The meal of a lifetime.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202201/medium-664649-img-20220131-wa0000.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202201/medium-261123-img-20220131-wa0000.jpg

The shop

Two pics for some reason!

Mavis from Corrie retired to run a tea room in Cartmel. Sometimes Rita goes to stay with her there! That was the first time I'd ever heard of it.
My most memorable meal was in a village near the canal du Nivernais in France. We tied up the boat and walked into the little village. We noticed lots of people carrying big dishes and pots going into the local and only cafe. We followed them. It turned out that this was 'Couscous' night. The owners wife was Moroccan and once a week she'd make a massive vat of tasty couscous and people could bring their own dishes for a carry out. Luckily there was enough left for us and it was delicious. Goodness knows what was in it but the spices and flavours were delicious. It was a great evening of friendly companionship with the locals helped on by lashings of local wine. Happy serendipitous days.

I’ve enjoyed reading this thread - although makes me sad that we’ve missed 2 years of travelling. I agree that the most memorable meals are not necessarily those made with expensive ingredients or in ultra smart surroundings, but the meals that evoke warm memories of friends / family / kindness and hospitality.

Alizarin that sounds wonderful. Just shows what a kind compassionate thought can lead to! Well done you.

Two in Paris,Le Bristol Rue Fouberg St Honore where we were staying and Le Maurice. The food and ambience were sublime.

My very first taste of real Italian pizza under the stars Lido di Jesolo 1971 - simply sublime

I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but it was a tasting menu in Sydney whilst on a tour of Australia. Each course (7) was accompanied by a half glass of wine to compliment the food. Even the vodka martini in the bar first of all was the best I’ve ever tasted. It was recommended in the Sunday Times before we left ad we booked it in advance as it was famous in Sydney.

It was 2007 so might not even be there now but it was truly memorable

Thank you all for your contributions, I have just got home after our magical weekend and have thoroughly enjoyed reading through.
I agree with posters who have said it’s the people not the food etc and I totally agree, eating pizza at an Italian truck stop with a wood fired oven and a toothless chef with our children was unforgettable!
L’Enclume though for me was so special because my main interest in life is food, every aspect of it.
Our Chef and sommelier were just lovely young people without an ounce of pretention.
They just wanted to give us the best experience they could.
To watch the food being prepared in front of us and have every dish explained was wonderful.
It’s hard to choose my favourite dish but it was probably “Fuseau artichokes,grilled Maida Vale Crosnes and chrysanthemum”
The favourite wine was a Samaur and the prettiest dish ( in the photo) was Chamomile cake and cobnut cream with candied pumpkin,pumpkin juice and sea buckthorn?.
Non of these will be replicated in my kitchen???

Saumur?

gulligranny

In 1980 my then husband and I were staying with friends in San Diego; our 10th wedding anniversary was coming up, and they took us for lunch to the Hotel Del Coronado (where Some Like It Hot was filmed). Apart from the location and the dining room being totally stunning, the meal was amazing. I had a seafood salad which was served in a hollowed-out iceberg lettuce, followed by Strawberries Romanoff. We had champagne and afterwards, probably because of our awe-struck Englishness, the hotel manager gave us a tour.

Memorable indeed, unlike the husband (we divorced 3 years later!)

I've been to the Hotel Del Coronado for dinner, about 10 years ago, and loved it. Some Like It Hot is one of my favourite films of all time! I have a good friend who lives in La Jolla and have visited San Diego a number of times - time I went back

Hotel Del Coronado

Looks a fabulous place and menu Sago - did you have all the wine pairings as well?

I can't choose my meal of a lifetime as have had so many lovely meals from lobster in New England to simple 3-courses in tiny French villages in the middle of nowhere.

The most glamorous was with my son at the Montana Art Deco Hotel, overlooking Lake Lucerne where he lives.

Hotel Montana

Riverwalk We decided against the wine pairing and chose a bottle each 2 whites and 2 reds, there were 4 of us.
My choice was a Hungarian dry white.
It was delicious but not as good as the Saumur. MaybeMaw it was auto correct!!

Riverwalk How lovely to have a son living by Lake Lucerne.
Our son has just moved to Oslo, at Norwegian prices it will be a bag of chips for us overlooking the fjords?

Ha ha, Sago ( no, not funny I know). We paid £25 fir 4 cups of tea and two small buns in Bergen 10 years ago.
Apparently at that time the minimum wage in Norway was 20£ an hour. Hate to think what a bag if chips might cost ..
Was happy we had bed and board on the. cruise ship .

A restaurant, Ma Maison in La Sauvetat du Dropt, France, sat outside on a warm evening, beautifully served and prepared. My first time having a petite selection of dessert. 2015.
Unfortunately it’s since closed.

Italian meal in Venice. Not touristy- all the gondoliers we’re having their lunch there!

I can’t remember a ‘best ever’ meal, but the most memorable meal was in a restaurant in Morocco. I was with a party of about 30 others, all Brits. Starter was a huge pile of spaghetti in a gloopy tomato sauce. That was followed by a main of what we presumed was camel steak that we didn’t know whether to eat or sole our shoes with because it was so tough. Desert was the biggest orange I’d ever seen, plonked in our hands as we filed out.

This was in 1976 and I’ve never forgotten it

silverlining48
A recent menu, not too shabby at a decent price, Dordogne.

Had a seafood bisque (sort of) starter at La Bruceliere restaurant in Issigeac in the Dordogne. It was wonderful, cleaned the dish up with bread and wanted to lick it in case I'd missed anything.

Dinner in Hall at Exeter College Oxford on a High Table night on the 700th anniversary of the college. Wonderful.

My favourite meals are double egg and chips (anywhere), or fish and chips walking along the seafront.

Not interested in overpriced fancy food in fancy restaurants.

I am not a foody but I do enjoy cooking my friends favourite meals. However, my absolute favourite was eating in one Glasgows first Italian Restaurant in the early 60's, I had Veal Saltimbocca.

I think the most memorable meals are just as much the location, the unexpected menu, the people, often simple food and the moment! We have eaten in a few Michelin stars, Purnells, Simpsons and one in Barcelona can’t remember name! Food amazing but a few memorable meals are a restaurant in backstreets of old Yugoslavia we went in and asked for menu, an old waiter just shouted fish or meat! We had an enormous platter of grilled fish simple salad and jugs of wine. Once on a deserted beach in Greece we went to what we thought was a bar ( tables and seats outside) asked for drinks and did they do food. The lady pointed to a boat coming onto the beach, half an hour later we had delicious fresh fish, tomato salad and homemade bread. The son came home and told us they were not a bar or restaurant but we were very welcome to the food. Fortunately they willingly took payment. Street food places in Vietnam ( swore I wouldn’t eat streetfood), it was amazing. Our favourite restaurant is in the mountains in Ibiza an idyllic place with amazing views and the do the best Chateaubriand in the world. I could go on but they seem simple unexpected meals that are memorable.

Lunch at ‘The Ritz’, I remember having Turbot and the Banana Soufle for pudding. Yummy. It was a gift from our daughter to say thank you for her wedding.