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.
Carbonara in Krakow, Poland.
It was authentic and tasted incredible.The next few I ordered at «italian» restaurants had ham, cream, peas (!!!) and one even onions. I just stopped ever ordering ut out and learned to make it myself, but the one in Poland will forever be in my mind.
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.
Near my house in West Seattle there used to be a little hole in the wall place called Lee’s Asian, whose Seven Flavor Chicken I regard as one of humanity’s greatest achievements. Sadly they had to close because developers flooded in and all the commercial rents doubled. Thank you, density-hungry Seattle city council. Density! Density! But hey, at least we can buy $5 donuts now.
Had better sushi in Taiwan than Japan on the same trip.
Brasil everything, pizza, hamburgers, sushi, pasta. They add their own style to international food and it’s awesome.
Brasilian BBQ is awesome.
Had some amazing Indian food in Bordeaux.
This place: https://rajistan.fr/
I was out on business floating around the Cayman islands going from point to point and met a small statured man from the Philippines. he had this amazing boat that was so whimsical it felt as if it had floated out of a story book. it had these incredibly tiny glass chimes hanging from the palm roof and with the washing of the waves it sounded like magic.
anyway, he offered us something to eat and we obviously couldn’t say no. he quickly began to work on his boat cooking up a storm. he was an absolute master at what he was doing! it was such a thrill to see him toss a bit of this and that into his pot and watch over it lovingly as it simmered. the air was filled with this amazing aroma of garlic, saffron, and tomato.
finally after a mouthwatering hour of cooking he plated the most beautiful Bouillabaisse for us to enjoy, and what a treat it was! it was the best Bouillabaisse I have ever had in my life!
unfortunately, I heard not that long after that the cartel found him and took his life. it’s a shame that nobody will ever get to experience his cooking again, he was truly a master.
Wow, that story took an unexpected tragic turn. But I’m glad you’re still paying tribute to this man’s artistry.
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.
Pequin Duck on a small venue in Berlin, side by a river. One of the best seasoned food I ever had. Don’t get me wrong, I’m from São Paulo, Brazil, and one can have the best food ever of each part of the world here. Not joking, I’ve had better German food here than in Germany. I’ve had better Italian food here than in Italy. Turkish, Greek, Chinese, you name it. If you really wanna taste incredible food, you gotta came to Brazil.
Ramen in Italy. Not the best Ramen I ever had but best outside of Japan. I also had very authentic Chinese in Italy. Had some of the best burgers I’ve ever had in Japan. China had a lot of odd takes on American foods and chains. There’s kind of a long list here.
I’d say Indian in Manchester, but after so long, Manchester is kinda known for its Indian food so it may no longer be a “not from there” thing!
It’s mainly Anglo-Indian anyway, which is its own thing and not Indian.
A bison Burger in Greece. It was like last minute need to catch a boat just grab whatever. Got this burger and it was amazing. On one of the small islands with no cars.
Kebabs in Germany for sure.
They make them very different to here in Australia.
The best pupusas I’ve ever had were not in El Salvador, but rather a little shop in Toronto (now closed, RIP).
I had an AMAZING ramen bowl in NY, I think the name of the restaurant is Ivan ramen, it was the best food I’ve ever had, not just the best ramen ever, I highly recommend it if you find yourself in NY, hopefully when the orange in power is no longer in power
We’re gonna be embargoing America for a LONG time after the Commander in Cheese is gone. We’d need to be sure we’re not going to be rounded up and sent to the camps.
