Top 10 Restaurants....in the WORLD

[mfurmane 0]

1. The Fat Duck Bray United Kingdom

2. El Bulli Roses Spain

3. French Laundry Yountville, Calif. United States

4. Tetsuya's Sydney Australia

5. Gordon Ramsay London United Kingdom

6. Pierre Gagnaire Paris France

7. Per Se New York United States

8. Tom Aikens London United Kingdom

9. Jean Georges New York United States

10. St John London United Kingdom

 

Top 11-50 availale here:

http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/29/pf/goodlife/restaurants/index.htm

[grungy-gonads 54]

Ah, .....but do they serve jam roly-poly?

[mfurmane 0]

nope....just sardine-flavored sorbet, snail porridge, or a puree of mango and Douglas fir????

[grungy-gonads 54]

I'd prefer the school lunch jam roly-poly.

 

They serve Douglas fir! That's my Christmas trees name!! (He sings songs and has flashing lights and moving mouth). Poor Douglas!

[lin 0]

Anyone been to any of them?

[damian 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by lin:
Anyone been to any of them?

4. Tetsuya's Sydney Australia
5. Gordon Ramsay London United Kingdom

It annoyed me a little, so I tore out the newspaper page and kept the article on my desk.

 Quote:

London named the new food capital of the world

So the city with the most super models is also the good looking girl capital of the world?

 Quote:

11 restaurants in the top 50 list... more than the whole of France

I needn't expand on what that last headline quote is attempting to allude to. Ridiculous. Food plays a void role in the cultural fabric of day to day every day persons life in the UK. Like all anglo countries, food really is a minor point on the events list. The UK is the most extreme of all that I have visited.

I have lived in the UK for 12 months and as of next week I will have left the UK 14 times. Everytime I leave here I enjoy great 'peoples' food that reflects the people and story-line of the country/region. Everytime I return to the UK I am left wondering why.....

[axion 0]

suprised the french laundry isnt at the top of the list.

 

it has been consistently rated the top french restuaraunt in the world, for quite a few years in a row. beating out three-star michelins all over europe.

[2pints-mate 0]

Here's a few suggestions 34

 

- drop the attitude (it might help you think a little clearer);

- get out a bit more in the UK;

- make some UK friends and visit them.

 

Cheers.

[sava 0]

Been to the three sydney restaurants on the list, they're not too bad

[farquah 0]

 Quote:

11 restaurants in the top 50 list... more than the whole of France

I needn't expand on what that last headline quote is attempting to allude to. Ridiculous. Food plays a void role in the cultural fabric of day to day every day persons life in the UK. Like all anglo countries, food really is a minor point on the events list. The UK is the most extreme of all that I have visited.

I have lived in the UK for 12 months and as of next week I will have left the UK 14 times. Everytime I leave here I enjoy great 'peoples' food that reflects the people and story-line of the country/region. Everytime I return to the UK I am left wondering why..... [/QB]


After 24 years at home in England I can say that dining plays far more than the "minor point" which you seem to think it does. At university there was always some kind of black tie dinner party going on where the food obviously plays more than a side roll . Also at home every sunday saw the coming together of the family for a good ol English Sunday Roast, where the menu was eaten over about three hours whilst we chatted and debated with the food being the major point of bringing us all together.

More modern times food in england is a reflection of the multi cultural country it has become, at any day of the year you can stroll down a road in say, Camden Town for example and visit pretty much any corner of the globe and their respective cuisines, from Arabian, to Middle East, to Russain. Food brings peoiple together back home just as much as other European countires you seem more in favour of. Local dishes from local towns also reflect the "people and story line" as you put it, each county has some kind of dish which has a story attached to it of how it came about and why it is from that county. Yorkshire pudding, Lancashire hot pot, Cumberland Sausages, Cornish Pasties, Melton Mowbary Pies, .......I can go on. I suggest you get out of London and see more of Britain and sample its hospitality and culture, which go hand in hand with the food and drink.

[damian 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by 2pints,mate:
Here's a few suggestions 34

- drop the attitude (it might help you think a little clearer);
- get out a bit more in the UK;
- make some UK friends and visit them.

Cheers.

nope, I'll just be dropping the UK all together.

The best thing about London is a 3 hour train ride to Paris (I admit, that is a trite cliche). But, there is no other reason to stay besides proximity to proper Europe (and that pesky concept of career advancement). Sorry mate, but it is the least appealing of all the 'headline' global cities and has some of the most featureless people and lifestyles imaginable. I have humbly learnt my lesson for firing my mouth of so poorly about Tokyo. It is not all negative in London: I love my suburb....besides the fact that the only supermarket is a Tesco's Express (a bastion of English culinary culture) and that I am unable to by any fresh fruit or vegetables or proper baked bread on a Sunday. Unless you consider semi-preprocessed and packaged products to be 'food', then I contend that in parts of London there are genuine food shortages. You can't even buy a coffee from a shop that isn't a chain/franchise.

lots of smiley-winky faces:

A kinder response:
- British people (in London) are proving notoriously difficult to be-friend. Very bitter and unfriendly with huge shoulder-chips, men and plough pulling women alike. I have given up.
- I very much enjoy travelling within the UK, not been far yet but have been thoroughly impressed with what I have seen.... but severely let down by the food. Actually, it is cheaper and easier to rent a car and tour a region of the UK for the weekend than it is to visit Europe. And is just as rich in terms of scenery, history and architecture. My next tour will be to the lakes district, and also a trout fishing weekend somewhere. The road network here is amazing. You can noodle around the whole country on old rural roads with town or village always within 20 minutes. There is a spider web of old roads or a great network of freeways. Very good for motoring.
- I would fade away if I didn't have an attitude.

[2pints-mate 0]

 Quote:

But, there is no other reason to stay besides proximity to proper Europe (and that pesky concept of career advancement).

 Quote:

Sorry mate, but it is the least appealing of all the 'headline' global cities and has some of the most featureless people and lifestyles imaginable.

Perhaps the above attitudes in part explain the following:

 Quote:

British people (in London) are proving notoriously difficult to be-friend. Very bitter and unfriendly with huge shoulder-chips, men and plough pulling women alike.

 Quote:

I have given up.

As for this....

 Quote:

I am unable to by any fresh fruit or vegetables or proper baked bread on a Sunday.

I would suggest you try harder.

 Quote:

You can't even buy a coffee from a shop that isn't a chain/franchise.

Try looking.

I have all these things in my neighbourhood, as I am sure many people do.

You really do seem to have such a blinkered and exaggerated view of England, and that is sad. It seems that you don’t know the place, perhaps you just know your work the area you live in and the people you work with. And they are hardly good examples.

Your “attitude” probably comes across to everyone you meet as well.

Why would they want to be friendly with you?

[damian 0]

 

I take into account your British input and will continue with my tours into the countryside as I enjoy them a great deal (as mentioned). However I will also tack on my observation that British people have a overtly blinkered view of the alternatives in the world and in quite a few cases British people simply do not know any better.

 

The amazing aspect about my "tirade" is the hypocrisy: I am in the process of getting an English passport (my dad was born here, left and never returned). These things are very valuable as I can pretty much live and work and buy property in any EU country with out so much of a minor hassle. It is a ticket to one of the best regions on Earth.

[2pints-mate 0]

 Quote:

However I will also tack on my observation that British people have a overtly blinkered view of the alternatives in the world and in quite a few cases British people simply do not know any better.

You just copied and pasted that from one of your "moan about Japan" ramblings, didn't you.

[damian 0]

Smart arse

 

I have previously publicly retract most of my 'moans about Japan' as being the output of someone suffering from so called culture shock, ignorance and general small mindedness. I was wrong on most counts. I doubt that I will make the same retraction about the England

 

Mind you, Japan is indeed blinkered and it's everyday people know little better. But what they do know as an internal nation is quite unique and although I could not live amongst it, I certainly increasingly admire it as I see so much more of the world.

[2pints-mate 0]

You calling someone else a smartarse?!

 

 Quote:

I doubt that I will make the same retraction about the England

I'm sure you thought the same about Japan.

 

Anyway the main point here is - you seem to have an extremely blinkered view of the country(s) you stay in and do not get to see much other than surface. Not looking down on folk, getting along with people other than colleague brats and their scene, and getting out and about more might give you a much better insight into real life in the country (two meanings of country there).

[miteyak 0]

In the same vein as the food statement, I'd have to say it bears similarity to the Aussie wine phenomenon.

 

The Brits probably are now knocking up some fantastic food, and there is a very strong sub-culture behind it. In Australia too, the winemakers are producing probably the best wine in the world, certainly uncontestable dollar for dollar.

 

Does the fact that the average (note the word average) Australian thinks a five dollar bottle of hardy's is top stuff, and uses it as a platform to launch into a tirade against french wine detract from the general quality of good Aussie wine?

 

The choices of the masses have never really produced the finer things a country has to offer. The lack of a general appreciation does not mean that some don't have genuine skill and passion for their field. I do feel for the French, though, first their wine, now their food. I think they got a bit too complacent, too much wining and dining, and now have to suffer the indignation of two Anglo saxon philistines taking their place...

[damian 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by 2pints,mate:
you seem to have an extremely blinkered view of the country(s) you stay in and do not get to see much other than surface. .

hmmmm, you are excused for not knowing better, but if you did then you would retract that statement. All you know is the silly that I put on the internet. What do you know of my opinion of Paris? New York? Sydney (biased), Southern France? the South Pacific, breakfast in Munich? Sicily? Northern Italy, the list goes on and on. I am often lampooned for being so gushingly overwhelmed with the joy that these places have given me. When I arrive at a place that has something special I am over run with emotion. The experience leaves a mark on me.

For the benefit of a friend, I just wrote a 2 page emotional outpouring of joy for my recent Sicilian experience. Ask my (Japanese) lady friend about my capacity to delve into and enjoy some of the most flavoursome cultures and experiences that I can reach. I crave them and England lets me down on that count. I hear that Scotland is excellent though (for aspects other than food).

[Ocean11 0]

What the French and other Europeans eat on a day-to-day basis can be (or was?) often pretty disgusting, or just plain boring. Having lived there for a bit, I would know.

 

When I go to England, my two sisters represent both sides of English food. The older one produces roast lamb and Yorkshire pudding (with wasps usually) which is very good, while the younger produces fillet of salmon wrapped in melt-in-the-mouth pastry, and some other fancy things, which are also very good (no wasps, she has a conservatory).

 

I couldn't give a shit for what gets served in restaurants listed in books. They could make a giant terrine of all the world's top chefs for all I care.

[2pints-mate 0]

All I know is the silly you put on the internet, yes. But you do write a lot.

 

And I say, once again:

 

You seem to have an extremely blinkered view of the country(s) you stay in and do not get to see much other than surface.

 

This is not a discussion about the merits of places in Europe (I too have travelled there extensively and know many places well, most likely more than you). Your opinion of those lovely places is simply not relevant here.

 

But anyway, knowing the silly you do put on the internet, I know that arguing is futile. It's your loss, you have a great chance to really enjoy a country, but choose not to.

[damian 0]

>>It's your loss, you have a great chance to really enjoy a country, but choose not to.

 

My loss? England? No loss at all. I have and will continue to enjoy parts of it but given a choice between England and many other places in the world.... England loses. It is simply not an enticing country for someone like me. And my food experiences here have been perpetually awful.

 

I am bored this topic and I am sure everyone else is bored of me talking/grandstanding about it.

[brit-gob 9]

Yes.

 

Though I don't know, I find it quite amusing actually. Pretentious with a capital P.

[no pulse 0]

I have lived for 2 years in France, 1 year in Germany, 4 years in Italy and 2 years in the UK. In each case (apart from 3 months in London), I was living in countryside style settings (ie not big city). I had local friends and ate local food.

 

Restaurants in my experience, rannku in!

 

1 Italy

2 France

3 Germany

4 England

 

Home cooking / food that people eat daily, rannku in!

 

1 England

2 Germany

3 Italy

4 France

 

I found France to be particularly poor. And it surprised me as well. I had this romantic image of it part from what I heard and from the holidays I took there with family when I was younger.

 

I agree with Ocean11.

I couldn't give a shit about restaurants.

And chefs are probably the most over-rated pretentious people on earth (possible slight exaggeration there).

 

City living, restaurant eating, going on holiday. They do not give you the full picture, just a tiny tiny part of it which has little relevance to the majority of people living outside of that.

[Ocean11 0]

no pulse, it's normal when agreeing with me to add a little disclaimer saying that normally you don't, but in this single instance, you do.

 

Your rankings reflect my experience, although I've never eaten in an Italian home (although I came close to eating in an Italian police cell once.)

[damian 0]

Just wanted to add that I have been a little in your face and rude about some peoples home country. Sorry about that, no one enjoys nor appreciates such derision, particularly if they don't agree....

 

ps - when I rate a place on food, I do not consider headline restaurants. I seldom even eat at them. I have very discerning tastes but like to satisfy them with 'street level' everyday food and everyday accessible low cost restaurants. I really don't think "pretentious" is correct for me. I could live on wine, fish, fruit, cheese bread and salami.

 

pps - The above rankings surprise me, I don't agree. I find the standard of English home food to be very poor. I do agree though that French food can be very hit and miss.