I think most of us have some meal(s) that we like to be made in a special way, whether it’s in some particular restaurant, some special ingredients, made by the family member that nobody can compare to, or even the way we make it by ourselves. However, many of us also come across many foods that may seem simple to make but most of the time lead to disappointment when we order them.
Speaking about that, one Reddit user asked folks online to share meals that the majority of people or restaurants always manage to mess them up. Well, the responses vary from cooking eggs, sauces to simple restaurant cakes. So scroll through this ‘disappointing foods menu’ and share your thoughts!
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Fries.
So many mediocre fries.
They generally just need to be cooked twice: once at a lower temperature to cook them soft and then at a higher temperature to brown the outside surface.
Soak them in cold water first, then fry as above. The best!
Load More Replies...Frozen can be better than fresh if fresh ones aren't done properly because frozen fries are pre-cooked so they are essentially "fried twice"
Load More Replies...The best fries around me are from Five Guys. They cut them as they need them. They are also 1 of only 2 places I can get fries because they have a dedicated fryer. And they don't dust them with flour like some (fresh and frozen) do. Celiac disease makes you ask a lot of questions, lol.
The gold standard for me was a hot dog place in California. When you ordered the fries he started with potatoes. He was particular the potatoes and would tell you where they were grown, when they were harvested, and there sugar content. No other place has compared.
Onion rings.
A great onion ring is an elusive thing.
I had some good onion rings once: perfect, slightly sweet, crispy batter with a touch of spice just in the background. The batter didn't separate from the rings, so when you bit one, the whole onion didn't slip out and leave you with a hollow shell. I've been chasing that ever since.
If you're in Michigan, I can tell you two places to get excellent onion rings. The What-Not Inn in Fennville (a hole-in-the-wall place, truly, just as Fennville is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it place outside the more tourist-driven Saugatuck, but their onion rings are worth driving there for), and any Mr. Burger restaurant in Grand Rapids & the surrounding area (there are seven still operating today). Done perfectly every time, both places.
Load More Replies...A good onion ring sits with you. I still remember the best I had. I was 16. I am now 52. Nothing has come close.
You can get what are - albeit arguably - the world's best onion rings at The Varsity in Atlanta. They don't batter the bleep out of their onion rings so you get mostly good onion. Vidalia onions, if the source of that claim is reliable.
Right!? With that cajun sparkle, hells yeah! Never liked Popeye's, but I used to swing in sometimes just for the onion rings 😋💧
Load More Replies...I hate the texture of onions so I don't eat them, BUT there is this bar/restaurant that serve onion rings so good I always order some! So good!! But I agree with this one because I've tried many other places and it's not the same. Bleh!!!
You can expect good rings from the seafood shacks in New England - battering and frying is their life!
I just had to pay $4 dollars extra to ADD mushrooms to stroganoff.... that should not be an additional fee.
Mushrooms are part of the recipe. There should be no charge for something that is supposed to be there.
Originally, beef stroganoff had neither mushrooms, nor wide egg noodles.
Ain't it Boeuf (beef) Stroganoff? Why Stroganoff pasta in first place?
In Sweden they put ketchup in Stroganoff, and maybe a slice of mushroom.
Fkn bacon. Don’t come at me with that floppy s**t.
Don't come at me with your fragile bacon that you can shatter with a fork.
Crispy fragile bacon works well with bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches.
Load More Replies...We like it thin and crispy in our house - bake it in the oven, you can make a lot at once.
I do this. you get crispy around the edge and still chewy in the middle... perfect. I always save the grease too.
Load More Replies...Bacon should be chewy, so it's a little floppy. If I can balance it on my fork and it stands straight as a board - it's burnt.
Totally, bacon preference is about as personal as it gets lol
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Omelets. The cheese goes on the inside people!
And for the love of all things holy, when you're making a grilled cheese, the cheese should actually be melted!
Maybe my problem is the way cheese is prepared? Ok, I'm changing my answer to cheese
Omelets take practice! When I go to buffets with an omelet station I ask if I can watch. Most makers of omelets are happy to have an audience--one person even explained what he was doing as he went along. Same with crepes. I've learned a lot and my omelets and crepes are pretty good.
I once ordered an omelet at a Friendlys, the cheese was nasty American cheese!
Too many places consider an omelette just eggs with mixed-in ingredients. That is a scramble or a frittata, not an omelette. An omelette should be plain eggs folded over ingredients on the inside like an egg blanket, not ingredients mixed into the egg and then cooked all together.
Cheese always goes inside, at my old job we would sprinkle a very small amount of the cheese in that went in the omlette on top as "garnish"so the wait staff could tell the difference between them
I don’t mind the garnish to make it easier to tell which one has it it and which one doesn’t.
Load More Replies...Tell me how my husband burns the bread every time. I have to keep telling him lower and slower so the cheese has time to melt and the bread doesn't burn. One day he said "ok you do it" so I did. Guess who made the perfect golden brown melts? But he still didn't learn. Smh
When I lived in the USA in the early '70s, the omelettes were the best ! Dunno what they're like now ?
There are too many breakfast places that can't cook eggs properly
Yup, and apparently lots "chefs" still can't cook them right!
Load More Replies...I like my scrambled eggs hard scrambled. I don’t want runny, I don’t want soft. I don’t want half cooked. Not burnt, HARD scrambled, ffs. You can take that soft scrambled s**t and shove it where the sun don’t shine. Gordon Ramsey, you can fight me on this, but I will NOT change my mind, because I will willingly die on this hill.
Scrambled eggs I want brown, almost burnt. Fried eggs I want runny yolks. Boiled eggs, I want fully cooked yolks. I don't eat eggs prepared otherwise, unless they're in cake or something.
Load More Replies...Seems they never season them as they're cooking. Adding salt and pepper after does not work.
This is such a personal thing, I understand not seasoning them while cooking.
Load More Replies...I think eggs are personal preference...for example I like my scramble light and fluffy and dry; by dry I mean not soup as many people seem to like.
And they don't season them while they're cooking. It is not the same to add salt & pepper after they're cooked.
Hashbrowns. I don't get why I can only get lightly toasted but mostly white potato shavings. Even if I say, "no white" they still come out raw.
I had a friends who would say "cook them until you think they are burnt, then give them another minute". She still got white in them.
You need to ask for "scattered, well done", which is to spread them out on the flat grill and brown thoroughly. Or deep fried, which they're not supposed to do cause it messes up the oil if they fall apart, but for sure they will be darkly done and crispy.
Load More Replies...I worked as a short order line cook for 11 years, there is never no white unless you want your hashbrowns cremated, but on that note again lots of people use too much oil and try to rush instead of taking the proper amount of time to make sure they're cooked through
I looked that up & learned a word today! Apparently the best diner hashbrowns in the US are rostis!
Load More Replies...not at the affle house....ordered 'em scattered, and you will get crunch hash browns
That's the ticket!! Scattered well done, or deep fried, deep fried be crispy as Heck!!!
Load More Replies...Yes, otherwise they're just a lump of shredded potatoes cooked on the outside, both sides hopefully, and mushy in the middle.
Load More Replies...Oh, Jeezis Cribs 🙄 Hash browns are not potato chips or dry chow mein noodles. They're traditionally cooked to have a crispy outside and a soft middle texture, much like potato pancakes or even the cheap, deep fried patties you get from McDonald's. That's fine if "well done" is your preference and you want them torched but to give a line cook a modification stating "no whites" is just f**king stupid.
A lot of s****y marinara sauce out there
Both were very disappointing... Rao's was terrible... Agromonte is pretty good.
Load More Replies...If I can tell it came from the can, than you aren't trying hard enough. It's so easy to dress it up, even a little.
I make my own...the only time I get it in a restaurant is if I get eggplant parmesan.
My grandmother was born to make fresh sauce. She always put a tiny amount of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomato and she started every pot with anchovies. I miss her sauce so much.
caesar salad. it either has barely any dressing, or it's so drenched in dressing that it pools at the bottom of the bowl.
And it there are tomatoes, it isn't a true Caesar salad. The salad can still be good though, but something else
Absolutely correct, I love tomatoes but there's no place for them here...
Load More Replies...Whenever I order a salad, I always ask for the dressing on the side to avoid this. Because I can call them back and ask for some more, and I can avoid having everything get soggy at the bottom.
And not drying the lettuce before putting it in the bowl. When you leave it dripping with water, that dressing isn't going to stick.
Toss the greens with a small amount of dressing for at least 2 minutes. If seems to be taking forever, that's about right.
Also: A bowl of lettuce and a grape tomato does not constitute a salad. And actually TOSSING a salad so as to coat the lettuce with an light but definitely present amount of salad dressing actually prevents lettuce from tasting bitter to those of us who actually have functioning TAS2R38 receptors.
Putting carrots in a caesar salad, yuck. And just get the dressing on the side
Gnocchi!! It’s meant to be light and airy, not a lead weight!
Cook the gnocchi and then pan fry in a bit of butter until a lovely golden brown. Simple salt and pepper seasoning. Lovely. Sorry if this is an insult to Italians!
Low heat with butter in a covered pan to cook, increase heat to medium low, remove cover and brown to perfection.
Load More Replies...I would also put dumplings tentatively into the "not supposed to be a lead weight" category.
It's a rare occasion that a dumpling doesn't disappoint...
Load More Replies...My grandmother used to make it from scratch. Its gnocchi day! Everything off the dining room table and put the extra leaf in. Covered over to protect the table top. Just kept them coming and my mom’s job was to make the rounds with the fork to make the indents.
If done right, they are fluffy clouds from heaven!
Load More Replies...Not necessarily—gnocchi made with ricotta is airy, but potato gnocchi are just going to be denser because of the nature of the potato. I say this as an Italian-American chef. Potato gnocchi shouldn’t be too heavy but they will be denser and have more bite.
I started frying it like schupfnudeln, with a mix of herbs and fried onions/leek. It's so good. I was eating it just boiled with tons of butter beforehand. (which is fine if done right and not underdone/overdone so you get just the right fluffiness xP)
Mashed potatoes. Stop using instant.
Instant mashed potatoes are 90% as good as the real thing. Sometimes it's worth the time and effort saved to use them.
Nope. Some of us have taste buds, and can tell the difference in taste, the rest of it is the big difference in texture.
Load More Replies...Instant takes less storage space, doesn't sprout roots if left in the cupboard for more than a week, and can be made in just a few minutes. My partner's "coming home" time is unpredictable, and I'd much rather fix a packet of instant when he gets home than leave spuds getting gummy in the pot on a night he's late. (This is also why I prefer to use a rice cooker - I *can* make rice on the stove, no problem, but a cooker will keep it warm without burning if he's later than anticipated.)
That is a valid argument. Also, it's good for emergency-storage.
Load More Replies...I love flavored instant mashed potatoes. I also love real mashed potatoes, but I'm not up to cooking anymore.
Ex-sister in law showed up one year for Thanksgiving with a box of instant mashed potatoes and a jar of gravy. I was super annoyed, that is the only thing she had to bring and that is what she showed up with after I had been cooking everything else all day. She knows how to cook so not sure why she opted for instant and jarred.
I had instant mash once in the late sixties and have never had them since. Making mash isn't that time consuming or hard work!
No! I often don't want to go to the bother of making them from raw taters.
Chicken pot pie. Do they really think I don’t want top AND bottom crust?
Err, in which case why would you order a pot pie? I thought that was the definition thereof.
What they're describing isn't chicken pot pie, it's chicken pie. There is a difference. Like when people say shepherds pie and it's prepared with beef, no that is cottage pie. shepherds pie has lamb in it.
This! I cannot find shepherd's pie - it is always cottage pie and the wait staff is always surprised when I ask if their shepherd's pie has lamb or beef... it is ALWAYS cottage pie and I am always disappointed.
Load More Replies...That's how I always had them so I went on a research bender and lo and behold...the actual definition refers to it typically having a top crust only! I do love that this is the kind of internet debates that concern me nowadays
Load More Replies...And chicken. LOL My friend got one in a restaurant that was a premade thing - like Stouffers or something - and the entire pie had a total of three very small pieces of chicken.
If you can find them, Willow Tree Farm makes an amazingly good pie (with tons of chicken). They are based in Massachusetts but I've found them as far away as Florida...
Load More Replies...My father in law orders this at US Cheddars and it's a bowl of soup baked with a crust on top. I always wondered why.
Coffee is rarely good in a restaurant.
Coffee is rarely good anywhere but in designated coffee places. I mean, they should serve only coffee plus some pastries. When there's any other kind of food, do not expect good coffee. Except if you're in Italy, then your chances are considerably higher.
From my experience, there should be the word 'American' in there ahead of the word. 'restaurant'.
I will absolutely agree with this. Even coffee shops struggle with this. I prefer my own coffee from home, store brand, in a can.
True. We used to have a really good mid-price Italian restaurant locally that in addition to excellent food had VERY good coffee. It is rare for me to enjoy coffee black but theirs was that good. The place was a treasure and so sad it closed. Awesome food, awesome service, small intimate classy atmosphere. Basically everything Olive Garden isn't, for just a slightly higher price.
Often it comes down to a wrong brewing temperature. It's either too hot (burnt taste) or too cold (bitter taste)
I make my own coffee, but I'm a sweet coffee person. Tip: add a spoonful of good vanilla ice cream in with the coffee, so it gets melted and makes your coffee creamy and sweet.
Macaroni and cheese.
Sometimes the noodles are gummy. Sometimes the sauce is bad, usually not very flavorful. Sometimes it's both.
Macaroni is usually a disappointment.
Cook the mac in whole milk, strain the milk to add to the roux. You're welcome.
My grandmother's trick was to add mustard powder. It's amazing! In a pinch, I'll buy Stouffer's and add mustard. Nom nom nom.
She is correct. I learned from a chef from a four star resort years ago.
Load More Replies...I think it would have to be something they were proud of to be good. In most places mac and chees is just something on the kid's menu for the kid who wants carbs and it is usually very basic s**t that comes out of a package and gets heated up. Source - occasional tastes / looking at what some of my grandkids got over the years.
Mac&Cheese is an American creation. Definitely not an Italian brilliant idea.
I realise we all have our own idea of the recipe, and I no longer make it anymore because reasons… but the version I’d make has a very saucy base to it, not dry, and I’d add Dijon mustard to it to give it a bit of zing. Always a hit.
If you're using noodles in lieu of macaroni, you're bound to be disappointed
There was a lady giving out some macaroni and cheese outside to the homeless where I live it was a good gesture until I realized nobody was eating it I went up to ask why they told me to taste it.i gaged like a cross between gone bad milk and sewage ☹️
Too much truffle. Truffle flavoring is usually made with petroleum byproducts. It’s nasty. Truffles don’t “infuse” into oil. That scent and that taste isn’t natural, it’s all synthetic. Stop putting truffle flavor on everything! You are eating nasty a*s chemicals *and* paying a premium for it!
But what about people who sincerely want their french fries to taste like feet? What about them?
We let them be. They can have their feet fries as long as they don't offer any to us.
Load More Replies...It's so overdone.... it's a culinary taboo, but a lot of restaurants still use it because people will happily pay for something they THINK is fancy.
So many people seemingly can't cook rice. I don't get it, it's one of the easiest things to cook, just let it be and it practically cooks itself. But so many people can't make it
Ok, I was one of those people who did not know how to do it and I might add I am an avid cook and can make pretty much anything - But rice! Now I BOIL my rice like pasta, drain it, and it's so light and fluffy it's perfect!
I was just reading this week that boiling rice like pasta and draining is a method of cooking to remove much of the arsenic that is common in rice. They also recommended rinsing before (okay) and rinsing again after draining (not okay IMO).
Load More Replies...Agree. I've seen lots of posts to this effect, often about rice cookers making it soo much easier, but never have understood. It's really not rocket science and you'll nearly always find cooking instructions on the side of the packet anyway just in case you somehow forget.
I think the rice cookers are more of a convivence because they will shut off automatically. I've had a smaller "digital" style for a solid decade that I exclusively use for brown rice and it is kinda nice not having to think about the longer cooking times or monitoring heat on the stovetop.
Load More Replies...One of the very first things I learned to cook. I'm Filipino. Don't need no stinkin' rice cooker!
Don't NEED one but all of my Filipino relatives stateside have one. I'm a white boy but while I know how to cook rice, I do like my rice cooker. It's fire and forget and it doesn't take up space on the stove when I'm making other stuff.
Load More Replies...I'm not generally a good cook, but I can do rice. All it takes is following the directions on the package.
I agree. I once bought rice that came in a clear plastic jar. The directions said 1 cup rice and 1¾ cup water, in a saucepan. I have used those directions ever since, and my rice is perfect EVERY time.
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Lo mein. You can’t use regular spaghetti noodles and pass it off as authentic!
honestly, its a minor pet peeve of mine that some americans just call all pastas, spaghetti etc "noodles" xP
I'm with you and understand. Spaghetti is the cut and shape of the noodle, not the dish. It's like people that call a flour tortilla a "burrito".
Load More Replies...In Wisconsin older people call all pasta "spagetts". Elbow macaroni to rice noodles. Was so confused the first time someone asked for spagetts in their chili. Pasta arrived here far after most of our polish and Norwegian ancestors so it's still considered "foreign food" to anyone over 60
Spaghetti......noodles.... so, Italian Spaghetti in an Asian dish that calls for noodles..?
Chicken breast. Every restaurant cooks it to death. You have to undercook it a bit and let the carry over heat finish it off, but restaurants are too afraid of salmonella so you end up with a dry piece of s**t.
This person has never been to Swiss Chalet...st Hubert is pretty good too, if you go to the right restaurant.
Do whine about this to the families of people who died from Salmonella poisoning ...
It's not always a restaurants fault. Where I work we try our best to cook it correctly, but even when it's pillows soft and moist and PERFECT, people send it back and put up a huge fuss because it's "raw". Believe it or not, pink chicken doesn't mean raw, it means moist OR marinaded. Look at the texture of the meat, not the color.
Tortillas - so many dry and flavorless industrially produced tortillas out there. Whether it’s tacos, enchiladas, etc, even if the fillings or toppings are great, a bad tortilla brings the whole thing crumbling down (literally) in my opinion.
All my favorite Mexican places near me make their own tortillas and it’s just a different standard. Otherwise, so many times I’m excited to try a popular spot, but then find the tortillas subpar.
I will die on this hill: Flour tortillas are only for burritos! Corn tortillas are for tacos! Good Day!
I've always hated tortillas but it sounds like I've just never had fresh. That's encouraging
I feel ashamed..I know how to make them but never make the effort anymore. I'll try again soon.
There is a major brand that used to be *so good,* until a couple years ago when they decided that all of their product needed to be "extra soft." Now they are too thick and the texture is all wrong.
I'd love to make my own corn tortillas, but I don't want to have to invest in a tortilla press. My kitchen is too small for the appliances that I have now!
A tortilla press isn't very big, 8" diameter & they can hang on the wall.
Load More Replies...It's not hard to make a great tortilla. Flour, salt, baking powder, olive oil and water is all you need!
Olive oil?!? I know people who would beat you with their rolling pins for that. Lard is the only acceptable fat in flour tortillas.
Load More Replies...Every good place around where I live makes their own, and a lot of times will have a huge tortilla press in the middle of the dining room where people can watch them a few times every day.
Pad Thai. Many places make it way too sweet.
Ordering noodles can be hairy, because a lot of them are over cooked and over sauced, resulting in a sloppy mess.
And many really need to be eaten fresh if you do any sort or carry-out or delivery you're sure to end up with diminished quality
Load More Replies...Isn't Pad Thai supposed to be sweet? Some of these comments remind me of a lady I watched on a Buying Tiny Houses show once. She walked in, looked at her husband and said, "It feels a little cramped."
They said "way too" sweet. They did not say it isn't supposed to be.
Load More Replies...Can live with a bit of sweet IF it has cilantro, bean sprouts and peanuts. In Stockholm most places skimp on those ingredients.
I can't remember the last time I had decent fried egg rolls at a restaurant. The insides are often just mushy, flavorless cabbage.
yes...this!....they used to have celery, carrots, onions, and tiny shrimp in addition to the cabbage...and they had that thick bumpy shell
a chinese place near me makes the best ones, shredded cabbage, mung bean, beansprout, carrots, in the filo(?) wrapper and then they batter and deep fry them. maybe not authentic, but so damn addictive xD
I absolutely love the egg rolls from the Chinese restaurant I go to, they are delicious
Load More Replies...Our local Forbidden City restaurant makes gread fried egg rolls. Large and full of all the ingredients listed below
Spring rolls are the real deal, egg rolls are the cheap imitation.
This! I was just talking about this yesterday. Our ride or die for 12 years, neighborhood spot suddenly has bad eggrolls. Haven't had a good one anywhere in years. What's happening?
Calamari. Often over cooked into rubber. At least here in the Midwest. I think enough people around here don't even know how good Calamari is it is screwed up so much.
..I thought calamari was supposed to be like that. That's why I never liked it..but maybe I've just never had good calamari.
Load More Replies...Don't order fish or seafood in a landlocked place and expect it to not be previously frozen.
On This American Life someone that a lot of calimari is actually pig anuses. I don't know if that's true or not, seems to be debunked.
And they batter the c**p. Calamari isn’t battered in Italy. It’s lightly dredged in seasoned semolina flour and quickly fried so it’s tender and flavorful. They’re not onion rings.
Crabcakes. Even in MD it's hit or miss, outside of MD places tend to use too much filler and binder.
I live on a island and no restaurant here is making crab cakes from scratch. Food truck is way cheaper then local labor.
Load More Replies...OP: MD and other New England states use more crab, yes, but they like their filler and binder in the South. It's all in how you grow up eating them. I live in Maryland and am married to a Louisianan! Another discussion in our house: Old Bay vs. Zatarains
I'm also married to someone from Louisiana, but I'm from DC. We like both old bay and Zatarains
Load More Replies...Crabcakes should be NOTHING but crab meat, breadcrumbs, and egg for binding. NOTHING ELSE. Okay, maybe a sprinkle of Old Bay but nothing else.
Shoutout to our local Chinese buffet that labels dishes as crab when they are obviously made from IMITATION crab which is basically pollock / sugar / seasonings. They do have crab legs sometimes which are of course real. I thought of them because while they don't have crab cakes they do have crab rangoon, which (theirs) rarely has any meat inside, crab or otherwise.
That's because they come from the bottom of the ocean, lol.
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Poutine. It's trendy to stick fries, with cheese and a sauce and call it that, but you can't really substitute any of the ingredients and have it taste anywhere near the original.
Near my job they have a poutine dish that's out of this world. The one on the pic looks sad, can that even be called poutine??
As somebody who eats (too much, lol) poutine, I can say that while it's not hard to get a decent poutine, it's also just as easy to get a bad one... Even at places that should have good poutine. My worst experience was at a national french fry chain where the second 'cheese' in their Bacon Double Cheese poutine was processed cheese sauce instead of gravy. I'm sorry, but that stopped being poutine when you left out the gravy... My most unique experience was at a random Greek burger joint where the gravy was the darkest, richest, (clearly not pre-packaged), roast beef gravy that I've ever seen.
The last time I went to Burning Man there was a Poutine Camp dedicated to treating people to proper Poutine at midnight. I will hold all poutine to this standard forever.
And when they put thin fries instead of REAL fries. And improbable ingredients... I love blue cheese, but not in my poutine!!!
If you're not using cheese curd, and the gravey doesn't melt it, it's not poutine.
I’ve never had good nachos at a restaurant. The ratio of, and distribution, of toppings to chips is always disappointing. And the chips are often rubbery. Even if the flavor is nice, the balance is terrible.
Try making homemade nachos I like mine since I do whatever ratio I want.
When i make them at home, i buy taco shells. I break them in half. each half is topped with fixings. then sour cream and salsa on the side. It's amazing.
Load More Replies...Most bad nachos are just a pile of toppings dumped on to a pile of chips. The good way to do it is to evenly spread both in layers, so you have even distribution of everything. No more empty chips followed by 1 chip with half the toppings.
I had some good nachos once at a zip world. All nice and gourmet; the chips were homemade, the chilli had some nice beef and the sides were super high quality. Thats just Wales for you though, good food and great attractions lol
I guess I'm a little weird, too, because I also enjoy the soggy chips.
Load More Replies...We have a little "hole in the wall" market with a small Mexican takeout place inside. One of the ladies makes the best to-go nachos ever! They also make burritos, and the place is packed at lunch time with work trucks all over outside. If those working guys like the food, you know it's good.
It’s very hit and miss, I won’t bother with nachos until I have seen someone else get them.
Restaurants trying to pass off mayo as garlic aioli.
"Garlic aioli". What, as opposed to "garlic and oil" (the literal meaning of the term) with no garlic in it? What I think you mean is simply that some places use garlic mayonnaise where you would prefer aioli.
What they mean is that some places use mayo and CALL it aioli. I cannot for the life of me figure out how you got anything else from this.
Load More Replies...Aioli IS garlic ! It has nothing to do with mayonnaise. Actually Aioli is a (Provençal) dish of cod, sea fruits, shell fish, sometimes snails, and veggies, all boiled served with this sauce made in a mortar/ pestle (no whisk, no robot) out of garlic and olive oil and a drop of water (a DROP for crying out loud) until firm.
One of Bourdain's old shows had featured an old school French woman making aioli this way
Load More Replies...Reuben sandwich… because when it’s good it’s great but when it’s bad it’s terrible.
Right? I love them so much that I rarely order them because I don't want to be disappointed. Very few places make them well. Not too much corned beef which ahs to be low on fat and gristle and not smooth. It needs a little grain to it. Lots of kraut and not too much dressing. Is that so hard?
Is it your experience, too, that your dressing options are either "Sahara" or "Tsunami"?
Load More Replies...Best Reuben sandwich I've ever had was at a diner in Punxsutawney, PA. Almost every diner, shop, store, etc had the name 'Phil' in it... except this one diner. Their Reuben was thick with lots of corned beef, just enough sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing on homemade sourdough rye bread. Omg, first time I had one, I was pregnant with my son, and shortly after eating it, he was bouncing all over the place. We ate there several times and each time I got the Reuben and wanted several to take on the road as we headed back to Illinois. I've ordered Reubens at various restaurants since then and not one compares to the one in Punxy.
The Stockyard Inn in Denver has the best reubens. It has a giant vault inside from which they would pay cowboys at the end of the cattle drives. The National Western Stock Show is the largest in the world! They run some cattle through the streets of denver every year
Best Reuben I ever had was in an employee cafeteria in the Federal Building in Indianapolis. My mother worked in that building, and she told me about the Reubens.
I had an ex-sister in law who made an amazing Reuben. It was my first time trying Sauerkraut and it was life changing. I haven't had another even close to it since.
I make my own homemade. It’s one of the most requested things my daughter loves to ask me for when she visits. I just love eating them that much.
Not f**k up but steak always tastes better at home.
Especially when cooked on the barbecue grill by someone who knows what they’re doing.
And by "knows what they're doing", I'm assuming you mean "very elitist about it" >_>
Load More Replies...I recently had a sirloin steak at a Patagonian restaurant. The absolute best I have ever tasted.
I gave up ordering steak at restaurants. I can make one a million times better at home with my sous vide.
Restaurants are the place to eat things that take a lot at perishable ingredients that you cannot keep at home. Steaks are simple and only require a hot fire and salt
Salads. Most come swimming in dressing.
I don't like any dressings. I eat my salad naked. It's naked, I mean. You can't be naked around Audi, because every body part you have is automatically a toy. Clothing is protection.
Oh, I can't stand when they do that. Always, always get it on the side! I'm also not fond of deli macaroni, tuna, egg or potato salads, there's either way too much mayonnaise or something weird tasting in them. When I make any of those I only use just enough mayo to make it stick together. If all I wanted to taste was mayo, I would eat it out of the jar with a spoon. (Which is totally gross. Don't do it.)
HOW about when the lettuce isn't cut up decent enough to really enjoy it..huge chuncks are annoying to eat
Right? I live in the Midwest (usa) and even though it's the 21st century, there are still so many places here that think salad is iceberg and a few shredded carrots.
Ok, but what IS that on the plate beside the salad? With a spoon? I can't make sense of it.
Looks like durian. Why would you serve it next to a salad?
Load More Replies...I almost always have to ask for extra dressing. Where are you guys going?
If it's not a bakery, CAKE! Cakes in restaurants always tend to SUUUUUCK. They're not fluffy or delicious or leave a soft warm feeling in your body when you eat it. That's what I look for in my cakes, a good cake should be so soft and delicious that it makes you feel loved like a loving parent. Restaurant cakes are just either too dry, too hipster, or too goopy.
That amount of expectation is really a pie thing.
Load More Replies...unless you're at a high end restaurant, they are frozen and thawed from some restaurant food vendor...
There are so many sorts of cakes. They don't all need to be light fluffy sponges.
Very much this. I prefer not to eat flavoured air. I like a dense cake (you are what you eat 😀).
Load More Replies...Restaurants often buy in their desserts, even if they make a lot of their own other stuff. So they are pre packed frozen things.
I wanna know what kinda "cake" is in the photo. Seriously. It looks like a lavish party for the tongue
Fish and chips. Seems like most places assume you’re going to add malt vinegar, so they don’t think they have to season the food. You always have to season the food.
You most certainly do not season the chips. Adding salt and vinegar (or lemon, if you're posh) is automatic, part of the normal eating experience, so please don't season them first otherwise they'll end up too salty. A little salt in the batter, if you must, but only a little.
Where I live they always add salt (too much of it) and no one would add it themselves. My sister and I began asking for them without salt and don't add any either.
Load More Replies...Depends on where you are. I'm in Boston; if a place doesn't make good fish & chips, they don't stay in business for long. Like the saying goes, if you're more than a day's drive from the coast, that fish isn't fresh.
Cabonara shouldn't have mushrooms but every restaurant in my town thinks they should.
Guanciale, eggs, pecorino cheese, black pepper and spaghetti (salt for the pasta water too). The only ingredients it needs.
Not even "needs", literally the only ingredients it can have to call it carbonara. Anything else is simply a different sauce entirely.
Load More Replies...I read somewhere that Carbonara was a dish created after WWII. The American GI's while in Italy had ham and eggs. Italy has an abundance of pasta. Somewhere the GI's started eating "breakfast pasta". Either created by locals based on what was provided to them by what soldiers had...or some other way. But my understanding is that Carbonara now has ham (or prosciutto), cream, eggs, and good shredded Parmesan cheese. It's a simple dish that many people just google "Italian Ham Spaghetti". When I make it, I throw in fresh parsley on top and sliced black olives.
For me it’s scrambled eggs, so many people mess up the texture imo. Use butter, light heat, and constantly whisk.
Agreed. Proper scrambled eggs should not bounce when dropped onto a plate.
I know how to make proper scrambled eggs, but I just don't like them. I cook mine to death and enjoy every bite.
Quite right, don't let anyone tell you how you 'should' like them. I'm happy either way, but they must be properly cooked through.
Load More Replies...A lil water. Just before serving, add BUTTER. S&P. Yum 😋
Load More Replies...I use the microwave to cook mine every morning, and they always turn out perfectly. Eggs, milk, and a bit of butter.
I've tried microwaving eggs, but somehow they always taste "wrong."
Load More Replies...Eggs, fat (I use olive oil personally but butter is good too), low heat, and minimal movement. Don't whisk constantly. Let the eggs cook a little bit on the bottom, then use the spatula to push through the eggs, pushing the cooked part to one side and letting the liquid eggs settle back to the now empty cooking surface. Repeat after a few seconds in the opposite direction, repeat again and again until no more liquid egg oozes out and remove from the heat and plate. Amazing light, slightly wet scrambled eggs.
Chili rellenos. Well prepared they're amazing but I've been disappointed so many times I basically never order them anymore.
yes, but OP didn't select the pic...BP did...i'm guessing
Load More Replies...French toast I love French toast, but most restaurants don’t offer a French toast meal that makes any sense. If I’m ordering French toast, I don’t just want 3 French toasts on a plate and nothing else. You need bacon or sausage, maybe a couple eggs and SOMETHING else to cut the sweetness of the toast.
I didn't even know French toast with savory ingredients was a thing
It's not, this person so wants a whole breakfast.
Load More Replies...most don't had cinnamon...cinnamon is the key to delishious french toast!
In some countries it's called eggy bread. In others, french toast. Divided by a common language and all that. ;)
Load More Replies...As a kid, I thought my dad could do anything. Until my mom was in the hospital with a new baby and he tried to make French toast.
Philly Cheesesteaks sometimes. They might cut the meat up right, but sometimes they just plop some of that liquid cheese stuff some places put on nachos. There's variations that can make it work, and the "street" version is different too.
The worst Philly cheesesteak ever ate was in Philadelphia… Such a disappointment
Me too! We went to visit the Mütter Museum & I was so excited to get a Philly cheesesteak in Philly. Total disappointment 😪
Load More Replies...I have never understood the cheez-wiz thing...
Load More Replies...Actual Philly cheesesteaks in Philadelphia use cheese whizz. Cheesesteaks outside of Philly are far better and tend to use actual cheese.
I have lived in Philly my whole life. Provolone is the standard cheese for cheesesteak. Most places outside of the very crappy "official" shops won't ever use cheese sauce unless you ask for it because most Philadelphians don't ask for that goop.
Load More Replies...We had the BEST Philly in Philadelphia at food court in downtown. It was a perfect sandwich!
Fettucine alfredo
I am such a sucker for fettucine alfredo, even bad alfredo. Just give me an alfredo IV straight into my veins.
yes...it should be a light, delicate sauce, sparingly applied....now it is the consistency fo a thick country gravy applied as a glob
best Alfredo I ever had was at what appeared to be a mob front in Baltimore. They seemed like they were not ready to be an actual restaurant, but the food was amazing despite the odd feeling.
If it's all the same to you, I'll skip the alfredo and go straight to the heart attack.
Shrimp. I believe that most cooks overdo them, they do too much.
tempura prawns/shrimps in particular. so many times the batter is soggy, they need to be light and crisp ;-;
I learned that shrimp doesn't go in until you are almost ready to serve. The heat from the rest of the dish finishes the shrimp.
When they were selling boxed shrimp that had to be fried in oil, the way I did it was to let the oil come to a med high temp, then drop the shrimp into it. The cold shrimp lowered the temp of the oil, so then I turned the flame up and got the oil back up to temp. In a minute, if it was too hot, I finished the shrimp at a lower temp. Result: crispy, tender shrimp. Most restaurants can't duplicate this.
Yes properly cooked shrimp is the best they get rubbery when over done.
Huevos rancheros. Raw corn tortillas do not taste good for one thing. There is an art to it.
A chef told me that sparkling water makes scrambled eggs fluffier, and he's right
What in the world does this have to do with huevos rancheros?
Load More Replies...
Biscuits
You mean biscuits, crackers or cookies? Specify your dialect, please.
Biscuits in the south are vastly different than biscuits in England. I was going to ask the same question.
Load More Replies...Important question is: "Where is the writer from?" I'm in the USA. What I call a biscuit, most folks from the UK would call a scone, and what they would call a biscuit, I would call a cookie.
Not sure what those things in the picture are, but I agree, some restaurants in the US manage to mess up American biscuits, and don't get me started on what some places call "sausage gravy" with nary a shred of sausage to be seen or tasted.
oddly enough, sausage gravy didn't used to have sausage in it....it was called sausage gravy or white gravy b/c you made it with the drippings from frying sausage or pork chops...it was a way of flavoring your gravy and extending your food dollars...akin to how bacon fat is used to flavor veg....to have sausage in the gravy when people first started making sausage gravy would hae been high living.
Load More Replies...Burgers. I have been searching for a good hamburger for months. I can make one but every place I go over cooks them and dries them out. These think a*s patties suck.
It's a typo, I believe. It should be "thin-ass patties." And they're right about that. I had a double cheeseburger the other day that was so thin, I thought they'd forgotten the second patty. It wasn't until I opened it to remove the pickles that I saw it was indeed two pieces of meat.
Load More Replies...Or it's a massive burger that is basically 40% grease and not fully cooked.
Switched to bison burgers at a local restaurant. Yes, Nebraska, USA is known for being "the Beef State". My hubby makes the best burgers using ground chuck. Freshly ground (not frozen) is even better.
In a town near where I live theres a restaurant that has really, really god burgers.
A local restaurant makes a pretty good burger. Uses 4 different types of meat.
Literally anything with Cajun in the name. Even here in South Louisiana, chain restaurants can't do cajun right. You're lucky to find a mom&pop owned restaurant that does it right unless you're in New Orleans.
SAME! I find great cajun food all over south Louisiana.
Load More Replies...ahem, you get great creole food in NOLA...you get great cajun food west of NOLA...head to lafayette and the surrounding parishes...you're in for a treat.
I can't tell how good these descriptions are. Because usually I've never experienced the good better alternative.
Load More Replies...Meringues...especially from bakery, dry as, they are awful. Lemon meringue pie...it's supposed to be soft under a thin crisp crust not dry and crumbly fgs.
A lot of bakeries use dried egg white, like meriwhite and this gives the dry result.
Load More Replies...Kinda looks like it’s not really worth going out to eat and waste all that money on c**p when you could make it better at home.
Salsa/pico de gallo that's really a few finely minced onions floating in tomato juice.
if you want good fries, go search out the movable feast foodtruck. they make the crispiest fries ive ever eaten. yo want steak, ribs, or anything, for the love of primus, avoid applebees at all costs!
Once choked on a hockey puck chicken breast from there. Nobody noticed.
Load More Replies...I think eggplant is very frequently undercooked. I order Eggplant Parm alot, and am disappointed alot because it it chewy or woody and bitter. The eggplant is supposed to be cooked until it is so tender it practically melts on your tongue. When it's like that, it tastes really sweet.
I can't tell how good these descriptions are. Because usually I've never experienced the good better alternative.
Load More Replies...Meringues...especially from bakery, dry as, they are awful. Lemon meringue pie...it's supposed to be soft under a thin crisp crust not dry and crumbly fgs.
A lot of bakeries use dried egg white, like meriwhite and this gives the dry result.
Load More Replies...Kinda looks like it’s not really worth going out to eat and waste all that money on c**p when you could make it better at home.
Salsa/pico de gallo that's really a few finely minced onions floating in tomato juice.
if you want good fries, go search out the movable feast foodtruck. they make the crispiest fries ive ever eaten. yo want steak, ribs, or anything, for the love of primus, avoid applebees at all costs!
Once choked on a hockey puck chicken breast from there. Nobody noticed.
Load More Replies...I think eggplant is very frequently undercooked. I order Eggplant Parm alot, and am disappointed alot because it it chewy or woody and bitter. The eggplant is supposed to be cooked until it is so tender it practically melts on your tongue. When it's like that, it tastes really sweet.
