Ill start it off:
"My place by the Sea" Restaurant
Rockport Massachusetts
Boiled Lobster & Crusted Baked Potato

Kensingtons Restaurant @ The Spa at Norwich Inn
Norwich Conneticut
Shrimp Cocktail Lemongrass Skewers

Amos Mosquito's
Morehead City NC
Grilled swordfish skewers on a bed of mashed potatoes, fresh sauteed spinach, with a balsamic reduction

some bistro restaurant
swansea, wales, UK
"roasted baby chicken" aka cornish hens and my first taste of Swiss chard

My first- ever oysters Rockefeller at Legal Seafoods in Boston, WOW!
Butterscotch Buddino and fabulous pizza at Mozza! (Batatli & Silverton's restaurant in LA)
I'll think of many more

Good thread!

What leaps to mind for me is Stoudt's Black Angus Restaurant and Brew Pub in Adamstown, PA -- it was an incredible 3-cheese Beef Wellington.

And the "Red Fish" I had on the north side of Terceira Island in the Azores, but I don't recall the restaurant name.

The best crab Louis ever in Morrow Bay, CA but can't remember the restaurant except it was built on pilings over the water and across the street from a fish packing house.

The BEST chicken mole tacos I've ever had in my life at the Hilton Mexico City Reforma hotel. The first time I had them I'd ordered room service 'cause I wanted a quick snack. They were so fantastic I continued to order them every afternoon after we returned from the day's adventures. They came 3 to an order and I wouldn't share. We toured Mexico with a private guide and used Mexico City as 'home base'. Hence, my love/addiction to Mexican food was born. I also had a dish called 'Chicken Acapulco' in the Pink District that I've never forgotten.

/tricia

Gee, I can't even remember the name of the restaurant, except it was on Notre Dame O. in Montreal.

Back story: We had the kiddoes with us, and DH had got their food expectations in check on that vacation by repeatedly proclaiming that "every time you eat fast food in Montreal, an angel dies." It truly is a city of foodies and fabulous restaurants - I always say they aren't afraid NOT to have caesar salad on their menus. That is certainly not the case in my town, where despite lots of money and pretension, not having cs available is culinary suicide, even if you have to call it something else.

So, back to Montreal - we ducked into this little cafe for lunch where they had real linen tablecloths and napkins and charmingly mismatched cutlery and glassware. This place obviously had a talented and creative chef who knew how to make something wonderful out of common ingredients. My starter was a melon salad, where cantaloupe was shaved into ribbons several meters long, piled on a plate, and dressed with a simple but yummy vinaigrette. My main was an omelet, seasoned only with fresh herbs - no gooey greasy fillings, just plain eggs cooked perfectly. I was overcome by the well presented simplicity of my meal, and still rave about it, although it was at least 10 years ago.

BTW, DH prefers more complex (and expensive) fare than do I and he enjoyed a homemade veal sausage platter. The kiddoes had pasta simply dressed with a butter sauce (not on the menu, but prepped to order for fussy offspring).

Magnolia Grill in New Orleans...1968..omelette ham and cheese and fries and a coke...there will never be another meal as great as that one ;) They had the cool way of doing the straw.

I've been fortunate to have had a number of memorable meals. But one particular place comes to mind at the moment. Middendorf's in Manchac, Louisiana has fabulous yet inexpensive food. It's in the middle of the bayou in the middle of no where on the NW side of Lake Ponchatrain. I had the best paper-thin fried catfish and fried oysters. On other visits I had BBQ oysters and soft shell crabs. When I was a flight attendant I used to date a guy that went to law school in Hammond. I would fly into NOLA and he would pick me up. We always stopped at Middendorf's on the way to / from Hammond. I guess I had a number of memorable meals there. No catfish, soft shell crab or fried oyster has ever measured up to Middendorf's!

My first visit, I remember arriving before they opened to stand in line in the rain (no reservations), then eating and drinking until they closed. Everything was exquisite, but the lamb popsicles in fenegreek cream curry sauce were sublime. The owner personally greeted every diner sometime during the evening and because everyone was so happy to be dining there, the staff so welcoming, it felt like a dinner in someone's family home. I would travel to Vancouver JUST to eat there (and have).

Here is a link that might be useful: Vij's Restaurant

The Mexican food at the Cinnamon Lodge on the Gallatin River in Big Sky Montana. I had cheese enchiladas and refried beans. Simple fare but heavenly when everything is made from scratch fresh that day!
It was the best I have ever tasted. And I grew up in AZ and sampled Mexican food in my travels throughout the Southwest.

Pimentos de padron at a no-name restaurant in Barcelona. We arrived after a long overnight flight, DH's luggage was lost and we wandered about in our rental apartment in a daze. We sat down in a small restaurant close to our apartment, ordered a variety of tapas including pimentos and zing! We were in lovely sunny Spain.

Another memorable meal was at My Place By the Sea, a restaurant set at the tip of Bearskin Neck, near Rockport MA, jutting out into the Atlantic, It was DH's birthday, in early September. We sat on the patio on a perfect New England fall Sunday and ate a wonderful meal of superfresh fish and seafood. We never went back, afraid that nothing would live up to that glorious day.

Cheryl

Here is a link that might be useful: my place by the sea

Many memorable meals: Wikel House in the '70's. Mrs. W turned her house on the river into a family-style dining establishment. First reservation got to pick the entree. We were exposed to Beef Wellington and Oysters Rockefeller (DH, who thought he hated seafood, snarfed them, then turned a delicate shade of green when he found out he'd eaten oysters. You'd think being served on an oyster shell would be a clue.) The table was set with linens and real crystal (we, of course, had to wet the rims and make the wine glasses sing), It took four hours for the seven courses, with time between courses to wander down to the river with your glass of wine. One night I spotted a copy Joy of Cooking open on the counter in the kitchen, so I bought a copy and that's when I realized I could make soup just as good as Mrs.W's.

Best single dish in a restaurant: A simple one at a little place called The Dish. Braised petit filet / shoulder tenders, roasted, smashed potatoes and in-season, really fresh asparagus. Simply presented, with a nice sourdough bread and a green salad on the side, it was the most perfectly prepared plate I've ever paid for.

Now I want fenugreek cream curry sauce....

Most of my truly memorable meals were memorable because they were just so bad, LOL. There were good meals too, of course, the (more than one) lobster while I was in Maine, the stone crab claws and a salad that included fresh oranges in Florida, the Indian Tacos in New Mexico when I took Dad out West.

However, I can't think of anything I've ever eaten that is better than the lake perch and walleye, fresh out of The Lake and fried while you wait on the beach at Bortell's Fisheries just outside of Pentwater, Michigan.

I also had the best beef brisket I've ever eaten while in Texas. I can't tell you what the name of the place is or where it's at, other than it's somewhere between South Padre Island and the Mexican border at a BBQ joint but if I ever returned there I'd sure drive around looking for it again.

Oh, and sushi in California, that became one of my favorite things after I ate it there, although the batter dipped and deep fried stuff was my favorite. I guess you can't take the Midwest out of the girl.

On reflection everything was prepared simply and well, with fresh local ingredients and were foods mostly indigenous to the area. I have simple tastes.

Annie

Our hobby is dining out, so there have been many memorable meals over the last four decades. We live where people come from all over the world to visit, so we love traveling around the area to eat!

The best food: La Bourgogne in San Francisco. Now closed, it was the bastion of haute cuisine in the 1960's and '70's. It was the first place I tasted real Dover Sole, flown in from England, and true Mediterranean scampi, which are what lobsters aspire to be in their next life if they're very, very good.

Dover Sole is unique, with a taste unlike any other sole. The champagne sauce with it was a masterpiece by the saucier. Scampi look like shrimp but taste like the most tender, sweet lobsters. Cooked in French butter, they were enough to make a strong man weep, as the saying goes!

The best dessert: hot passionfruit souffle with salted passionfruit gelato at Olivar in Seattle's Capitol Hill district, during a 5-week swing through the Pacific NW in 2010. We have had thousands of desserts, but that one was....stunning. The most brilliant ending to a meal we've ever encountered. When the waiter brought it in, you could smell the fresh passionfruit aroma.

The most memorable moment: sitting on the patio at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford, Napa Valley, in early springtime 2012. The weather was superb, neither too hot nor too cold. Auberge has the only really magnificent restaurant view in the Valley: it looks westward towards the hills, across acres of vineyards that were leafing out.

DH had the suckling pig plate; I had the veal and lobster tail on toasted brioche. Service was outstanding, a rarity out here. I ended the meal with a fine cognac. As I savored it I told my DH that life simply did not get any better than this.

THIS is why people come from all over the world to visit Northern CA, and why we locals put up with traffic congestion and one of the country's most expensive areas to live in. Food, service, and location combined to make a flawless, perfect lunch...one of those magic moments you remember forever.

Oh walleye...my aunt and uncle preparing it while we were on a shore picnic at the resort they owned in Lake of the Woods MN in 1958...iron skillet and open fire !! What a memory..thanks Annie for mentioning walleye ! c

Middendorf's...Yum! Been there many times and love it. Used to go all of the time when I was in college. Teresa, I wasn't aware of a law school in Hammond. Which one is there?

"Star Fish Company strives to serve simple Florida seafood prepared in the simplest of ways." That's their motto and they accomplish it.

I will always remember the first time we ate at Star Fish in Cortez FL. By the time we left, we had tried about half the items on the menu and it forever changed the way I cook fish and how I judge restaurant seafood dishes.

We've returned many times since then but I can't forget that first "Aah, THIS is what fish is supposed to taste like" bite.

Here is a link that might be useful: Star Fish Company

A memorable meal while camping at the SC State Park near Myrtle Beach:

It's summer, and it's raining in the campground. Our tarp only covers one bench and the table of our picnic table - the bench on the other side is getting rained on. My dad is frying fresh fish and cornmeal cakes (like cornmeal pancakes) on one end of the picnic table while three little girls eat them up as fast as he fries them. Mom is waiting under the tarp until we finish eating because she has no place to sit as the rain is pouring on the other bench!

Teresa

What a great meal story, Teresa.

/tricia

A huge, juicy, perfectly grilled boneless pork chop in a small coastal town in Spain. We'd gone for a hike in the dunes, walked by the ocean for hours and had worked up a huge appetite. The chuleta was accompanied by grilled, fresh veggies from the restaurant's own garden, plus freshly baked bread and a salad and wine. The food, the view, the tiny restaurant, the air scented with flowers, the resident dog and cat we shared our pork chops with, everything was just perfect.

Stew for lunch and Kaiserschmarrn for dessert at a Mountain Restaurant in Austria. So good and warming on a cool autumn day.

Crispy fried Wiener Schnitzels at a Restaurant in former East Germany, along with cabbage with apples and creamy, perfect mashed potatoes, plus hazelnut cream cake for dessert. So good, and incredibly cheap.

There are lots more good ones, but for the worst meal, a very well known Mexican restaurant in San Antonio, TX. The owner even won some sort of showdown on a Food Network show, but it was absolutely horrible. The rice looked and tasted like minute rice with food coloring, the enchiladas were bland and I gave up after eating half of one because it contained several large chicken bone fragments. The refried beans were greasy and tasteless and chalky. The service was absolutely horrible and inattentive. We still cannot figure out why that place is getting such great reviews.

MANY years ago, went into Philly with neighbors to a place called Deux Chiminee... 2 chimneys... no longer open??

Was first time I ever had escargot. They came sizzling and sputtering in a ceramic bakiing dish. DEEP holes with lots of butter, garlic and chopped hazel nuts in bottom. Was hooked on escargot from first bite and ate a LOT of bread dipping iinto all that butter in each little hole!

Yum; another vote for the thin-fried catfish at Middendorf's in Manchac, LA. They also have great fresh crab in season.

I still remember DH and I watching in awe as two, slender older ladies devoured a huge platter of onion rings and an equally large platter of a dozen whole crabs. THEN they were served their dinners - two large orders of catfish, fries and hush puppies!

In 2007 we went on an Alaska cruise and while in Skagway we were waiting to board a floatplane and there was a little restaurant right there on the water. We ordered the halibut ceviche and it was absolutely delicious! So, so good!!!
We went back last September and couldn't wait to have halibut ceviche again, but the restaurant had sold and it was not on the new menu,, bummer!

In 2009 we were in Montevideo, Uruguay and ate at Little Beef, I think that is what it was called. Our guide for the day took us there, actually he was a cab driver and we had a wonderful day with him. The owner takes us back to the kitchen to show us what he was preparing for us. We never ordered. It was little rib eye steaks and 2 lamb chops. We were all served a salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes and onion with oil and balsamic vinegar, two lamb chops and then the little steak. It was the first time DH or I had ever eaten a lamb chop. It was all wonderful!!!

Then there is the chinese restaurant in China town in San Francisco that we ate at in 2002. When we went back a few years ago we took a cab to China town and found it and again it was just as good as it was the first time.

Then there is El Tamarindo in Ft. Lauderdale that we just love. Really, really good South American food.

I could probably go on and on! We enjoy good food!! When you live in a rural town with only a DQ and a mexican food place you really enjoy going someplace that has nice restaurants.

Ruthann, I'll have to check out Star Fish Company on my next trip to Trader Joe's in SRQ. Thanks.

Mine are memorable because they were events of sorts although the food in each event was outstanding. Christine's-an upscale restaurant in Lake Worth, FL. This was a very exciting experience for my 4 younger brothers and sister as we NEVER ate at a restaurant. We were dressed in our Sunday best, all hand me downs, and my dad was very handsome. The waitress actually ordered for my siblings but I got to order whatever I wanted. The couple at the next table mentioned to the waitress how well behaved all those kids were. She responded "thank you, I am very proud because they are my kids". Yep, the waitress was our mom.
At my DD's wedding at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, I arranged for a wedding dinner at a near by small Renaissance palace. The menu was NINE courses and an incredible waitstaff that was impeccable, swift, and attentive without being obvious. It was like they were waiting on royalty! The first main course was Bistecca alla Fiorentina and the presentation of the desert was worthy of an Oscar. The cost of this wedding dinner for 8 guests was so reasonable because in 2000 the US$ was strong.
Le Cirque-All the years that I worked in Manhattan, I never made it to LeCirque. On a recent Alaska cruise, the dining room, staff, and menu was turned into LeCirque so it was important to me to make reservations as soon as we boarded. The HG was rolling his eyes because of price but he was clueless. It was outstanding and as far as I could tell, pretty close to the real deal.

This post was edited by mustangs on Wed, May 1, 13 at 4:28

Sheep's head soup - not at a restaurant but at my Yemenite neighbours' home on the Jewish New Year (literally in Hebrew "head of the year" as in head = beginning).

I received a bowl with a piece of the head that had a suspicious depression in it. It occurred to me that might have been an eye socket and I started feeling quite faint. What I really wanted to dowas spirit myself away before i lost control and threw up, but that was out of the question. I was surrounded by a large clan of cheerful, hospitable SWEET yemenites who had just served me the best of treats (this soup is expensive, labour intensive, symbolic). I couldn't possibly turn it down, so I turned to my neighbour and whispered to her "is that where the eye had been?" She whispered back it was just a piece of cheek, so I took a spoonful of the soup - best soup I ever tasted, and the meat was equally delicious!

Ravens vegan restaurant in Mendocino. There was this polenta with ratatouille dish that was out of this world. DH mentioned it again recently. We ate there over 10 years ago. Friends of ours who went there recently raved about the food as well.

Veeraswami in London. $$$$ but so so good

The most memorable meals are never entirely about the food, but about the whole experience.

I had a business lunch in Issy-les-Moulineaux , just outside of Paris, in a restaurant that was built in an abandoned mine - a cave-like setting. The food was wonderful, and the ambiance and experience is one I'll not soon forget.

DS, DH and I just last summer spent 2 weeks in Greece, and ate wonderful meals every night, but we still talk about the street gyros we picked up for a quick dinner on our last night. The entire meal was only about 10 euros for the 3 of us, but so delicious! We sat on a bench and ate them while watching the locals and tourists mingle about in the square. We then walked back to our hotel along the caldera. A fantastic last evening in lovely Oia.

My grandmother lived in northern Germany, near the North Sea, and I remember going with my uncle to the harbour to buy fresh cooked shrimp, right off the shrimp boats. We'd peel and eat them right there on the dock.

Another memorable meal was at the Trafalgar Pub in Greenwich where we ordered a plate of white bait to share. These tiny fish are fried whole. I watched carefully as my picky son peeled some batter off to reveal the fish's head. He remarked, "look Mom, his eyes!" and then proceeded to pop them into his mouth with no hesitation. DH and I still laugh about that.

A couple of blocks off the ocean, on Main Street in North Myrtle Beach, fried scallops at Hoskins Restaurant. Hoskins is a neighborhood family restaurant--simple and plain, but the seafood was magnificent.

On a trip to Rome twenty some-odd years ago, wandered around the Piazza Navona and went into L'Orso 80. Hadn't heard of it before. Antipasto platter enough for a full meal (wonderful little fried artichokes!) but I ordered bucatini all'Amatriciana--a fantastic combination of guanciale, tomato, cheese, red and black pepper--magnificent. Since then I've ordered that dish anytime I've seen it on a menu, but it's never lived up to that dish I had way back then.

Here is a link that might be useful: L'Orso 80

My earliest restaurant memory is of having deviled crab at Gaido's Restaurant in Galveston back around 1956 or so. I make my own version of that dish today, and it is still one of my favorites.

My first pizza was in Shreveport, LA, and it had shrimp on it and no cheese. I was 14 at the time and did not eat cheese, and so I loved it.

I lived in San Francisco for 12 years, worked in a restaurant there, had friends who worked in restaurants there, but never had a memorable restaurant meal there - I think the restaurants in New Orleans are much better, for my taste. Almost every meal I've had in N.O. (or even in the state of Louisiana) was memorable. I also remember having great food at sidewalk cafes in Houston, like Ari's Grenouille and Maison des Crepes. I really like the Cajun/Creole influences that I found in SE Texas and southern Louisiana, and I am partial to alligator tail, although I love the sushi that I find in L.A.

I liked street food in Mexico City, especially the quesadillas de huitlacoche. In Merida, I found a Lebanese/Mayan restaurant that had excellent cochinita pibil that I will never forget, and I've tried to replicate it myself with reasonable success. I had jumbo Gulf shrimp on the beach in Vera Cruz that was very memorable, although I like what I've made recently better.

I think I have high expectations for restaurants, and I generally feel that there is something missing or something that could have been done better when I eat out. There are a few restaurants that I appreciate for their atmosphere/ambience, whether the food is excellent or not. That includes Nepenthe Restaurant in Big Sur, which has stunning views but mediocre food.

Lars

My most memorable meals involved my Dad and fishing or hunting.

Sitting in a cabin on the edge of the Androscoggin River in NH eating slivers of venison heart sautéed in butter.

Harvesting a basket of oysters from Great Bay, NH, taking them to my house, and sitting on the deck, shucking and eating the oysters accompanied by ice cold beer. My husband watching and shaking his head and the kids telling their friends their Mom and Pepere were eating "boogers". Lol

Fishing the Kenai River in Soldatna, Alaska for sockeye salmon. Filleting and cooking on an open camp fire with "Alaska" sauce. Or freezing the fillets for shipping and cooking the rack of bones aka "Alaska Ribs" with the same sauce. My 2 year old som gobbling up the salmon and exclaiming "Yummy Pepere!"

Fresh brown and brook trout caught around Rangeley, Maine, or Manchester, VT, gutted, skewered on a stick and roasted over a maple wood fire.

Every Saturday when the tide was right digging a pail of soft shell clams, bringing them home and roasting them on the grill just until the shells opened. Even my Mom ate these!

Maine Lobster or green crabs pulled straight from the lobster or crab pot and plopped into a steamer. Eaten on the boat with melted butter.

Lastly, fresh pheasant smoked over hickory and corn cobs in Dad's homemade smoker. Eaten straight from the smoker with our hands accompanied by...yup ice cold beer.

Every meal involved fingers for eating utensils and ice cold beer. Dad said it was fitting for the locale and cuisine.

Can you tell my Dad would have loved a son? He would be 100 this coming Xmas. Sure do miss him...

We rarely eat out...every time something could be better done at home.
Service is often hair-raising...cold or room temp food even at the best.
BUT, some treats are out there. I work in NYC so i do have out-of-the-way favorites.
-Grand Central oyster pan roast at the bar where they cook and serve.
-Union Square BLT
-Peter Lugers burger
-best grilled chicken ever... cuban in washington heights(all good but can't find my fav)
-best PoBang in forest hills queens.
-my crab cakes! (i grew up on the delmarva pininsula)

I gave my brother-in-law a food tour around the city...out of the way favorites. So fun.

Favorite for us?. We plan out trip every year to our summer home via NovaScotia.
(we have a seaside saltbox in Newfoundland)
Ozzie's seafood for the best LobsterRoll. Timed just right we hit it going and heading home...and just up the road is wild blueberry pie made with the best handmade crust ever. And a 5lb box of berries to take home and freeze...

Here is a link that might be useful: roasted chicken

Welcome to the Cooking Forum from me, another New Yorker.

I agree with everything you said. I had lunch at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central on last Wednesday. There was a "World's Largest Bake Sale" in the Grand Central that day. Long lines formed around the block outside of the terminal.

Post more, we need more NY'kers in this Forum.

dcarch

NYC great casual Italian restaurant & reasonabley priced CRISPO on14th street and 8th Ave....love love this place