# Foods that should taste good but don't. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158 "2017-02-18T17:12:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/21 "2017-02-19T01:12:45Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > I once bought some gorgonzola dolce because it sounded interesting. If I had bothered to actually think about it I would have realized that the combination of sweet and blue cheese would taste exactly how it sounds. I am somebody who will try almost anything once and I love almost all cheeses but this was just wrong (although there must be people who like it or they wouldn’t sell it). Sweet & blue cheese is actually a classic pairing – whether fruit, honey, or a sweet wine. (Though I’ve never had gorgonzola dolce. It looks to me like it’s just a young, soft, mild gorgonzola rather than anything actually sweet.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/22 "2017-02-19T01:23:37Z")
Blueberries. Never had one that didn’t taste a little bland and chalky. I think they’re only good when cooked into jam or pie filling, and even then I find it underwhelming compared to other fruits. Lobster. Meh. Gimme crab any time. Of course, I now live in the middle of Blueberry/Lobster land and there’s nary a boysenberry to be seen, nor crab at any reasonable price. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/23 "2017-02-19T02:04:25Z")
Pasta. The sauce cooking makes some pretty good smells, but put it on top of a plate full of bland noodly noodles… yuck. Noodles should always be used in moderation. They’re not a dish in and of themselves, no matter what sauce you pour on top to pretend they have actual flavor. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/24 "2017-02-19T02:10:03Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Roasted chestnuts. The famous song makes them sound so enticing but don’t fall for it because it’s a trap! I am not a picky eater in the least and I love nuts but roasted chestnuts are nasty as hell. The vile taste and texture are hard to describe but they are like vaguely spoiled, spongy, mealy, semi-sweet hunks of unidentifiable purification. They could have literally picked almost any other type of nut and it would have work out infinitely better - walnuts, pistachios, pecans etc. Those are all excellent but not so with chestnuts. Where did you get your chestnuts? Did you gather them yourself? When roasted, they should taste like baked potato, only sweeter. I love them! I’m assuming you know there’s more than one kind? Horse chestnuts are, as you describe, inedible. Back in 1991, when I was living in a town in Czechoslovakia where the streets were littered with the damned things in November, I did not know this. So I collected a bagful and took them home to roast, thinking I’d struck the mother lode. Imagine how I felt when I took a great big bite and immediately spit it out. Yeccch! Revolting! A couple of years ago, I bought another bag full of chestnuts at a supermarket here in Toronto. These were the edible kind, but when I got them home and started peeling them, I found the whole lot was moldy. Again, yeccch! With regard to my own personal dislikes, number one on my list is that horrid French Roast coffee restaurants were pushing back in the '90s. Tastes like moldy vanilla, if you ask me. Again, yeccch! How anyone can drink that crap is beyond me! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/25 "2017-02-19T02:10:07Z")
I’m sure a lot of people think Scotch tastes sublime. But I can’t get over the word association that it should taste like butterscotch. It don’t. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/26 "2017-02-19T02:19:07Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Where did you get your chestnuts? Did you gather them yourself? When roasted, they should taste like baked potato, only sweeter. I love them! Actually, I’ll side with **Shagnasty** on this. Roasted chestnuts smell like they should be the greatest thing in the world but they end up tasting like, as you described it, slightly sweeter (and vaguely nutty) baked potatoes. Not my thing at all. I’ve eaten them at the Christmas markets in Europe (mostly Budapest) where they are ubiquitous, so it’s not the quality of chestnuts that’s the problem. They’re just bland. I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten ones that match Shagnasty’s description, but I just didn’t get their appeal. Of course, I’m also not a fan of baked potatoes, so maybe that has something to do with it. And every year I would try them again, enticed by the smell, and every year I wonder why I bothered. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/27 "2017-02-19T02:20:26Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I’m sure a lot of people think Scotch tastes sublime. But I can’t get over the word association that it should taste like butterscotch. It don’t. Have you ever tried a good single malt, neat? They may not taste like butterscotch, but they can indeed be sublime. Glenfiddich is the best brand I’ve tried. Definitely not to be wasted by mixing. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/28 "2017-02-19T02:21:03Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > You beat me to it – this concotion sounds a \*lot \*like an ersatz mole. > > I’ve tried to like hot dogs all of my life. The sight and smell of 'dogs on a NYC vendor’s cart will make my mouth water and so I’ll try one every few years just to check if I suddenly like them. Nope. Same-o, same-o rubbery, hot bologna yick made of pig snouts and anus (anii?) I always hated hotdogs as a child, and my mother always bought the most expensive ones from the kosher butcher. Once in high school, I ate one that was probably pig lips and anuses. I threw up. However, I LOVE soy dogs. Go figure. I also hate turkey, but I love Tofurky so much it literally\* makes my mouth water just to type the word “Tofurky.” \*I do NOT use the word “literally” figuratively. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/29 "2017-02-19T02:23:45Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > With regard to my own personal dislikes, number one on my list is that horrid French Roast coffee restaurants were pushing back in the '90s. Tastes like moldy vanilla, if you ask me. Again, yeccch! How anyone can drink that crap is beyond me! Are you talking actual French Roast coffee, which is a wide range of coffees that is roasted to a particular level that is darker than your standard roast, or are you talking about the French vanilla flavored coffee which, I agree, was terrible and sounds like it matches your description more than French roast coffee. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/30 "2017-02-19T02:25:01Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > I’ve tried to like hot dogs all of my life. The sight and smell of 'dogs on a NYC vendor’s cart will make my mouth water and so I’ll try one every few years just to check if I suddenly like them. Nope. Same-o, same-o rubbery, hot bologna yick made of pig snouts and anus (anii?) All-beef franks are infinitely better. And kosher all-beef are the best of the best. Right now, I’d do just about anything for a Chicago-style kosher hot dog with a few drops of Tabasco. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! :o ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/31 "2017-02-19T02:27:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Are you talking actual French Roast coffee, which is a wide range of coffees that is roasted to a particular level that is darker than your standard roast, or are you talking about the French vanilla flavored coffee which, I agree, was terrible and sounds like it matches your description more than French roast coffee. That would be the coffee flogged by pricey restaurants in the '90s, yes. I’m sure genuine French coffee roasted a la mode is delightful, but the last time I might have had it was 1975. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/32 "2017-02-19T02:28:11Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a good cheeseburger pizza. Cheeseburgers = great. Pizza = great. Cheeseburger pizza = crap. No idea what went wrong. Wow. One of my favorite pizzas ever was the bacon cheeseburger pizza at Pizza Inn, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, back when I lived there in the 1990s. Of course, it had mustard instead of tomato sauce, cheddar cheese mixed in with the parmesan, dill pickle slices, and, as I mentioned, bacon chunks as well as the hamburger. Maybe a half-assed version of that wouldn’t taste very good. For me, it’s caviar. The first time I had it, back when my dad was in the Air Force Reserve and my family occasionally ate with him at the officer’s club on base, it was just amazingly salty. Salt overload. I always figured “that couldn’t have been good caviar, nobody would spread salt paste on crackers and call it high-class” so, when I saw some at Albertsons, I bought a tiny little jar. Well… I was right about the saltiness, but I _still_ don’t like it, because it’s too fishy. Oh, well. Maybe when I’m richer and stupider I’ll buy some of the truly high-class stuff and give it one last whirl. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/33 "2017-02-19T02:33:27Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > That would be the coffee flogged by pricey restaurants in the '90s, yes. I’m sure genuine French coffee roasted a la mode is delightful, but the last time I might have had it was 1975. ☹ Then I don’t know. I’ve never had a French roast in a coffeeshop that tasted anything of moldy vanilla. I’m honestly perplexed. There’s nothing really mysterious or hard-to-find about genuine French roast. Every coffee roaster has a French roast. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/34 "2017-02-19T02:34:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve eaten them at the Christmas markets in Europe (mostly Budapest) where they are ubiquitous, so it’s not the quality of chestnuts that’s the problem. They’re just bland. I used to buy them from street vendors in England, and always asked for the ones that were charred a bit from roasting. That added a lot of flavor. The best baked potatoes I’ve ever had, BTW, were roasted in the coals of a campfire on the Isle of Man. Not only were they charred, you actually had to dust the ash off them. :o ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/35 "2017-02-19T02:39:47Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > For me, it’s caviar. The first time I had it, back when my dad was in the Air Force Reserve and my family occasionally ate with him at the officer’s club on base, it was just amazingly salty. Salt overload. I always figured “that couldn’t have been good caviar, nobody would spread salt paste on crackers and call it high-class” so, when I saw some at Albertsons, I bought a tiny little jar. Well… I was right about the saltiness, but I _still_ don’t like it, because it’s too fishy. Oh, well. Maybe when I’m richer and stupider I’ll buy some of the truly high-class stuff and give it one last whirl. Caviar is only considered “high-class” because it is hard to produce so therefore expensive. I like it just fine in moderation but I am not going to pay for it myself. There are a number of exclusive foods like that. Fugu (poisonous pufferfish) is really bland. Foie gras (fattened goose liver) is sometimes tolerable but usually tastes like licking a newborn baby’s diaper. My ex-wife is one of the most foremost cheese experts in the world responsible for importing the most exotic ones to the U.S. and there are even some that she thinks are disgusting regardless of their history and backstory. I have taste tested some exotic cheeses that made me actively furious. You won’t see those in the U.S. because they didn’t make it but someone is making and eating them somewhere. Just because something exists and expensive, doesn’t mean that it is good. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/36 "2017-02-19T02:40:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I used to buy them from street vendors in England, and always asked for the ones that were charred a bit from roasting. That added a lot of flavor. > > The best baked potatoes I’ve ever had, BTW, were roasted in the coals of a campfire on the Isle of Man. Not only were they charred, you actually had to dust the ash off them. :o Oh, they were definitely charred. I guess I just don’t like chestnuts, but love they way they smell. The Hungarians were big on their chestnut puree desserts, too, and I had the same reaction. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/37 "2017-02-19T02:42:10Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I _still_ don’t like it, because it’s too fishy. Oh, well. Maybe when I’m richer and stupider I’ll buy some of the truly high-class stuff and give it one last whirl. Try it on bliny with sour cream. Delicious! :o ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/38 "2017-02-19T02:52:11Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Foie gras (fattened goose liver) is sometimes tolerable but usually tastes like licking a newborn baby’s diaper. Oh, man, I dunno. A nice goose foie gras is one of my gustatory pleasures. I don’t have it very often, but, along with the chestnuts I mentioned before, the Hungarians were big on their goose liver (France and Hungary are the two largest foie gras producers in the world), and that’s one delight I did develop a taste for. Just sublime. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/39 "2017-02-19T03:29:05Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Caviar is only considered “high-class” because it is hard to produce so therefore expensive. I like it just fine in moderation but I am not going to pay for it myself. Well, you probably like it a bit more than I do, but the existence of cheap caviar indicates people who _don’t_ treat it as a [Giffen good](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giffen_good). > [@](#): > > There are a number of exclusive foods like that. Fugu (poisonous pufferfish) is really bland. Foie gras (fattened goose liver) is sometimes tolerable but usually tastes like licking a newborn baby’s diaper. I’ll never eat fugu, but I love foie gras, which I’ve eaten often enough to say that confidently. > [@](#): > > My ex-wife is one of the most foremost cheese experts in the world responsible for importing the most exotic ones to the U.S. and there are even some that she thinks are disgusting regardless of their history and backstory. I have taste tested some exotic cheeses that made me actively furious. You won’t see those in the U.S. because they didn’t make it but someone is making and eating them somewhere. I’ve never been enraged by cheese (band name!) but I do enjoy the stinky cheeses I’ve had and the cheeses with rinds and the extremely hard cheeses and… well, I’ve had my share of the cheese board, and I’ve never had one I’ve considered actively _bad_, as opposed to merely not as good as others. > [@](#): > > Just because something exists and expensive, doesn’t mean that it is good. The software world proves this many, many times over. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/40 "2017-02-19T03:32:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > All-beef franks are infinitely better. And kosher all-beef are the best of the best. Right now, I’d do just about anything for a Chicago-style kosher hot dog with a few drops of Tabasco. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! :o There shouldn’t be any qualitative difference between kosher and non-kosher hot dogs. “Kosher” just means that the animals were slaughtered in a particular way. > [@Derleth](#): > > For me, it’s caviar. The first time I had it, back when my dad was in the Air Force Reserve and my family occasionally ate with him at the officer’s club on base, it was just amazingly salty. Salt overload. I always figured “that couldn’t have been good caviar, nobody would spread salt paste on crackers and call it high-class” so, when I saw some at Albertsons, I bought a tiny little jar. Well… I was right about the saltiness, but I _still_ don’t like it, because it’s too fishy. Oh, well. Maybe when I’m richer and stupider I’ll buy some of the truly high-class stuff and give it one last whirl. I have lived in Russia, where caviar is on every table like ketchup in the US. I also happen to think it is disgusting, but I think anything that was an animal is disgusting, so I’m not much of a judge. Anyway, the way Russians eat caviar is to slice bread thick, spread a pretty thick layer of UNSALTED butter on it (you have to ask if you want salt on your table), and then spread a layer of caviar on the butter. The caviar is not usually spread quite as thick as the butter. Or, at least it was that way for years up until the 1970s, when I was there, and the Russians who visited us in the 80s still did it. If you are determined to keep trying caviar, try it like that. Use a farmer’s white bread, or a light rye bread. A marble rye would probably also work, although I don’t recall ever seeing marble rye in Russia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158.md?page=3)