Describe the most EXPENSIVE meal you've paid for that was also the most DISAPPOINTING.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

I bring this up because last week I decided to "treat myself" to a Kirk's Steakburger...the regular one, not the "Big Kirk"...this thing's the size of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and costs EIGHT BUCKS, certainly not my "most expensive mistake," but...

...anyway, for the rest of the afternoon I had this "something nasty coating my tongue" thing going on that sometimes happens when burgers are over-salted, or for other unknown reasons.

I could have gone directly across the street to Safeway, purchased a FULL POUND of "boneless stew beef" (cubed chuck), brought it home, ground it fresh in the KitchenAid grinder, and had two half-pound burgers for about $2.50 each.

SO...when did you shell out a few extra bucks for what you thought was going to be nice meal, only to later wish that you hadn't?

:toast:

[bamacrat]

1. Never had a truly expensive meal that sucked.

[AsahinaKimi]

2. I once paid for a dish that was 50 dollars..

But I found out, that I was eating something from a top chef here in the city. The problem was, that the meal was on a large plate, but there was very little food on it. I guess what I was paying for was the privilege of eating his meal. Sure it tasted great, but 50 dollars for that? I could have gone to a sushi restaurant and gotten far more for far less with their sampler platter.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. Something a friend visiting from Japan once told me...

...in Japan, there is the belief that "if it costs more, it must be better."

As a result, street vendors sell "bites"...tiny little snacks...that are terribly overpriced, because they know people will buy them for the reason mentioned above.

I just finished the Website for my Japanese restaurant client. The food is good, yes. It is also very expensive. I have a favorite Japanese restaurant in my town that charges $8. for the teriyaki chicken and California roll special...comes with miso soup, rice, and a salad. This is where I go when I want Japanese food. Sometimes I will get the tonkatsu lunch and a special roll, like tempura shrimp...but even then, the cost is no more than $12 for a lot of good food.

:toast:

[Mad_Dem_X]

3. A certain restaurant in NYC...

which I will not name. DH and I went there to eat before seeing a Broadway show. It had a spectacular view of the city, so of course the menu was ridiculously expensive. I tried to order a soup and salad, and was told I couldn't unless I was a guest of the adjoining hotel. So I had a meal I didn't want, which was so-so. DH was not impressed by his meal, either. Very disappointing, especially being told what I could and could not order from the menu.

[JTG of the PRB]

4. I didn't pay for it, but the most disappointing pricey meal I've ever had was at Sardi's in NYC.

I was there with my family during Spring Break of my senior year of high school. As I was a lot pickier back then, the only thing that really appealed to me on the menu was the cheeseburger - the $18 cheeseburger. So I ordered that and... it was probably the worst cheeseburger I've ever eaten, before or since. I only got halfway through before I gave up on it.

Had I actually been paying the bill for the meal, I would have been upset. As it was, I was just severely disappointed. Give me a $5 Five Guys burger any day of the week!

[ceile]

5. Paid about $150 for two people

for chicken fried venison that had had the life pounded out of it and some diver scallops that tasted like they had been coated in "liquid smoke". So I go and write a review of the place on a local board and I get slammed. "Oh, their food is great! You must have gone on a bad night." "Did you send it back? If not, I think it's really rude of you to post a bad review." Whatever. The food sucked and was WAY over priced.

[DevonRex]

9. I never, ever, evah send anything back to the kitchen.

There are too many horror stories about what happens when you do that.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Ruth Chris Steakhouse...

....the steak was all right, but not anything beyond what you could get at a midlevel steakhouse.

[DevonRex]

8. Aspen, Colorado, at some German restaurant. We were hoping

for hearty German fare. What we got was itty bitty medalions of something or another with ONE itty bitty German dumpling and 3 stalks of asparagus artfully arranged in a teepee formation, all on a gigantic plate. The whole meal could have been put on a saucer and there would have been room to spare.

Then we drove to Glenwood Springs and ate a real dinner at a Cajun place. It was excellent and only cost us $20.

The "meal" at the German place in Aspen: $150.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

10. You should write restaurant reviews...that was hilarious.

"...itty bitty medalions of something or another with ONE itty bitty German dumpling and 3 stalks of asparagus artfully arranged in a teepee formation, all on a gigantic plate. The whole meal could have been put on a saucer and there would have been room to spare.>

:rofl:

:toast:

[LynneSin]

11. The 21 Club in NYC

Mind you, I'm a big fan of Jacquelin Susann Novels, so 21 was always the hip place to be back in the 60s and 70s. Now I didn't go out of my way to have dinner at 21. I was on a business trip with a pharmaceutical lobbying group I use to do computer support for back in the 90s. Yeah yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking but they were a good group of folks and about 4-5 times a year I went on trips with them since my customers were all remote and this was the one time I could actually work on their computers in their presence and do training on new materials. (and I was a contractor too).

So whenever I did any of these trips, usually it involved one night of a really good dinner which I was always invited and there was usually some planned activity like seeing a musical. So the one time, on a trip to NYC, we had dinner at 21 and then off to see Les Miserable. (or was it Phantom of the Opera - I can't remember). I had this thing with one of the admins - we were always big fans of crab cakes and we would always get the crabcakes wherever we went (if it was available.) Most of the time we got these amazing crabcakes because let's face it - we were always going to top of the line restaurants on these trips. But the NYC trip, the admin planned the event and picked 21 since it was near the theater. We both were horribly disappointed with the crabcakes. Too much extra stuff in them and the meat was all stringy pieces and not big chunks that we like.

[JSK]

12. Mama's Fish House in Maui

Worth every penny.

http://www.mamasfishhouse.com/

[JBoy]

13. Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas

A few years ago. It was going to be the "culinary highlight" of our trip. Dropped about $400 on dinner for two. Food was very good, but the service sucked.

Next day I went to the Ellis Island Casino and Brewery. A bit of a dive a block off the strip, but they had in-house beer for $1 a pint, and an awesome chicken and ribs BBQ for like $6.

Next trip back to Vegas, guess which place I visited again.

[Quantess]

14. One of Emeril Lagasse's restaurants in Las Vegas.

The food was lukewarm, and I got food poisoning afterward. I was crying on the toilet that night.