The Most Special Meal

So, last year, my brother and I were having lunch at Samurai in Bryn Mawr.  We were having some exceptional sushi.  I'm pretty sure we had each ordered some sort of sushi/sashimi platter, which came out to be more than 20 pieces per person.  We don't mess around.  Anyway, as we blissfully devoured our meal, we started looking over the menu left at our table.  What eventually came to our attention was this item on the menu:

The Ultimate Sushi Chefs' Boat (For Two)

This is NOT just any Sushi Boat. This is The Ultimate Sushi Chefs' Boat! Our Sushi Chefs Will Prepared The Most Exquisite and The Most Exotic Sushi and Sashimi Available Today For  Two of You To Enjoy. Served on Our Beautiful Sushi Boat. 135.00
(I love the grammatical errors.)

This simultaneously brought us to the same important question: If our delicious meal cost us each under $25 and had sent us into sushi/sashimi-induced ecstasy, what sort of heavenly dining experience could be had if we were to order "The Ultimate Sushi Chef's Boat (For Two)?!?

With our meal well underway, we knew we could not order "The Ultimate Sushi Chef's Boat (For Two)"; although, we did briefly consider it.  Nevertheless, this intriguing menu choice led us to the an idea... The Most Special Meal.  

Here's our basic line of thinking.  Every restaurant/chef must have a meal which they consider to be the most special on the menu.  It could be special for its ingredients, preparation, portion, rarity, or whatever; but the chef recognizes it as standing apart from the rest of the dining options.  So, we figured it would be a great tradition to visit great restaurants and simply order the "Most Special Meal" (MSM).  It would be a sort of restaurant bucket list / man v food / bizarre foods combination.  

Here are the guidelines we established that day.

1. The meal would take place between my Bday (7/4) and his Bday (8/5).  That gave us about a month every summer to find the right time.

2. We would compile a list of 50+ renowned restaurants, cut them into little slips of paper, and place them in the Most Special Bag (MSB). 

3. In addition to the list of 50+, we threw in some cities too- NY, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, and D.C.  

4. Each year, my brother's daughter/my niece would pull the paper from the MSB for us and we would have to go to that restaurant.  Simple.  If she pulled a city, we would research that city's restaurants and travel there.  If she pulled a restaurant that had since closed for business, she would just pick another.  Every few years we would add some new restaurants to the MSB.  BTW, the bag is pink.  I'll get a pic of it up as soon as I can.  

Here are the guidelines for the actual meal.

1. We will accept the menu from our server and evaluate the choices, just to see what the lay of the land is.

2. When ordering, we would simply ask the server what the two most special meals are.  After hearing his/her suggestion, my brother and I would decide which of us would get what meal.  No debate and no going back.  We would eat whatever that restaurant considered their MSM.  

So how did our first MSM (2010) go?  It was great.  Funny thing is I don't remember what I ordered last year.  I know my brother had a whole fish that was spectacular, but I have to ask him what I ate.  We went to Tequila's in Philly.  Of course, we had to order some Tequila as well.  We went with a suggestion from our fantastic server.  He brought out each of our drinks by balancing the filled glass on his head while walking.  Yep.  It was bad ass!  The Tequila itself was seriously strong.  It kicked my butt so hard, I could only take a few sips.  Our server jokingly teased us and pointed to a early 

20-something year old female server who he claimed downs this stuff with ease.  She laughed at us too.  It was all in good fun.  So the first MSM was memorable and this year's should be as well.

Tequila's waiting area

Tequila's Bar/Dining area

Tequila's dining room

Our meals & mojitos



The glasses of tequila that defeated us


In a week we'll be heading to Chinatown, to a place we've been visiting for years with our parents.  We are going to Joy Tsin Lau.  It is a legendary restaurant in Chinatown.  They don't even have a website.  How's that for established?  They've been there as far back as I can remember and they simply work off of word of mouth.  We are going for some dim sum, which is Chinese a la carte brunch, for those of you who don't know.  Servers zig-zag all over dining room and you decide what you would like to eat.  Think of Fogo de Chao, but with all types of options.  The scene is usually loud and exciting and very entertaining.  I'm looking forward to it.  

 



My niece holding the Most Special Bag

A review of MSM part 2 is forthcoming.