Fine Dining - This myth needs to be busted

Go for a 2 star next time.

To pay that sort of money for a spot of nose bag i would expect at the very least a **** from the waitress.

*Handshake

Fine dining is for knobsters.

Can you name the establishment?

The Royals
The Tories
The financial elite
The mainstream media.....

Vince McMahon a shocking ommission

Aye, and give him his bag back ^

I have been to a few 1 star places in London and paid no more than in a decent local restaurant.

It all ends up in the same place....

Yep, smeared all over the cubicle walls at work.

went out to an expensive a la carte resteraunt for christamass dinner a few years back ,when the "dinner " came to the table it looked more like a work of art than a meal didn't know weather to eat it or frame it ! ffs the breast of turkey was no bigger than a slice of swiss roll and the veg ,some poncey French name for Brussels sprouts parsnips stuffing  and peas, looked like it had been dabbed onto the plate with an artists brush ,could have wolfed it down in 3 mouthfuls but took my time out of respect for my dining  companion cost an arm and a leg as well . very nicely presented but I wanted to eat it not admire it ! overated and overpriced !

the veg all mashed up and unreconisable as described on the menu ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Always think of the "How did you find your meal sir?" "I just looked under the lettuce leaf and there it was" when these places get a mention and assume you are going to have to stop for a pizza on the way home anyway so may as well just cut to the chase and order a Dominos in the first place.

Had lunch here recently :
.
http://www.galvinrestaurants.com/section.php/61/1/galvin-la-chapelle

Very nice !

anyone been to Heston bluementhols or whatever he calls himself place, snail porridge sounds appetizing !

Went to The Fat Duck in Bray a few years ago.

'Interesting' is the best description, and not one you want to be giving when you're going out in the expectation of culinary fulfilment.

All very 'smoke and mirrors' (sometimes literally) but what resulted was decent but nothing more than that. I wish I'd gone down the road to the Waterside Inn - now that place really does do culinary brilliance. I defy anyone not to be slavering over their taster menu, which you should try just once in your life.

For the real deal though, it's got to be the Manoir Aux Quatres Saisons.

I've had Heston's burgers from Waitrose...bloody lovely but £4.99 for two

you dont go to a restaurant to fill your guts up, you go for the service and the ambience.

thats why i never bother going to em.

The food in in my local Chinese  restaurant is lovely but the place is very quiet most days.If they were to 1/4 the portions stick a four leaf clover on top and triple the price  the joint would probably be banged out.

it is a weird concept. the less they give you, the more it costs.

Out and out snoberry. You couldn't survive on the portions they serve.

You have heard the story of The Emperors New Clothes, this is more a case of The Emperors Full Stomach.

"Out and out snoberry. You couldn't survive on the portions they serve".

You are not supposed to 'survive' just enjoy the culinary skill involved and the flavours of ingredients used...Some people love pot noodle ( I can happily hoover one down) but love skillfully cooked food. I get the point of both... One just has to weigh up if it's worth it I guess. It's great that we have something for everyone if we are fortunate enough to eat out.

are you saying posh grub is like a handjob?

@paulypaul Like a night at the opera. I can get that but it's still not my cup of tea.
I was served a meal like this at a works convention, Gleneagles, and wasn't overly impressed.
Maybe I'm just a Philistine but when I eat out I don't expect to leave hungry especially when I've paid an arm and a leg for it.

Sideshowbob

Are you referring to the cottage pie situation with George Michael again?

Akabula...I do get the leaving hungry bit! Luckily, I fill up quicker than others but I also have mates who are big rugby players who could all leave hungry despite appreciating the food...So, for them..it's a waste of time in terms of going home with a full stomach!

all these fine dining places are for wimmin imo - no self respecting bloke would be seen in any of them .


portions wouldn't feed a mouse

mind you ,you get some funny ones around those places 

Nothing wrong with "Michelin star" restaurants, some of them are excellent value for money imo, particularly at lunchtime. I can't afford to eat in them more than a few times a year, but each to his own I guess. The thing I like is that I can generally eat three (or four courses) and end up feeling nicely full, not stuffed. just comfortable.

If I want to pig out, or don't want to spend a lot, I go somewhere else. Price/Value equation innit  Simples

The thing that gets me watching these genius chefs at work on tv is how lovingly, how comprehensively they touch every single piece of the food on the plate.

Mid Week lunch at a Michelin Star restaurant is fantastic value for money imo.

* can be fantastic value

Ozymandius - Couldn't agree more (see below). Getting in sometimes a problem though.
Gonna pretend to be someone else for my next attempted booking at La Gavroche. 

Off to Corrigans next week. First time mind!. Menu looks limited, but thats common and often a good sign.

La Gavroche ffs.  It's late

Bistro on Roseman St

Local chippie
cod and chips
two pickled onions
buttered roll
Sorted.

'What's the difference between gravy and jus?' asked the diner,
'The price sir' answered the waiter

Yes if you can get past the 'pithivier of ceps and pan-fried (as opposed to what? toilet-bowl fried?)' whatnottery then there's a whole world of gastronomic delights waiting for you

deep-fried

….and why is everything 'roast-ed' nowadays

wouldn't the word 'roast' suffice, as it has done for centuries?

I remember going to the only Michelin starred restaurant around this area (Staffs - Leek Moorlands) about 25 years ago and it was one of the biggest waste-of-money experiences ever to be encountered.

The food was okay. No more than that.
It was a scandalously over priced waste of time though.

I think the bottle of champagne we had was about 80 quid, when you could get it in any restaurant for about half that price at the time.

I can't even remember what I had (although it was probably fish) but what I do remember is that the person I went with ordered 'Wild Boar' (remember, this is 25 years ago - when such things were rarely seen on a menu, especially around Stoke) and they got 3 slivers of the tiniest cuts of pork you've ever seen, in a smattering of 'jus'.

They gave me a taste of it and it was adequate pork - no more, no less. Could have been from any pig - anywhere!

All beautifully presented mind you - on a plate which someone in the kitchen had gone to extreme lengths to place perfectly sized cress leaves all around the edge of the plate so it looked like part of the pattern (you only knew it wasn't part of the plate when you moved the leaves with your knife) - but which weren't part of the 'food' at all.

To top it all, they had a non-smoking policy, so you  weren't even supposed to have a cig afterwards to take away the taste of being so gloriously ripped off.
Again; remember this is 25 years ago when non-smoking in restaurants was almost unheard of.

Without moaning to anyone about anything regarding the food or service (it was a rip off, no more and no less - such things happens in life) I pulled my jib so much at the outrageousness of not being able to have a smoke that the female patron of the place came over to me and gave me an ashtray and told me I could have a f@g.

It was the only high point of the night!

I've just checked on Google to see what are the Michelin starred restaurants around here to try to remember the name of the place.

There aren't any at all now - so it must have gone bust.

What a surprise.

Not sure i've ever eaten in a Michelin-starred gaff but the quality of a lot of places below that level is excellent these days imo...often get a 3 or 4 course meal for under £40 that is all good and often includes something memorable

A few months back I had experience of one of these restaurants whose portions were pitiful. For an entree I ordered seafood ravioli and when it came there was only one piece of ravioli with a sprig of dill next to it!
The main didn't get much better. It might've been a blowout for Victoria Beckham but when I got home I had a couple of cheese rolls.

The old quantity vs quality conundrum at work here.

The nouvelle cuisine phenomenon (beautifully presented, aesthetically intricate slivers of fk all) has largely gone by the wayside as customers cottoned on to the fact this was the emperors new clothes when it actually came to gastronomic satisfaction.

Generally, the top-end restaurants tend to use richer basic materials (artery-hardners such as double cream here, truffle oil there etc) so you should never leave hungry, but it's a personal thing here clearly.Eight taster courses at Danesfield House were beautifully presented though fairly minute in quantity, but I left feeling full (not Mr Creosote though)and far from ripped off at about £70/head (inc drinks).

Equally, there was a place (one of the eateries at the O2 areana - forget its name but I'm never going back there) charging £18 for a cheeseburger. Didn't try it. Didn't want to. Smelt like a rip off!

Dunlop star restaurants are much better,also better value.