Cuisine General - Hidden gems & all-time fav's

dirty halal food on the streets of NY

Tokyo is my favorite place to Mukbang...

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I was really surprised by Georgian food when I was there. I hadn't heard anything about it before but it was really a unique mix and really good. They also make a lot of wine in Georgia and during Sovjet it was regarded as the best type of wine there was in the country.

Pic related is Khinkhali which is dumpling like but tastes quiet different, somethimes it has lamb inside. Guys usually go out and order a hundred of these to split between them

Tel Aviv street food was pretty delicious, but expensive. Cheapest you could get was pretty cool though, a hummus place in the market which served big bowls of hummus, beans, chickpeas with toppings like onions, eggs. etc. and fresh bread. Got tiring after a couple of times but was great for like 3$. The market also had great meat sandwiches, kind of like kebabs but with better meat, and nearby there were places with schnitzel... Good stuff.

In Tokyo the only time I remember eating street food was at a stall in akihabara selling wagyu and beef tounge with salt on a stick. That meat is fucking delicious.

>>1175293
by far greece.

Thailand is probably the best from my experience.

Cambodia probably the worst. I guess older generations didn't focus on food due to the political situations...

India is amazing. So much variety, and it's all good. I'd be so fat if I lived there.

China is hit and miss, but upmarket restaurants and some of the regional dishes are delicious.

Singapore is cool, has most types of Asian food.

NZ has the best fish in the world.

French & Spanish food is good but often very rich due to large amounts of butter and olive oil respectively.

Holland had boring food

Switzerland was good but expensive as fuck. .

Salvador, Brazil is one of my favorite places for eating. Delicious and cheap street food but also a lot of nice restaurants. I like the abundance of loose weight buffet style restaurants with lots of traditional Bahian food. The food itself is so good IMO, a bit on the simpler side but really tasty and kind of high octane masculine in a way

>>1175344
damn that looks delicious...

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>>1175344
Seconding Georgian.

Growing up in Burgerland i feel as if i never tasted produce for what it should really taste like. I remember taking a bite out of something as simple as tomato in Georgia and it totally BTFO out of my taste buds.

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>>1175591
4 liters of wine and a whole chicken covered in Georgian plum sauce. Doesn't really look like much, but the sauce, which was made with plums straight from the garden, was really something special.

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All memes asisde, Ethiopian food is pretty BASED. About 200 days out of the year the Christians there have a special 'fasting' where they can only eat non animal products.

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>>1175593
Their diet the rest of the year, however, looks like this ayyyyy. With a bit of trial and error i was able to stomach and appreciate the raw meat.

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Nothing really beats mom's home cooking after returning from a long trip, though :-)

>>1175594
gg enjoy your 56 different parasites

>>1175597
wow. your mom made that for you ! lucky guy.
looks like trash.

>>1175629
looks pretty good to me. did your mom never cook for you?

>>1175351

Seconded. The food in Tel Aviv was fantastic

>>1175627
After popping the bubbly all over my bathroom the first few nights, it didnt really bother me.
>>1175629
Not everyone can handle the spice ;-) if you're ever around Vietnam, hit me up and I'll fix you up something nice, anon.

>>1175651
Vietnam? Please invite me over.

>>1175367
>NZ has the best fish in the world.

Best seafood I ever had was in a little place on the beach where the fishing boats come in, near Cha-Am, Thailand. Pic related, just north of town on a river inlet.

Everything is swimming in a tank when you sit down, I have no idea if you can order off a menu, we just said "bring it."

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>>1175776

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>>1175778

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>>1175779

>>1175367
>Holland had boring food
I agree

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>>1175594
Holy shit. Want to devour and vomit at the same time.

>>1175781
>>1175779
>>1175778
Awesome. Reminds me of Sri Lanka where the beachfront restaurants keep the catch of the day piled in old boats on the beach, you just point to the one you want.

One of the best seafood meals I've ever had was charcoal-grilled sardines. This Moroccan guy made them on his kitchen floor.
The cat ended up eating half of them, but damn, I wish I could get fresh sardines and try it here.

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I made some kind of fish grilled in butter with fresh ingredients bought from the Berber market in Tangier. Grocery shopping abroad is fun.

>>1175310

had food poisoning and couldn't leave the bed for 3 days after getting that shit near penn station

Singapore's food scene is on point.

>>1175776
Fair enough, I've had some good seafood in Asia - second what the guy before said about SriLanka.

But I like that NZ has a lot of white, meaty fishes that are easy to get on the day they were caught. Plus I think the waters are a lot cleaner and colder than those in Asia.

>>1175367
>>1175776
Best fish I've had was in Lima, Peru.

the most memorable experiences for me was in hawaii with my brother. we partied with these local girls who showed us how to grind up papaya and mango with rum and icecream to make the best drink i ever had. the best part though was how hawaiians would incorporate spam or paprika in to every other dish and still work it out perfectly.

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There are a lot of food trucks in Portland OR, but on the corner of SW 5th Ave and Oak St there is a whole city block lined with food stalls all year round, from middle eastern to thai to polish. The food is incredible but even better than that is the atmosphere surrounding the place. Everyone is friendly, homeless people mingle casually with salarymen on lunch break and the cooks have all got stories to tell. Meanwhile this was showing at the theatre down the road.

The place wasn't on any maps or anything either, just tucked away in a parking lot in the middle of downtown

>>1175367
>nz has best fish
Not really, Japan is fresher, better chefs too. Fish degrade the moment they die, so freshness is most of the flavour

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>>1176268
The amount of fish you eat in Japan that has been frozen would probably surprise you.

But if done property, freezing preserves freshness, it is not antithetical to it.

>>1176268
most of the fish in japan has been frozen.. the best salmon they serve is norwegian. flash frozen fish properly handled is almost as good as fresh though

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>>1176436
HA HA TOO SLOW!

>>1176130
You must be kidding, literally my worst foreign eating experience. Was Peru in general.

good restaurants in barcelona?

>>1176268
The Japanese are known for illegally fishing off the coast of NZ. And it's very very easy to buy fish caught on the same day almost anywhere in NZ.

>>1177371
All over the place.

>>1175367

Thailand street food was the bomb, pad thai or curry rice was really good

Malaysia was another place for great street food

Shanghai, china, had some great urgur meat on a stick thing

Taiwan had some open air markets that were nice

>>1175597

I gotta say that looks mighty tasty

>>1176053

Nasi Kandar and tea tarek at the hawker stands

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>>1177538
>Thailand street food was the bomb,

Indeed

>>1177538
i am hella excited for thai street food. stories?

living in penang, malaysia and visiting all the hakkar style carts with thai and penang food

indian food is my favorite but after doing 2 weeks in india fuck that shit. unless you find mega good restaurants it tastes just like every other indian food from asia and gives you the shits when you return home

I really enjoyed the brewery in top of one of prague's Hills. The meat was perfect

>>1179088
>living in penang, malaysia and visiting all the hakkar style carts with thai and penang food
This. Malaysian street food is probably the best in the world
> those fucking rotis, nasi lemak, teh tarik, cendol, hainan chickens...
And that's just the usual fare.

Great street food in Taiwan as well, you can find similar stuff on the mainland in Fujian. I had fantastic bbq grilled oysters with soy sauce and garlic and Xiamen. Grilled dumpling, meat skewers with spicy sauce, lots of tempura like stuff as well. Shit was good.

When it comes to actual cuisine, favorites are French, Spanish and Cantonese. Lots of depth in each of them, a lot of complexity as well, while they can be in your face enough so that you don't need to study them for decades to full appreciate it (I'm looking at you, Japan).

In lesser known cuisines (going full RealTravelerTM here) :
> Igbo stews : goat meat pepper soup is based.
> Reunion island everything : it's a creole cuisine mixing Indian, Chinese, Malagasy and French technics, spices, aromatics and ingredients. It's really good (and fat af)

>>1177714
I used to eat off the street carts, pad thai or they had elaborate ones that you'd get a curry, rice and veg for like 30 or 40 b. Go get a large chang from 7-11 and for around two dollars you get delicious thai food.

I lived outside Shanghai for 5 months or so, they had a night market with Urgur's cooking these meat/fat sticks that they grilled over charcoal it wasnt satay as these the fat was cooked kind of crispy and they put a black pepper and paprika spice on them. The smoke from the fires and the smell of cooking meat and the noise were incredible.

I lived in the streets of Penang for two years and the ethnic malay foods, nasi lemak and nasi kandar, nasi bungkus were quite incredible.

I used to go to the the gudwara where they would serve these handmade chapati and chai that were just out of this world.

Staying in Singapore currently and i'm eating a different dish every day.

>>1179230
>Reunion island everything : it's a creole cuisine mixing Indian, Chinese, Malagasy and French technics, spices, aromatics and ingredients. It's really good (and fat af)

I second this, the island is a mix of many ethnicities/culture and so is the food
It's also cheap as fuck and you don't have to worry about getting sick, it's a "rich" place compared to its neighbouring countries

>>1177714

They had vendors that would walk the beaches with a long pole with baskets on either side. With fresh produce, eggs and chicken and meat, on the other basket they had a lit barbeque! Whatever you wanted like chicken fried rice or pad thai they would cook it right there and then go to the next customer, it was quite nice, you didn't even have to move. The beach chair rental people you just had to raise your empty bottle and they have another in your hand pronto.

Most time if you find a lady that would fix good food, I'd keep going back. Pad thai vendors were plentiful, you chose your style of noodle, meat and egg, the lady would start stir frying it til almost done, then she would allow you to add chili flakes and other spices to your taste.

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>>1179088

Typical nasi lemak or nasi bungkus the flavor of the curry would meld into the rice with sambal and was so delicious. Wash it down with limon ice or tea tarek or tea halia its pretty awesome.

Toh Soon cafe, penang for charcoal toasted bread with kaya and melted butter was out of this world.

Also a shout out to "line clear" for nasi kandar which is famous for its history and food.

Nearby was a square that a locals would gather in the evening and chat and stuff.

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>>1175293

Yes, I copied this off the web, as my laptop was stolen and all my pics from that era are gone.

Liquor and beer wasn't readily available in penang, Tuak is a relatively mild alcoholic drink. bring an empty water bottle or they will sell you one there.


The Market Lane Tuak Shop, or Kedai Tuak Lorong Pasar, is one of the few tuak shops remaining in Penang. Also called toddy or palm wine, tuak is an alcoholic beverage made from the undeveloped flower of the coconut palm as well as the sugar palm.

>>1175293

I was "kidnapped" three times in asia, two were rather benign and somewhat fun, in Taiwan.

Once in Penang, I was friends with a Nigerian, who introduced me to three other Nigerians. They took me back to their apartment. It wasn't like being held for ransom, but they did lock me in when they went to town. Anyway, how this relates to this thread was they cooked this fish dish with sweet and sour tones that was delicious!

So, they locked me in, and if you've been to sea the bars on the doors and windows are somethin akin to a prison door. I sitting there and this program comes on tv called, "Locked up Abroad" and its the episode where the guy agrees to carry drugs. Except when they bring the drugs its like "where am I going to put all this"

All of a sudden, I'm having a laugh, then it like, "who would be this stup.." Auuggh, insert picture of a rat trying to escape. I started trying the windows, damn 30 floors, hmm wont survive that, tried the doors all welded bars, etc.

Hmm..started going thru the drawers, ah ha a couple of hundred keys, started trying them...sucess! locked the door behind me, throw the key thru the bars and make my escape. I read in the paper later about 4 nigerians arrested for "scams"

>>1175293

Here's an article on Line Clear. If you note the gif of the server they will take liquids from various dishes and pour it over the rice, its a nice touch


http://penangfoodie.com/line-clear-nasi-kandar-penang-review/

>>1179284
>It wasn't like being held for ransom, but they did lock me in
bruh

>>1176268
>freshness is most of the flavour
Eh, depends on the kind of fish and how you cook it. With sushi for instance, a lot of times they'll cure the fish in kelp.

But either way, Japan is great for fish (from Japan and elsewhere) simply because the market for it is so huge.

thailand food is incredible. super tasty and super cheap, plus street venders absolutely everywhere

>>1175354
This

I really like Japanese food in general. I stayed one month in Tokyo and there was a shop right across the street that only sold Karaage (Japanese style deep fried chicken). Shit was absolutely delicious.

Best I probably had was on Ishigaki though, a dish called "Asa Tempura". It's basically deep fried seaweed, completely crispy with a bit of a softness when you chew it. Just sprinkle a little Salt & Pepper on top and have a cold Orion to go with it, so fucking good.

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>>1176039
I know what you mean. Stayed at an airbnb within a 5 minute walking distance from La Boqueria in Barcelona. Generally ate at where we stayed which also saved a bit of money. Bought a lot of meat and cheeses.

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>>1175594

wut kind of meat is dat

Honestly this is going to sound rediculous and small, possibly even stupid (I havent traveled far out of the US) but if you search hard enough in America, you may come across a genre of hippie that builds houses out of mud (cobb), they generaly teach others how to do it (workshops) for money to support their lifestyle. They make the best homegrown hippie meals ever. Their gardens are usualy top knotch, due to their obsessions with being close to nature and wholistic foods. There is a plant called (Kuh-lee-tay)? they mix with berries for a super hippie salad. We made our own pizza dough and even baked it ourselves in a cobb oven. Helping tend the gardens, and build with cobb adds a bit of an intimate experience to the food. Being a part of the process.

>>1175594
>appreciate the raw meat.
Yea, no.

>>1176927
>You must be kidding, literally my worst foreign eating experience. Was Peru in general.
Yup, it's over rated to be sure. National pride kicks in to go on and on about it. >>1176268
>>>1175367
>>nz has best fish
>Not really, Japan is fresher,
It's got nothing on Alaska. You can enjoy your halibut off the boat, or fly fish your own salmon right in Anchorage or your back yard.

In terms of excellent quality food that costs a pittance, Albania can't be beat.

>>1175344
Georgian food is really overrated.

>>1175593
Injera is so fucking disgusting though.

>>1175591
Well yes. Few americans have never tasted real, natural, foods and Georgian foods are some of the nicest in the world. But the dishes are mainly stodgy shit like khačapuri (gross) and khinkali. It's nowhere near as refined as turkish food which is only a stone's throw away.

>>1179196
Czech food is as bad as finnish food though. I mean knedliky - really ? I'd expect to see that only in an old people's care home.

>>1180882
>never
That word shouldn't be there

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>>1180865
Raw meat can be absolutely delicious
I don't know if I'd eat it in Ethiopia tho but otherwise there's nothing wrong with it

>>1179196
Going to Prague next week, do you remember the place's name?

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>>1180882
>injera is fucking disgusting though
I absolutely loved it, though.

>it's nowhere near as refined as turkish food

Alright i know you're trolling now. I lived in Turkey for a year and i found the everyday food to be some of the blandest I've had. Only their turkic brothers is central asia could really outclass them. But then again, i was on holiday in Georgia, so maybe i was eating like the everyman. What i had there was fucking cash and everything tasted so fresh.

>>1180895
>>1180809
That was beef. Butchers usually get up at 3 to slaughter the cow and start serving up raw meet by breakfast time. In the villages i had raw lamb, organs and all.

>>1181361
Maybe i wasn't **

if i have to pick one cuisine, my fave was probably...hunan. i love red pepper and pork and lard and all, so you can imagine how close to heaven hunan feels to me. some cooked and steamed tofu skin with mustard green... or those steamed dumplings filled with fried rice (again fried in lard). so good.

i liked korean as well, but they use a bit too much sugar for my tastes.

also malaysia and singapore have awesome food with a great variety. singapore food is a bit too bland, though.

>>1181361
injera laid with all that other yummy stuff i cannot remember names of.....so good.

>>1175367
Am dutch. I never eat dutch food, because indeed, it is the most boring food in the world.

By far the best food I've ever had was in Mexico. I was there traveling on my own for 4 weeks and the food was the highlight of the trip. In Mexico City I ate like a king for what back in Canada wouldn't even get me a McDicks meal. Most of the food was amazing too, I didn't have to go out of my way to find incredible little stalls or street stands all over the place. The best food I had there was probably at Taqueria los Cocuyos. Google it, basically just giant vats of boiling meat that they dig out and put on tacos and it's fucking amazing. I probably paid like $8 for the best meal of my life and it was only that much because I ordered a lot of tacos. 1 taco was like 60-80 cents.

>>1175591
my real natural foods but what is that clear coke. they still have clear coke in georgia

>>1181761
They reuse plastic bottles for wine and spirits there. Probably one of the many boozes they make in their backyard...

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Had cobra the other day out here in Vietnam. Really surprised how delicious it was. Tasted something between chicken and fish.

>>1182076
I had an entire snake in Vietnam. They showed us the live cobra, then cut it open right in front of us. Drained the blood into shotglasses. Drank down the fresh snake's blood with the still-beating heart in the glass.

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>>1182180
Fucking good, yes?

Really taken back by how nice that snake tasted

>>1175293
i don't know if these are really hidden gems, but Christmas markets in Czech Republic, street food in Myeongdong, Norwegian gjetost, Nagoya tebasaki, the prepared food at wegman's supermarkets.

>>1179608
I find nip food good but only in short bursts. After a while the "deep fried everything" gets tiresome and you´d gladly trade all the eggs, fish, meat and batter for a simple bowl of veggies.

>>1182076
>>1182310
This legit freaks me out.

> Croatia

Cevap

> Hungary

Gulash

> Tyrol

Spaetzle
Canederli

> Italy

Plain polenta (with sausage and cheese on it, also deer stew)
Gnocchi

> Belgium

Fries (go to a frietkot)
Bicky Burger

> Germany

Kebab

> Sweden

Elk sausage
Salmon

Penang. Little fishing village by a National Park on the north side of the island. Best Laksa ever!

Liverpool St. James' Market

Black Sausage