Hubs sent me this YouTube video and tells me that things like Brazilian pizza also exist. So anyone more traveled than me, have you ever had anything particularly interesting?
Edit: It’s also interesting to me how English adjective order affects this. The video is, for instance, describing Indian Chinese food, not Chinese Indian food. I’m sure other languages have something similar.
Look at this Scotch egg! Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Do döner kebabs in Austria count as a Turkish food?
No, it counts as German food
Depends on where the dönertier was raised.
idk man the doner kebab I had in Berlin was way better than in Istanbul. Istanbul still had excellent food, just not the kebab for whatever reason. Maybe we just didn’t try the right place.
Where? Friend of mine from Vienna always complains about the lack of good Döner and would love a good recommendation.
Unfortunately it’s been 18 years since I was in Austria, and as an American who’d never had one before they all seemed good, so I couldn’t really help. I remember once my cousin took us to a pizza place that served both döners and the meat inside of dough like a calzone, but couldn’t tell you at all where it was beyond I think we were on the eastern side of the Danube.
But please have an Ottakringer Blopp and/or Kaiser Doppelmalz for me the next time you’re in Vienna.
NYC is cheating
Toronto too. Or LA. I know a lot of Koreans that say the best Korean food in the world is in LA.
I moved to New Zealand six months ago, and I have had exactly one truly bad meal since I’ve been here. I haven’t eaten any Maori food, so I guess all the food I’ve eaten has been from another country.
The one that surprised me the most was KFC. We moved from one state away from Kentucky, and we had to come here to have truly good KFC.
I was expecting the Chinese food to be good here, but it’s really good. So is the Korean, Indian, and Malaysian food. The fish and chips are good. The burgers are great, even from McDonald’s. The absolute best was Filipino food from a tiny little restaurant in a random strip mall near Sylvia Park. That food changed my life.
In fairness, I have had a couple of “fine” meals—as in, “well, nothing special, but it was fine.”
The one bad meal was Pad Thai made by Thai people at a Thai restaurant down by the beach. It was just way too sweet, which makes me wonder if they saw me and made it “for a white guy” or something.
Well, I had the exact opposite experience with KFC. In Europe KFC is crispy, crunchy, seasoned, delicious. When I was in Kentucky we stopped at the supposedly first KFC. Holy greasy bland chewy chicken, batman! Didn’t try KFC again the whole trip.
Yeah, I don’t know what the US malfunction with KFC is. Obviously capitalism, but beyond that.
I had a blintz in Bali.
Sounds like a 1930s tap dancing song.
Or a 70s rock song
🎶 Bali Blintz Bali Blintz Bali Blintz Bali Blintz 🎵
Are you ready Steve? Uh huh.
Andy? Yeah. Mick? Ok.
Alright, fellas, let’s go!
Paint my fence!
Indian food in the UK. I don’t think this will surprise anyone, though.
Absolutely. I was just recalling in an earlier thread a dinner I had in Cornwall near Tintagel, at a family run Indian place. I was keen on trying vindaloo, but the owner talked me down to madras - and I was glad, because that madras was at the perfect edge of my hotness tolerance and was delicious. The vindaloo probably would have been too much for me.
Yep. Vindaloo from a good Indian is evil 😃
Disappointed that I failed the Dave Lister test tho. OTOH it means I still have more than one taste bud.
I had an excellent home-made lasagne in a restaurant in Gent, Belgium.
Was the restaurant attached to a home?
Nope. It was on the main square and was called 't Vosken.
Now I’m genuinely confused what made it homemade…haha
Because they made it themselves, I guess.
Isn’t making things themselves what restaurants are supposed to be doing? Not always, but a good restaurant would, at least.
Can I ask in which one? I’m planning to go to Gent soon
Certainly! It was: 't Vosken, Sint-Baafsplein 19. I’ll try to upload a photo.
Thank you very much! I saved it already and really appreciate the effort :)
You’re very welcome. Make sure you have the Dame Blanche with cream for dessert!
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puerto rico is not really a country, but it did have the absolute best hummus pizza I’ve ever had. the food there in general was top notch.
Hummus… Pizza? That’s a new one for me. Where is that popular/from?
I’d describe it as a Mediterranean fusion food. It’s not common, but when you see it, it’s typically an option at trendy artisanal pizza places.
Interesting. Does the hummus just replace the red sauce, or is the rest of the structure different too?
I’ll have to give it a try if I come across it.
No cheese, typically toppings that go well with hummus (roasted reg, olives, herbs).
Ah, gotcha. The pizza dough is really a substitute for pita, rather than fitting the hummus into pizza (if that makes sense). I bet some feta would go crazy on that.
Still sounds pretty yummy, I’ll def have to find that somewhere.
I had some really good Chinese takeaway noodles in Athens. Bonus: 500mL Heineken’s were a €1.50.
Had the most amazing burger in Japan. I’m not sure what they put in their food, but EVERYTHING there tastes amazing.
Perhaps Ajinomoto?
Maybe! But msg is used basically everywhere so why would it be so much more amazing in Japan haha.
Native production ig?
We loooooooove gelato in Italy. It is magical to my husband and me.
We have tried to find an acceptable substitute in the US, but nothing is “right”. I don’t know if it’s the geographical influence on the taste of our dairy, or USDA standards for keeping ice cream a bit too cold. We haven’t found a place here that’s advertising “gelato” that gets anywhere close to the experience of gelato in Italy.
But we randomly stopped at a gelateria in Akhihabara, Tokyo. Low expectations, but we wanted a snack. And that was hands down the best gelato we’ve ever had outside Italy. 5 stars.
Oh, I have A Story.
I studied abroad for a year in Fukuoka, Japan (beautiful city, off the beaten path for foreigners), and the options where I was were pretty limited in terms of foreign restaurants. However, at some point, us international students discovered this little Turkish shawarma place hidden away somewhere, and it was absolutely delicious, very filling (in a way Japanese food generally isn’t), affordable, and unlike any of the other options. The word spread quickly through the I-house, and many of us became regulars (although it seemed mostly ignored by the locals). We were there so often we got to know the owner, who spoke English, he was ethnically Turkish, but had actually come from Germany and decided to move to Japan and open a restaurant. Over several months while we were there, we watched the place get noticably nicer, more decor, the guy started importing Turkish rugs to sell out front, etc.
Unfortunately, as our second semester came to a close, we went there one last time to say goodbye to the owner and his delicious shawarma. He said like, “Damn, you’re leaving? I don’t know what I’m going to do.” I’m pretty sure we were almost single-handedly keeping his business going, and it would take several months for the next exchange students to arrive and no guarantee they’d find the place or fall in love with it like we did. We didn’t really have a way of leaving a message for that next group, to say, “Hey, check out this shawarma place,” and I never did find out if the business survived us leaving.
Funny enough, this was how I learned what shawarma was, just before the first Avengers movie came out (dating myself here).
I’m surprised you say Fukuoka is off the beaten path since it’s like the biggest city in Kyushu with international airports, schools, and whatnot. Was it not a popular destination for foreigners back when you were there? I know it’s always been a popular spot for Japanese people.
Do you know if the shop is still around?? I might be going for work next month, and I’d love to get some good shawarma.
I meant “off the beaten path” relative to places like Tokyo or Kyoto. Fukuoka is still a good sized city, but my experience is that most Westerners haven’t heard of it. Japan is a homogeneous country in general, so outside of big tourist destinations, you’re unlikely to just bump into another foreigner on the street, and occasionally like a little kid would stare at me in awe (I did also stand out because of my height, and found it amusing). Like I said, beautiful city, and definitely recommend it.
Do you know if the shop is still around?? I might be going for work next month, and I’d love to get some good shawarma.
Well, I got curious and did some googling. I’m pretty sure the place I went to was called Pasha and unfortunately it closed down. However, there’s actually a place that looks pretty similar (I thought maybe it was the same one at first) called Kafe Toruko that you might check out.
I had amazing ramen in Estonia. It was run by a Japanese lady though so I’m not sure that counts.
Sushi in Singapore, and Indian food (Tikka Fahl, iirc) in Czech Republic
