American food sucks

The Spectator (U.K.) ^ | 08/21/04 | Ella Windsor

[AnAmericanMother]

I think the basic problem is lack of local knowledge.

As a tourista, I would gravitate to places like Simpson's or Rule's that I have actually heard of. While the nice little place around the corner that the locals frequent goes unnoticed because it isn't in the guidebooks.

Similarly, some poor sap who comes to Atlanta GA and eats at the overpriced tourist traps downtown that catch the unwary . . . will never know about either the down-home barbeque joints like Harold's or the tiny little 10-table restaurants with exquisite French cuisine like Violette's.

[nutmeg]

When you eat bone marrow pie ya know you're in England

Don't forget this British confection:

;-D

[Honorary Serb]

Guess he's never had, good ol' American chicken and dumplings, fried catfish and hushpuppies, smoked baby back ribs or even just plain old pinto beans, cornbread, fried taters with green onions and a jalapeno on the side.

You're absolutely RIGHT! I usually prefer fried or roasted sweet 'taters to white ones, though!

[KC_Conspirator]

I regularly change things out on the menu such as fries for mashed potatoes or brocolli for spinach and its a not big thing. When you do that for customers they come back again.

[MadIvan]

I think the basic problem is lack of local knowledge.

That's precisely it, I don't know about Atlanta, so I'd make the same mistakes you might make in London. I find when I'm in a foreign city, I have to ask the concierge at the hotel, "Look, where do YOU eat?" ;)

Regards, Ivan

[Steve_Seattle]

Any generalization about "American food" is probably outdated. In this country, you can now get just about every kind of food imaginable.

[Big Digger]

My wife and I were in Scotland the summer before last and we loved the breakfasts, including the haggis. Also, we had steak and mushroom pie and a ploughman's lunch at a pub down in Greenwich that were to die for and weren't hungry for dinner until 9 PM. Now, just got back from a week in Boothbay Harbor ME where the blueberry pancakes, lobster rolls, fried clams, and the crab cakes were out of this world..so, if one knows where to look, both the UK and USA have some terrific indigenous food. Lazy people will continue to eat crap wherever they happen to be.

[CFW]

Fishing or noodling?

Fishing. We have a 2 acre farm pond which we stock with catfish, bass and bream. You just put a little red wiggly worm on a fish hook, cast, and wait....

[BritishBulldog]

Interesting that that picture of Heinz (US company) version of the great British Classic, "Spotted Dick".

Imitation they say is the sincerest form of flattery ;o)

[nutmeg]

I just got back from a trip to the US, and I have to say the food portions are enormous.

I agree with you... in many US restaurants today, the food portions are downright obscene!

[sarasota]

Do they use the very same tomatoes and cheese? Those ingredients are key. If it's the water, perhaps they should try bottled water! I tried an Uno's pizza in Boston and it was a HUGE disappointment. Not even close to Chicago style. Not even close.

[KangarooJacqui]

There are more Indian restaurants in London than in Bombay.

Which reminds me of a couple of hilarious skits to do with that very topic. The first was British comedian Alexei Sayle talking about how after a night out with the boys "y'know, 93 pints of real ale... I really like to go for a curry. I sometimes wonder, if it works the other way around? I mean, if you go around New Delhi at closing time, would you see millions of pissed [American transaltion: heavily intoxicated] Indians throwin' up steak and kidney pies?"

The second, by an English-Indian comedy group, actually involves a group of intoxicated Indians going into an English restaurant, and goading each other: "Go on... have something REAAAAALLLY MILD." Hilarious, but I guess you have to know the context (and most here probably wouldn't).

[HungarianGypsy]

Then there is the opposite reaction when Americans eat in a European restaurant. An acquaintance of my husband's was having a birthday and wanted to eat at a European restaurant (obviously because he wasn't paying). My husband said the food was overpriced and the portions really small (this from a man who doesn't really eat much to begin with). My husband came home later and filled up on my homemade bread.

[AgentEcho]

I don't entirely agree or disagree with the writer.

First of all I want to make one thing clear, I'm a big guy (6'3" / 250+) and I'm an eater. I love food. And being half Cajun and living in south Texas you can guess my favorites.

I avoid fast food joints because I don't care for most of the food. McDonald's and Burger King actually make me feel ill. Jack in the Box is just gross. Taco Bell always sits like a rock. KFC, I grew up around chickens and the size of KFC's really concerns me. Wendy's, at least the lettuce looks like lettuce. Subway, they're good for a couple of months when they're new and the franchisee cares. After that the quality of the employee tends to sag.

As far as portion size I agree completely with the writer. I see people much smaller than me gorge themselves and then complain at how full they are. My wife and I go out with friends for an evening and the others stuff themselves where we get to go boxes and have a complete second meal the next day, and we;re not so miserable. It almost seems that people have this idea that "if it's in front of me I have no choice but to eat it". I'd gladly forfeit quantity for quality.

I try not to even go to chain normal 'sit down' restaurants because the quality isn't there.

I much prefer smaller restaurants that are trying to carve out their place in the market. You get to know those cooking. The wait staff has a low turn over, some haven been there for years. Management actually cares what you're saying when they ask how things are. They're asking because they want to, not because it's been dictated that they do so from their national headquarters.

I'm not meaning to sound like a prude, I just know what I like. Obviously fast food and chains have a place in the USA, just not so much in my life.

Æ

[BritishBulldog]

What actually is "American food" anyway?

Most "traditional" American dishes have their origins in Europe, South America or elsewhere don't they?

[Little Ray]

This poor person has not be introduced to Bar-B-Que yet! Someone get him to Maurice's or some other famous BBQ joint!

[Melas]

Of course a lager hits the spot on certain occasions , but Bud / Coors LIGHT ain't the way to go . Try a Kirin Lager or Labatts or

Lite beer is the devil's work, surely. That being said, I'm one of the few real beerheads that truly appreciates an American Lager. Budweiser is truly a 5 star beer. When you judge a beer, you judge it against others of its type, in this case other American Lagers, and Bud by far the best of breed. Those that don't like it, don't like the genre. If you don't like the genre, you have no business judging the beer.

[pamlet]

I spent a few months in rural England. The "local" places to eat were of course the pubs. I found only a couple local places that had freshly prepared food. Most pubs in the area I was in had frozen dishes they fixed up (much like the US). After awhile it got a little old.. laugh.. same stuff different decor.

Now there was one place that had WONDERFUL food. Everytime I went I got the Pork Tenderloin Medallions... the cook would fix a different sauce with them every night. Fruit sauces, gravies.. they were delicious.

I tried the beef - I think the difference is in how they are fed. I didn't care for it so I stuck with chicken or pork.

[sarasota]

I ate it in the 70's and found everything to be overcooked, just like mom used to make it. I did seek out Chinese/Indonesian food for balance.

[Cogadh na Sith]

Ella can go &^%# herself with a frozen corndog.