Reading the 'Best Hotel in the World' post got me thinking...Since most of us visit several cities around the world, we've all eaten at 100's if not 1,000's of restaurants.

What are your choices for the best restaurant in the world, based on service, food, ambiance, etc?

For me it's easier to "vote" for 'best hotel' than for 'best restaurant'.

I like fine dining and have been in many very good restaurants all over the world. However, I don't have a 'best restaurant', and never will - I am somewhat reluctant to pay "moon prices" for a three star restaurant.
Once I tried the Michelin 3 star restaurant CROCODILE in Strassbourg. It was very, very expensive, interesting food, but not worth the money. Since than I was never in a 3 star restaurant.
The best restaurants so far I found in Italy, France and California, like Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and others in Nappa Valley and San Francisco.
We have now a ROY'S. People are crazy about this restaurant - long waiting list, you have to make reservations weeks in advance. The food is good - but it's not the 'best restaurant', at least not for me.
I think rating a restaurant has much to do with test AND experience. I read on this board that people where crazy about the "Djungle Restarant" in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. For me it was almost "dog food" in a very "touristic" ambiance. BTW I liked the rooftop restaurant (buffet style) at this hotel.

Best: Five Sails restaurant, Pan-Pacific Hotel, Vancouver

My Favorite: Capitol Lounge, Washington DC. Nothing in this world - including filet mignon and a $200 bottle of Merlot - beats a platter of wings and a couple of beers, especially with a good game on TV.

[This message has been edited by rmccamy (edited 11-10-2000).]

I've eaten in great restaurants throughout the U.S. and in several foreign countries. The best restaurant I've ever been to: it's only a mile from my house -- Charlie Trotter's in Chicago.

This is easy: there isn't one. But there are a few that soar high above the rest, and my choice is the Normandie, on the top floor of the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. (OK, the Pres Catalan and the Troisgros boys might fidget about this, but tough noogies.)

The Normandie is in a beautiful, dignified room overlooking the river; it provided service that anticipated our every wish without being intrusive, an enviable wine list, food that's sublime, and an environment that is comforting and relaxing.

Anecdote: after a leisurely and magnificent appetizer and main course (the noix de ris de veau was by far the best I've had, and the accompanying Meursault was heavenly), my [then-] wife could only gape at the dessert trolley, trying to decide among 8 or 10 gorgeous items. The waiter let her look for a few moments, then asked if she would enjoy having a small taste of each.

A perfect meal in every respect.

I guess since I started this post, I should give my own input.

Sounds odd...But IMHO, the best is Michael's in Las Vegas. Overpriced, but hands down the best service ANYWHERE, and the food is top-notch as well. I think Zagat has it as #1 or #2 in Vegas, but it is tops for me anywhere.

The Steakhouse at the Regent in Hong Kong is nothing to shake a stick at either.

[This message has been edited by MBS PremExec (edited 11-10-2000).]

Best seafood and atmosphere: def Aqua in Las Vegas. Excellent service and food, and v romantic too... =)

Closer to my area (CA) - my favorite for
"fix dinner" is Dinning room in Ritz in San Francisco, my favorite Sinapore/Mala/Indian food is Banana Leaf in Miliptas (San Jose area), and my favorite for outdoor, casual yet nice taste is Salley's in San Diego (next to Downtown Haytt).

Ok, that's my 2 cents.

One of the best restaurants that I have experienced was the Colombo in Lisbon, a small family run establishment with fantastic food and excellent service. There were maybe ten tables and frescos of the Portuguese discoveries on the walls. Unfortunately and quite ironically, it was replaced about ten years ago by the first McDonalds to open in Lisbon.

The best meal I have ever had was polenta with braised rabbit in a five star hotel on Malta. I remember the meal but nothe name of the hotel.

There is a very good restaurant, Corduroy, attached to that little Four Points Hotel on K Street in DC. They served the very best soft shell crab that I have ever eaten. Highly recommended.

Esteban

As others have said, it's hard to pick a "best" because they are often so different. But here's a short list of favorites where we have had truly outstanding meals.

Aqua - San Francisco
Dahlia Lounge - Seattle
Emeril's - New Orleans and Las Vegas
Pacific Edge at Highlands Inn - Carmel, CA
Vincent's - Phoenix
A Pacific Cafe - Kauai and Maui


[This message has been edited by JerryFF (edited 11-10-2000).]

Maybe great disagreement comes but ...
I think a great restaurant is not related to how expensive, how great deco or good service but somehow an emotional effect...
My vote goes to not a restaurant but an on street stall. I never forget the following senario when I was a child:

With my mother walking on the Street (in Sau Kei Wan, Hong Kong Island, HKG, if you know) in Winter (1x degree C), walking for an hour carrying stuff for a temple visit. We walked pass a stall selling Wonton/Fishball Noodles, my mum said that it was there since she was a child (she lived 1 block from the stall until age 1x). No indoor seating, we sat on the table and chairs on the street and had (less than US$2 per bowl) noodles. The noodle was hot, especially when winter winds blow against you. I asking my mum what the street look late some 30-40 years ago, she "enjoying" the flash-back of momoey of the old ages...

Great feeling, great food, WARMEST human sensation.

(Sorry for long story and off-track but I think even the most expensive restaurant I tried in can't beat this "cheap" stall.)

I've eaten there before, but I can tell you what the best meal I ever experience WILL be...

Some day or night in late October in the future, in a seat where my knees are cramped, where the person next to me spills beer on me, where the bathrooms are rank, where the temperature hovers in the low 40's, I will enjoy a cup of Legal Seafoods Clam Chowdah in Fenway Park as the Red Sox win the World Series.

And this, my friends, will be the greatest meal I shall have known.

Hope springs eternal.

North America, best food & service: La
Maisonette @ Cincinnati, OH

North America, best overall: Flagstaff House
@ Boulder, CO. Outstanding menu, wine list, service, facility & view.

-doug

I do not think that Bookbinder's is the best restaurant I've ever been to, but the Bouillabaisse they have on Friday night is the best individual item I've ever had in a restaurant. I've flown to Philadelphia for lunch at the original Bookbinders's and dinner at the other bookbinder's down the street and than flown home the next morning.

HNL - Roy's, Alan Wong or Brunch at the Halekulani
LAX - Patina (but have not eaten there since they moved)
SFO - Boulevard
NYC - Union Square Cafe
DCA - DC Coast, Kinkead's or I Ricchi

Paris: Taillevent