Completely subjective. Many people like Andy Hayler consider Hedone one of the best in London if not the best. For my money, I'll take the Ledbury. Was there last year and had a fantastic meal with several dishes I still remember. Had extensive conversation with the sommelier, both at the restaurant and on email afterwards. All around outstanding experience.

As for Hedone - had what I considered a very good meal at the time several months ago - can't remember a single thing I had now.

I think both are great, but thinking back I remember the Ledbury to have greater levels of technical complexity. It's again all about personal preference, but for me these two restaurants are at a level where arguing over which is better is a bit of a waste of time.

I do recall the meal at Ledbury being more of a complex meal. I guess Hedone was more....comfort food?

I'm getting old :) I used to welcome the challenges, now I just want to find places that let me in with jeans but serve good food.

Have you been to St. John?

Rankings are never absolute! Perceptions are always appropriate only for those who have them, and different people have different perceptions and expectations, as well as different food/service preferences.

I've not been to Hedone, but it's certainly on my list. But I absolutely love The Ledbury and consider it--thus far--to be my favorite restaurant in London.

Others herein love St. John, but my husband and I despised it as one of the worst "top" meals we've ever had. Hated the food, hated the ambience, hated the service. Loved that casual nature, however, and loved that it was different--but being casual and different for us isn't enough to even remotely overcome what we thought was simply poor food and terrible flavor execution, not to mention terrible service on all levels. To each, their own!

I haven't eaten at the Ledbury, but to me Hedone was as avant garde as somewhere like Akalarre and en vogue with the current Scando craze. If I was thinking of comfort food at that price point, I'd think of somewhere like Le Gavroche.

Re St. John, as one of the pioneers of nose-to-tail, it does what it says on the tin.

Just returned from a short trip to Barcelona where the waitlist gods smiled upon us with a last-minute opening for lunch at El Celler De Can Roca.

We had given the restaurant a 2-day window, and actually had our pick of either day as two spots opened up. It's the first time we've had luck with a waitlist and not sure if this is typical here, but either way definitely recommend signing up.

Also, highly recommend going early and spending the day getting lost in old town Girona. It was one of the most memorable experiences from the trip, other than the meal of course :p

Gernanium
Geranium is the collaboration of co-owners, Rasmus Kofoed and Soren Ledet, who have known each other since training, 20 or so years ago.
Head chef Rasmus won bronse, silver, and finally gold at Bocuse d'Or, the ultimate international cooking competition that make competitions like Iron Chef and Top Chef look like child’s play.
The presentation of each of the 21 plates of the Universal tasting menu were so stunning. The taste of each dish was consistently thoughtfully executed, harmonious and well-balanced. While they may appear superfluous at other restaurants, foraged items and molecular gastronomy were delicately used to enhance some dishes with special care taken to keep taste at the forefront. Even the bread is well thought out. The rolls are small and brought to the table in the middle of the meal. This is especially important for someone like me who can make a meal out of the bread, not leaving enough room for the actual food. With each dish, it was apparent why he won Bocuse d'Or.
Soren Ledet, an accomplished chef and sommelier, also serves as Head of House. I was fortunate enough to have him indulge me in conversation. There is a clear commitment to all components of the dining experience. Geranium is known to have one of the best wine pairings. Recognizing that not everyone drinks, yet wanting to offer each diner an enhanced experience, he speaks about the juice pairing with the passion of a sommelier about wine, making me feel less apologetic about not being an wine conniseour .
The dining room is stylish and thoughtfully designed. Cooking is done behind the scene, but the visible kitchen allows patrons to watch while their dishes are being plated. I can’t help but think that the kitchen was designed to serve as a culinary theatre.
Geranium is illustrative of the shortcoming of the Michelin’s rating system. Having been to several 3 star restaurants, I left confused as to why Geranium has only 2 Michelin stars when each dish at Geranium exceeded these 3 star restaurants in taste, presentation, and consistency. My meal at Geranium was as close to perfection as a meal can get. It is definitely a restaurant worth a special trip.

NOMA
I would encourage anyone who made the effort to obtain a reservation at Noma to make a little extra effort and read Rene Redzepi’s journal to better understand his thought process. He has a commitment to time and place, using food only available at that time of the year of your dining experience in Denmark. He invests significant effort in research and development in reimagining food. Not all, but the great majority of the dishes were very successful.
It is understandable that Noma is #1 in on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list since this list is judged by chefs,restaurateurs, gourmands and restaurant critics who are likely looking for someone pushing the envelope on the dining scene. Rene manages to do so, while maintaining taste.
The energy and passion at Noma is palpable. The dining experience is made more enjoyable when you realize that everyone from staff and diners have all made significant effort, and likely, sacrifice to be there. There are currently 40 sous chefs or commis, half of whom are unpaid, recognizing that they are part of a food movement.

Chateaubriand
The chef is known to be erratic. The dishes ranged from inedible (ceviche with a tiny piece of fish in a heavily acidic broth, slimy raw squid with a cheese sauce) to sublime (a glazed runny yolk sat on top of the dessert and was genius). This is not a meal that I would subject myself to again.

L'Avant Comptoir
This is a wine bar but has become my new favorite eats in Paris. Standing room only with picture menu hanging from the ceiling. Each tapas style dishes for 1-10 euro. Great taste, staff, vibe.

I completely concur on your evaluations of the 3 restaurants. Geranium was amazing in every way and offered perhaps the most perfect wine pairing of any restaurant we've ever eaten at. Noma was also as incredible as everyone says, but Geranium to me was easily right up there. That neither is considered at the top of their game by Michelin is the first hint that there is something askew with Michelin ratings.

Went to Chateaubriand more than 5 times, each time it was great. Then exactly last Dec, I invited friends to dinner, we had reservations at another resto, by haphazard I called Chateau and asked if they had a cancelation, yes they could accommodate the 6 of us. We were all excited, cancelled the other place (friends of mine so no problem) and we had the worst meal ever. We couldn't eat a single thing. My friends are true french people that would eat anything, and they couldn't. The staff never once asked why we didn't eat or at times touch our plates, they never offered to replace the food for other dishes. Worst meal. Never went back. Too risky. Now I have gone to many set blind menu, and they always ask if there is something we don't eat or are allergic to. Here they asked if we had allergies (from previous times) but they never replaced the dishes.


As for L'Avant comptoir it is Meh…. lots of better places around.

I am open to suggestions. I had reservations for Septime and Frenchie that I needed to cancel. Will hit those the next time. Taste is personal and I stand by my comments on L'Avant Comptoir.

You should have stuck to Septime and ordered their tasting menu. Frenchie is meh.


le comptoir is full of tourists.

There are hundreds of off the beaten path great restos.

Unlike the previous 15 or so trips to Europe, I was severely jetlagged the entire trip, woke up after 2-4 hours at 2-3am, fell asleep later and much to my chagrin was awoken Park Hyatt Vendome concierge because I missed my Septime reservations. I apparently did not know how to set alarm on husband's phone. I was mortifed.

Ohh tell me about jetlagg, when I was younger it didn't even touch me, now as I am older, let me tell you JFK-CDG, it takes me a week before I can have my normal sleep back.

Any recs for Finland? And Tallinn?

Will be there soon, and could really use some help. Not just looking for (re)fine(d)-dining - also love smaller local spots and ESPECIALLY great bakeries (have read Finns love their pastries and coffee).