*sigh* OK. I realize I invaded your world here in the dining section, as I've never posted here before. Sorry I offended you.

EDIT: Seriously, hundreds of trips? And living there? Really? You have high standards for expertise!

So you are going on the theory that experience counts for nothing? I guess we will have to disagree then.

Like I said, it doesn't offend me. It can make you look bad though. And it is 10 years on Flyertalk that has given me and us these relatively high standards. High in comparison to sites like Trip Adviser. We have members who live in something like 80 odd countries here. So when you make a singular visit to one of these countries and make a sweeping generalization about it, you are almost always going to be wrong. It is best to observe and ask questions until you get some experience.

I think the US probably has the best variety/selection of food, although that is really only true for a fairly small percentage of the country (having done roadtrips where the choice is mcdonald's or chili's in every town for 100 miles convinces me of this). I think many other countries have a specific cuisine better than you can get it here. I think high-end dining (3* Michelin type stuff) is leagues better in Europe and Japan than it is here.

But boy do we kick everyone elses' rear ends when it comes to cocktails. I think we're years and years ahead of everyone else on the cocktail front-- knowledge, heritage, variety, skilled staff, cost of raw ingredients and finished drinks. Yum.

Not all of the sweeping generalizations on this thread have been made by the OP, and I don't think I'm making a generalization with that comment.

I like to think we can all learn from each other and I for one thank the OP for starting this thread. It's been fascinating. ^^

If everybody followed the advice in your final sentence, there certainly would be fewer posts, and there would also need to be some sort of body more formal than the "evangelist" labelers to highlight who the experts are.

Cheers,
Fredd

For sure, but I think you have to give London an honorable mention. They not only make some great cocktails, and have hundreds of years of experience, but they charge the highest prices! A Mojito for example goes for 15 pounds at a decent hotel bar in London.

Experience doesn't count for nothing, but I don't think your experiences necessarily make you right and make his experiences wrong. Fair enough?

One thing I will say tangentially to this point is that I do think it is quite likely that the OP, and many Americans (myself included - this is something I have experienced), have pretty messed up palettes. Our food is oversalted, overseasoned, overprocessed, etc., and that makes it difficulty to taste nuance and subtle flavors.

I like the thread too obviously, but it didn't need inaccurate generalizations to get started. And I did say that everyone is an expert in reporting their own experiences. If you look around the many thousands of posts here, you will see a lot of that. Sharing experiences is what makes Flyertalk valuable.

Au contraire, it was the provocative title and provocative comments that drew (sucked?) posters in.

Some of your recent comments IMHO are coming across as a bit didactic. Having been around FT since 2002 I'm not exactly a newbie (nor am I in real life ) so don't really feel in need of your advice, e.g. "If you look around..."

IMHO you were talking down to the OP as relatively new member and I hope he continues to contribute to this forum rather than feeling he has to treat it as an "ask the expert" column.

Cheers,
Fredd

No problem, thanks for the kind words, and I agree many of the replies have been truly interesting.

Kind of how I feel. It's a discussion board full of opinions from people of many different walks of life. Some are better than others. Some obviously feel mine is not one of the better opinions... I expected and am fine with that considering the reason I asked the question in the first place (it's sacrilege in some circles to say certain food is average, or that the "wrong food" is good).

I can buy that.

Stimpy,

I respect the experience of others, and understand that others enjoy different things than I do. There is no need to put me in my place, as I realize many have more experience than me.

That said, I'll be completely frank: the opinions of those who would think poorly of someone for their taste in food means nothing to me. If I were afraid of that, I wouldn't have posted the question and wouldn't have purposely put the words "Olive Garden" and "Prego" in the OP. I asked a question to provoke discussion and to learn something, and throw in my $0.02 here and there, because I want to discuss my experiences and opinions.

Disagree with me? Think I don't know enough about the subject? Fine. Tell me what I'm missing. But to warn me I might "look bad"? I think that's why a certain percentage of people say they love French food in the first place: they're afraid of looking bad to others. Again, that is back to why I posted.

I was hoping to ask people, devoid of pretense (all around), do you REALLY like the food in France and Italy that much better? The answer from some who have been there, is "no". And from some, "yes." It's become a cool little discussion and I'm glad I'm learning something.

I think within reason there is no correct answer, the problem is that the OP is so far off the mark.

I could name you countless places in London where you can get a great curry for GBP5. Or one of my favourites used to be a Lebanese place that did the best schwarma in the world for GBP3. I'm sure with your time living in France you would have similar experience.

I have family in Salerno (south of Naples) there is a hole in the wall pizzeria in town, only locals no tourists, EUR5 you get what I think is the best pizza in the world and I've had plenty and definately better than anything I have had in NY or Chicago (although I have had some pretty decent pizza there too).

Most first time tourists will usually fall for the tourist traps (Angus Steakhouse anyone???), too often people for an opinion based around this and so make statements like the OP's.

Travel is a learning experience though, the more you do it the better you become at sniffing out things locals do and where they eat. But a lot does come down to personal preference, and some people have less adventurous palates than others, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Over on the Oz forum we often get people complaining about the high cost of food in Sydney, but generally they have not looked much further than the Rocks (tourist central).

^ I'd go as far as to say that's the reason a number of people make blanket statements about American food being bad - because they think it makes them look better. I've had some fantastic food in the US, perhaps some of the best ever for it's respective category. A fresh from the grass fed ranch steak as good as any in Argentina, great Indian, great seafood, enough great food that I can say the US has enough great food to make blanket statements about XXX having better food come across as rather opinionated... err ignorant.

But I'd still agree on average you could get some great XXX food in YYY

I think this is mostly correct. I will take well salted, highly seasoned food any day over subtle nuance. It is why I believe Thailand has the best food in the world. Their liberal use of fresh herbs, chilis, and fish sauce which by most all standards would be considered "overseasoned", makes it perfect for me. I could easily eat it continuously with the rare American or Mexican meal for variety. I rank Mexican second for the same reason. I do just fine on extended trips to Mexico eating only local fare. Singapore is great too. I have trouble after a few weeks in Brazil, and a few days in Japan, and I'm sure I would in France or Italy as well. That said, I don't think my palate is messed up any more than any Thai or Mexican.

This is something I have found in the US. I think simple food like burgers, Tex-Mex and anything fried are great in the US, but (and this is purely my own opinion) they struggle when trying to create flavour without a lot of fat or salt. So often the dish tastes a bit "blunt", or almost incomplete.