If you’ve ever been to an extremely posh restaurant for a taster menu....

[ItchyScratch]

DH & I are soon going to be going on our first night away in MANY years (lost count)

We decided to push the boat out and book a very fancy restaurant (I mean these days you’re lucky if we can manage McDonalds)

The restaurants we are looking at are those type that do a 7 course taster menu, usually about £100+ per head.

My first question is- what was your experience like and do you recommend it?
We are thinking you only live once and to try it out. Just don’t want to be disappointed and think we wasted money.

My second question- the websites for the places I’m looking at don’t show a drinks menu but do say there is a choice of a paired wine tasting menu (£75 each! What!!) but neither of us drink wine (I would be drunk after one glass)
But the only other option is named as a ‘non alcoholic flight’ and that’s £48 each- god knows what you get for that!
So what did you do?

I’d be embarrassed to call or email and ask as I’m sure their usual customers would be well accustomed to their ways and would have no qualms in paying £48 each for some unspecified none alcoholic drinks.

Thanks in advance- from someone desperately trying to experience being rich/posh

We went to one of the restaurants in Leith for a tasting menu. It was a fabulous experience but we both like a wide range of foods. One of the courses was sweetmeats and I can imagine a lot of folk may not have liked that. It tasted great though!

We did it once. It was amazing but on the way home we shared a kebab as we were hungry!

My recommendations :

Sat Bains, Nottingham
The Star inn, North Yorkshire.
Le Manoir au Quat’ saisons, Oxfordshire.

All very different, all wonderful.

Their job is to make sure you have a nice time.......you don't have to have the paired drinks. Order single drinks that you enjoy. ....or send the wine my way! :-)

I love a good tasting menu! Just go with an open mind and try everything. Don't worry there has always been a separate drinks menu when I've been

Just remembered we ate some flowers.

No.1 at the Balmoral anyone?

Working my way through the list to check reviews, location- availability etc. It’s £110 pp.

Shame the Kitchin is fully booked after all the above reviews!

We've done this and I had a glass of wine before dinner (dh doesn't drink) and then we both had water and coffee after, customer service is so good in these places they won't bat an eyelid and you can drink whatever you choose, your the customer! 😊

The kitchin is amazing, not at all pretentious and an extensive drinks menu

We ate at Number One Edinburgh a couple of years ago - really enjoyed the tasting menu and were impressed by the amount of space between tables (no sense of packing the punters in). We also included the wine option and they were generous with the pouring - I was quite tipsy by the cheese course

Fabulous (usually).

Allow several hours.

Try everything.

Lunch is usually massively better value.

We avoid the wine flights - not enough wine (!) and too ££. We usually have an aperitif, a bottle and a digestif for less ££.

I think L’Enclume has been my favourite. Definitely made me eat stuff I would never have ordered!

Not been to No1 for a long time, food was good but not as amazing as Kitchin or MW and atmosphere not that special. If Kitchin is full then I’d do MW over No1. Someone else suggested Rhubarb and that’s a good call - atmosphere amazing, dining room v dramatic. Both the balmoral and rhubarb are excellent for afternoon tea! Balmoral palm court best for atmosphere.

We did at a very posh place in California. I loved it. My large husband complained about the expensive price for such a small amount of food😂

I would second doing the lunch at the Kitchin - its really good value and the same excellent food.

I've done lunch and dinner and think I preferred the lunch.

We also ate in ? Castle Terrace - don't know if its still on the go, I think it also had a star It was good but much preferred the Kitchin

Oh what a treat OP! kitchin is fab but if you can’t get in, look at the Witchery, it’s lovely.

We did one last month for DH birthday, £75 for 7 courses, in Manchester. We added cheese course to share as well whIch was £10/£15, can’t quite remember. We also decided to go for the wine flight and are so glad we did as we tried wines we wouldn’t normally (being creatures of habit where wine is concerned). They were beautiful with the food. I know you don’t drink so not much point doing it just wanted to tell you our experience.

The food, wine, service, and atmosphere were fabulous.

We will definitely do it again for a treat

Went to Aizle a few years ago and it was wonderful.

Also a place in Leith called Nord maybe but think it’s gone. Wasn’t as impressed with that one although still very nice.

My favourite place for a taster menu is Six By Nico in Glasgow, only £25 each which is crazy compared to the other ones. Think there’s one in Edinburgh now.

Wine flights are nice but I struggle to keep up and then I’m pissed and don’t enjoy the meal as much.
I prefer to get a bottle of something good to share and take my time!

I adore a tasting menu. Some of the very best meals of my life. I'll admit that I usually do the wine pairings, as I like the surprise and the flavor enhancement. But it's by no means required.

I do tend to go with sparkling water rather than tap, as I prefer the taste (plus it feels a bit more special). My guess is they'll have a great nonalcoholic drink menu too. But you can also put yourself entirely in the hands of the bartender: just say, can the bar make up something nonalcoholic; I like it not too sweet/quite sweet/on the rocks/whatever.

You will be way too full after. It's part of the fun. Have a very light lunch.

We went to a great one in Edinburgh, almost as good as the Kitchin, called 21212. You can watch the chef's in the kitchen!

Eldest 2 DDs plus BFs went to Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea for a tasting menu (an eye watering £300 each). Was for one of the boys birthdays. This lad has always wanted to go. They all loved the food, and were glad they did it, but one said they felt it wasn't worth that much £££, and none of them would feel the need to do it again

Know it's not near you OP, just adding to thread. Good luck!

I’ve done a fair few, and my absolute favourites are Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons (been about 6 times and it’s never disappointed. I love going in different seasons as you can wander round the incredible gardens and see the produce growing) and Clos Maggiore in Covent Garden- amazing food, incredible venue (especially if you can sit in the conservatory) and not stuffy at all.

If you do like wine, I’d really recommend the wine flights. The pairings can be amazing- some of the wines I’ve tried wouldn’t be to my taste normally, but matched properly with the food they bring the whole thing to life.

Definitely go by recommendation

We had one similar thing - mini tasting menu lunch as a wedding present, which we enjoyed, and one that I bought as an anniversary present for us (couldn't afford it these days with DC!) that was fairly enjoyable but I wouldn't say it was that great

We have had better evenings just at a really good "normal restaurant" ordering lots of lovely food that perhaps we wouldn't normally splash out on

But, I do think it depends largely on the place. We didn't think the service etc was really that special at the anniversary one, it was a bit pretentious. The food was quite nice but I was early pregnant and verging on the nauseous stage so to be fair most complicated things didn't appeal and I had to be really careful as most things meat or fish based were served raw

I think if there's somewhere recommended by others and you've read reviews etc there are probably some fabulous ones that are really worth it

www.prestonfield.com/dine/rhubarb

DH and I went here in Edinburgh, it was very nice! I can’t see the taster menu listed now though.

My sentence above was a bit daft, of course, it pretty much depends entirely on the place, not just largely!

Have a look at Wedgwood at the bottom of the Royal Mile op. It wipes the floor with Kitchin in my experience.

The Witchery is hugely up itself and overrated