The skinny on cuisines
April 27th, 2007I know what I like. You can agree, disagree, or whatever. I’d love to hear it. Here’s the skinny on various cuisines…
Chinese - Was exotic two decades ago, but now that Americans have exposure to better Asian cuisines, it’s losing its appeal. Most Chinese food is crap, although there was a dang good one in Pasadena, California I used to frequent.
California Fusion - The future. Some are crap, some are decent, but the better ones are making some serious money.
Japanese - Splitting into 2: sushi - Mrs. Z’s fav food and one of mine. Everything else - the art of simplicity. Love it.
French - Overrated and overpriced. However, French make some of the world’s best desserts.
Ethiopian - Looks like dysentery and tastes like dirt. One exception - a place in Austin, Texas is absolutely delicious. Wish I remembered the name.
Thai - Was better a decade ago before everyone started doing it. The authentic Thai food is much better, the stuff that hasn’t been Americanized. One warning, if you see Chinese working there, it’s probably not authentic. Plus, the Chinese have none of the grace and warmth of the Thais.
Vietnamese - I don’t care what anyone says, Pho has healing powers. I’ve had both horrible flus and hangovers and Pho heals them both. Love those spring rolls and those fruity drinks with the pearls as well. Best Pho I’ve ever had was Saigon City in Bellevue, Washington. Gorgeous waitresses too.
Southern cuisine - Love it, but refuse to have a steady diet of it. If you eat Southern food your whole life, don’t be surprised if you’re 50 pounds overweight in your 30s, have your first heart attack or stroke in your 40s, and die in your 50s.
Cajun - Love the shrimp and crawdads. Gumbo’s good if you’re sick, and jambalaya is okay. People brag endlessly about Cajun food and I like it, but won’t put it in my favs list.
English food - If you look up oxymoron in the dictionary, they use English food as an example of an oxymoron.
Italian food - I love Italian food as much as I love hot Italian actresses. The trick is to weed out the good from the mediocre. Good Italian food I could have on a daily basis and not get sick of it.
Spanish food - The forgotten Mediterranean cuisine. It’s actually not bad, but it’s not as good as Italian.
Greek food - It’s fast. It’s fun. Not one of my favs though.
Indian food - Mushy yuck yuck. I guess it’s good for people who have no teeth. One exception - Kennedy’s in San Francisco, an Irish pub with Indian food. It’s absolutely awesome. But most Indian food is horrible.
Mongolian food - Not sure how authentic Mongolian bar-be-que places are, but if I want a lot of food for cheap, I’ll go to one. The reason I’ve never been kicked out of them is because I tip well. I’ve been back for fourths before.
German food - As French is the most overrated, German is the most underrated. Goes great with good beer and good company. You might even find yourself singing. Sober, it’s kind of on the bland side though.
Moroccan food - I remember liking it, but it’s more the experience. If they don’t have a belly dancer, I won’t go. Nothing like belly dancing right after your multi-course meal.
Mexican food - Like Southern food, it’s good, but it will kill you. Not one of my favs, but I’ll hit happy hour with friends, drink a margarita or two, and enjoy some fine food. One hole in the wall in Martinez, California stands out. Have their soup. It’s not only delicious, but you’ll be able to breathe after eating it, no matter how bad your allergies are.
Czech - I remember liking it, but I think I’ve only had it once or twice. Not great food though.
Korean Bar-Be-Que - Been to one restaurant in Oxnard, California. This is good food. I love KimChi too.
Dim Sum - I’m keeping this separate from Chinese because I actually enjoy Dim Sum. Best I’ve ever had was in Seattle.
Russian food - One of the good things about vodka is it makes you forget just how bad the food was.
I see, ZS, that we are quite compatible, except that the missus and I like good Chinese food — Shahe fen and stuff like that. No sea slugs in brown sauce, thank you.
We are headed out to Maine and I already made it clear… I’m only interested in eating three things: whoopie pies, pizza from the Mobil gas station in Orrington and haddock at Helen’s. Maine cuisine is unique.
My friends took me out for sushi for the first time about 4 years ago and ordered the big assortment. I didn’t taste a single thing I didn’t like and I loved a lot of it. I would say it’s one of my faves now.
Awesome Korean barbecue in La Habra CA… no one spoke English, so it was a bit tough ordering by pointing.
When I met the fetching Mrs. Salisbury, she was working in a deli owned by a couple — wife is Polish and the husband is Mexican, so I’ve been spoiled with homemade golomki, carnitas, tamales for years.
Mmmmmmm It’s all good… thanks for the rundown.
i agree with your assessments of chinese and thai.
love italian, sort of don’t care one way or the other about mexican and french
can’t comment on a lot of the other.
trini….you gotta have. i can make a very good roti though my curry needs a bit of work. caribbean creole and indian food and i tend to mix dishes from both those traditions in ways that horrify my trini pals, but i love it. also, very very spicy stuff if that’s your thing.
I love Italian and Mexican, but haven’t found too many places around here that are decent. Maybe I’m not looking in the right places. We have Thai quite a bit, but that’s because there’s a really good place closeby. I have to say, though, that the waitress, who I think is “authentic” (she’s definitely not Chinese) is the grumpiest waitress I have ever seen. We obviously don’t go there for her.
I like Mexican myself, though it’s pretty easy to screw up. You’re right about Chinese, too. 95% of it is terrible, but that other 5% is REAL good.
This is something we could talk about for hours. I married a chef, and before I met him, I knew nothing about food. You could say I’ve been taking a 5 year intensive course.
My first date with my husband was Sushi, which was bold on his end because I had NEVER had Sushi before. Now it’s one of my favorite foods. I also enjoy Colombian food, which is fairly simple, as well as most Indian food, which is pretty complex, and I am intrigued by molecular gastronomy. I’ve been to one 5 star restaurant, and it was worth every penny. It was French, which I sometimes find a bit pretentious, but sometimes it’s just perfect. When I think about it, I can still taste the meal. I’m still working on Chinese and Thai. I think the flavors might be a little strong for me, so I’m trying to get used to them. Sometimes it’s hard because I do not, under any circumstances, eat shrimp. I’ve tried Moraccan once and would love to go again.
WHOA, you west coast people have a LOT of restaurant choices. I don’t know anyplace in MN where you could find all of those!
Sorry, but the mere thought of sushi makes my gorge rise! I’ve cleaned too many wormy fish to find sushi appetizing. L worked in a fish plant once. Commercially processed fish is frozen and thawed numerous times, and thrown in too many slimy tubs for me to consider EVER eating fish that isn’t thoroughly cooked!
Most of the ethnic foods we eat, I cook myself. We LOVE a good stir-fry. We used to have a superb Chinese place here. That’s where I got hooked on Mongolian Beef. It took me 5 yrs, but I managed to duplicate the recipe.
I find authentic Mexican food bland. We prefer Tex-Mex.
Heh, I’ve never thought of German food as ethnic. Maybe that’s because I’m 1/2 German and L is almost all German. L’s Grandma taught me how to make the world’s BEST German Potato Salad! Foods like pork and kraut(my Grandma made her own), fried cabbage, sausages, and dumplings were always considered standard fare for the German farmers in our families.
I probably don’t want to know, but what is “California Fusion”?
Bo - I like good Chinese food too, it’s just rare. Walnut Creek had a good one but it’s gone downhill with new ownership.
I’ve yet to eat Polish food besides sausages. I think a Polish restaurant is in need.
Lime - We need a good Caribbean food place around here. never had it, even when we did the Caribbean cruise.
Notta - Maybe she was just an abused child.
Yeah, it’s a problem with Italian especially. So many places are just mediocre. It’s such a good cuisine if they get it right.
Scott - Even more we agree on.
United - I wish I could try Columbian. A friend’s girlfriend is Columbian. She’s a babe, but can’t cook a thing. It’s too bad.
No shrimp? That’s too bad. I love shrimp. That wipes out a lot of good Gulf Coast cuisine.
Tshsmom - California fusion is a mix of several cuisines. Here’s wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_cuisine
I love Mongolian beef, but so many places screw it up. Chinese places are known for being cheap, using cheap ingredients and keeping the food out longer than it should be.
Yeah, German is too close to “American.” But every once in awhile, you’ll see a German restaurant pop up.
OK, I’m not so sure I want to try the Ethiopian restaurant in my old neighborhood, now… ;D
As a vegan my dining-out choices are a wee bit limited, but tandoori, Italian, and Japanese/Chinese are good bets. Can’t stand Southern/Cajun food - deep-fried veggies are just plain wrong.
I recently tried sushi for the first time, and I am in love with it! I always thought I would hate it, but I sure was wrong.
You are correct about southern food too. Living in the south it’s hard to avoid, and I love it. Like you said though 50 pounds overweight and early heart attacks are enough to help me not eat as much of it anymore. However, let my southern mom cook a meal and I will be damned if anyone can say no.
Authentic Thai is hard to beat on my list.
I’m very picky about my Italian food. Having lived there for 3 years made me a bit of a snob, especially about pasta.
Good Dim Sum and sushi here in WA are easy to find and oh, so good.
Some Mexican is better than others, nuff said.
I do like Moroccan and Indian, though again, some is much better than others.
A year of living in Greece gave me a taste for Greek food but alot of what we find here ( in the states) is more quick and fun than incredibly good, which it can be.
I like Pho but Mr. Logo thinks its a waste, to each their own, eh?
Zombie we have a lot of those here. Thai and Mexican and sushi in Appleton WI. I have never had sushi before and from what I hear its not going to be anytime soon either. I dont drink acohol so that wont make it any better for me. LOL…
But then again I havent had most of whats on this list. Life is good here. Thanks for stoppoing by over the weekend. I am just getting to my blog from over the weekend.
I just might have to try some of these things on your list here. We have a few Japenese places here in GB.
Hey Z,
Cool post. I love when people do run-downs like this.
I’m pretty boring when it comes to experimenting with food. I like the basics. I’m one of those people that order the same thing everytime they go to the same restaurant because I’m afraid to get something I don’t like.
I like Himalayan (sp) food
Mexican is my all time favorite–grew up on it.
Italian food is awesome because I LOVE pasta
Thai is yummers and there’s good Thai in S.F.
I love Chinese food when it’s done right: I.E.–not greasy, fresh and good cuts of meat. The best indicator of good Chinese food is to look at the kitchen or the restroom–if either are dirty–don’t eat there.
I like a good pizza more than anything when I’m in that kind of mood and I hate eating burgers out–I make good burgers so why pay?
Oh I love Kim Chi too. Korean is my favorite ever tried the Pork Ba Go Gi?(sp) Ha! disagree about the southern food; Germans have their schitzels and pomme frites and the French have their heavy sauces…after a big meal they get on their bicycles and pedal home.
Some of us southerners like to unbuckle our belts and head for the recliner. That’s what kills ya.
Southerners don’t get your panties in a twist…I said “Some.”
What about Filipino? I haven’t had as much experience with various foods as you. I did spend 3 years in Spain and loved their food. Spent about a year in Italy and would die for their four cheese tortelini. Also their pizza is a bit different than ours but it kinda grows on you after awhile.
I love Mecixan food but don’t eat it too much because I gain 100 lbs if I do.
Can’t stand too much of anything from the middle east. Way too much curry in it for my taste. I work with a bunch of East Indians and at lunch time I almost need to hold my nose closed, they curry smell is overwhelming.
Zombie,
Just a tip, Colombian people get REALLY pissed off when you spell the name of their country wrong. It’s with an O, not a U
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