I Ate At The World's Best Restaurant & Here's Why I'd Rather Eat At Boston Pizza

The food

Comparing these two places might seem like comparing apples to oranges, but sometimes you need to compare those two fruits!

At Central, you're subjected to twelve courses, or as they call them "experiences," which are laid out by the elevation that the ingredients are found in the nation of Peru.

Every single dish is made from foraged items and all are prepared with the high fine-dining expertise that you would expect from a place that has been named the best restaurant in the world.

As for Boston Pizza, they're a big national chain that serves everything from chicken wings to steak to, you guessed it, pizza. While the exact details of the food preparation are hazy, you can probably assume that there's some sort of national system, likely a bit of freezing, that keeps things consistent across their hundreds of restaurants.

The main thing I noticed when eating the food at Central was that some of it actually felt like a provocation. The first thing we put into our mouths was a "texture course," called Black Rock, which was this cube of a black, muddy substance that had these sort of rubbery, fishy bits coming out of it.

When you put it in your mouth it tasted like dirt, but the taste wasn't the point of the dish — it was to confront you with what it means to taste the natural environment of a nation. It was there to make you think: "What does it mean to eat foraged food?"

From there, the dishes came in with new and exciting flavours and ingredients I'd never experienced before, like tangy fish from the Amazon River made with watermelon, and root vegetables from thousands of meters above sea level.

It was the sort of meal that made you rethink what it means to eat.

So, you might be thinking, how could a meal from Boston Pizza compare?

For me, it's all about comfort and nostalgia.

Growing up in my small town in the mountains of B.C., one of the few restaurant options I had was Boston Pizza. It was a place for post-hockey tournament meals and birthday parties and was the place where I took some of my first dates as a teenager. The pizza was a staple of many events, and still today it's something that I deeply yearn for.

Taking a bite out of that inconsistently seasoned food drives a shiver up my spine that no other restaurant, food, or place can replicate, and yes, that includes the best restaurant in the world.

While one meal from Central has completely changed the way I see food, no dish or restaurant can give me the comfort that the middle-of-the-road pizza from Boston Pizza can.

The vibe

At Central, you're thrust into the world of high-class, high-end service. The entire space looked like the set from the movie The Menu. Everything was black, and every single dish, plate, table, and chair had its own bespoke design that was made especially for the restaurant.

Before you even set foot in the main dining area, you're walked through a garden and into the front doors where you're presented with a giant stone table topped with an array of the ingredients you'll be trying.

The service of the wait staff is also exactly as high level as you'd expect — every whim and detail is taken into account. You can't sit down without them holding the chair for you.

I put my bag on the floor for 30 seconds to get something out of it and, within moments, someone had put a stool underneath it so it wasn't on the ground. It was mind-blowing.

As for Boston Pizza, it's obviously a whole lot different. It's a place that, in my experience, is mostly staffed with people young and old who have a basic ability to be personable and to work fast in a sometimes crowded and overworked restaurant.

While your every whim is not going to be waited on like it is at a three Michelin Star restaurant like Central, you will probably have a lot more in common with your waitstaff when you sit down at Boston Pizza.

As for the decor, I have to admit it and say I love the kitschy sports bar-meets-pizza-parlour vibe you get at Boston Pizza. While the chain has gone through a slew of rebrands and redecorations across its locations, it will always have jerseys from local hockey and other sports players and maybe some vintage posters in Italian.

Yes, these are worlds apart, but I know which one I would love to live in (it's Boston Pizza).

The verdict

When all is said and done, I understand that Central is the best restaurant in the world for a reason — it is really, really, really good — but sometimes subjective experience trumps objective fact.

Boston Pizza has food I love, even though I sometimes actually kind of hate it, and a vibe I adore, while Central has food that challenges and expands your mind and makes you rethink life.

It's like comparing that new art film on the festival circuit to the comfort movie you first watched when you were 12 and come back to whenever you need a pick-me-up. They both have their time and place, but you know what one you're going to be going back to on the regular.

All of this isn't even mentioning the vast price disparity between the two — the meal at Central was over $800 for two people!

While Boston Pizza isn't a place that will be getting international recognition, It still has a special place in my heart — and I'd choose it any day over another meal at Central.