Best City in the world for Food?
#121
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: London
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Maybe I've been in the wrong part of the UK!
I must admit the only time I've really spent in London was working as an on-the-road transport controller, usually eating at odd hours of the night and morning, when options are rather limited. Much of this time was also spent in some pretty ratty areas of town.
I must admit the only time I've really spent in London was working as an on-the-road transport controller, usually eating at odd hours of the night and morning, when options are rather limited. Much of this time was also spent in some pretty ratty areas of town.
#122
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#123
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Well, yes! Night shifts in ratty parts of London and the West Midlands, grabbing soggy hamburgers and greasy kebabs in-between frog-marching pissheads off night buses, tends to give a person a pretty jaundiced view!
By the way, it was those shifts that earned me the nickname that now forms my FT handle!
Fish and chips can be ok if it's fresh. Ullapool in Western Scotland was good. Unfortunately, I did miss the good places most of the time.
By the way, it was those shifts that earned me the nickname that now forms my FT handle!
Fish and chips can be ok if it's fresh. Ullapool in Western Scotland was good. Unfortunately, I did miss the good places most of the time.
Last edited by iluv2fly; Jun 22, 2016 at 11:49 am Reason: merge
#125
In memoriam
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Sure, the dishes you describe are not mainstream US food,
but they all have their place. But brains with fries? Everyone
knows that brains go with roast potatoes.
#126
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#127
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: London
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Well, yes! Night shifts in ratty parts of London and the West Midlands, grabbing soggy hamburgers and greasy kebabs in-between frog-marching pissheads off night buses, tends to give a person a pretty jaundiced view!
By the way, it was those shifts that earned me the nickname that now forms my FT handle!
By the way, it was those shifts that earned me the nickname that now forms my FT handle!
Wish I could help you with Midlands food venues but I'm always just passing through by car or train and haven't actually stopped off for almost a decade. Might be worth a look at some of these guys if they're still trading. This is pretty typical of what's been happening over the last couple of years:
http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/life...e-whos-7607752
#128
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Brilliant, I love it!!
Wish I could help you with Midlands food venues but I'm always just passing through by car or train and haven't actually stopped off for almost a decade. Might be worth a look at some of these guys if they're still trading. This is pretty typical of what's been happening over the last couple of years:
http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/life...e-whos-7607752
Wish I could help you with Midlands food venues but I'm always just passing through by car or train and haven't actually stopped off for almost a decade. Might be worth a look at some of these guys if they're still trading. This is pretty typical of what's been happening over the last couple of years:
http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/life...e-whos-7607752
#129
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I will say I love the transit system.
#130
Join Date: Sep 2013
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as i said my standard of dining is different than most of yall. when i go somewhere to eat for fun i'm gunning for rich delicious incredible unique food. ribs, pork, chili cheese fries, tostadas, burritos, trinchado, peri peri prawns prawns prawns
if you want to go off the michelin metric (which is certainly a respectable metric) then tokyo should be mentioned yet this seems to have been omitted in the thread. london, like most global cities, have fabulous fine dining (that i have had the pleasure of being dined at) but are not what i would recommend for a food trip. of all my top 10 best culinary experiences, i can only recall 3 that were not on buckets or plastic chairs or its equivalent
op asked for places of eating worthy of acclaim and something to make a trip out of, and the quality of small town bbq joints makes tx (particularly around austin) worthy of a food trip, not to mention that if you have the misfortune of being in houston, you can get any cuisine you want and done right. however i wouldn't reccomend houston solely for a trip (you think i'm that insane?), i'd reccomend mozambique or peru first. however a particular double standard exists if one views taquerias in cali, nev, nm, az, tx with derision yet praises hawker centers in kl or sin.
yes london does bistros and fine dining well, but beyond donairs or fish and chips it's casual/pub dining scene is obnoxious and horrible. gb can't do burgers right... seriously it's just 70/30 meat smashed and with salt+pepper and high quality agricultural produce that gb must have
i was raised poor so "slow fried" chikin, bbq, and taquerias have a resonance. i have been fortunate to done get educated and then live around the world. when these friends/family visit my home i'm proud to share said "cuisine" (quotations others) with them (including the bomb a-- peking duck in houston i'd be happy to send yall to). either they're patronizing me or they really liked eating a loaded pulled pork stuff baked potato with an ice cream scoop of butter in it. or maybe both. i'm just giving my 2 cents.
but seriously london pub food is awful. even toronto is better.
btw i'd love to hear (in good faith) peking duck suggestions, i've had it in pek for weeks, i've had it in hkg and tpe. off us59 in the filthy h was the best i've had yet.
maybe i've been in africa too long
if you want to go off the michelin metric (which is certainly a respectable metric) then tokyo should be mentioned yet this seems to have been omitted in the thread. london, like most global cities, have fabulous fine dining (that i have had the pleasure of being dined at) but are not what i would recommend for a food trip. of all my top 10 best culinary experiences, i can only recall 3 that were not on buckets or plastic chairs or its equivalent
op asked for places of eating worthy of acclaim and something to make a trip out of, and the quality of small town bbq joints makes tx (particularly around austin) worthy of a food trip, not to mention that if you have the misfortune of being in houston, you can get any cuisine you want and done right. however i wouldn't reccomend houston solely for a trip (you think i'm that insane?), i'd reccomend mozambique or peru first. however a particular double standard exists if one views taquerias in cali, nev, nm, az, tx with derision yet praises hawker centers in kl or sin.
yes london does bistros and fine dining well, but beyond donairs or fish and chips it's casual/pub dining scene is obnoxious and horrible. gb can't do burgers right... seriously it's just 70/30 meat smashed and with salt+pepper and high quality agricultural produce that gb must have
i was raised poor so "slow fried" chikin, bbq, and taquerias have a resonance. i have been fortunate to done get educated and then live around the world. when these friends/family visit my home i'm proud to share said "cuisine" (quotations others) with them (including the bomb a-- peking duck in houston i'd be happy to send yall to). either they're patronizing me or they really liked eating a loaded pulled pork stuff baked potato with an ice cream scoop of butter in it. or maybe both. i'm just giving my 2 cents.
but seriously london pub food is awful. even toronto is better.
btw i'd love to hear (in good faith) peking duck suggestions, i've had it in pek for weeks, i've had it in hkg and tpe. off us59 in the filthy h was the best i've had yet.
maybe i've been in africa too long
Where on 59 is this place with the duck located?
Do you have the name of the restaurant?
I'd like to try it, and am currently in Houston.
#132
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: BHX
Posts: 43
Ah , Birmingham ! Curry capital of the world - decent beer too As for fish and chips - well the best ever was the Golden Galleon in Aldeburgh in Suffolk , but my retrospective memories may have been helped by a nice pint of Adnams in the Ship next door If you want some recommendations for Birmingham , get in touch ..
Cheers , Steve
Cheers , Steve
#133
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
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Posts: 9,005
In the U.S., you have to go to New York City. You can find cheap eats to extremely high-end dining across all sorts of cuisines. Probably one of the reasons I love living in the city ^
SF is good, but TBH I don't think it has the same kind of breadth and depth that NYC does. That said, their Asian food (particularly SE Asia and Chinese - not Japanese) is on par, if not better, than NYC IMO. For whatever reason, Japanese cuisine on the West Coast pales in comparison to what you find here.
SF is good, but TBH I don't think it has the same kind of breadth and depth that NYC does. That said, their Asian food (particularly SE Asia and Chinese - not Japanese) is on par, if not better, than NYC IMO. For whatever reason, Japanese cuisine on the West Coast pales in comparison to what you find here.
#134
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,797
Tokyo gets my vote. I've heard people say it's impossible to have a bad meal there and I agree.
- Singapore is also excellent but they don't do 'foreign' food as well as Tokyo, and its quite a dull place in general.
- Naples is an outside bet if you like Italian & seafood.
- London is good if you know where to go, as there is a lot of rubbish.
- Paris is overrated - French food is outstanding but the service is horrible and if you ask for anything other than French its death by 1000 stares.
- HK is good for high end food or very local establishments. There are a million and one mediocre cut and paste restaurants in between.
- Singapore is also excellent but they don't do 'foreign' food as well as Tokyo, and its quite a dull place in general.
- Naples is an outside bet if you like Italian & seafood.
- London is good if you know where to go, as there is a lot of rubbish.
- Paris is overrated - French food is outstanding but the service is horrible and if you ask for anything other than French its death by 1000 stares.
- HK is good for high end food or very local establishments. There are a million and one mediocre cut and paste restaurants in between.
#135
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I disagree, as I've had one. It was a pre-packaged bento box bought at a train station, when I was getting in late and had an early morning meeting the next day I needed to prepare for, and knew I wouldn't have time for a restaurant meal.