We cook at home almost every night, making a wide variety of food. We’ve found recipes we love for some great American Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and Indian recipes, and the list goes on. But one thing we have so far failed to make well is the Thai rice noodle dish Pad Thai. It’s one of my favorite foods, dating back to my first exposure to it at Sawadty Thai Cuisine in my hometown. After our latest failure, Theresa vowed not to try anymore and anytime we wanted any we would go to a Thai restaurant. So we went out for dinner tonight at a nice little Thai restaurant near us. And we got to talking about all the delicious foods we’re going to eat on our trip. There’s the steaks in Argentina, the roasted chickens in Peru, the curries and noodle dishes of Thailand, the Pho of Vietnam, the coolness of Ethiopian food (though Theresa is not a fan). It was quite an appetizing discussion, but we weren’t able to come to any conclusion of what we were most looking forward to. So we’re posing the question to you. Where in the world do you think (or know) the food is the best?
9 Replies to “Eating the World”
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Since I’ve only been to Greece and Egypt my actual “hands-on” experience of a particular cultures food is limited, but I think I’ve been to enough “authentic” restaurants and experienced a variety of foods.
The food in Egypt was always quite tasty and light, though filling. I can’t say I’m big on Greek food except for the gyro. I think I am partial to various Asian foods. I think I’d put Indian at the top of that list, as I like my food spicy.
However I also enjoy authentic Mexican. Not that Tex-Mex crap. While in San Diego I had the best burritos and quesadillas from this hole in the wall street corner Mexican establishment. It was literally the size of a large bathroom. I’m sure my broken Spanish order was comical.
I’m going to bank on South America having some tasty dishes. I don’t think you can go wrong at any of the various locations. Well I take that back. I know Bear Grylls couldn’t handle goat testicles so I doubt either of you can either.
Hands down, Germany… I might be a little bias, but since i have been to allmost all the western european countries, i gotta love my Wurst and Käse.
Interestingly enough the best Gyro i ever had was in Munchen. The custom of the largest meal at lunchtime would serve americans well, then they could walk it off with the rest of the days activities. Sarah and I frequent a Mediterranean restaraunt, which is actually Iranian food, but who would eat there if they knew the owners father was from Shiraz, Iran. It is very tasty and the old man use to make all the dishes by himself.
My favorite foods are by far Thai and Vietnamese (coincidence that those two countries are at the very top of my list of places I want to go?) I also love Indian food–the best I ever had was in in London, but I’ve never actually been to India so I don’t know how it compares 🙂
I had the most flavorful, tasty seviche in Ecuador on the coast (i think the Galapagos might be on your list??). Beef in Argentina and Brazil is sublime, especially if you can attend an asado (their version of a backyard bar-b-que but more involved); it puts U.S. standards to shame. I bet your experience with local fruit will be one to remember, bananas in Ecuador are so full of flavor that the ‘bananas’ we eat here taste like cardboard in comparison. Really, all of the fruit there is so savory and different; i am sure the same can be said about the fruit in many of the countries on your trip. I had a Tomate del Arbol (Tree Tomato) in Quito and i cannot describe the flavor (it did not resemble a tomato in the least), but I would give a lot to have one again.
I thought i signed in! Oh well, that Anonymous is me. sorry 🙂
I have to agree with you that Sawadty’s is one of the best Thai food places ever. We just went there the other night and it was excellent. In my opinion, another contender for best food is Chinese Dim Sum. I’m not sure if you guys are going to China or Hong Kong, but if you do, I would highly recommend doing the Dim Sum. The good thing about it is that you get to sample tons of little dishes so you can get a good flavor for all the different kinds of food. The next time you guys are back in Seattle, we can do a trial Dim Sum run.
Chris, we’d love to do some Dim Sum with you. You proved you could put together some great Chinese food at your Rehearsal dinner. It definitely made me a believer in going to to Chinese restaurants with someone who can speak Chinese. It really does get you a whole different menu. I don’t think we’ll be making it to China or Hong Kong on this trip though. Maybe next time =).
I’ve been to 25+ countries and so far, Taiwan hands down has the best food, especially in the night markets. Since people from all over mainland China emigrated to Taiwan at the end of the civil war, they brought with them all their regional cooking styles. You can get any type of Chinese food in Taiwan plus excellent Japanese and Korean. If you are planning on visiting any Asian countries outside SE Asia, I highly recommend Taiwan even though it is a little more expensive (on par with Brazil.) Very few Western tourists visit Taiwan, the people are extremely friendly to Americans and the Palace Museum houses the best collection of Chinese art in the world.