There is no such thing as a bad meal, only bad dining companions!
I just found NR a couple of months ago(channel surfing and I caught the Beirut show-what an intro to AB!)and caught the website while trying to find the next NR show and have to put my 2 cents in.
It does not matter how good the food is, how carefully it was prepared or how well presented it is. Meals are memorable because of the company we are in and the people involved in the preparation of that meal.
My most memorable meals are rarely based in restaurants and will never again be replicated because of the people I was with and the circumstances we were in.
I am not by any means an extreme foodie (seal eyes are a bit much) but roasted goat with warm beer (inexcusable if I was in the U.S.)was an absolutely perfect meal in Haiti as was a whole roasted pig with, yes, more warm beer, on the beach in Gunungastoli, Indonesia. A home cooked Vietnamese dinner in Viet Nam and a polish hot dog bought from a stand in New York are the memories of a lifetime because of the people involved.

There is an ingredient to these meals that no four-star restaurant can ever match. Until I can travel again, I can only live in the not too distant past while scraping up enough money for my next trip. And live vicariously through the stories that others are sharing!