Originally Posted by
JBord
I'm surprised so many people have Italian on their list. I think of Italian as a cuisine that everyone likes, but I never go out of my way for an Italian restaurant (and we do have a few authentic ones here in Chicago), or crave Italian food. Other than Italian-American pizza, I can't think of an Italian food that I would order for takeout or delivery either.
I like the breadth of Italian food options. You could go with a bistecca all fiorentina, you could do pizza, you could do a caprese (salad or sandwich), you can go fresh pasta, fresh fish., etc., though I agree takeout/delivery Italian is usually meh (you can make it better at home and the pasta won't be soggy)
Originally Posted by
BuildingMyBento
I'm going to have to pull Original Poster rank and ask you to choose between Greek and Turkish.
Also, I'm intrigued that you leave Japanese off because restaurants near you aren't good. That sounds to me like, if they were in your area, it would be on your list...but then, being that you're not in Japan, how "authentic" are they?
No snark intended--we're talking about food here, so I'm interested - for trip-planning, or otherwise - in what y'all have to say!
Ahh that's brutal. Okay gun to my head I'm choosing Greek and it's not all that close. Tzaztiki, grilled branzino, pita bread, Greek salad. And I find that most places have at least 1 good place that can make good, authentic Greek food and I've been fortunate enough to eat the real thing in Greece a couple of times. There are some areas where Greek/Turkish food crosses over (kebabs, falafel -- which others claim too, baklava -- had amazing baklava in Istanbul)
Re: Japanese food -- my love of Japanese food is mostly centered on sushi (though I do enjoy a nice bowl of ramen from time to time). Before I went to Japan, I was happy with any sushi but after going to Japan, I gained an appreciation for real sushi (high quality fish, the rice, the technique, etc.) and the problem is you can only really find that in the US in NYC, LA, San Francisco, Seattle and I don't live in any of those places so I have a hard time putting it on my top 3 when I maybe get it once every year (in normal non-COVID times).