but Panda Express claims to be MSG-free, so it must be something else that did the trick

Kayenta, Arizona, for a Navajo Taco at the Amigo Cafe.

Any In-N-Out Burger, anywhere, anytime.

Monahans, Texas for the ground beef nachos at Leals Mexican Restaurant

The badly misnamed Garden City, Texas, for the little no-name cafe on the courthouse square and its enchilada dinner plate

Kansas City for Gates Barbecue

Eureka, Missouri, for a little downtown family-run cafe that I could find again if I were there but can't remember the name for the toasted ravioli

Reno, Nevada (really!) for sushi (really!) at the Sushi Pier

The Indian Lodge restaurant at Ft. Davis State Park in the Davis Mountains of Texas for the enchilada dinner plate.

The chicken at Corkey's Barbecue in Odessa, Texas

Albuquerque, New Mexico, for breakfast at the Frontier Restaurant

I would go back to Singapore just to eat:
...chili crab and nasi goreng and lime juice at 3 a.m. from an outdoor Hawker Center

I would go back to San Francisco just to eat:
...oysters and a pint o' Anchor Steam for breakfast at Swan Oyster Depot with my best friend
...anything Gary Danko does with foie gras
...house cured anchovies and whatever the granita of the day is at Zuni

I would go back to New York City just to eat:
...Coconut Tapioca with Cilantro Sauce at Grammercy Tavern


I would go back to Munich just to eat:
...weissw�rst at ___blanking____ and pilzesuppe at The Augustiner

I would go back {30 years in time} to Seattle just to sip:
...a cup of clam nectar with drawn butter on the top from Ivar's take-out window my father used to take me to somewhere along the piers

I would go back {35 years in time} to Beaverton, Oregon just to savor:
...five packs of Sour Cherry Lifesavers from the 7/11 about a mile from my house

FYI, Panda Express does not use MSG in their food. See
http://www.pandaexpress.com/menu/nutrition.aspx.

And for the record, I think PE's Orange Chicken is sublime.

I wouldn't mind going back down to H3 Steakhouse in the Fort Worth Stockyards for steak and beer.

Is it worth traveling up there from NJ for it? I'm actually quite intriged by this garbage plate and am willing to try it if you think it's worth the trek.

You guys don't actually believe that do ya?

Just kidding but hey if you guys like PE, that's all that matters.

You can say the same about me and In-n-Out burger. Many says they're terrible but I personally love 'em

Shelby, NC is my hometown and I grew up with the Bridges boys! If you haven't been to Shelby, there are a lot of damn good BBQ places, Bridges being the best (the old All-Da, torn down a few years ago, gave them a run for it).

In addition to salivating for a barbeque sandwich with extra slaw right now, I'd love to go back to Boston for one more dish of Loc Lac (Cambodian) from The Elephant Walk

Recife, Brazil (Porto de Galinhas beach) - paid about 30 dollars for 5 pounds of lobster tail. The resident housekeeper/cook in the house I rented cooked it with a delicious sauce.
Well, I think I'd go back there even if there weren't any special food involved.^

That barbeque sandwich would be pork barbecue, chopped or sliced but never "pulled," probably more likely vinegar-style sauce than tomato, and the coleslaw would be served on top of the barbecue, not to the side but in the sandwich, right?

If so, then, to use your wording, it would indeed be "damn good." (If you said it, I can too.) -- Best barbecue sandwich I ever had was some years ago at some unknown hole-in-the-wall on a highway about five miles outside Jamestown.

As any Southerner knows, coleslaw goes IN the barbecue sandwich, not to the side.

Sapporo: any of the ramen, esp buttered corn/spicy
Hong Kong: this fabulous Thai place that had tofu in a red curry. It is amazing...

You know your Western North Carolina barbeque to a tee

Sapporo for some real, honest-to-God Sapporo ramen.

Geneva for the chocolates at Stettler's.

Tokyo for the: huge pasta bowls at Capricciosa - lots of good memories there; anything for lunch at La Brasserie at the Imperial Hotel; sushi at Edogin. Mmm... sushi...

Any grocery store in the midwestern/southern USA that sells Blue Bell ice cream.

Washington DC for the Chicken Madness sandwich at Wisemiller's deli in Georgetown.

Cyprus for Halloumi cheese

33rd St for White Castle...mmmmm white castle