Best food in the world

[Zoupa]

The overabundance of Italy voters is just a reflection of this forum's anglosaxon palate.

"Oh I like pizza! Macaroni too!".

Bande d'incultes. Vous ne nous méritez pas.

[Sheilbh]

10 seconds of googling suggests a completely different trajectory.  No Korean government intervention.

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-korean-cuisine-got-huge-in-america

Basically that unlike Chinese of Thai food which quickly formed a standardized, westernized menu, Korean restaurants remained more "authentic", which slowed their interest in the west, but when it was eventually discovered was enjoyed for how different it was.

I'm not a big fan of Korean food BTW, but I've only had it a handful of times.  Not terrible, but not something I'm inclined to search out.

That's an interesting piece and I can see how in the early days some of th emore funky flavours in Korean food might have been a bit off-putting to a wider audience.

Also I suppose there's a wider point with when foods go mainstream that a large part of it is probably when they can access enough money for city centre places or to expand into a chain. I suspect sadly that part of it nowadays in making a pitch is whether you can make it Instagrammable - which I find very sad because I strongly believe the best food is basically normally a shade of brown

I simmer a gammon before finishing it in the oven

Yes! You're right - still some boiled meat here

[Barrister]

The overabundance of Italy voters is just a reflection of this forum's anglosaxon palate.

"Oh I like pizza! Macaroni too!".

Bande d'incultes. Vous ne nous méritez pas.

Yes.  Clearly I voted Italy because of pizza and macaroni.

Nothing wrong with French food - either from France or French-Canadian.  It is in fact very good.

But there can only be one - and Italian is it.  https://yougov.co.uk/topics/consumer/articles-reports/2019/03/12/italian-cuisine-worlds-most-popular

[Admiral Yi]

One of my go to restaurants is an Indian hole in the wall a couple miles from my place.  I started out ordering lamb vindaloo every time, then added chicken tikka massalla to the rotation.  Now I'm trying to work my way through the menu.  Everything is good.  Haven't had a bad dish yet.

[Barrister]

One of my go to restaurants is an Indian hole in the wall a couple miles from my place.  I started out ordering lamb vindaloo every time, then added chicken tikka massalla to the rotation.  Now I'm trying to work my way through the menu.  Everything is good.  Haven't had a bad dish yet.

Indian food is great.  Flavourful and spicy.  I've taken to ordering vegetarian indian dishes because they're still damn good - you hardly miss the meat (which is not something I ordinarily say about vegetarian food).

The knock against Indian food for me though is that it's like Chinese food - every single place is working off the same basic menu.  Like every single indian restaurant will have vindaloo and chicken tikka masala - and that's in Edmonton with a massive Indian/punjabi population.  (after hockey in south-east Edmonton I went into a nearby grocery store to get a couple things - realized I was the only white guy in there, everyone else was Indian - and this wasn't a specialty indian grocery store).

Now, like Chinese, I know there's a whole lot more to the cuisine that what you get at a typical chinese or indian restaurant.  But I'm not exposed to it.  So maybe if I went to those countries I ight put them further up on my own personal list (although both have to be top 10).

[HVC]

I like Indian food, but I'm allergic to pistachios (mild) and it seems hit or miss on where it's a secret ingredient so I've stopped eating it.

For the purposes of this poll I picked Japanese. Good variation and a good ramen is hard to beat.

Vietnamese is good too.  Great if you're in Vietnam and have more options then just pho and vermicelli. Helps if you like fish sauce, which I do. Who knew bbq goat boob was so tasty.

[viper37]

Once again I have literally never eaten boiled meat in my life or seen it in the UK

Unless you mean a stew?

No, not stew.

I mean boiled meat.
a) It's a recurring theme in Asterix in Britain, Obelix is served boiled boar in mint sauce, to his great despair.  At the end, they offer him a banquet of boiled beef and warm beer as he run away

b) My maternal grandmother used to cook typical American/British cuisine, as imported from the American colonies after the conquest, and that included boiled meat (my great grandma was born in the US and lived there for a time amongst her cousins).  Boiled chicken and boiled beef were a regular part of her meals.  We, her grandkids, still have nightmares about it

c) Restaurants that serve typical Canadian cuisine, which is really what was imported by New England British merchants often consist of boiled meat for their regular dinner menu.  They're less popular than they used to be in the 1970s, and that's far from a bad thing.

d) I guess the British standards of cooking have evolved since the time you had American colonies    But, as referenced in a), it seems some people still considers this stereotypical of Britain.

[viper37]

Once again I have literally never eaten boiled meat in my life or seen it in the UK

Unless you mean a stew?

Boiled beef was eaten by the lower classes in Britain because the good cuts were all taken by the rich folks. So the poors got the shitty pieces and boiled them to make them palatable. While traditional I can see why this particular traditional food has fallen out of favor, right there with pottage.

Kinda makes sense.  Never thought about it this way.  My maternal grandparents were very poor too.  I guess that explains a lot about how my grandma cooked.

[Admiral Yi]

The knock against Indian food for me though is that it's like Chinese food - every single place is working off the same basic menu.  Like every single indian restaurant will have vindaloo and chicken tikka masala - and that's in Edmonton with a massive Indian/punjabi population.  (after hockey in south-east Edmonton I went into a nearby grocery store to get a couple things - realized I was the only white guy in there, everyone else was Indian - and this wasn't a specialty indian grocery store).

You're forgetting the House Special Curry. 

That stuff you mention is irrelevant to me.  When the menu has 40 items that's enough variety for me.  And I'm not a foodie so I don't need to experience the chef's personal take on anything.

[Sheilbh]

The knock against Indian food for me though is that it's like Chinese food - every single place is working off the same basic menu.  Like every single indian restaurant will have vindaloo and chicken tikka masala - and that's in Edmonton with a massive Indian/punjabi population.  (after hockey in south-east Edmonton I went into a nearby grocery store to get a couple things - realized I was the only white guy in there, everyone else was Indian - and this wasn't a specialty indian grocery store).

Now, like Chinese, I know there's a whole lot more to the cuisine that what you get at a typical chinese or indian restaurant.  But I'm not exposed to it.  So maybe if I went to those countries I ight put them further up on my own personal list (although both have to be top 10).

Yeah I am almost certain Chinese or Indian would be my answer - but I've never been and I'm aware I've seen a tiny chunk a lot of which will have been anglicised.

The other question is which of those would you not give up, which might not be the best. And I think for me it would be Indian even though I know there's a lot more to it

[Barrister]

The knock against Indian food for me though is that it's like Chinese food - every single place is working off the same basic menu.  Like every single indian restaurant will have vindaloo and chicken tikka masala - and that's in Edmonton with a massive Indian/punjabi population.  (after hockey in south-east Edmonton I went into a nearby grocery store to get a couple things - realized I was the only white guy in there, everyone else was Indian - and this wasn't a specialty indian grocery store).

You're forgetting the House Special Curry. 

That stuff you mention is irrelevant to me.  When the menu has 40 items that's enough variety for me.  And I'm not a foodie so I don't need to experience the chef's personal take on anything.

It's not that I want the chef's personal take, but rather walking into an Indian restaurant is like walking into a "European" restaurant that serves all the greatest hits from around europe: a menu of French Onion Soup, spaghetti bolognese, viener schnitzel, beef wellington, swedish meatballs and pyrogies. (and I spent no time coming up with this list so don't roast me on it).

[Jacob]

As for, "what's becoming trendy now", in Barcelona it's the plague of hipsterised traditional restaurants.

What makes it a plague? And for that matter, what makes it hipsterised?

[crazy canuck]

Servers wearing toques?

[HVC]

When I think hipsterized I think of places that serve food on weird "plates". I don't want to eat fries off a shovel, thanks.

[Admiral Yi]

It's not that I want the chef's personal take, but rather walking into an Indian restaurant is like walking into a "European" restaurant that serves all the greatest hits from around europe: a menu of French Onion Soup, spaghetti bolognese, viener schnitzel, beef wellington, swedish meatballs and pyrogies. (and I spent no time coming up with this list so don't roast me on it).

Gotcha.  You want Indian restaurants to be Bengali restaurants, or Tamil restaurants etc.