Iconic dishes, legendary restaurants

As a few readers noted in our post about the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, the rankings reflect the views of the sponsor company as much as they do the judgment of experts. Well, I have another curated list for you, but this one is different. It’s a list of the 150 most legendary restaurants and each one’s iconic dish. You might not agree with these rankings either, but I found them entertaining.

According to Taste Atlas, which compiled the list, these are not just luxury establishments with high price tags, but are rather “destinations in their own right, comparable to the world’s most famous museums, galleries and monuments.” Sometimes, of course, famous monuments or tourist attractions turn out to be much less exciting or spectacular than their hype, and this could be true for some of the restaurants on this list. I wouldn’t know, because I have not been to any of the 150 establishments. The closest I’ve been is that a friend once went to Ye Old Cheshire Cheese in London.

There were a few familiar (to me) names on the list like Katz’s Delicatessen in New York and Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, but the majority of restaurants were not ones I’ve read about before. They are from all corners of the world, with listings from countries both well known for their cuisine and others that do not generally come up in culinary conversations. Many of the restaurants are over 100 years old, fitting the description of these rankings as celebrating establishments that “have remained relevant and highly regarded in an ever-changing culinary landscape.”