# Foods you miss **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001 "2009-12-12T18:10:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/41 "2009-12-14T22:45:23Z")
Foods from L.A./California: [ul] [li]Tommy Burgers (burger or hot dog, with or without cheese, with or without chili … that’s the entire menu)[/li][li]Jack in the Box Super Tacos[/li][/ul] Foods from Indonesia/Southeast Asia: [ul] [li]Peanut sauce[/li][li]_Satay_ (without decent peanut sauce, it’s just meat-on-a-stick)[/li][li]Padang curry[/li][li]_Krupuk_ (shrimp chips)[/li][li]Fried sweet-potato wedges[/li][li]Some sort of Indian fried omelet thingie from The Stalls in Singapore, across from the Cold Storage. I think it was called “_chapati_” or “_martabak_”, or something like that.[/li][/ul] Foods from Taiwan/Hong Kong: [ul] [li]_Swan-mei_ (small dried, heavily-salted plums)[/li][li]Watermelon seeds[/li][li]Ginger beer[/li][/ul] Thanks. Now I am really, really hungry. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/42 "2009-12-14T22:46:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I seldom eat breakfast sausages, but I had some Hempler’s ones in the freezer and decided ‘Why not?’ I just had one, and it was ‘OK’. I grew up with Farmer John’s sausages, and it occurred to me that I haven’t seen any since I left L.A. No great loss, since I seldom eat breakfast sausages, and I can always have Jimmy Dean’s sausage patties cut from a chub. But I miss the Farmer John’s that came in that cardboard tray. > > Knudsen’s cottage cheese. I had some ‘small curd’ cottage cheese this week from one of the regional dairies. Not as good as Knudsen’s; and again, I haven’t seen Knudsen’s since I left L.A. > > And I’ll tell ya: I could murder a Macho Meat Burrito from Del Taco – if only there were Del Tacos up here. Look here, I can get all of those and put them in dry ice, if you got the cash… Maybe not the burrito. Gotta have those fresh and hot… ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/43 "2009-12-14T22:48:19Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > McDonald’s fries fried in … I don’t know what – God’s tears? Whatever it was, it was what built the empire, not the pablum they serve now. The hot apple pies aren’t the same either. > > (For a similar nostalgic kick that you can replicate on your own, get a heavy pot, some coconut oil and some real popping corn. Put on a DVD and enjoy!) They fried them in lard or other animal fat. The pies were deep fried. Remember how eating one incorrectly got crumbs all over you? KFC does a pretty good impersonation of them. ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/44 "2009-12-14T22:49:23Z")
Rachel’s Brownies… the original ones, before they sold out to the horrible conglorporation that changed the recipe, overpackaged them, and killed them. Tiger’s Milk powder. Looooovved that stuff. Danny Bars–frozen yogurt with a chocolate coating. Nom. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/45 "2009-12-14T22:52:39Z")
Stuff from Cairo I miss: koshari fuul kofta (oh, man, how I miss kofta) And I’ve never had either tahini or pitas as good as I had there. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/46 "2009-12-14T22:55:34Z")
White Castle and Bob Evans restaurants. Neither one exist in Arizona, and they’re they only things I miss about Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/47 "2009-12-14T23:02:56Z")
When I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, there was a simple little neighborhood bar called Ol’ Sweig’s. They had a huge family room… I can still remember it, the knotty pinr paneling, the cracked red leatherette booth seats, pictures of race horses on the wall. They made the _best_ fried chicken in the world. I am talking THE BEST. OMG… it’s been 20 years since they closed and I can still smell and taste it. I have NO idea what was different about it, but I have never had anything close. THAT’S the food I miss most in the world. ---
**Author:** ![dubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dubs)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/48 "2009-12-14T23:33:21Z")
I’d like a Banana Flip by Mickey Cakes. I think the company is gone now. I loved those little folded over circles of yellow sponge cake filled with slick-feeling banana-flavored cream. ---
**Author:** ![TheTerribleTako](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@TheTerribleTako](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTerribleTako)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/49 "2009-12-14T23:54:49Z")
Trader Joe’s breaks my heart every once in a while when they discontinue my favorite things. Last year, it was the green tea muffin mix. I miss all the Bay Area food that you can’t get here, like Cheeseboard pizza, Gregoire’s potato puffs and bread puddings, Fenton’s ice cream in Oakland, La Farine’s morning buns, Semifreddi’s cinnamon toast, Acme bread in general, and all the produce at the Ferry Building. There’s plenty of Taiwanese foods I miss too. Things such as really good oyster noodles, little round spicy meat pastries, and thinly sliced goose meat. Most of all though, I miss [gua bao](http://www.nibbledish.com/public/images/cached/567x/recipe_images/6bf1c4ad2b6deeb41ea9c17b85f4d69b.jpg). It’s deceptively called a Taiwanese hamburger, but it’s really nothing like a hamburger. It’s a very mildly sweet pac-man bun stuffed with fatty stewed pork and relish with a thin layer of peanut powder inside. Coupled with some soup and it’s the best meal in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/50 "2009-12-15T00:07:25Z")
Jones Brothers breakfast sausage links, or “little pigs” as my mother used to call them. Butterscotch ice cream. The burgers of my youth, before McD went berserk and ran everyone out of business with their frozen crap. Happily, the mom-and-pop burger has come back in a lot of places. Speaking of things like this, why isn’t Hawaiian kettle potato chips making their plain signature chip anymore? All I’ve seen on the shelves for months is that flavored shit. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/51 "2009-12-15T00:07:26Z")
I get hankerings for various Asian and Hawaiian foods pretty regularly but it’s not impossible to come by (laulau is a bit hard to pick up, though). Except for the fruit. I haven’t had a decent starfruit in years, much less lychee or guava or all those things I don’t even know the proper English terms for (pohas, strawberry-guava, etc). When I lived in Belgium I desperately missed decent tacos, and now I desperately miss my favorite doner/shoarma place. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/52 "2009-12-15T01:34:18Z")
1. My grandmother’s homemade Maple Cream (from gramp’s freshly made syrup) 2. Hot dogs from the ‘Dirty O’ in Pittsburgh. 3. Onion Cakes from The Hunan in San Francisco ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/53 "2009-12-15T02:04:46Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > Foods from Indonesia/Southeast Asia: > [ul] > > [li]Some sort of Indian fried omelet thingie from The Stalls in Singapore, across from the Cold Storage. I think it was called “_chapati_” or “_martabak_”, or something like that.[/li][/ul] I just asked my SO, who often speaks lovingly of The Stalls from living in Singapore. Those are martabak. SO: 'Or as we used to call them, “Motorbikes! heh heh” ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/54 "2009-12-15T02:08:46Z")
Jumpin’ Jack Cheese Doritos The ORIGINAL taco flavored doritos (not the Taco Bell seasoning second round) Wise’ Crunchy Cheez Doodles (“Double fried for tastiness!”) Yeah, I think it’s obvious I’m not overweight b/c of a ‘problem with my metabolism’. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/55 "2009-12-15T02:16:09Z")
Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/56 "2009-12-15T04:50:28Z")
Latif’s Bakery in Al Khobar, KSA had cheese bread, baked in a wood burning oven. The zatar bread not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/57 "2009-12-15T05:19:41Z")
Belgian frites and mayo. Moules provencale (although I make a killer version) Having a baguette with butter and a cafe au lait at a sidewalk cafe in Paris Pepper steak and frites in a Brussels pub Fish and chips in London ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/58 "2009-12-15T05:39:45Z")
Plantar’s Cheese Balls. They still have the cheese doodles/cheetos thingies, but not the cheese balls. Oh, and Cheetos Paws. Those things were awesome. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/59 "2009-12-15T06:03:33Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > Foods from L.A./California: > [ul] > [li]Tommy Burgers (burger or hot dog, with or without cheese, with or without chili … that’s the entire menu)[/li][/ul] Who would eat a Tommy’s burger without chili? Sacrilege! Back in the 70’s, they had tamales, too – have the discontinued them? ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001/60 "2009-12-15T06:39:47Z")
> [@Auntbeast](#): > > I have no idea who made them, or what they were called. But they were lemon cookies that were covered, in what I assume was powdered sugar. I’ve searched recipes for lemon cookies, but haven’t found one that calls for the powdered sugar. > > What a refreshing little morsel of sunshine… The ones I remember were Lemon Coolers by Nabisco I think. They had little lemony nuggets throughout the wafer. I loved those things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-miss/521001.md?page=4)