Traveler tells about dinner at a Michelin-star restaurant that cost more than $200

The Michelin Guide is the world’s greatest reference in terms of excellence in restaurants. It has existed for almost 100 years (it was created in 1920) and the best rated restaurants by this publication are considered true gourmet paradises. The rating system is based on the number of stars awarded by the guide, from one to three — the three stars are the best rated.

And earning a star doesn’t mean the property isn’t good; on the contrary, it indicates that it is already part of the select group of restaurants indicated by the publication for its excellence.

But have you ever wondered how an ordinary person, like any of us, feels in such an environment? That’s what Pikabu user narian88 decided to do. He went to a restaurant with a Michelin star, considered one of the best in the type of food he works with.

For the awesome.club, in addition to being entertaining, this story is informative. We are sure that people who love to eat and live new experiences will love it.

Not long ago, my wife and I took a short trip to Stockholm, Sweden. It’s a beautiful city: very clean and welcoming, but expensive. But I’m not a gourmet food expert and I don’t close my eyes when chewing a piece of meat; I just like to eat well and a lot. For a long time my dream was to go to a Michelin star restaurant, just to see how people feel.

About a month in advance, I started looking for establishments in Stockholm. I was looking for one with only one star, as the ones with more stars are too expensive for me. And, as I said before, Sweden is not a cheap country. I took a look at the guide (there is an official website), chose a small restaurant and booked a table. I had been warned that this would have to be done a long time in advance, as these restaurants tend to be in great demand.

The entrance to the restaurant and a small 2018 Michelin Guide sticker

My wife and I arrived at the restaurant about 15 minutes early. We didn’t worry too much about the outfit: I wore a leotard and a pair of jeans because the space wasn’t very fancy; it was a more informal and cool style. Inside there were only 16 chairs and most of the tables were for two people. All the waiters were in black and spoke very good English.

I expected to find something exaggerated: people with expensive clothes and women with huge hairstyles (yes, that’s my idea of ​​expensive restaurants). But people were wearing very comfortable clothes: jeans, a plaid shirt and simple, athletic shoes. But I have to admit that the pants and shirts weren’t very cheap brands.

The table was very small, almost square, with a silverware holder attached to the side. The waiter brought the menu. I had read that in Michelin star restaurants the menu is divided into steps🇧🇷 That is, you can choose modalities that include from 3 “steps”, all prepared exclusively by the chef. my wife and me we chose one of 6 steps, without alcohol. With a drink the price would be twice as high🇧🇷

The waiter came, we placed our order and he brought a bottle of water whose label was placed in our direction, probably for some advertising reason. This is just my assumption. About 5 minutes later, the dish in the picture above was brought out. I thought, “Great, I came to Sweden to eat radishes from my grandmother’s garden.” The waiter said the radish was the first of the season. Next to it, what I assumed were olives. The waiter said they weren’t. I ate it and it definitely tasted like olives.

We keep waiting. As I recall, the second dish was a quail egg in some kind of green sauce with mustard. The egg was really delicious and I also took the opportunity to eat all the sauce, made with seaweed. There was also a baked tartlet. Of course we took the opportunity to take pictures.

About 10 minutes later the next dish was brought out. I think it was an oyster. The waiter explained to us what it was and as our English wasn’t the best, we didn’t understand half of the culinary terms used. In short, some herbed garlic cream. I ate absolutely everything because I was starving.

Then they said that the dish was bread cooked and roasted over the fire and a sauce based on Greek yogurt, garlic with raw mushrooms and, on top, a rare fish caviar. The taste was that of ordinary caviar. We could spread the paste on bread or eat it separately. The bread was really delicious, and so was the sauce. This dish at least killed my hunger a little more.

At last came the meat! What you see on top are very thin strips of raw meat, a kind of carpaccio. However, it was marinated in a seafood-flavored vinegar. Underneath was a pile of green herbs and corn chips. We ate, took pictures and kept waiting.

Poached egg. According to the waiter, it was a goose egg. He had never eaten something like this before. It was tasty but very small. To accompany: roasted herbs. I don’t remember which herbs, but I ate everything, including the flowers.

Then we were served boiled white fish (pictured above) with more herbs. It was so good and I ate weed for a lifetime. In addition, they brought us some rolls with chicken meat filling and more herbs. Very tasty, similar to shawarma.

The dessert! The ice cream looked like fruit flavored ice. Over it, a kind of soufflé that I don’t remember the name. In the middle, a sauce that looked like soy sauce. A rather unusual combination.

After all that, the waiter came to us and asked us if we wanted coffee. We accept. While we were waiting, they brought us some kind of candy with syrup made from white birch sap. I didn’t eat the branches.

It was then that they brought us a container with a paper filter. The waiter filled the filter with ground coffee, apparently from some Brazilian friends who personally brought the coffee from Brazil. I don’t know if I believed it. The coffee was very tasty. In addition, we were served two sweet tubes and a crispy muffin, lightly salted on top and soft on the inside. And that was it. This whole prank lasted 4 hours. It took a long time, but it was all very welcoming.

I almost forgot to tell you about the bathroom. They were very small cabins, smaller than an airplane bathroom, but very clean. Instead of paper, there was a pile of towels that customers tossed in a basket after use. The soap was very smelly and the music was very loud.

In the end, we were quite satisfied: the portions were small, but they were plenty. My wife was very happy and called the experience ‘gastronomic theater’🇧🇷 As for me, I ended up with a slightly strange feeling: of course I enjoyed the experience, it was a dream come true; but I don’t know if the money spent is worth it just thinking about the food…

I thought to myself about the following Advantages of visiting a Michelin star restaurant:

Being able to approach haute cuisine, where every detail matters, from the fine cut of the meat to the herbs used; everything has a meaning for the chef. Experiment with different flavor combinations. Feel like an expert for a few hours.

Negative points:

The price. This is one of the cheapest restaurants in the Michelin Guide and the bill, with tip, was 204 euros (about 800 reais). If you don’t care so much about cooking and that’s not your dream, it doesn’t make sense to spend so much money. With the same amount you can feed your whole family for a few days.

In short, I do not regret having lived this experience. Liked it but wouldn’t go again. Firstly, because I’m not a gourmet expert. Second, because it’s expensive. Also, if I wanted to eat herbs I could go to my grandmother’s house and eat directly from the garden.

What is your opinion of these famous restaurants that appear in the Michelin Guide? Have you ever had the opportunity to eat at one?