Roasted chestnuts. I dreamed of trying them, and when I finally did, I was quite disappointed. I found them awful.
I agree!
We were in Prague around Christmas, and they had street vendors selling fresh roasted chestnuts. We had heard about them from the songs and stories, etc… and were excited to try them.
Bleeeccch. Mealy, starchy, bland, and just awful. They just filled my mouth with hot, mealy bits of bland and nasty stuff.
I even tried them a second time (Budapest maybe?) and they were equally awful there.
I’ve never done anything special to fancify my pop tarts or their generic knock offs. Probably because the only time I actually have them is when on a road trip or camping, and then I don’t have access to a toaster. But it’s good as a quick snack that can keep a long time in its foil and, due to its size, feels more like a meal than a handful of chips even though it is empty calories.
Me three. Chestnuts seem to figure prominently in this thread each time we do it again.
My late wife grew up eating them regularly and Christmas season just wasn’t complete without them. I first tried them at age ~35 and found them ugh.
We’ve had threads and threads on foods that you sort of need to grow up eating to enjoy; few adults will willingly adopt them. ISTM that roasted chestnuts might be the permanent poster child for that thread.
Well…
Just like everything, there are good examples, and bad examples. Real Chicken and Waffles isn’t made with Chicken strips. It’s made with freshly fried chicken. And, when done right, it’s a transcendent experience. Of course, it’s probably not for everyone. You have to really like salty/sweet as a combination.
These folks know how it’s done:
I was so looking forward to hot roasted chestnuts! We were vacationing in Germany, and were enjoying some street vendors in Berlin (I think). I saw a guy selling roasted chestnuts, and Bing Crosby’s mellow voice just started echoing in my head, so I paid the guy and got a little cone of roasted chestnuts. It was definitely not what I expected. I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t a mouthful of hot, mealy mush. I was sure the first one was bad, so I tried a second one. Yech.
I agree with chestnuts and I will stick with the holiday theme by adding marzipan. I would see these beautiful-looking cakes and desserts in shop windows or magazines that were decorated with marzipan. When I finally had some, it was vaguely sweet plaster that was well-suited for painting. Sigh.
I did a snorkel / snuba outing on our honeymoon in Aruba. I loved the snuba experience, with one big disappointment:
The guides took us to 4 separate areas, one of which we could choose to snuba, the others we had to snorkel. One of the stops was at a WWII shipwreck just off the coast. I wanted to snuba that one, but the guides really drilled into us that there were more undercurrents and dangerous conditions there, so if we thought we were at all unsure of our underwater abilities, we should stick to snuba at one of the safer areas. So I chickened out and did the snuba at a tame reef area. But snuba was effortless. Snorkeling the wreck was cool enough, but the wreck was so amazing to see underwater it would have been much better to snuba, get down farther and stay under longer to check it out. One of my many little life’s disappointments 
I was surprised to find they hadn’t yet been mentioned in this thread of more than 400 posts. But they weren’t. I couldn’t let it pass.
I do like marzipan, though. 
Yep. I even went to the OG- Roscoes in Hollywood. Meh. But their smothered chicken was fabulous.
Roasted chestnuts have one positive - they smell good. Otherwise, yeah, they suck.
Not commonly tried and I guess I didn’t really know what to expect but, acorns? Not great.
Yeah. The problem with any group event is you are constrained by the most timid and least experienced guest.
Q: Who buys themselves a snuba experience when they’re afraid to put their face under the water?
A: A couple on my last such sojourn. Sigh.
Have you seen the SNL “Marzipan” skit with Austin Butler?
I have, although my indifference to marzipan certainly predates it by decades. I don’t hate it, it’s just underwhelming.
Of course McDonald’s hamburgers are hamburgers. They’re not the best fast food burgers but they are the most distinctive in taste. That’s obviously what JohnT’s father meant.
What do you think a hamburger is that one from McDonald’s doesn’t count?
Kind of like the flavored pipe tobacco my father used uses: maple/rum/cherry whatever. Smells intoxicating when it’s “raw” and wafting out of the lit pipe bowl. He let me take a drag or two when I was a kid: when when the smoke hits your mouth it’s just plain old ( hot ) smoke with no hint of anything other than plain tobacco.
Yeah my Dad quit cigarettes and smoked a pipe- something like that mix- the smell in the can was great and even downwind wasnt bad.
I’m actually agreeing with @JohnT’s father – the taste and texture of a McDonald’s burger is so different from a “real” hamburger that it’s effectively an entirely different product, though nominally comprised of some of the same ingredients. This is especially true of the basic “cheeseburger”, a tasty snack much beloved by both me and my dog.
What’s a “real” hamburger? One that is made on my outdoor grill with quality fresh patties. There are burger joints that produce a semblance of the same thing, like the Canadian chain Harvey’s, that grills the patties over an open flame and then adds ingredients to order. McDonald’s is so different that it’s really an entirely different product.
And, at risk of TMI. my digestive system agrees. McDonald’s products fairly consistently produce mild diarrhea, probably due to the excessive grease. Which is one reason that my consumption is so limited. That never happens with homemade burgers or those from quality establishments.
Like a Jack in the Box “Taco”? Tasty when you want that greasy goodness, but in order to be fair the word “taco” when applied to the JitB product has to be in quotes.
With beetroot on it.
What?