Whose Cuisine Reigns Supreme?

SUSHI! Oh, god, sushi. Bring out the wasabi and the ginger (and EXTRA ginger next time, damn it), about 15 pieces of sushi, and I'm in heaven. Especially the eel & salmon & the shrimp - oh, man. Sumptuous.

Though I'm always up for some Pad Thai. Hell, even the frozen food Pad Thai hits the spot every so often.

Why the hell do I have to drive 20 minutes out of my way to get sushi or thai food? Is that fair? Damn this life!

I'm going to make fishcakes for tea with lots of creamy mash. Today's been a bit of a foody day, as if every day isn't. Beans pancetta and chicken slowly stewed for lunch, big slices of melon.

My mum brought me a dundee cake on her way through on monday. I ate i in less than 24 hrs.

As much as I like food i like to cook. Current fave has been chicken bits sauteed in butter with garlic. Also scraggy fatty bits of lamb stewed up with tomatoes cinnamon cardomon and harissa.

satisfied?

Spanish food wins every time with me. Tapas is just the best, sitting in dark bars in spain with a cold glass of beer and a few dishes of olives, spicy potatoes, garlic prawns, anchovies, spanish omelette, I could go on but won't as I've made myself exceedingly hungry. But, it's much nicer than Mexican, which I find too boring and samey.

I concur with the Pad Thai, also yellow curry with chicken, fresh spring rolls with shrimp and a nice coconut milk soup with tofu.

Sushi is godlike, but Thai cuisine reign supreme.

Actully, I take that back. Nothing (and I mean nothing) beats a good Ethiopian restaurant.

Dang it I was going to chip in with Ethiopian. I'll have to go for Eritrean instead. Just love eating my own plate.

Give me fusion any day. But not cold fusion - bah - some scientists offered me that a few years ago and never brought it to my table.

With regards Mexican, your proper Mexican regional food (a la Puebla or Oaxaca) is fucking georgous. Chicken in chocolate anyone? Plus refried beans.

I got a really good recipe for chicken in chocolate if you want it. Also rabbit in chocolate, although that one's spanish. Also Cat bilbaino, tastes just like jugged hare apparently.

Vietnamese (Hackney = Little Hanoi). In Lisle Street there was a GRATE Vietnamese called PHÔ: gone now (but moved, if so WHERE O WHERE, or shut down). Very cheap: if you had noodle soup (small it was large by any normal measure. noodle soup (large) came in a washing up bowl.

The Polynesian takeaway in Essex Road, Wing Lee Loi, used to be FAB, but the chef died, and his kids are merely OK.

Aren't you all Oh So Multicultural?

I like Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding.

The wing lee loi, before it was such was about thirty different restaurants in about3 years some of them very good and some of them terrible. I really like the Sultan Ahmet but its not as good as the Yeni Guzuulgun on Kingsland road, For ever known as the Sultan's Armpit even when it actually got quite good and got in Time out and everything.

Is there still a vietnamese in the old baths on englefield road, I'll be upset if there isn't?

Potatoes.

American food is for sucks. Well, not really; barbecue is FANTASTIC. I like cultures that throw a lot of spice into their pots, though. Hence, I adore Chinese, Thai, Korean, Ethiopean/Eritrean (not much of a distinction in most restaurants in the US), Mexican, Greek, Italian, French, Cambodean, Vietnamese, Carribean, sushi (mainly for the wasabi), Morrocan, Brazilian, (insert cuisine that is known for spicy and/or rich food here). Northern European food tends to make me run for the hills unless you're talking about deserts.

Every type of cuisine except Scottish cuisine. Exposure to haggis and blood sausage at an early age tends to do that to you.

Multi-cultural?: No, since I wd rather eat my hand than Roast Beef.

Vietnamese in the old baths on Englefield road: yes, still there as of two months ago. My companion at the time introduced me to some insane milk pudding which she said was THE GREATEST PUDDING EVER MADE, but she is from Manchester and obviously has issues

East-Asian food beats Western; that's where Western tastes are at, going, long-since-gone. Spices ahoy! Any Indian chicken dish is my preference. Also like smoked fish. Mussels in coconut and coriander sauce. And a good sausage curry. Fuck, sometimes bangers n' mash can't be beat. Potato salad. Avacado. Mmmm, food! And pudding!! Why's no one listing puddings? Triffle awash in brandy, cheesecake, pavlova...

That should say TRIFLE, though I'm willing to try triffle.

My aunt used to say 'triffle'. I'm not sure why.

You are all rat bastards, especially Dan, for naming just about all my own favorites before I had a chance. Fuck you all.

Living in OC as I do, there's actually a surprisingly excellent range of restaurants all over the place in terms of national cuisine and style. Given the diaspora from Vietnam after 1975, the center of which in America is right here, we have *tons* of wonderful restaurants, including several all-vegetarian ones. The salty fried bean curd at Vien Huong in Westminster -- oh baby. Not to mention the various soups. Hail pho! The Iranian exile community went to LA and the Valley, mainly, but there's a hearty outcrop down here, not merely in terms of restaurants but of markets. The Thai food spots range from cheap and cheery to quite elegant, and very few of them go wrong -- I was pleased to see in Momus' latest postcard about how he talked about the food there (and I was envious in terms of the price!). There are a slew of reasonable Japanese locales (and yes, sushi done right is food of the gods -- there's a local spot called I Love Sushi, and despite the goofy name and unprepossessing atmosphere, it will knock your socks off every time). Couple of very nice Indian places, their veg dishes of course being the most superb. No tapas locale yet nearby, which pains my soul, though I hear this phenomenal place that opened in Seattle, which Kate and I had a chance to visit back in November, is supposed to open an LA location. It would mean a trip every time, but oh, so worth it. Tried Salvadoran cuisine at a restaurant up in SF recently, quite good, and I need to find a local equivalent when I can. Some really kick-butt Italian spots around here, perhaps surprisingly, including Nick's Pizza, run by an honest to god colorful Silician character and his family, and damn if his pizza isn't among the best I've ever had. The pasta dishes are equally fine.

Two interesting semi-local variations -- I've not seen the equivalent elsewhere, though I'm sure they exist -- are Peruvian and Bolivian restaurants. The Bolivian one I've only tried the once -- very much a meat-eaters cuisine -- but was quite good. The Peruvian choices, however, are the shit. Inka Grill is the name of our fave local place, and lemme tell ya -- the big thing about it is that it crosses various European styles, notably Italian, with Japanese, given the huge emigre community there (think former president Fujimori, for instance). Very interesting combinations, along with fried rice dishes via China -- marvelous stuff.

God, what else? There's the Swedish place nearby I have yet to try, so that will require some investigating. Mexican I've already gone on about elsewhere, the options are limitless, though as Pete mentioned, finding good regional restaurants is the real trick. Oh yes, Cuban cuisine! How could I forget? Versailles in LA -- I can still taste the chicken, hot damn.

And yes, as Dan mentioned, Ethiopian food. Holy fuck. Find a good restaurant, bring a slew of friends, order a good series of veg dishes, get some of the imported beer if they have it and go to town. There's this one spot up in LA that's nothing but such places for about two blocks. Heaven.

Trifle rules the pudding world with a mighty spoon, having had to beat bread and butter off though.

ally - wtf is this diet thing? As to food, I love a good hotdog, for all the right and wrong reasons, beef vindaloo makes my day, baklava is pretty damn fine, but then so are vanilla slices, and chorizos and dolamades and argentine empanadas (w/out the eggs) also do a fine trade in my gut. Does coffee count as a major food group?

Musts to avoid, UK-side: multi-culti fast-food. eg the takeaway where Tolpuddle St meets Penton St/Barnesbury (Tarden, this = yr beat, no?).). You can get kebabs, pizza, fried chicken, baked potatoes, fish & chips... But don't.

Also in Penton Street: my favourite takeaway name (Chinese, as it happens). SILVER GOLD.

Genuine old-skool (ie pre-indsutrial revolution I guess) brit cuisine is fantastic AND spicy: haggis, black pudding, eels and mash (actually I don't like the mash). Good book by Elizabeth David: title not to hand. Fave medieval Brit salad = salmagundy. Olde Englishe nutrition theory was totally difft — all abt rhythms of abt digestibility — so you have what we call pudding and savoury all in the same bowl!!

Eels and black pudding. I'm feeling nauseous at the thought.

Ned's answer has almost convinced me to move to LA.

What do you mean, "wtf is this diet thing?" It's a bit self- explanatory, right?

Anyhow, I love love love Italian food. Garlic and tomatoes, mmmmmm. Gnocchi! I can't even describe. We go to this really nice one called Pomodoro's and it's just fantastic, I get this great capellini pomoroso, the shrimp are great. Unfortunately when the left overs got a bit old I fed them to the cat and he got wicked sick and puked everywhere.

Mexican is another one - I can eat vegetarian chili til the world ends, and I make a pretty good vegetarian chili anyhow. Nothing fancy, but really good. I just really like spicy foods, I can eat ten tons of salsa (honest). Plus - margaritas. We had some NIIIIIICE ones last night, at Citrus on Amsterdam and around 80th, they have these wacky flavor syrups they dump down the side of the glass and it's freakin' heavenly.

And of course ice cream cake.

I personally am "Oh So Multicultural" with my foods because non-Anglo cuisine such as mediterranean and Asian have loads of options without beef or chicken or turkey, none of which I am fond of (indeed, I too would rather eat my own hand than beef).

Oh, and Chinese food is wicked good too - vegetable dumplings, steamed, hooray! Oh, and I like sushi but hate wasabi so I have to be careful where I buy it because some sushi nazis FORCE you to eat wasabi by ingraining it underneath the fishy slices on top of the rice. ARRGH.

Oh, the best is when you overestimate the amount of wasabi you're dissolving in the soy sauce, and you dip the covert piece of sushi in the sauce & grab some of the non-dissolved wasabi and then take a nice, big bite.

I tell you, my sinuses were clear for a month after that.

The problem with gnocchi is that it's shit unless my nona (AKA Grandmama) makes it herself. When I was 5 (& in Italy for about 3 or 4 months), I was gaga over the stuff. So, of course, moving back to the states, my mom ODes me on the stuff. American-made. Frozen. Ick ick ick ick.

I was tempted to try & make some homemade Pad Thai tonight (and yes, Dave, you CAPITALIZE Thai), but I'm opting for some "dirty rice" instead (with a bit of pre-bagged greens for the vegetable portion of the evening). I forget the company, but they make these great New Orleans-type rice mixtures. Makes me feel like I can cook. Forget the brand name, though - it's a red & white box, starts with an R, I think.

The University cantee here commits vile crimes against gnocchi. They can be cooked for four people at a time, max. Also have to be fresh, those vac packed ones you get in english supertmarkets are criminal.

Gnocci must be homemade, or it's like 1/4 as good. Pomodero's has good but slightly tough gnocci, with unfortunate bits of meat. It's 1/4 as good as my homemade (gnocci is the only food I have ever learned to cook). I love salad, but only when all the veggies are freshly-picked from the garden, with crushed almonds, chevre cheese, and tahini dressing. Sushi rolls are incredible if they're made the knock-off American way and have umiboshi paste and almonds. There's nothing like french toast with your own maple syrup and homemade dill pickles. Potato sucks, but potato skins topped with melted cheese, scallions, and bacon bits, can't be beat. Sesame noodles and tofu with peanut sauce, served hot with arugala and raw carrots, can be the best meal in the world. Golden Crisp with strawberries and soy milk is probably my favorite dish.

Given how reasonable the range of choices are here just in OC, in LA I figure everything must just be everywhere (and based on my UCLA days, that was pretty damn accurate). Give in, give in...

Gnocchi lovers in NYC: "Pepe Rosso" on Sullivan St. (tho I always get Sullivan and Thompson and McDougal confused) -- just south of Houston on the west side.

Small chalkboard inside says "No diet. No skim. Only real food." You will hear Italian spoken. You will wait for 10 minutes to sit in one of the 5 chairs. You will gasp at the basil's freshness, and at the homemade gnocchi. Their bacon/blue cheese/spinach salad is a favorite, too.

Damn, that place sounds great. Bacon in salad!

Chips.

Northern Italian
Thai
Jamacian ( Roast Goat)
American Southern BBQ( esp. ribs)
Sushi ( eel)
French Country ( esp. the soups, onion soup ... )
Irish: (stew, soda bread, bread pudding, roast beef)
Cantonese
Game : Vension ( esp. Cariboo),rabbit,phesant,grouse.duck,Moose Stew and hamburger ( David hunts and we have game for the whole winter)
eggplant,squash,peppers,yukon gold potatos,
and Fruit, fresh succlent :
cherries,plums,strawberries,rasberries,blackberries,melon,crisp green apples,

Good i am hungry

My ham'n'mustard doorstop sandwiches kick bottom.

All (okay, most) cuisines rawk, but here are a few suggestions:

In New York City: The Tom Kha Gai (Lime/Coconut Chicken Soup) at the Pongsri Thai Restaurant on 48th st. midtown is dee-vine. Similarly, the ox-tail soup (Korean specialty) with a good side of kim-chee (if you can take that stuff) at the Gamme OK on 34th St. lingers longingly in memory.

Pizza...get a pepperoni at Pepe's in New Haven, CT; it will rock your world. Also, the homemade hamburgers (try "The Works") at Louie's Lunch (also in New Haven); expensive and certainly not health food, but they kick my ass as well.

What the fuck, my friend told me there's no food in New Haven.

What are you doing actually listening to your friends? I met them, I wouldn't trust them.

I need to get out more. Long Island has nothing in the way of international cuisine. Unless you count the German crepes at House of Pancakes. The Chinese, Mexican and Italian places have are nothing but americanized versions of those cuisines. I know of nowhere I could get Thai food. I suppose hopping a train to the city is in order.

New Haven is Pizza Central, from what I've heard. Haven't actually had any yet, though - the lines are as long as the restaurants are cramped. There are 3 places to go - Pepe's, Wooster Street, & one more. Supposedly godlike.

New Haven has little to offer past that, though. Maybe Otis' friends confused "food" with "full nudity strip clubs". I've done that before.

You should come to the city, let me know when you do and I'll rustle up some of these ILE losers (and probably Zoe and Falco and Joey) and we can all do international food. Just don't do it the weekend after the 4th of July.

Arlington, Georgia specialties:

* boiled peanuts in a can

* brunswick stew (pork, beef, corn, bbqish)

* venison (as i think anthony said)

* dove, pheasant, quail

When I was little I'd have to hunt w/relatives. Enormous difference in "hunting culture" between UK and US by the way. In Georgia it's camo gear, up before dawn, chewing tobacco, commando-style. And nothing whatever to do with "gentlemanly". Despite intensive skeet practive the day before I'd always miss everything by a mile. I knew they weren't counting on me. But DAMN if a bacon-wrapped dove doesn't taste good after an hour or two on the grill. I remember my mother making me clean one or two with the wives in the kitchen (to make sure I didn't get any wrong ideas about men's and women's roles in the food chain), and pulling the craw out, seeing the tiny stones inside. Mysteries within mysteries...

In Kentucky they eat squirrel brains. Like it's going out of style. There was a New Yorker article about how people might be contracting mad cow disease that way -- typical rural "Other" scare story from the urban media capital. They are said to taste delicious.

David wrote: New Haven is Pizza Central, from what I've heard. Haven't actually had any yet, though - the lines are as long as the restaurants are cramped. There are 3 places to go - Pepe's, Wooster Street, & one more. Supposedly godlike.

Probably Sally's; both Pepe's and Sally's are on Wooster St. Yes, the lines can be hell (and yes, New Haven isn't the world's most exciting place otherwise :) ), but there you go. Sally's I only went to once I'm embarrassed to say, but it didn't really meet my expectations. Cramped and limited space, and they accepted reservations, so you could be naively waiting/starving in line for an hour and have a bright and peppy family shuffle past you with a shit- eating smile on their face. Pepe's is more spacious and their policy is a more mercenary, first come-first serve (the way it should be). Plus, I really like their pizza more, though to be fair, you'll get many who will say exactly the opposite. One can also try Modern Apizza on State St. (a 'new kid on the block' comparatively) as a smart Plan B, though even they can get their share of lines.

By the way, re: the ox-tail soup on 34th st. (I think it's called "Sol Long Tang") recommendation I made before, if any of you actually venture out to try it, be warned that it's very much an acquired taste, and I didn't care much for it the first time I gave it a go.