My strategy is to look for tasting menus or lunches to make the dining experience more affordable. It’s been working so far and I do love researching new restaurants.

Dovetail – 1 Star – NYC, USA
Visited: July 2011

• Sunday dinner, 3 course set menu: $58, regular dinner, 4 course set menu: $88
  • I was lucky enough to be able to make a reservation for Sunday night and it worked with when I was in NYC
  • Dovetail also offers a Chef Tasting menu for each night with an option for wine pairings
• Dovetail is located right by Central Park and is a perfect stop after an afternoon of wandering through nature if you’re doing the tourist thing.
• Presentation was beautiful, rich and hearty flavours

Arbutus – 1 Star – London, UK
Visited: August 2011

• Pre-theatre dinner, 2 courses £18.95, 3 courses £20.95
• Located in the theatre district, this was the perfect location to grab dinner before watching Les Miserables while in London
• The restaurant offered a relaxed and intimate feel
• A great value option for London, their sister restaurant Wild Honey is also a great choice with a 3 course lunch menu for £29 and dinner entrees ranging from £12 to £35

Le Bristol Restaurant – 3 Star – Paris, France
Visited: September 2011

• Summer lunch set €85, including drinks, tax, coffee, came to €140
• Situated in Le Bristol hotel, our lunch spanned a good 3 hours, had over 10 courses (including cheese, petite fours and amuse bouches and special bread for certain course) and is still the best meal I’ve ever had.
• The service was impeccable, honestly they put up with three excited, giggling Asian girls who wanted to take pictures of everything with a level of class and friendliness that was exceptional.
• The food was too die for. This meal made me realize I didn’t dislike cheese, a belief that I had held for all my life, and opened up my palate to appreciate a whole new set of flavours.
• The technique of each dish was also mind boggling. One of the entries was squid, cut to mimic grains of rice and cooked like a risotto. That dish still haunts me today.
• It was an experience that made me fall even more in love with food and is one of the reasons why this blog exists.
• After a lot of Googling, I’m not sure if the lunch menu at Le Bristol is still available or not, which would be sad. I had an amazing experience and would have highly recommended the meal to anyone looking for a “affordable” Michelin Star experience in Paris