annesherrod

P_M - LOL yes a bottle of
Annie Greenspprings over a nice Italian Pinot Grigio. They actually still make the stuff.... I saw a bottle of the pink stuff up in Michigan last summer!!!

USNR

Neil: we have a rather good Chinese restaurant in our little town that has an eye-popping buffet. Pick and choose as you go, then go back again and again. The word "gourmand" takes on a bigger dimension. No lazy susans, however. Very reasonable in cost. Compared with cruddy places we came across from Wuhan to Chungking and beyond, our little oriental bistro is a gourmet's dream.

Weezie

The worst meal I ever had was in Paris...the same city where I had the best. I think it all depends on who's doin' the cookin'.
(Throw a huge vote in for the BEST at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem. yummy, yummy, yummy!)

WallyKringen

Molvania is a fictional country. It started as a spoof, in Australia (why aren't we surprised at that? - those larrikins...), to make fun of travel books.

Tomboy, you rascal, just what exactly did you eat there?

WK

Budman

Mexican refried beans. Don't even like 'em when they fry 'em the first time.

nytraveler

Russia -

In one restaurant in St. Pet we were asked if we wanted meat or fish. When I said what kind of meat the waiter said "What do you care?

This was 4 years ago - assume more decent places have opened since then.

OReilly

I think its a matter of what you like/dislike. I don't like German or Eastern European cuisine, so I rarely enjoy the food when I travel there, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with it; just not to my taste.

Worst meals I've ever had have all been in the US, when on business in suburban areas, relatively expensive restaurants; massive servings, no taste!

tuscanlifeedit

In England, I have had some awful junk to eat. Watery fish... mushy peas... inedible pizza TWICE, in two very different parts of the country.

I ate a lot of sweets, which I like, but my DH, who doesn't have a sweet tooth, was seriously cranky. I can fill up on ice cream, cake, cookies and pie (oh, Devon cream ice cream was heavenly) but a decent hot meal is what DH likes. And didn't get.

I don't have any problem with threads talking about the "worst" as opposed to only the best. I get a lot of information from hearing what didn't please other travelers.

StCirq

It's all relative and experiential, of course, but England, for me, has had the most consistently inedible offerings for the past four decades that I've had the pleasure of visiting that country. I know, I know, British cuisine is supposed to have vastly improved over the years, but it has definitely escaped me.

John

Spain! I personally don't like most fish dishes and it seems like that's all we were offered. Was my first time to Europe and was on a tour so I guess that doesn't count.
Sinc then, I make my own travel plans and details and haven't had a REALLY bad meal since.
Even though I don't eat MOST fish, I do LOVE a good fish and chips in those wonderfull pubs in England.

MissPrism

A big problem with English food is that you tend to get the bad stuff in tourist areas.
You really need to ask a local or get a book like a Harden's guide.

Egon Ronay has just brought out a Guide to the Best Restaurants and Gastropubs in the UK.
Gastropubs are usually good value.

SiobhanP

The worst Meal I ever had in Ireland was in a tourist trap in Blarney and the best Also in Ireland at the old Peacock Alley (Both times wonderful).

Saying that My favourite countries for food are Italy first and then France. I still look forward to London as there are more food choices and I ate a nice Lebanese meal there last week but it may be rubbish to a londoner. It was lovely to me and different.

I think good food in ireland is the small coffee shop (Not a chain) that has great soups and then the high end like Peploes Chapter one and its excellent food but at a price.

My compromise is that we go to the bar of 1-2 restaurants and have a bottle of wine and olive then head for dinner elsewhere. We enjoy the atmosphere and a drink and then go for the places we can afford.

caroline_edinburgh

Miss Prism is spot on, the only consistently bad places to eat in the UK now are places aimed at tourists - e.g. "Aberdeen" steak houses, all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets, etc.

These days I'd say you can get good food & bad food in any country, you just have to make a bit of effort (OK, luck comes into it a bit too.)

Snoopy, black pudding isn't just from Scotland; it's also native to England, France & Spain to my knowledge, & I daresay other countries too. Being from the north of England myself, I generally prefer English to Scottish, but like it all really. And as with anything else, there are good ones and bad ones. Keep trying ! The most recent one I had was actually French (boudin noir) - French ones tend to be softer & pastier. I've also had an absolutely mad Spanish one which was *very* spicy.

j_999_9

Turkey --the country, not the food.

Was there for a week, and just about any cut of meat in any restaurant couldn't be cut with a chainsaw. Decided to concentrate on the sights, not the food, and the trip was worthwhile.

lucielou

Absolute worse ever In Cardiff, had an absolutely vile meal also in Barcelona, but by far the nicest in Southern Spain.

david_west

I have never been to Molvania, but I have been to chisnau in Moldova - which really is the real life Molvania. The food was astonishingly awful. They had managed to achieve that East European communist era trick of there being no food in the shops and everyone being fat. They also make wine, which is supposed to be about the best that the USSR had. All I can say is if that is the best, you could probably clean diesel engines with the worst.

I've also lived for a while in Russia under communism, and even though I had access to the hard currency shops and the black market (I was paid in pounds), the food was atrocious, there was no quality control and even things like potatoes were small and off-putting.

I see that several people have mentioned dreadful food in Britain, and it certainly exists. It's mainly in places aimed at tourists (domestic and foreign), ie there's no point in using good quality ingredients or skilled staff, as the people you are feeding will never come back in any case. Also you will never get good food if you are on a tour as the places that can cater to large numbers are all rubbish.

We locals eat in places that want us to come back. That means the food is good. In short - ask a local, we'll tell you what's good and what's not.

ira

Hi nuke,

>You must have been served a bad Scotch Egg.<

Absolutely the worst Scotch egg ever made. What made it even worse was that it was at a fish & chips shop that had a line of locals.

BTilke

Actually, David, I think it depends on the locals. You know perfectly well that some of the worst places to eat in the UK are kept in business entirely by locals...I can think of a few truly hideous takeaways in Maidenhead that couldn't possibly be tourist traps (domestic or foreign).
Ask the *right* local however and yes, you will be turned onto some wonderful finds. The Hand & Flowers in Marlow, for example, is one of my favorite dining spots anywhere. A lovely local from that lovely town was the one who suggested it.
Bad recs from locals with bad taste is not restricted to any one country, of course. Where I grew up, one of the local favorites was the Brass Rail, a den of grease and generally horrific food, yet enormously popular (unsuspecting out of towners taken there by friends or family were uniformly appalled).

david_west

True enough on the above. i think all towns have at least one "gem" that is more zirconium than diamond. Also on the list of places to avoid is anywhere that people don't spend their own money - provincial hotels are the worst offenders for this. Any food tastes OK when it on expenses.

I also have a rule not to eat in anywhere that only has local newspaper reviews in the window. Local papers don't dish the dirt on their advertisers.

I was in the West End on Friday night (thereby breaking the Londoners golden rule) and the Aberdeen Angus steak houses were all full. That's another few hundred tourists who think the english eat lousy food. There's one in Wardour St for God's sake - that's 50 yards from Chinatown.

GSteed

Judging from health and death reports, the USA has the 'worst' food.