im sure many will adamantly disagree and say that i must have never had real good food. but for the most part, I find the best food to be cheap, messy and not served on fancy plates. i'll go so far as to say that i regret eatin expensive foods cuz the portions are usually tiny and it's just not that good or downright bad. there are of course the rare exceptions like well cooked prime rib.

point of the thread is that it really bugs me to hear sycophants saying the food is excellent just cuz it's highly rated, expensive or cuz everyone else says it is.

anyone agree

 

I think it really, really depends on the type of food. I actually like places like Panda more than PF Changs... but I would never consider any "cheap" steak place better than Ruth's Chris.

The best meal I've ever had was $250/person at a Shabu Shabu restaurant.

You'll never get great food cheap... but that doesn't mean many expensive places are great either.

 

I work at an upscale restaurant,so lately I've been kinda spoiled taking stuff home, and while I do enjoy eating at upscale places,I will always have those cravings for a slider or a taco bell burrito oozing with bean and cheese.

 

Rich people eat the weirdest things.

 

I have eaten at the full spectrum of prices and I have never been impressed with ultra high end eating.

We have Burn's Steakhouse which is world famous 5 star eating and the signature dish is Ch

 

Most high-end restaurants I've eaten at have had excellent cuisine. I think high-priced grub that sucks is more likely the exception than the rule. I've also had cheap food that was tasty, and some that was just awful. I don't know that you can make a sweeping generalization about it.

 

I'M WITH YOU!

So many chefs and restaurants spend so much time and energy "plating" the food to make it pretty rather than spending just a minute amount of energy making it good.

I was watching one of those cooking shows on TV the other night where they send in a master chef to help a struggling restaurant recover and he said the struggling restaurant's chef was worrying too much about plating and not enough about cooking good food. He said fancy plating lasts about 30 seconds but the taste is what brings them back.

My son graduated from the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) and works for the Ritz Carlton and I keep harping to him that his food has to be good enough to pass the blender test. If you can't put the food in a blender and still have the people like it then you need to change your recipe.

 

The cheap stuff tastes good because it's full of fat. Fat tastes good. The expensive stuff tastes good if you are a little older, like late 20s and on. Your perception of food and tastes change and you can appreciate the subtleties of flavors rather that the raw taste of fat or sugar. Not all expensive food is good, but some is worth the extra money. It's like wine I can't tell a 200 dollar bottle from a 10 dollar bottle, but if you take me to a Sushi joint, and the fish is not fresh or the rice is not fresh I can tell easily. I used to be like you dyhppy, but when I got a little older and actually my wife introduced me to finer foods and made me try them, I started appreciating them.

That being said, sometimes a big mac and fries just satisfies.

To the people that complain about plating. It's not the only thing that is important, but it is important. It's like why have sex with a person who has an ugly face vs the person with a great face and similar body? It feels the same, but asthetically you are more pleased with the better presentation.

 

The taste is the plating.

The food sitting on my plate is plating.

The artful stacking of the food, addition of an inedible green thing and a drizzle of some unknown sauce that is picked for it's color is a waste of time and $$$$.

 

they have $250 meals at shabu shabu?! the only one i've been to was in taipei. man that was good. can't remember how much it cost but it must've been around $5 or so. can't imagine what a $250 meal is like!!