best meal you've ever had.

Two other best meals, several times repeated, were with husband and friends at Chez Helene's on what is now Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice, CA, then named W. Washington Blvd. It was a small place with a good owner/cook (Helene) who served country french food in a warm toned room, best enjoyed when it was cold and rainy outside. I say two best, in that it was hard to choose between her roast chicken - among best ever - and her roast lamb, also scrumptious. The lamb sometimes won my choice because it alone came with corn pudding in a dish on the side. Such good days, and good food.

Around that time, two tough things happened right by the restaurant - Sarai Ribicoff (a news reporter and Abraham Ribicoff's niece) was shot and killed in a robbery (Crips, I just read on google), and Eileen Brennan was hit by a car after leaving the restaurant with Goldie Hawn. None of this or other difficulties in the neighborhood that I once had a gallery in was a help to the restaurant's business. The street changed over the years to become quite the chic place to be; in some ways it was more likeable when things were tougher.

Not sure if this photo is contemporary with Chez Helene's being there in that block -

I have had some real well to remember meals in GB.
In and outside of Taunton I have some of the most memorable meals.
Fish and chips in Winchester - it was so good!!!

I don't live very far from Taunton and there's a restaurant called 'the chapel' that I've been wanting to go to.

Winchester does have some really good fish restaurants.

We spent Christmas at The Castle some years ago and it was such a wonderful time and the food so fantastic we could not eat any more the last day. Then two years ago we spent Christmas in Taunton again and wanted to go to The Castle.
It was now to expensive we diceded against it and booked a nice B&B next to the RC church. The manager recommeded a hotel/restaurant just outside of Taunton which was so nice and the food delicious and the serving perfect. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name, but it was a large white building with a park and on the left side of the road coming into the village.

We had our fish and chips in a pub next to the Cathedral in Winchester - not just once.

sometimes the best meals are the ones you need most. have you read life of pi?

No, I have not read the book Pi and I have not heard of it either.
I think the best spice is hunger......
I am always hungry in the morning and often wake up because I am hungry. Sometimes even in the middle of the night.
A friend told me to eat or snack before I go to bed so I would not wake up hungry. I always snack before I go to bed and it does not seem to help.

thats because your going about 6-12 hours without food.

and sleeping burns more calories than watching tv...

You are probably right - watch TV 2 hours and sleep 7.

you should definitly read life of pi. its an awesome book.

Eating then sleeping is a guaranteed way of turning the food into fat . Have you been checked for diabetes ? There are different versions, and you might have the one that requires you to eat regularly . Do you exercise a lot ?

My best meal was when I hadnt eaten for two weeks and on return to base I received a ham and cheese sandwich...nothing has ever tasted that good again .

oh yeah, your a retired soldier!
did they make you go two weeks? wow. i gotta say, ham and cheese is pretty good. what kind of cheese was it?

I got very close to spearing a baby kangaroo on day two....

The kind that is delicious...coon I think....I have never had taste buds so active....I can close my eyes and still taste it...with double smoked ham and real butter on freshly baked bread . I nearly lost a finger with the second bite, so I slowed down and thoroughly enjoyed it .

They give you one sandwich to see if you will take food . A couple of hours later you are walking into the mess....

I did every survival exercise that exists in the Oz Defence Force except one . The one where they gave a sandwich is by far the hardest, so that may have contributed to the taste as well .

that sounds real good. so your from australia? what kind of food do you get there?

In some places up north you can get crocodile meat.... bit expensive though.... kangaroo meat is making a small inroad but it hasnt taken off yet .

I suppose a typical difference with USA food is our hamburgers . We have tomato, lettuce and beetroot with a toasted bun on a typical burger, adding grilled onions, bacon and egg on a works burger . Probably our most popular fish is barramundi which is a mild fish taste with firm large chunks of flesh and
I have to say it is delicious .

We are a lot like your south, we have Bar-B-Ques (barby) not cook-outs .

haha! we have all that on burgers without the egg, or the beetroot. whats kangeroo meat taste like?

Oh and I recommend witchity grubs . Depending on what wood they are found in, they taste anything from peanut butter to a vegemite flavour .

I dont like it . It has a strong flavour and I have my preference for something like Angus steak .

hmmm... i love strong flavors... what about alligator (or was it crocodile?)?