What better way to stand out in the competitive industry of the restaurant business than to go nuts with a Michelin-esque presentation. Is that a single meringue served on a levitating pillow? Did we get charged an extra $10 because they served our butter on a posh-looking rock?
The world of wannabe fine-dining restaurants, of course, is not a new phenomenon. Throughout the years, we've written about it enough times to know that we shouldn't be expected to get this instead of a pea soup like we've ordered. And so, in honor of this peculiar trend, Bored Panda has curated a collection of the most outrageous fine-dining experiences out there.
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The Vegan Option Served At A Fancy End Of Conference Dinner
No animals were harmed in the slicing of this single large vegetable?
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Yes! Mockery, ignorance, lack of creativity and professionalism.. all rolled into one! Someone in the comments called an insult and I believe if that was their intention, whoever did this ended up insulting themselves quite a whole lot...
Load More Replies... They couldn't even find some other salad or veg items to go with it? Or some bread or rice or pasta and make a quick rice salad or pasta salad when making all the other options!? People panic when they hear the word vegan (not as much thankfully anymore in the UK at least, last night I had a wonderful vegan meal in a pub that the rest of my family had meat/ fish options- banana blossom 'fish' and chips, and waffle with caramelised banana and raspberry ice cream. Amazing and creative!)
often bread and pasta aren't vegan unless specifically stated with ingredients, I don't really know about rice. They totally should have added some veggies tho. Looks like they were making fun of vegans
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The vegan option was given once was a whole onion, deep fried, with a side of onion rings. None of which were actually vegan as the batter contained eggs.
Not even a dressing? Or something to add color like a roasted beet?
This is an insult to every decent catering company. Having worked for many years in restaurants and catering halls, I know how easy it is to fix a veggie/vegan meal fast (in case no notice was given). Take that lettuce add some raw veggies and a handful of canned beans, fast, simple vinaigrette ... boom! Beautiful plate, and appreciative client. How hard is that?
Am I weird that I would actually accept this, after having burritos or tacos I’ll usually just eat lettuce out of the bag until it gets put away
I requested a vegetarian lunch on a flight once, I got a slice of white bread, and a banana.
I’m vegan. Don’t give me lettuce. I’m not a rabbit, I just don’t eat rabbits.
Vegan here too. I worry some people wouldn’t know a good veggie meal if they fell over one. And in all seriousness there are SO MANY good vegan recipe sites out there.
Load More Replies... Tell me you don't have a single vegan dish on the menu without words
Well it's not a vegan restaurant, not everyplace caters to vegans.
Everybody should within reason. Vegans are a big part of our societies we should adapt in the same way we cater to food allergies.We cater to non vegans and it should be the same. Not vegan BTW.
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If it’s a conference (even though it’s a joke clearly) then management or whoever organised it didn’t even mention it’s vegan employees, so it’s on the workplace not the caterers on that one 😝
I Ordered The Salad At The Fanciest Restaurant In Town
These Snacks Served With Stones: Some Are Real Stones And Some Are To Eat. You Have To Guess
We had sweets that looked like pebbles when I was a kid. You could eat them all though. No real pebbles in the bag.
Wife And I Accidentally Went To A Michelin Star Restaurant On Our Honeymoon In Ireland
2-Michelin-Star Restaurant Had This On Instagram. This Is The Vegetarian Option. It Is Marinated Tofu With Roasted Sweet Potatoes
So, roasted colon and brick cheese with fried worms then
A Handful Of Raspberry Sauce At A Fancy Restaurant
Michelin Star Chocolate Hands
Sushi For M’lady?
Have Some Gyoza With This Houseplant
Bread In A Versace Shoe
Seen In A Sushi Restaurant In My City. I Still Can't Believe It
Next Time Just Throw The Dish At Me Please
This Free Birthday Cake At A Fancy Restaurant
This Is A Fancy Restaurant, Not A Supermarket Checkout
This $10 Salad I Paid For At A Restaurant
Restaurant’s Version Of Corn On The Cob. Wouldn’t Just Be Easier To BBQ Them On The Cob?
What 20$ Gets You In A Fancy Restaurant. I Didn't Even Know What To Do With It
Is It Forgivable When It's A Michelin Star Restaurant? (De Librije In Zwolle)
Marshmallow "Worms" Served On A Plant
My Mom Asked The Waitress What Type Of Bread It Was. It’s A Rock With The Butter For The Bread
Ate At Three Michelin Star Restaurant Alinea In Chicago. Dessert Painted On The Table, Edible Balloons, Table Fires… It’s An Experience
Chef Grant Achatz makes beautiful food and portions looks decent. This one seems ok and very creative.
Rocks And Potatoes Painted To Look Like Rocks At Michelin-Starred Restaurant
At A 2-Michelin-Stars Restaurant
Recently Sat Through A 44-Course Meal At The Atelier In Ottawa, Canada
But this one was a freaking star: “cook” at the table in liquid nitrogen, dunk into hot spicy squash soup.
Tempura Green Beans, In A Shoe
At A Michelin-Starred Restaurant In Amsterdam, My Cocktail Arrived In A Plastic Bag
Better for the diner’s experience and the planet if they just used glass.
Incarne (And Bones)
Croquette In A Box Among Rocks
Lab By Sergi Agola, Sintra, Portugal - Some Highlights In No Particular Order
Appetizers On Nails At A Conference
Note: this post originally had 137 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
What do you expect when a tire company rates restaurants just so you'll have a place to drive in order to need new tires? https://guide.michelin.com/th/en/history-of-the-michelin-guide-th
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All I see is hygienic issues, too little portion, overpriced food. More like fraud to me. But yeah maybe because I'm too peasant who can't afford those fancy foods :D
The sad thing is there are people, some right here at BP, who'll defend this nonsense to their last breath and claim that people who see the scam for what it is just aren't "sophisticated" enough to appreciate it.
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I don't understand this fad of food art, and won't pay for it. There are a lot of Michelin starred establishments that earn the rating for consistency of quality of food, mastery of flavors and cooking technique, and holds a valid reason to visit the establishment for the previous reasons, and they don't serve food that looks like it should be in the MoMa. Jay Fai is a Thai street food vendor who has earned a Michelin rating specifically for her crab omelette. Her food isn't pretentious and the cost for the customer is equitable to the cost of the ingredients and labor. The best restaurants, in my opinion, don't rely on gimmicks like the ones shown in this article, but serve quality food made by competent chefs that you want to eat again and again, and can afford to eat again and again.
My favorite ramen restaurant in Paris is Higuma. There's generally a queue to get in. The interior is plain, the food (ramen, gyoza, tempura) is fantastic, the portions are generous and the price is affordable. I'd rather eat there than at any resto headed by Grant Achazt or Thomas Keller, or any of these "food artists". For comparison, the Subway sandwich chain calls their employees "sandwich artists", but never will you get a Subway sandwich that is "deconstructed" and served in dollops on rocks or salvaged wood.
Load More Replies... You know how zoos hide food in logs and up trees to provide enrichment for the animals? This is that, but for rich people.
I like to think of myself as an open-minded person...buuuttttt... all of those meals are stupid. Sorry.
That's all I could think of while reading this entire post.
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I am blown away by this. Give me a 20.99 Parma and chips from the pub thanks....lovely little salad on the side with a balsamic vinaigrette and too much so need a doggy bag. Why would you buy this food?
My husband and I went to a very elegant restaurant here in downtown Chicago and they served actual FOOD. Not anything like this c**p. Get reviews before you spend big bucks on these so called restaurants. I think they are just scams.
Most of this is pretentious c**p. I do not want my food served on a straw hat which cleanliness and sterility are questionable. I'm not interested in wasting my time trying to figure out which part of my dish is edible and which will break my dåmn teeth. If you serve me food in a shoe, I will throw it at your head. Food should look appetizing; it should not look like things which formerly were food at some point.
The chefs at these restaurants must really enjoy getting paid to play with food.
I’ve been to a couple fancy restaurants and thankfully I haven’t seen anything this bad in person. Even the wine bar that I went to with a $90 tasting menu ($120 with the wine paring) didn’t have portions this small. In all honesty, the place had decent sized portions, excellent presentation and truly amazing flavors, and no gimmicky aspects of the serving.I’m a foodie who loves working with food and cocktails so I can be very critical of flavors. But having good flavors does not mean that a dish should be fully consumed in three bites!
As a retired chef, I can attest to the fact that this limited group of idiots is an aberration, and not the norm. Our philosophy is that you eat with your eyes first, and I'd never consider anything so absurd. The fine dining restaurants I've been to would never consider pulling this c**p.
When I go out to eat I am NOT going there for "atmosphere" or "presentation". If I'm shelling out that much cash I better be getting enough food that they're wheeling me out on a cart in a food coma!
Sometimes catering is a pretentious field. Do you know this new restaurant trend in your country? Instead of writing the name of a dish in the menu (e.g. eggplant parmigiana, duck breast with blueberry sauce) with a presentation of the ingredients, they will just write the ingredients: cauliflower, eggplant, tomato, truffle, fleur de sel, oil. You don't even know what the plate is, if it's grilled, roasted or what ever! WTF?!?
These ridiculous examples of "high cuisine" are exactly why I would never pay for the "PRESTIGE" of eating somewhere fancy. I like buffets; I get to eat exactly what I want, and the price is almost always an unbelievable deal...especially Asian buffets.
How can a 'chef' make something like this with a straight face, they are mostly just insulting.
Surely at this point they're just taking the p**s/seeing how far they can push things??
I just want awesome tasting food that is served on obviously clean dishes without all of the ridiculous gimmicks. Put the creativity into the taste and look of the dish, but in a beautiful- not disgusting or otherwise off-putting- way. I thought Michelin stars meant culinary talent, not nonsense. I would have sent all of the above 'dishes' back, requested refunds, and left immediately.
Just when you thought "fine dining" couldn't possibly get more absurd...
My takeaway, they just pass out stars to anyone, never trust the stars and these chefs are ding bats.
Ahis confirms I'll never eat anywhere rated higher than Applebees. The food may be mediocre, but it's on a plate and there's lots of it.
This is what you get if you took a child, and told him/her to make a creative dish!
so they tell you they are michelin starred restaurants and you all believe it ! why don't they give the names of these restaurants ? No questioning at all about the veracity of these posts ? something's fishy here.
What do you expect when a tire company rates restaurants just so you'll have a place to drive in order to need new tires? https://guide.michelin.com/th/en/history-of-the-michelin-guide-th
Load More Replies... All I see is hygienic issues, too little portion, overpriced food. More like fraud to me. But yeah maybe because I'm too peasant who can't afford those fancy foods :D
The sad thing is there are people, some right here at BP, who'll defend this nonsense to their last breath and claim that people who see the scam for what it is just aren't "sophisticated" enough to appreciate it.
Load More Replies... I don't understand this fad of food art, and won't pay for it. There are a lot of Michelin starred establishments that earn the rating for consistency of quality of food, mastery of flavors and cooking technique, and holds a valid reason to visit the establishment for the previous reasons, and they don't serve food that looks like it should be in the MoMa. Jay Fai is a Thai street food vendor who has earned a Michelin rating specifically for her crab omelette. Her food isn't pretentious and the cost for the customer is equitable to the cost of the ingredients and labor. The best restaurants, in my opinion, don't rely on gimmicks like the ones shown in this article, but serve quality food made by competent chefs that you want to eat again and again, and can afford to eat again and again.
My favorite ramen restaurant in Paris is Higuma. There's generally a queue to get in. The interior is plain, the food (ramen, gyoza, tempura) is fantastic, the portions are generous and the price is affordable. I'd rather eat there than at any resto headed by Grant Achazt or Thomas Keller, or any of these "food artists". For comparison, the Subway sandwich chain calls their employees "sandwich artists", but never will you get a Subway sandwich that is "deconstructed" and served in dollops on rocks or salvaged wood.
Load More Replies... You know how zoos hide food in logs and up trees to provide enrichment for the animals? This is that, but for rich people.
I like to think of myself as an open-minded person...buuuttttt... all of those meals are stupid. Sorry.
That's all I could think of while reading this entire post.
Load More Replies... I am blown away by this. Give me a 20.99 Parma and chips from the pub thanks....lovely little salad on the side with a balsamic vinaigrette and too much so need a doggy bag. Why would you buy this food?
My husband and I went to a very elegant restaurant here in downtown Chicago and they served actual FOOD. Not anything like this c**p. Get reviews before you spend big bucks on these so called restaurants. I think they are just scams.
Most of this is pretentious c**p. I do not want my food served on a straw hat which cleanliness and sterility are questionable. I'm not interested in wasting my time trying to figure out which part of my dish is edible and which will break my dåmn teeth. If you serve me food in a shoe, I will throw it at your head. Food should look appetizing; it should not look like things which formerly were food at some point.
The chefs at these restaurants must really enjoy getting paid to play with food.
I’ve been to a couple fancy restaurants and thankfully I haven’t seen anything this bad in person. Even the wine bar that I went to with a $90 tasting menu ($120 with the wine paring) didn’t have portions this small. In all honesty, the place had decent sized portions, excellent presentation and truly amazing flavors, and no gimmicky aspects of the serving.I’m a foodie who loves working with food and cocktails so I can be very critical of flavors. But having good flavors does not mean that a dish should be fully consumed in three bites!
As a retired chef, I can attest to the fact that this limited group of idiots is an aberration, and not the norm. Our philosophy is that you eat with your eyes first, and I'd never consider anything so absurd. The fine dining restaurants I've been to would never consider pulling this c**p.
When I go out to eat I am NOT going there for "atmosphere" or "presentation". If I'm shelling out that much cash I better be getting enough food that they're wheeling me out on a cart in a food coma!
Sometimes catering is a pretentious field. Do you know this new restaurant trend in your country? Instead of writing the name of a dish in the menu (e.g. eggplant parmigiana, duck breast with blueberry sauce) with a presentation of the ingredients, they will just write the ingredients: cauliflower, eggplant, tomato, truffle, fleur de sel, oil. You don't even know what the plate is, if it's grilled, roasted or what ever! WTF?!?
These ridiculous examples of "high cuisine" are exactly why I would never pay for the "PRESTIGE" of eating somewhere fancy. I like buffets; I get to eat exactly what I want, and the price is almost always an unbelievable deal...especially Asian buffets.
How can a 'chef' make something like this with a straight face, they are mostly just insulting.
Surely at this point they're just taking the p**s/seeing how far they can push things??
I just want awesome tasting food that is served on obviously clean dishes without all of the ridiculous gimmicks. Put the creativity into the taste and look of the dish, but in a beautiful- not disgusting or otherwise off-putting- way. I thought Michelin stars meant culinary talent, not nonsense. I would have sent all of the above 'dishes' back, requested refunds, and left immediately.
Just when you thought "fine dining" couldn't possibly get more absurd...
My takeaway, they just pass out stars to anyone, never trust the stars and these chefs are ding bats.
Ahis confirms I'll never eat anywhere rated higher than Applebees. The food may be mediocre, but it's on a plate and there's lots of it.
This is what you get if you took a child, and told him/her to make a creative dish!
so they tell you they are michelin starred restaurants and you all believe it ! why don't they give the names of these restaurants ? No questioning at all about the veracity of these posts ? something's fishy here.
