Restaurants

[old darwen blue]

4 hours ago, Tom said:

Any suggestions for a nice meal in Edinburgh?

Haggis

[DeeCee]

2 hours ago, old darwen blue said:

Haggis

Strangely enough I was going to put that but thought that others might think me juvenile ???????????

[MCMC1875]

11 hours ago, Tom said:

Any suggestions for a nice meal in Edinburgh?

PM McClarky. He lives there.

[Inglorious basturk]

Some real sweeping statements about American food ... what parts have you been to ?  Some of the most decadent restaurants I’ve been to are in New York , and in places like Texas and New Orleans the bbq/ chicken is just as fantastic but in a different way . 
mid you are talking about Vegas then I agree . Food was poor there but it is an appalling place full stop 

[K-Hod]

12 minutes ago, Inglorious basturk said:

Some real sweeping statements about American food ... what parts have you been to ?  Some of the most decadent restaurants I’ve been to are in New York , and in places like Texas and New Orleans the bbq/ chicken is just as fantastic but in a different way . 
mid you are talking about Vegas then I agree . Food was poor there but it is an appalling place full stop 

You’re right, that was a bit of a generalisation.

I think I was a bit on the heavier side the last time I went, so perhaps that was reflected in the food I was eating!!

[Gav]

Never had a bad meal in the States and I've been all over the country. 

Florida/Orlando is very different to most other places in States, it caters for mass tourism on a fast food basis, but is still very good quality in my experience. 

Neighbourhood restaurants in San Francisco are some of the best in the world, the place is a culinary delight if you avoid the tourists traps. 

 

[DE.]

I've been to Florida, Connecticut and LA, and the only bad experience I had with food was a Chinese in Florida which was terrible. I enjoyed pretty much everything else, although there was a lot more sugar and salt than I was used to, and the portion sizes were insane across the board.

[chaddyrovers]

1 minute ago, Sparks Rover said:

So, the chlorinated chicken was ok then?

yes I suffered no problems when I've been to America different occasions. 

I agree with D.E that the worst food I experience was Buffet restaurants. I enjoyed the Breakfast food and Evening meal. Most of the time you only need 2 proper meals a day cos portion sizes. Breakfast food was like a Full English and a couple of pancakes with syrup. Evening meals I enjoyed was proper restaurant food. Buffet food not so much.

 

 

[DE.]

10 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

yes I suffered no problems when I've been to America different occasions. 

I agree with D.E that the worst food I experience was Buffet restaurants. I enjoyed the Breakfast food and Evening meal. Most of the time you only need 2 proper meals a day cos portion sizes. Breakfast food was like a Full English and a couple of pancakes with syrup. Evening meals I enjoyed was proper restaurant food. Buffet food not so much.

Yeah I'd agree the buffet food as a whole was generally pretty poor quality, but it's also usually very cheap so I guess you get what you pay for. It's not too different over here in fairness.

[Dreams of 1995]

The food may have tasted nice but it’s how that food arrives at your plate that’s the problem. 
 

Beef slammed full of anti biotics, hormones for extra growth; chickens chemically washed because of the horrendous living conditions; E numbers and additives in almost everything. 
 

The taste will be amazing. The effects it can have on your body is a totally different thing. We should never, ever sacrifice our food standards for that of America’s. 

[DE.]

1 minute ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

The food may have tasted nice but it’s how that food arrives at your plate that’s the problem. 
 

Beef slammed full of anti biotics, hormones for extra growth; chickens chemically washed because of the horrendous living conditions; E numbers and additives in almost everything. 
 

The taste will be amazing. The effects it can have on your body is a totally different thing. We should never, ever sacrifice our food standards for that of America’s. 

Completely agree with you on that. The reason American food tastes good is because it's smothered with additives which cause your brain to want more of it, as are their sodas which most restaurants provide unlimited free refills for. I would never advocate adopting American food standards over here, and I hope we never do.

[Inglorious basturk]

47 minutes ago, Gav said:

Never had a bad meal in the States and I've been all over the country. 

Florida/Orlando is very different to most other places in States, it caters for mass tourism on a fast food basis, but is still very good quality in my experience. 

Neighbourhood restaurants in San Francisco are some of the best in the world, the place is a culinary delight if you avoid the tourists traps. 

 

I’ve been to sf , when you say ‘neighbourhood ‘ do you mean the farm to table scene ? We went to lazy bear which was great 2 x m star 

[Dreams of 1995]

2 minutes ago, DE. said:

Completely agree with you on that. The reason American food tastes good is because it's smothered with additives which cause your brain to want more of it, as are their sodas which most restaurants provide unlimited free refills for. I would never advocate adopting American food standards over here, and I hope we never do.

Don’t get me wrong, the way they cook and prepare food means it’s delicious. 
 

Whilst at uni I had a fling with a girl from New Orleans. She made my 2nd year, 2nd semester a very happy place. American food in terms of taste is infinitely better than English food. Even they admit the standards it is produced in is shocking though. 
 

Funnily enough, the whole American exchange crew ended up having a thing for “John Smiths”. For whatever reason yanks could not get enough of real ales, IPAs, Guinness etc that kinda drink. Bit off on a tangent but it always confused me. As an Englishman you are not used to seeing a group of stunning girls turn up to a house party with a crate of John Smiths.

[DE.]

Just now, Dreams of 1995 said:

Don’t get me wrong, the way they cook and prepare food means it’s delicious. 
 

Whilst at uni I had a fling with a girl from New Orleans. She made my 2nd year, 2nd semester a very happy place. American food in terms of taste is infinitely better than English food. Even they admit the standards it is produced in is shocking though. 
 

Funnily enough, the whole American exchange crew ended up having a thing for “John Smiths”. For whatever reason yanks could not get enough of real ales, IPAs, Guinness etc that kinda drink. Bit off on a tangent but it always confused me. As an Englishman you are not used to seeing a group of stunning girls turn up to a house party with a crate of John Smiths.

You can certainly understand how so many of them end up obese when you combine the taste of the food, the portion sizes and the addictive elements clandestinely added to a lot of their food. The last time I went the prices were extremely reasonable as well, even in LA, compared to what you get over here for the same price. 

I had an American girlfriend a long time ago and whilst she didn't drink, so I never got her take on our alcohol, she did develop a bizarre affinity for our bread (and Coronation Street). I've always found American bread kind of gross as it generally tastes like it's been coated in sugar - it's the same with their baked beans. I'll go English on those items any day.

[Inglorious basturk]

5 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Don’t get me wrong, the way they cook and prepare food means it’s delicious. 
 

Whilst at uni I had a fling with a girl from New Orleans. She made my 2nd year, 2nd semester a very happy place. American food in terms of taste is infinitely better than English food. Even they admit the standards it is produced in is shocking though. 
 

Funnily enough, the whole American exchange crew ended up having a thing for “John Smiths”. For whatever reason yanks could not get enough of real ales, IPAs, Guinness etc that kinda drink. Bit off on a tangent but it always confused me. As an Englishman you are not used to seeing a group of stunning girls turn up to a house party with a crate of John Smiths.

That sort of thing re the beers is huge in America now , I noticed this particularly in Austin and Memphis recently 

[only2garners]

12 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Don’t get me wrong, the way they cook and prepare food means it’s delicious. 

I'd have to disagree with you there. I have had some decent meals in the US but they have been very much the exception. There's an awful lot of terrible food. The range and quality of food now available in the UK is excellent. I'm quite prepared to believe that you can also get similar quality in the US as well but as a visitor it's difficult to get that on short trips.

As an example the quality of cheese made round here is at a completely different level to any I have ever had in the US. It costs more mind.

[chaddyrovers]

23 minutes ago, only2garners said:

I'd have to disagree with you there. I have had some decent meals in the US but they have been very much the exception. There's an awful lot of terrible food. The range and quality of food now available in the UK is excellent. I'm quite prepared to believe that you can also get similar quality in the US as well but as a visitor it's difficult to get that on short trips.

As an example the quality of cheese made round here is at a completely different level to any I have ever had in the US. It costs more mind.

I have some quality food here in the UK and USA. But some of foods in the UK like takeaway or buffet is poor quality. Some good takeaways shops but alot of poor ones. 

I dont know where you been or how long you spend there but I find restaurants are better than buffets there. 

Totally agree on the Cheese point. Hate America cheese and dont have cheese when I go to McDonald's either now. 

[Inglorious basturk]

Some great cheeses produced in America now 

[Gav]

4 minutes ago, Inglorious basturk said:

I’ve been to sf , when you say ‘neighbourhood ‘ do you mean the farm to table scene ? We went to lazy bear which was great 2 x m star 

I've been to Lazy Bear, straight off the plane from London, jet lagged and didn't enjoy it at all, but that was no reflection on the food, I'm told it was great.

In terms of neighbourhoods I mean Little Italy, The Mission district for Mexican food, Pacific Heights/Lower pacific heights, more neighbourhood places where the locals eat rather than Union Square and the Pier (Which are fine by the way).

Love the city, but we digress. 

[Inglorious basturk]

12 minutes ago, Gav said:

I've been to Lazy Bear, straight off the plane from London, jet lagged and didn't enjoy it at all, but that was no reflection on the food, I'm told it was great.

In terms of neighbourhoods I mean Little Italy, The Mission district for Mexican food, Pacific Heights/Lower pacific heights, more neighbourhood places where the locals eat rather than Union Square and the Pier (Which are fine by the way).

Love the city, but we digress. 

Yes I see what you mean . Have you Been to golden boy pizza ?

re lazy bear toy would need to be in the mood as you are investing into an idea as well . 

Edited May 27, 2020 by Inglorious basturk

[Dreams of 1995]

1 hour ago, DE. said:

You can certainly understand how so many of them end up obese when you combine the taste of the food, the portion sizes and the addictive elements clandestinely added to a lot of their food. The last time I went the prices were extremely reasonable as well, even in LA, compared to what you get over here for the same price. 

I had an American girlfriend a long time ago and whilst she didn't drink, so I never got her take on our alcohol, she did develop a bizarre affinity for our bread (and Coronation Street). I've always found American bread kind of gross as it generally tastes like it's been coated in sugar - it's the same with their baked beans. I'll go English on those items any day.

Man, one of the lads told me he was surprised that when he looked at the back of most chocolate the first ingredient was milk. In America it is always sugar. It was a 50/50 split between them as to which tasted better too which surprised me. It was unanimous between everyone else that our milk chocolate is way better. 

1 hour ago, only2garners said:

I'd have to disagree with you there. I have had some decent meals in the US but they have been very much the exception. There's an awful lot of terrible food. The range and quality of food now available in the UK is excellent. I'm quite prepared to believe that you can also get similar quality in the US as well but as a visitor it's difficult to get that on short trips.

As an example the quality of cheese made round here is at a completely different level to any I have ever had in the US. It costs more mind.

I guess I was blessed with American friends that are brilliant cooks then. I’ve never been to America. I am just saying jambalaya beats any English dish by a country mile imo...but I guess that isn’t truly “American”. More the range of spices on offer, some English flood is bland in comparison  

In terms of quality then American exports does itself no favours. American mustard and cheese in particular stand out as exceptionally crap 

Edited May 27, 2020 by Dreams of 1995

[Gav]

9 minutes ago, Inglorious basturk said:

Yes I see what you mean . Have you Been to golden boy pizza ?

re lazy bear toy would need to be in the mood as you are investing into an idea as well . 

No never been.

Love this place, apologies for taking things off thread mods, I'll stop now - https://www.sottomaresf.com/about.html

[DE.]

4 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Man, one of the lads told me he was surprised that when he looked at the back of most chocolate the first ingredient was milk. In America it is always sugar. It was a 50/50 split between them as to which tasted better too which surprised me. It was unanimous between everyone else that our milk chocolate is way better. 

I think it's just a case of what you get used to. Sugar by itself is very addictive so I imagine a fair few Americans think our chocolate doesn't taste right. Similarly whenever I eat American chocolate it tastes far too sweet and I can practically feel my teeth starting to decay as soon as I take a bite. 

I noticed a big difference between our Coca Cola and theirs, too. They use Fructose Corn Syrup which isn't used much over here due to lack of availability. The taste difference is really obvious, with their version of Coke being a lot sweeter than ours. 

1 minute ago, Gav said:

No never been.

Love this place, apologies for taking things off thread mods, I'll stop now - https://www.sottomaresf.com/about.html

I'm taking the thread off topic too tbf ? but it's lockdown so whatever, everyone is having decent, non-aggressive discussions so it's fine by me.

[chaddyrovers]

20 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

I guess I was blessed with American friends that are brilliant cooks then. I’ve never been to America. I am just saying jambalaya beats any English dish by a country mile imo...but I guess that isn’t truly “American”. More the range of spices on offer, some English flood is bland in comparison  

In terms of quality then American exports does itself no favours. American mustard and cheese in particular stand out as exceptionally crap 

Cant stand American Mustard or its cheese. 

Jambalaya is fantastic. Quality. and BBQ rub Ribs or Steak

But cant be Indian curry or its spices. Love a Rogan Josh. 

But back to the debate about a trade deal regarding food it will be down to the food agency plus food companies and supermarkets to ensure that the meat is good enough standard for the UK People. 

[Sparks Rover]

28 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

I am just saying jambalaya beats any English dish by a country mile imo..

Not having that lah, my grandmas Roast Beef, proper roasters,  yorkshires and top gravy.??.