Is it just me or the elite American restaurants are actually pretentious ?
Yes, I am not American, and yes I dont visit the $$$$ restaurants unless its a office sponsored party or a very special occasion. I am not a cheapskate either, and I do love exploring different cuisines. But whenever I have been to these 'fine dining' restaurants in US, I have always felt like 'WTF is on my plate' ? In my last dinner at an upscale restaurant in Seattle which has extremely good reviews, I had 3 ounces of Wagyu filet mignon which cost 130$. All could taste is the overwhelming flavour of butter in it. I mean if you put enough butter in to cardboard, it probably would be palatable too. We had ordered a seafood platter for starters, which probably was around 250$. And all I could see was just 8 to 10 boiled shrimps, few crabs and crayfish laid out on ice. No seasoning, not even salt, no accompanying condiments, just a bowl of mayo on the side. I mean how lazy can you be ? I get it that they have these good looking people to wait and serve, and the service indeed is outstanding, but shouldnt a restaurant first be about food ? And whats up with people going gaga over these places, what am I missing? There were few people in the dinner group who had been to this restaurant multiple times and they were praising the food so much, I have no clue why.
Ya same, sometimes I go to McDonalds and get a McRib, and the next day go to a steakhouse and think “wow, basically the same thing, just one is like 20 times more expensive”. Common occurrence, happens a lot.
American elite restaurants are the least pretentious anywhere in the world. I’ve been to $1000 places in hoodies. Check out restaurants in Europe. They are full of themselves
Was this John howie? Also, steak is the most overrated food of all time
I really don't understand why people order a steak when eg ruth's chris *can't* properly make a medium rare unless you get the oversized tbone .. (ok, to be fair, they make a really good medium rare tbone .. )
The only "experience" you get is - feeling rich. So that one can tell others "casually" that they've been to that Fine dining restaurant.. It's not just restaurants.. It's wine, hotels, spas, weddings.. Just that momentary feeling of being better than others.. because if the same food was served to them at a regular restaurant, they would make faces..
No one is forcing you to go these restaurants. They mostly exist as a way to spend lots of money in a classy way or to meet other wealthy folk.
Don't know what restaurant you went to, but generally fine dining restaurants are worth every penny. It's true that not everyone has the palate to be able to distinguish truly masterful food, especially if they've had an overabundance of spicy food in their lives. Filer mignon does not have a lot of flavor in it - which is why chefs and gourmands do not order it. Wagyu has so much marbling in it that a Wagyu filet would indeed taste mostly like a block of butter. Better to go with more flavorful cuts. I wouldn't expect shellfish to come with a bunch of sauces either - the protein should stand on its own, not being covered up by a sauce. They're not typically boiled, either.
Mm, if the protein needs to stand on its own, doesn't it mean the only value the restaurant is providing is the service? What's 'truly masterful' about about it?
Uhm, I mean if you don't like it, why waste your money on useless things. I would definitely not go to those restaurants who serve 8 shrimps for $250. Best go to all you eat buffet place, for $20
Have you been to fancy places in Paris? A million times more pretentious there
You could say the same thing about classical music. I have been to upscale restaurants that serve bad food, but they are the exception. In general you pay 4x more and expect to get 2x quality, same with any line of work.
Yes, it's pretentious and doesn't make sense.