3. Your order, please...

Even the water order is fancy at Victoria and Albert's. Guests will be asked if they would like sparkling or tap water, or if they'd like to see a menu of waters from around the world. Guests will then make their other drink orders. Victoria & Albert's offers wine pairings for an additional fee, and also has non-alcoholic drinks such as pomegranate lemonade.

When guests receive their menus (which change daily), a server will go over them. Guests without food restrictions, will have at least two choices for each course.

The first course is an amuse bouche, and previous versions of this small tasting have included lobster with caviar, rock shrimp and butternut squash puree with beef tenderloin. Other courses include dishes such as seared Maine diver scallop with roasted cauliflower, Virginia black bass with petite French lentils and roasted carrots, and Australian Kobe-style beef tenderloin with Bordelaise sauce. Before dessert, you're usually given a choice of a cheese selection or gelato, then you end your meal with a choice of treats including Tanzanian chocolate mousse with orange-scented milk chocolate gelato, caramelized banana gâteau or Hawaiian Kona chocolate soufflé. The dishes are presented with flair too, such as Niman Ranch lamb inside a smoke-filled bell jar and fennel-crusted diver scallop on a bed of salt. Even the bread throughout the meal is delivered with herbed butter and six different types of salt.

If guests dine in the Main Dining Room, their courses are brought to the table by a server, and in Queen Victoria's Room, they're finished tableside in the French gueridon style of service near a cozy fireplace. And if a guest is lucky enough to snag the Chef's Table, they'll be treated to a champagne toast followed by a wide variety of dishes that can be paired with wine and spirits. Of course, they'll also be in the middle of all of the action too, and its important to note that guests are not allowed to leave the kitchen to go to the restroom without an escort, due to the safety issues involved with sitting in a live kitchen. 

And speaking of restrooms, the restaurant's elegance extends there, too. The stalls are more like tiny rooms, and each one has its own sink inside. You won't dry your hands with paper towels but with washcloths that you'll deposit in a wicker basket. That basket features a lining with a very subtle print of silhouettes of Mickey and Pluto — the only hints of Disney characters that you'll find in the entire restaurant. 

Other special touches during the meal include trolley service, butter that's carved at each individual table and even a special way of making coffee: the brew is prepared at the table in a Cona Coffee Maker, an all-glass creation engineered in Germany that features a flame under a bowl of water that's topped with a bowl of coffee grounds. After the water is boiled, the server puts out the flame and through vacuum pressurization, the coffee streams into the bowl of water.

4. A lasting impression

As you might expect, such a fine meal with elegant service doesn't come cheap.The seven-course meal costs $150, or $250 with wine pairings, and the ten-course option is $235, or $340 with wine pairings, in the Main Dining Room. In Queen Victoria's Room, the meal is also $235 or $340 with wine, and the Chef's Table meal costs $250, or $355 with wine parings. Some of the menu choices also come with an upcharge.

But in an effort to ease the sting, the restaurant gives guests a printed, personalized menu as a souvenir of their visit, along with another treat such as a loaf of date nut bread or a selection of chocolates that the server will wrap up for each guest. Ladies also receive a long-stemmed red rose that has had its thorns removed.

Victoria & Albert's isn't a place where most people could dine frequently, but it's certainly worth a visit for a special occasion or a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Many guests who have been lucky enough to dine at the restaurant say the meals eaten here are worth every penny.