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The best restaurant in the world is...

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T

thomaser

Member
... as decided by Restaurant Magazine, in one of the most prestigious culinary awards:

Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark. For the third year in a row. It has kinda taken over as "the best" restaurant in the world after El Bulli in Spain closed its doors.

So what can you eat at Noma? The name is a shortening of "nordisk mad", meaning "nordic food". They use lots of ingredients that you normally wouldn't see anywhere, like unripe berries, fir and pine. And they do unusual things like using fruit juice or beer to cook with instead of wine. Here's a course they serve for lunch:

Slowly cooked reindeer-tongue with apple-rolls, crispy moss with krill (the little shrimp that blue whales eat), salt shavings and "lav" (a kind of moss growing in high altitudes).

I have no idea how you can make crispy moss, but it's probably delicious.

The top 10:

1. Noma (René Redzepi) – Denmark
2. El Celler de Can Roca (Joan, Josep og Jordi Roca) – Spain
3. Mugaritz (Andoni Luis Aduriz) – Spain
4. Osteria Francescana (Massimo Bottura) – Italy
5. The Fat Duck (Heston Blumenthal) – UK
6. Alinea (Grant Achatz) – USA
7. Dom (Alex Atala) – Brazil
8. Arzak (Juan Mari y Elena Arzak) – Spain
9. Le Chateaubriand (Iñaki Aizpitarte) – France
10. Per Se (Thomas Keller) – USA

Has anyone eaten at any of these places? I'd love to eat at one of them, but even getting in for lunch at f.ex. Noma is something you need to plan months in advance.
 
I

itxaka

Defeatist
8. Arzak (Juan Mari y Elena Arzak) – Spain

300€ per person and if I understadn you don't get to choose what you want but they serve whatever they have so it's a surprise if you go and are allergic to something xD
 
S

Sylver

Banned
Good to see 3 spanish representatives :-D, I've been at Celler de Can Roca. I think there're some better restaurants in Catalonia -specially in Barcelona :S. But great.
 
F

forknknife

Banned
itxaka said:
8. Arzak (Juan Mari y Elena Arzak) – Spain

300€ per person and if I understadn you don't get to choose what you want but they serve whatever they have so it's a surprise if you go and are allergic to something xD
Click to expand...

I went to Arzak with my family just a couple of months ago and it was an incredible experience. Also, SO MUCH FOOD. When I thought I was done they filled the whole table with deserts, all amazing too. I almost had a 300€ puke afterwards.


EDIT_ and yeah, nice to see Spain more or less dominating :)
 
T

thomaser

Member
Sylver said:
Good to see 3 spanish representatives :-D, I've been at Celler de Can Roca. I think there're some better restaurants in Catalonia -specially in Barcelona :S. But great.
Click to expand...

One of my greatest food dreams (we all have food dreams, right?) is to go to San Sebastián and Barcelona and the other Spanish food towns and just splurge.

The best dinner I ever had was at Asia de Cuba in London. It's one of those restaurants where you get really big portions that you're meant to share. I was in a group of 15 people or so, and we ordered everything they had. It was ridiculously awesome. Second best dinner was probably at Baltazar in Oslo - a really good Italian gourmet restaurant. It was just a normal three-course dinner with a starter, a fish course and a dessert, but it was PERFECT.
 
N

Nista

Member
I've been to Alinea. It is quite the experience, and the food is both amusing to look at and delicious. The precision of the kitchen staff all working together is pretty impressive.

I keep meaning to go to Per Se, but I need to drag someone with me to NYC.
 
S

Sylver

Banned
thomaser said:
One of my greatest food dreams (we all have food dreams, right?) is to go to San Sebastián and Barcelona and the other Spanish food towns and just splurge.

The best dinner I ever had was at Asia de Cuba in London. It's one of those restaurants where you get really big portions that you're meant to share. I was in a group of 15 people or so, and we ordered everything they had. It was ridiculously awesome. Second best dinner was probably at Baltazar in Oslo - a really good Italian gourmet restaurant. It was just a normal three-course dinner with a starter, a fish course and a dessert, but it was PERFECT.
Click to expand...

I'm with you after sex, eat is the most pleasant pleasure :D. I recommend you to met somebody's mother/grandmother who cooks you one those typical spanish and natural dishes Peus de Porc, Callos a la Madrileña, Angulas, Fabada Asturiana, Pulpo a la Gallega, Pochas, Paella, Fideos a la Cazuela, Fideuá, Tortilla de Patatas, Espalda de Cordero, OsoBuco, Tallarines con Pesto, Gambas al Ajillo, Arròs a Banda, Arroz Negro or so... this with some Jamón de Bellota, Manchego cheese, no contest ...
 
I

IceCold

Member
I tend to prefer more rustic type meals and not this high cuisine stuff. I wonder if I'd like to eat at these places.
 
B

BaronLundi

Member
thomaser said:
9. Le Chateaubriand (Iñaki Aizpitarte) – France
Click to expand...

I eat there regularly.

I'll tell you why. It's fairly affordable (there's only one set menu of 6/7 small courses and it's 45€ - no you can't choose what you eat) the decoration is totally bland (typical French brasserie with no fancy stuff at all), there's no maître d', no need to book it weeks in advance (although you might have to wait at the bar if you didn't), the room is pretty loud... All in all you'd find nothing in there that you'd expect in your regular michelin star joint.

Oh, the wine list is pretty neat and the food is just magnificient. Some of the best meals I had in my life. I know a couple of other places like this in Paris which I hope will not get as much attention as this one.

Bottom line is : if you're ever in Paris go eat there.
 
S

skybaby

Member
thomaser said:
1. Noma (René Redzepi) – Denmark
2. El Celler de Can Roca (Joan, Josep og Jordi Roca) – Spain
3. Mugaritz (Andoni Luis Aduriz) – Spain
4. Osteria Francescana (Massimo Bottura) – Italy
5. The Fat Duck (Heston Blumenthal) – UK
6. Alinea (Grant Achatz) – USA
7. Dom (Alex Atala) – Brazil
8. Arzak (Juan Mari y Elena Arzak) – Spain
9. Le Chateaubriand (Iñaki Aizpitarte) – France
10. Per Se (Thomas Keller) – USA
Click to expand...

That's last years list.

Top 10 of Restaurant magazine's 50 Best Restaurants 2012 (last year's rank in brackets):
1. Noma -- Copenhagen, Denmark (1st)
2. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain (2nd)
3. Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain (3rd)
4. D.O.M., Sao Paolo, Brazil (7th)
5. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy (4th)
6. Per Se, New York (10th)
7. Alinea, Chicago (6th)
8. Arzak, San Sebastian, Spain (8th)
9. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London (n/a)
10. Eleven Madison Park, New York (24th)
 
Goldrusher

Goldrusher

Member
It all looks like disease to me:



img_3199.jpg



img_3188.jpg



img_2593.jpg



img_2659.jpg



img_3229.jpg



img_2619.jpg



img_3245.jpg



Details:

http://verygoodfood.dk/2008/12/28/noma-13/
http://verygoodfood.dk/2009/03/15/noma-rising-third-star/
 
T

thomaser

Member
Sylver: I have no idea what most of those things mean, but they sound delicious! If you have a spare Spanish grandmother, please send her my way :)

It's a little sad that some people believe that great restaurants are also necessarily pretentious and stiff. In my experience, it's the complete opposite: the best ones are also the friendliest and most laid back in many ways. A big part of the experience of these places is that they make you feel good and at ease.

And they're not necessarily prohibitively expensive, either. A 20 course dinner at Noma costs only around 50% more than a 3 course dinner at a normal bog-standard place where I live...
 
I

IAmtheFMan

Member
I enjoyed my dinner at Alinea more than Per Se, but it really doesn't matter to argue one as better than the other.

I went to Dinner when I was in the UK last month. Amazingly good, and really different then just regular molecular gastonomy. Really creative, and probably the best duck I've ever put in my mouth.
 
J

joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Member
entrement said:
That's part of a tasting menu, which spans several courses. Trust me you'll be full. Plus drinks, amuse bouches, and dessert.
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This. Tasting menus are huge multi course meals. You will be full by the end of it.


The stuff I can never really get behind are foams. I appreciate the skill but it just seems like culinary wankery to me.
 
U

Utako

Banned
Been meaning to eat at Per Se. S'pose this accolade is the final motivation!

(note: I hadn't attempted in the past primarily because you need to reserve 1 month ahead)
 
C

ClassyPenguin

Banned
Sylver said:
I'm with you after sex, eat is the most pleasant pleasure :D. I recommend you to met somebody's mother/grandmother who cooks you one those typical spanish and natural dishes Peus de Porc, Callos a la Madrileña, Angulas, Fabada Asturiana, Pulpo a la Gallega, Pochas, Paella, Fideos a la Cazuela, Fideuá, Tortilla de Patatas, Espalda de Cordero, OsoBuco, Tallarines con Pesto, Gambas al Ajillo, Arròs a Banda, Arroz Negro or so... this with some Jamón de Bellota, Manchego cheese, no contest ...
Click to expand...
Glad to see more Spaniards on gaf, also I grew up with all that....sogoodman
 
S

Socreges

Banned
I can't even remember where/what I ate when I was in San Sebastien. What a shame. I remember where I drank, though!
 
E

Edmond Dantès

Dantès the White
Not in the top ten, but Le Gavroche Restaurant currently headed by legendary(in the culinary industry) Michel Roux Jr is always a pleasure to dine in.

isCzROLplKpvV.jpg


iZmJW5XwI3eSs.jpg


A gentleman of the highest order.
 
K

krameriffic

Member
Edmond Dantès;37449571 said:
Not in the top ten, but Le Gavroche Restaurant currently headed by legendary(in the culinary industry) Michel Roux Jr is always a pleasure to dine in.

iZmJW5XwI3eSs.jpg


A gentleman of the highest order.
Click to expand...

He seems like an awesome guy on Masterchef: The Professionals.

Is that show getting another season this year?
 
entremet

entremet

Member
joeyjoejoeshabadoo said:
This. Tasting menus are huge multi course meals. You will be full by the end of it.


The stuff I can never really get behind are foams. I appreciate the skill but it just seems like culinary wankery to me.
Click to expand...

Plus these chefs want to dazzle your palate, not just stuff with food. They need to have small plates, so your palate does not get tired.

The best chef in America, Thomas Keller, owner of Per Se and The French Laundry, put its more eloquently:

“One of our overriding philosophies is the law of diminishing returns, which is: the more you have of something the less you like it. We establish our compositions based on the view that when you are finished with a dish, you wished you had one more bite. That way you have reached the highest flavor for that dish and it becomes memorable.”
 
Meus Renaissance

Meus Renaissance

Member
I've always wondered, these portions they display on plates like works of art; are they just there for showcase because I can never imagine it actually feeding anyone with a stomach larger than a coin. If I'm going to an expensive restaurant, I'd want as much as I can eat. Even if I was very wealthy, I don't think I'd go these places unless they fulfil that
 
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