In this week’s Just The Tip, we’re sharing 4 splurge-worthy tasting dinners we’ve done on vacation and inspiring you to indulge in a special, culinary journey while on a trip. And we share a couple more tasting dinner we have our eye on!

1. Food Cellar Martk, Reykjavik, Iceland
2. Joel Rubuchon, Las Vegas, NV, USA
3. Barley Swine, Austin, TX, USA
4. Pasta Bar, Austin, TX, USA

Explore out other food & beverage episodes if you love exploring local cuisine, beer, and wine while traveling.

Tasting Dinners – Episode Transcript

0:35

Welcome to this week’s just the tip. Today we’re going to be talking you through some of our favorite ways to eat, and that is with a tasting dinner.

0:50

I love a tasting dinner, Jamal, And I’ve been doing tasting dinners for years and I feel like recently Kim, you’ve caught on to that train and they are just so much fun.

They are a multi course experience.

It’s not just dinner, it’s so much more than that.

And one of my things about traveling, as you guys know, is just eating food.

1:09

And I think when you travel, of course, a tasting menu lends itself to be experienced in that type of situation.

Of course, when you travel, yes, you want to eat street food or go to popular spots that aren’t necessarily tasting menus.

But sometimes a tasting menu is just the thing that you need to do, especially if you’re going to London, Dubai, Las Vegas.

1:31

Of course, those aren’t the only places that you can experience tasting menus.

We’ve experienced them in other cities and we are going to talk about that.

We’re just going to list several of our favorites that we’ve experienced to inspire you guys to a try a tasting menu.

When you travel, if you haven’t, or even in your hometown, if there is a place that has a tasting menu, try that experience.

1:52

And a tasting meal, usually it’s dinner.

A tasting experience just adds on that much more to the trip.

You mentioned a few cities.

Those are some cities that kind of lean into luxury.

It kind of is a luxury experience.

And we always say our motto is fuck it, we’re on vacation.

2:07

And this is one of of those things that you could use that slogan for because it’s not like a three to four course meal, right?

When we say tasting, it’s like 9-12, maybe even more with all the little surprises they throw in.

Yeah, they always throw in a bunch of surprises that you’re not even expecting.

2:24

And don’t get us wrong, you can find the tasting menus that are the four to six.

Usually those are on the smaller and we are actually going to talk about a six course tasting that was completed by one of us, but they usually lend themselves to be a lot longer.

Like you said, Kim, the 9:00 to 12:00.

2:41

So I’m really excited to dive into this episode and share our experiences with you guys.

So we talked a little bit about what a tasting dinner is and we’ve said that there are multi course experience and every single bite that they bring out to you is beautifully arranged on your plate.

2:56

It’s very artistic, it’s very beautiful.

There’s usually a story behind it.

The chefs that helped make it will come out and personally talk to you or pour something on it.

We’ll talk about one in Dubai that had different storytelling elements to it.

3:12

Sometimes there’s like a table side cooking piece to it.

So it’s not just about the food because the food is actually pretty small portions in each of the little courses.

It’s about the whole shebang.

Right, and even though they are small portion sizes, believe it or not, after 9 to 12 different courses, also with the surprise accompaniments that they bring on the side, you will be full.

3:35

And rest assured, you do need time to experience this.

If they’re giving you that many courses, really you need to invest two to three hours.

This isn’t just a quick in out experience, it is a long term type situation.

Of course you’re not going to spend the entire night, you know, 5-10 hours there, but be prepared to invest time and just really savor and enjoy the entire experience.

3:57

I feel like this could really help with DE stressing too.

It’s like couple hours like you said right?

So you can really settle in, relax, maybe even do an optional wine or cocktail pairing that they might offer with the dinner.

I was going to say, I’m very glad that you mentioned that because we talked about relax.

4:13

Again, this is not the only way to relax, but lots of people like to have an adult beverage and a lot of these tasting menus do have the option to have pairings that go along with it, whether it be the wine or the cocktails as you mentioned, or combination of both, right?

It just really all depends on where you’re at, the theme, the food, etcetera.

4:32

So you can always enjoy that option too with it.

So Squatty, we want to tell you why you should try a tasting dinner because we feel like when you’re traveling, it’s such an experience and it’s going to create a, a great memory about the trip.

4:48

And it is a splurge activity.

So, you know, if you’re on vacation, just go with our motto and fuck it, we’re on vacation.

But you know, I think it’s a great way to spend time in a city.

Tasting menus.

Menus are a little bit on the pricier side.

5:03

We’ve seen them as low as about 80, be a little less if it’s not as a fancy place, but they are more high end too, ranging until like 3.

The most expensive one we’ve done was $500 a person.

Yeah.

So when we’re telling you the prices, of course this is per person, so they can be a lot higher that splurge one that Britney is mentioning, we will get to it and explain why we did it.

5:26

But that wasn’t an experience in and of itself and probably one of the best meals and food experiences I’ve ever had quite honestly.

So again, just do be prepared, but you can actually find really good tasting menus on the lower side of things.

But also do expect opinion on where you go.

5:43

They can be pricey.

Another thing for those of you like me who don’t like seafood, a lot of times seafood is on the menu for tasting dinners.

If it’s more high end they try to go fancy with like chalene, sea bass and all this crazy stuff.

Every single time I have seen seafood on the menu but still wanted to do the tasting dinner, I speak to the server or the chef and they always have a common me.

6:07

Maybe not every single restaurant can do that, but my success rate is 100% so far.

So don’t let that stereo away if you don’t love the menu and.

We’ll get to this later on when we talk about that experience, but we did do a tasting menu, all of us together, Kim, and it was seafood themed, but you wanted to join, didn’t want to eat the seafood and they made exactly like you said, all of the courses specific for you without seafood.

6:33

So it was really interesting because what they made for you on the fly was really good.

It also still fit the theme that they had for us and we got to see what they were making for you.

Plus then we got to see what the original was with the seafood.

So that was really fun too.

So if you are dining with somebody who doesn’t want to eat certain things, just don’t be afraid to ask.

6:53

But definitely ask when you’re making the reservation if they can do it and they will tell you upfront yes or no.

So why don’t we dive into just a few of the tasting menus that we’ve done so you guys can get a little feel about what they’re about?

A little taste, if you will.

I love that pumpkin.

That’s great.

7:09

So the first one I want to talk about is one that I did about a year ago when I went on a solo trip to Iceland.

So another thing I had never done a tasting dinner solo.

A lot of people have reservations about dining solo, especially something like this that’s so interactive and you want to experience it with someone.

7:26

I got to tell you, if you’re solo traveling, tasting dinners are the way to go.

You have a built in buddy to talk to throughout every course of the dinner.

They’re going to be checking in with you.

It’s like they’re sitting there with you.

I love it.

And then you get a little bit of your own time, but you still have someone there to chat.

7:42

With that’s right, so the food cellar Martik in Reykjavik, Iceland is a great little spot very cozy it’s amazing, especially in the winter time because they have the heaters and it’s a little bit underground.

It’s got a great vibe.

I did the six course tasting dinner there.

7:58

I also did the six wine pairings to go along with each course I went in by myself.

I sat down, this was one that had said seafood on the menu and I went in.

I thought if they can’t do the tasting dinner without seafood, I’ll just order something off the menu.

8:14

So I did not call ahead, but when I sat down, I asked them, they went back and talked to the chef and they did do it without seafood for me.

And the six courses were each amazing.

And the wines, of course, he comes out and pours each one of the wines.

So it started with like beef carpaccio with pickled beets and Creme fresh and blueberries and fried potatoes and champagne with that first one.

8:34

But when I say all those ingredients, it’s not that much.

Like it was 3 blueberries.

The Creme fresh was a little dollop, tiny little dollops on the plate.

The fried potatoes were like teeny little chips almost.

It’s like very delicate with that champagne.

8:50

It was so special.

Well, delicate and artsy, right?

We kind of talked about that too.

They’re really telling you a story on a plate and sometimes they will have a theme that goes with the menu and yes, you know when you’re talking dining alone, Kim and you have a buddy to talk to.

Maybe we should go in a little bit more because they’re telling you the story of the food, how it was prepared, what you’re supposed to be getting flavor wise and notes coming through.

9:12

So, you know, maybe a tasting menu might be something where somebody’s like, that’s not really my thing.

That doesn’t sound fun.

But I would still encourage you to try it because it really is an experience.

And some people, you may not know that you like that, but when you experience it, you’ll be like, oh, wow, this is the way to go.

9:28

Yeah, I feel like it helps broaden your palate a little bit.

Yes, absolutely, and I totally got that from this tasting dinner too.

The next fish was something I’m familiar with.

It was pork belly.

It had pickled apples, hazelnuts, ginger, white wine.

The next couple dishes brought in my palate, I’ll tell you that.

9:48

So duck and quail wings came out with an orange wine.

I never had quail.

It’s actually very good.

I’m a big fan.

I love quail.

Yeah, it was delicious and the sauces they had on it was so good.

The next one was reindeer.

Carpaccio reindeer.

Yeah, I’ve never had that before.

10:04

Poor little Rudolph made it onto your plate.

I know, I guess Rudolph tastes pretty good, I must say.

And it was, it had gruyere, Earl Grey soaked cranberries, like so fancy.

And then by this time I’m getting super full but they bring out what was supposed to would be the main course which is still a small portion but a bit bigger.

10:21

Rib eye, beef tenderloin, carrot smash, red wine.

And then they had a dessert.

The 6th 1 was the dessert course, so it had a chocolate Grenache, Raspberry sorbet, berries and then a port wine to end it off.

That sounds like a very nice tasting menu and six portions.

10:38

Not too many, so you’re still getting full, but not excessive either.

I was excessively full.

Like these small portions really catch up with you, and I think because you’re eating slow, you’re metabolizing things and not like when you sit down with a plate and just shovel it in.

Yeah, you know, that’s very true.

10:53

The longer you sit, the more it has time to settle in your stomach and you really feel that fullness overtime as you’re going.

And you had it with the wine pair and so you’re filling up on liquid too.

So again, just kind of reiterating the point, you know, even though these are small bites, rest assured you will get full and leave satisfied The.

11:09

Next one we’re going to talk about is Jewelry Bichon in Las Vegas.

Jamal and I did this for our one year anniversary, so it’s been 9 years since we’ve been here since we just celebrated 10 years this year.

But it’s a 3 Michelin star restaurant.

It’s a French restaurant and they have changed things a little bit since we’ve been there because I just took a look at their menu.

11:27

When we went, it was like 16 courses.

My God, you’re.

Saying you were full off of 6, imagine how full you would be off of 16.

Plus like the amouge bouge and they had like a bread cart and they had a dessert cart and they had so many extra things that I was just like so stuffed by the time we were done.

11:47

But it was the best tasting menu I’ve done to the state.

Yeah, and the bread and dessert cart aren’t even part of the courses.

And you forgot to mention, sometimes between courses, they would bring out palate cleansers and sorbets for you to have on top of that to cleanse your palate for the next course.

12:02

So I mean, you really do get full and eat a lot.

But again, this is a three Michelin star.

This is the highest rating that any restaurant could get.

Any chef would be a static to get a three Michelin star.

And Joel Rubichon is actually a chef.

12:17

The restaurant’s named after him, him.

He is known to be one of the best chefs in the world.

Unfortunately, he has passed away.

So of course, this restaurant is living on his legacy and everything he taught his chefs and people under him.

But nevertheless, they still do keep that high quality.

12:32

So now if you go to Joel Rubashon, it’s a 11:50 course tasting menu and it is 525 per person.

So a lot.

And this is the one that we said that we splurge, but Brittany and I had done it because it was our one year anniversary and we were in Vegas.

12:48

You got to go big then at that point.

But again, I mentioned this earlier, probably one of the best food experiences I have ever had.

Everything was delicious.

The worst part of this experience is, you know, $20.00 for a bottle of water because you’re in a fancy restaurant.

13:03

Of course, they’re not giving you free water like they do here in America, even though this was in Las Vegas and restaurants like this, you know, you can expect to pay for the water.

So that kind of sucked.

But other than that, love the experience all around.

And I’m just thinking about it now and this just brought up a memory I had while I was there.

But I remember the dessert option was a theme, like a terrarium, like a plant terrarium.

13:24

So it was in a really cool glass like bowl.

And it looks like it was a terrarium with like the soil being chocolate and some other things in it.

So it was very artistical, very whimsical, and really matches their vibe because their vibe is like an art Deco townhouse with a lush garden terrace.

13:45

So they just kind of play off of that.

I forget because again, it’s been 9 years what the exact theme was, but I also believe one of the desserts too, they gave you a spoon or mallet to kind of crack it so it became like interactive that you.

Got do?

Something to spread some of the sauce, but again, I can’t really remember the specifics of it, but it had something to that.

14:06

But of course, restaurants like these do change their tasting menu from time to time, what they serve.

So it’s always going to be different.

But you can see online.

But great experience at Joel Rubashon.

Do consider it if you have a honeymoon and anniversary trip that you’re planning a birthday trip.

14:23

A tasting dinner tasting experience is the perfect thing to add on to a trip like that.

Yeah, we actually did another anniversary dinner tasting in 2021 in Austin.

Before you move there, Kim, we went to Barley Swine.

And I still have not been here and I live here.

14:39

You need to go it’s it’s a really good menu and it’s a seasonal menu, so it changes often.

So you do have to look at their website for their current offerings, but it’s more of an elevated rustic feel.

So they have things like carnitas, shrimp and grits and some more down to earth, not as fancy meals.

14:57

So if you’re trying to like dive in and dip your toes into tasting menus, this is a good one to try because it’s not just a full out experience where you’re not used to all of these different flavors.

The different flavors or the courses being that long, this one was a relatively short one when we did it.

15:13

Not very many courses and I remember it being very economical in terms of it’s pricing.

So I don’t think it’s anything too outrageous either.

So if you happen to be in the Austin, TX area, Barley Swine is a great place to go.

And you really described it well, Brittany, this is probably a great place to go for your first time experience where you’re not going to be overwhelmed potentially by like the fanciness or taken aback and be like what is this?

15:38

They really do keep it down to earth and semi casual in there but with that elevated experience.

Well, I have a birthday coming up so I’m going to be looking at their menu.

Yeah, you’ve already said you’re totally fine going alone.

Not that you’re going to celebrate your birthday alone.

I’m sure you’re going to be with friends and other people, but you can also go experience it alone if you wanted.

15:57

To very true.

I’m dying to talk about probably my very first tasting experience when we went to Dubai and we were balling out at the Atlantis, the Palm Resort, and we dined at Oceano.

Oh my gosh, this was a dream come true because not only were we getting a tasting menu, but we were also getting somewhat of a show.

16:18

Because if you don’t know, the restaurant is in the aquarium, so the very front glass that you’re looking at is part of the aquarium.

And that’s an Atlantis saying aquarium like they’re, I can’t believe they can fit that many fish in there.

Yeah, it’s not like, oh, here’s just an aquarium that’s at the center of the room.

16:35

The entire wall 50 feet high, probably 50 feet wide.

Is the aquarium you are dining in amongst the fish in that sense of things, right.

So this is that seafood restaurant that Kim was talking about where she told them, hey, can you alter the menu?

16:51

And they definitely did for her.

And it was still really good.

Even though it’s a seafood thing.

They changed it for you.

They were able to come up with with amazing dishes that fit the theme that we had, but this was a great experience all around.

It was a nine course tasting.

17:06

They also had a pianist who was playing live, which I thought was really fun, added to the ambience.

And I remember us, we were just giving her requests and then she was playing it because she asked for some.

Nobody gave her any, so she was playing a few of her own that she had ready to go.

17:22

But then we were just giving her requests and she just looked up the song and was able to play.

Such a fun experience.

She.

Was so good.

She played so many different types of songs.

It was amazing.

But what I also loved about this tasting menu was it was a story.

It was called Metamorphosis, and there was stories to go along with each course.

17:41

And they weren’t just bringing out the food on plates.

Like at one point they brought a small salad out and it was served on top of a broken clock and there was a story about that.

And I remember they poured the dressing on top of it and it was just like the most beautiful dressing pour on top of the salad I’ve ever.

17:58

Well, and.

Then he made an analogy about time as he was doing it and putting the dressing on, going kind of clockwise, or maybe it was counterclockwise, I don’t remember.

But of course the story he was telling fit the theme and it was just overall fun.

I mean, how can you say that something like that isn’t fun and cool?

18:16

Lots of people think it’s like, oh, just showy for show, and sometimes maybe it can be.

But when they really pull out the quality and with the experience, it really enhances everything.

And this was fun and very, very memorable.

Sucker for a show because if there’s ever anything on the menu that catches on fire tableside, I’m ordering it.

18:35

So you’re like a banana Foster’s type girl.

You want that flambe or doing something on the side?

Yeah, there you go.

They had also brought out one of the chefs to cook skewers tableside for us.

That’s one of the courses.

That one sticks out to me and Jamal.

What else sticks out to me?

I don’t know if we got any $20 bottles of water, but I do remember my $35 glass of wine.

18:56

How?

Can we forget that?

At that point, you know you’re splurging.

Well worth it.

I mean, it just goes with it.

I.

Think this one was like 4-3 to 400, I can’t remember exactly.

It was pricey, but when in Dubai part of the experience, part of one of the most legendary hotels that the city of Dubai has so great experience all around that Asiano in Atlantis.

19:18

And if you guys want to hear more about Asiano, we actually have an episode on Dubai, so go and check that out.

We did a lot of fun things in Dubai in 48 hours, this being one of them, and you can hear more in depth about all of our tasting course menus that we experienced then.

The most recent fancy tasting dinner that I went to was actually here in Austin at Pasta Bar.

19:40

It’s got one Michelin star.

It’s a hidden place on the strip mall on the east side.

They don’t have any signs outside.

You just get the address.

You kind of have to figure out where it is.

They have curtains covering the windows so you can’t see inside, but it’s very stylish once you go in.

I think it was about $200 a person, but for me it was it’s free because I was on a date that’s.

20:02

The best kind of tasty menu when it’s free.

Shout out to my date.

But it was a great experience.

It was one of these ones where they have all these surprises.

So as we arrived, they sat us in the lobby and they had two teeny little bites and welcome drinks.

And then you go back and sit at the chef’s table, which is essentially really comfortable bar seating and it’s an open air kitchen.

20:23

So they’re preparing everything right in the open and bringing it just a few steps to serve it to you at the bar area.

We did not get the wine pairing because it was all white wines.

We did get a bottle of wine to split, which was nice.

And they personalized that they had like our name on the menus.

20:40

And we sat down and I don’t remember every single course.

I, for one of the first times in my life, had my phone away a little bit, Wasn’t taking a picture of every single course.

You must have been really involved in the date if that was the case then.

Kim See, I try to give my attention to my date when I’m on one, but now the content has sacrificed.

21:03

I do remember though, even though it’s called pasta bar and it’s very much centered around pasta, not every dish was so pasta.

I was surprised by that.

Of course they brought out your own little personal round loaf of bread with this delicious creamy butter and olive oil in the middle of it was so good.

21:19

But I was like, don’t fill up on bread, I know what’s coming.

One of the servings was rib eye slices with two little raviolis on the side and drizzles of sauce that they put on in front of you when they set your meal down. 01 of the meals they brought out was there was a giant bowl of hot rocks and then they lit the rocks kind of on fire to smoke them up and they smoked the marshmallow that was part of the dessert course.

21:44

Oh, that sounds really yummy.

Yeah, it was very interesting.

And then once you go through all of the dishes at this area, they move you into a third space, which is like the nightcap.

They it’s a surprise cocktail that they give you and then they come out with this this lunch box that had lights in it and inside that lunch box was an icicle pop more candies and then you enjoy that there and then when you leave the bar gives you cookies with a thank you note before you leave the door.

22:12

I love it.

You know, you talked about liking a show.

They had the show with the rocks lighting it on fire.

They’re moving you from room to room.

So this is a really interactive dining experience, which sounds really fun.

So we’re definitely going to have to try Pasta Bar ourselves when we are in Austin.

22:27

Texas one of those that rotates the menu.

So if you are in Austin or local or curious, these menus do change frequently.

And Squatty’s, those are the ones we’re going to talk about.

But we have done a few more like we’ve done Gordon Ramsay in London, which is a three Michelin star.

22:43

We’ve done Picasso in Las Vegas, which is A2 Michelin star.

And it’s been years and we’ve kind of talked about some of our best ones beforehand.

So these are some of just ideas that we had.

I want to mention one that kind of breaks the rules a little bit.

A lot of these are higher end.

22:58

I did one in Austin recently that was only $35 and it was only available weekdays during happy hour.

It’s at a place called Nomaday on South.

First it was $35 for five tacos and they were so cute and little and they were all very different and came out in beautiful displays.

23:16

And the last one was a dessert Taco.

Oh, I do love a dessert Taco.

See, and that’s what we’re saying.

Some of these are high end and some don’t need to be right?

Tasting is tasting.

You just try different unique things.

They’re making it fun, cute.

You have a dessert Taco, probably 5 different types of meats that were on there just as well.

23:33

So you get different varieties.

It’s not like you’re eating the same thing.

So just really the tasting menus are really fun.

And when we mentioned, of course, you know, try it in your hometown if you have it, Kim, you’re talking about ones you’ve done in Austin, Brittany and I did 1 here in San Diego at a restaurant called Hidden Fish.

23:49

It’s an omakaze, which if you don’t know what that is, it’s basically a sushi spot where the chef prepares whatever he wants for you and it’s a multi course tasting and you just eat what he makes for you.

And this is one of the most popular restaurants in San Diego right now, let alone like one rate is one of the best sushi places too.

24:08

So we experienced that.

So just search in your own hometown, see if you have it.

And of course, when you travel, try these things.

And I just want to throw this out there before we close out this episode, La Tanya in Quebec City, I have my eye on you.

I want to do a tasting dinner there.

24:23

It’s a 2 Michelin star restaurant that I’ve toured.

The rooms look absolutely a beautiful.

I’ve sampled a few of their little bites, but I would absolutely love to come back for a full on tasting experience.

And also in a similar note, I want to go back to Sparrow and Wolf in Las Vegas.

Jamal and I have eaten from their a la carte menu, but they actually do have a tasting dinner, which looks really great.

24:43

It’s four courses, so on the smaller side, but based off of what we had from the a la carte menu, I know this is going to be good.

We are overdue for a Vegas trip.

We’ve been talking about it, so let’s make it happen.

Yes.

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s Just the Tip.