What's a favorite food of yours that you struggle to find good examples of

Average food is all around us. I supposed this is also dependent on where you live, but I have a bunch of favorites that I often try when I see them on the menu and 95 out of a 100 times I leave disappointed.

For example, I haven't had a good chili in probably ten years. Hot pretzels, I guess if you call Wetzel Pretzel and Auntie Anne's good pretzels, but I know there's more out there...somewhere. Pecan rolls, we used to have a Mom & Pop restaurant that blew my taste buds away in my youth, now many decades later still searching for something similar.

I think these small artisinal bake shops and youth movement type food trucks are getting us in the right direction, but there is still a ton of average food out there.

 

Good sushi is actually hard to come by once you try the good stuff and realize the rest is not worth it.

I struggle to find cities that have Ethiopian food let alone good Ethiopian food.

 

It's funny you mention chilli. I was searching around yesterday for chilli in my area, but couldn't find anything.

 

Well dang, Al!

Give me a call next time you are in town, and we'll go to Nile, on I-Drive!

 

Bread pudding. The best I have had is the Wilno Tavern in Ontario, Canada. Best Polish food for that matter. Have not had a good bread pudding in the Atlanta area yet.

Dave

 

Have you tried D.C. for Ethiopian? I have been a couple of places there, and both were very good IMO. Admittedly, I'm not a connoisseur, but it was tasty to me...T

 

Jason... Make your own. Look up Kyle's recipe in the What's For Dinner? thread. It's not much prep, apart from dicing chuck, and my wife and I have pretty much stopped eating anything else chili-wise...T

 

I won't be back until Thanksgiving, but I'll let you know! Never heard of that place...good to know! I went to Umi for sushi in Winter Park last month...that place was great. I need to go there again.

Last two places I've been that are good are in DC and Chicago, but that's because they have a good population size to have places like that. I'm currently in the deep south so not much around here other than bbq, which is okay.

 

Completely agree on bread pudding, not an easy find. Had about 4 different ones last month, all average, the worst was at Lucilles BBQ.

 

LOL Tom!

But yesterday I was looking to get out of the house and drink a few beers with chilli. I settled for pizza.

 

The one that pops to mind is smoked brisket. Its everywhere, but rarely amazing.

Great tomatoes...same.

 

My "struggles"...

- good hole-in-the-wall TexMex outside Tejas
- ditto for brisket
- a good fish taco outside So Cal
- good fried chicken outside the South
- good gumbo outside of New Orleans
- a good Mai Tai outside of Hawaii
- good Italian that compares to grandma's, anywhere

But, I'm an optimist and I'll keep looking!

T

 

Makes sense. Last time I was in Seattle, my cabbie was Ethiopian, and IIRC, he told me that Atlanta also had a relatively large Ethiopian community. So, maybe that's worth a look-see?
T

 

too many things... comes of having lived in different countries and getting addicted to local specialties. I've have gotten to the point of frustrated tears at the poor quality of produce available locally ( I live in a small regional village).
Crap sushi, crap tofu, very hard to buy whole fresh 1-person size fish; chickens are plumped up with water and it's hard to buy pieces with the bone in; rubbish bread unless you pay a fortune for 'artisanal', tasteless hydroponic tomatoes (although local Roma's are good); now you know why I was so tortured by the Italian deli pics in someone's travel pics recently.

 

Serious lack of good breakfast spots and good Chinese in my area.

Bummer too!

 

I think the last good tomatoes I had were years ago when Dad brought seeds home from England and grew them himself.

 

Amen! When I lived in Memphis, there was a little town up the road, called Ripley, that had great tomatoes. Limited time, only a small chunk of summer as I recall. In Texas, it'***** or mostly miss. There's a peach stand in the small town of Bowie and a small purveyor of grass-fed beef in a different small town that have good maters when they do happen to have them in stock, which is irregular.

While we're crabbing, I cannot recall the last time I had a cucumber that had any flavor!

T

 

Pizza

There are a million pizza places around here, but almost none that have real pizza ovens and good fresh dough.

 

Thankfully, we have a couple local joints that make great pizza. The rest is crap!

 

Just thought of one, stew, a hearty quality stew I can just walk in and order.

 

Not enough goat dishes on menus.

 

I have grown my own tomatoes but due to my very slow backyard renovation this year no garden. Next year will be epic though. I haven't been making the farmer's markets much either but at least around me there are quite a few small farms that grow really great heirloom tomatoes. Flavor like you remember, trust me. The heirloom ones in the mega grocery stores are not near as flavorful. One of my fondest childhood food memories, tomato salad with fresh bread to dip in the juice. We used to fight over who got more juice.

I'm pretty luck too as there are a couple really good local joints around me. Fresh dough, good ingredients and little local places. Da Best!!

 

Oh, and as for things I can't find, I was born in Buffalo and hot dogs and sub sammiches are two local specialties that I have never found replacements for. Luckily good hot-dogs can be had online....for a price that is. Subs not so lucky!!

 

Zabaglione, my favorite dessert.

 

My dad's favorite, although he never learned how to make it properly. One day, I finally had it in Italy in his honor. Not my favorite, but I agree, almost impossible to find outside Italy.