try Lazarre yet, but will try soon. The menu seems basic but I'm sure it's tasty.
I like the mini palais, especially they had a kind of bread/brioche in addition the regular bread. This was very tasty, I asked for a second one and they told me no, only one, snif snif. It was 3 or 4 years ago. I remember my lunch there mainly as we had a lover couple table next to us and they had a fun discussion....
L'astrance used to have (maybe they still have) a surprise menu and it was very good. Used to go there quiet often when it was only 2 stars

This thread is to allow patrons of the world's best restaurants to share their preferences and experiences. Some of the world's best measure up, and some do not, so let's hear what you have to say!

Thus far, we have been to the following "top" restaurants...along with my brief review:

From Pellegrino's List of Top 50/100:

From the Pellegrino list, we've been to the following:

1. Noma--tremendous lunch over 4 hrs, great wine pairings, a little veggie focused more than I prefer, but incredibly adventurous and worthy of rank
5. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal--spectacularly beautiful restaurant with completely overrated food and service, no tasting menu was a shocker, extremely disappointing overall
9. Alinea--as amazing and experimental as everyone says, fantastic service, tremendous food, good wine pairings
10. The Ledbury--favorite London restaurant, completely overshadowing Dinner, beautiful space, traditional yet inventive menu, great friendly service, excellent wine pairings
15. Central--beautiful space, extraordinary menu and service, easily equal to Astrid y Gaston (wasn't ranked when we went in April 2013), excellent wine pairings
18. Astrid y Gaston--casual traditional space with incredible food and service, fantastic wine pairings, hard to choose between A&G and Central, but Central is more modern feel
21. Le Bernadin--seafood maestro indeed, this and Gramercy Tavern may be my faves in NYC, amazing service, food, ambience, and wine pairings
24. Amber--first truffle menu ever was spectacular with finer service and better overall food than at 3 star Lung King Heen, wine pairings very good, one of most memorable dinners ever, served foie gras that I loved (which i normally detest)
31. L'Atelier St. Germaine Joel Robuchon--first time i had foie gras that i loved, even ate my husband's! very good service, cool atmosphere, loved the all French vibe, extraordinary food, fave restaurant so far in Paris
40. Daniel--traditional feeling ambience with extraordinary food, great service, but so-so wine pairings
42. Geranium--elegant ambience with formal feel, incredible food and service, and the best wine pairings ive had in the memory, id return here in a sec, equal to Noma for me
44. French Laundry--casual look but very formal service, incredible food, stuffy service, wine pairings were good, I prefer Meadowood
48. The Test Kitchen--going in January 2015
49 Coi--going in November 2014
53. Relae--more casual and relaxed but very modern with incredible food and service on a beautiful street in CPH, wine pairings good
55. St. John--as disappointing as Dinner but without the charm, oddest meny ever, presentation horrible, no ambience at all, felt like I was at a cafeteria. Totally over-rated for us.
62. Manresa--as good as everyone says, almost as good as Meadowood, little formal but great service, very good wine pairings
66. Lung King Heen--best Chinese meal we've ever had, but service flaws disappointed, view lovely, a bit sterile for us but still amazing food, wine pairings surprisingly great
69. Saison--going in November 2014
72. Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais--experimental and adventurous with tremendously exciting food, excellent service, and one of the best wine pairings I'd seen, loved it...returning in January 2015
75. Alain Ducasse Plaza Athenee--going in October 2014
76. Mr & Mrs Bund--amazing food and service, a little stuffy but extremely good meal, decent wine pairings
80. Restaurant at Meadowood--our fave in California, casual yet tremendous service and extraordinary food in relaxed setting, fantastic wine pairings
95. Malabar--good food but overrated on this list, service decent, wine pairings OK, adequate setting but nothing special

Other places formerly on the list:

Varvary Moscow--incredible food bested by even more amazing presentation and good service, design overload works to complement it all, great wine pairings
Cafe Pushkin Moscow--more traditional setting but easily the equal in food quality, service, and wine pairings as Varvary, with more Russian ambience
La Colombe Cape Town--excellent meal but not as compelling as others, good wine pairings, fine service, good but not our favorite

Other top contenders in my opinion:

MAP Cafe, Cusco, Peru--la Cena del Oro is their special 7 course pre-fixe which equaled what we had at Astrid y Gaston and Central just a week earlier. Spectacular meal, service, ambience, and wine pairings, this was our favorite meal in Peru against TOP competition!

The Bazaar by Jose Andres, SLS Beverly Hills--our favorite in LA, especially with the private dining room pre-fixe menu, but even the main restaurant is fantastic

Restaurant Gary Danko, San Francisco--our current fave in SF

L20, Chicago--tremendous meal in a bit sterile dining room with amazing service, amazing wine pairings (right up there), and extremely creative food, including foie gras that i loved

Gramercy Tavern, New York--still one of my faves anywhere, more relaxed, incredible food and service, very NYC feel

Have been to about a quarter of the 100 restaurants listed but some were visited quite a few years ago and the type of food served might not even be the same anymore. But out of all the ones I have been to, these deserve a special mention:

Eleven Madison Park: introduced by its sommelier to German Riesling which is one of my favorite wines

Alinea: was there when they used to have the grand tour which was around 26 dishes. We did it with wine pairing as well. Great and fanciful food though can't believe how long it was

French Laundry/Per Se: best experience with Thomas Keller was when he did a pop up at Mandarin Oriental HK. He not only brought ingredients and front of house, he was actually in the kitchen himself

Etxebarri: probably my fav on the list. Simple grilling perfection!

41 Grados: best cocktail in my life! Bartender managed to create 2 different cocktails to match my dessert

I do have real issues with the list though. The low number of restaurants from Japan is laughable. Done properly, at least a quarter of the list should be from Japan.

What is on the agenda next? Am off to Quay later this year and hopefully a trip to Japan as well

All rankings are subject to the prejudices and set of criteria used by those doing the ratings. I agree that there are numerous other top restaurants in Japan, but I also believe that no regional cuisine is inherently better than another--just more popular. I wouldn't think that even by the most Japanese friendly standard would a quarter of any top worldwide restaurant list be from Japan--as there are too many other amazing restaurants around the world.

Rankings are merely guideposts. The Pellegrino list is just one of many such rankings. Michelin is another--though I, like so many, take issue with many of the 2-3 Michelin restaurants which aren't any better or more creative than many 1 Michelin restaurants, as well. Noma having 2 instead of 3 Michelin stars is the first hint that the Michelin guidepost has its own flaws--namely, overly rewarding formality and lavish ambience in a less formal dining world.

At quick glance I guess I've been to five of the Pellegrino top 100 in the past year:

3. Osteria Francescana
5. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
10. The Ledbury
46. Le Calandre
77. Zuma Dubai

With the exception of Le Calandre, all were amazing and fully deserving of their reputations and rankings. I thought Le Calandre was way, way overrated and not deserving of a top 100 spot. I had much better meals at the phenomenal L'Arnsbourg in Baerenthal and Venissa on the island of Mazzorbo near Venice.

I've been to several of the restaurants on the Pellegrino list. In fact, I used it last year to seek out restaurants in Bangkok.

- Nahm, Bangkok - we found it meh, acceptable but not outstanding. They had a challenge with service. We chatted with the maitre 'd who agreed it was difficult to train staff to a high standard.

- Gaggan, Bangkok - half the courses were brilliant. Half were disappointing. The good was so very very good I'd try it once more in hopes that more of the menu had been brought up to that standard.

In Paris, L'Astrance is a great favorite of ours. It only has 28 covers or so and is difficult to book. I don't remember if bookings open 30 or 60 days in advance. We send our list to the hotel concierge well in advance of our visit and leave it to them to sort it out.

In London, Sketch is not listed but is a perennial favorite of ours. It is a Pierre Gagnaire restaurant with a more accessible menu than the mothership in Paris. Weekday lunch is an exceptional bargain, 40 pds for 3 courses (but in fact, roughly 10 or 12 small dishes). It has two Michelin stars.

I've been to most of the restaurants in the Basque area of Spain that made the list. My experience is several years old so I won't comment specifically, but what a gastronomic mecca.

Thanks for the rec for Sketch. I'll have to try it out. We love Twist in Vegas, another Gagnaire restaurant. We've had bad luck in London except for the Ledbury which was outstanding. Dinner by HB was extremely disappointing (overcooked meats, bland meats, excuses after excuses, argumentative manager/server), and St. John was just a travesty of not impressive anything!

Of the Top 100, I've only been to three or four. Some merited their inclusion, some had near neighbours which I thought were much better.

Certainly, The Ledbury and St. John were fantastic, as well as Relae and Le Quartier Francais. I did not like The Fat Duck at all - inventive yes, but totally up itself - far preferring The Waterside Inn just down the road. Likewise, Meadowood was a huge disappointment - dreary food in a dreary room and a stark contrast from most of the other restaurants we tried in Napa.

Everyone will have to be their own judge of whether a quarter is an exaggeration but by the Michelin stars standard, Tokyo relative to Paris, has 40% more 3 stars, 3x more 2 stars (yes, 3x!) and 2.5x more 1 star.

Not sure how much time you have spent eating your way around Tokyo or Japan but it would certainly be on par with Paris, San Sebastian, NYC, .....

The only one I've been to so far was Ryugin and it was stellar, I attempted but failed to get reservations to The French Laundry, but made reservations at Coi and State Bird (not on the list), looked at Saison while in town, but more trips need to be made in the future. Regret not going to Nahm the last few times in BKK. My have to look into Gary Danko while in SF based on the above mention.

I find Japan to be overall a better food destination than Paris, NYC, etc. I actually prefer Osaka over Tokyo in this regard - similar quality but lower prices.