# Something you never tried, and were pleasantly surprised when you finally did **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522 "2025-12-08T17:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/61 "2025-12-21T15:08:03Z")
Reminds me of a joke where somebody is arrested for killing and eating a spotted owl. When questioned, he reported that it tasted “about like a cross between a bald eagle and a whooping crane.” ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/62 "2025-12-21T15:11:13Z")
… with lingering notes of my ex-wife ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/63 "2025-12-21T15:24:25Z")
The humor of that joke is rather US-centric. All three species are endangered and hence protected by various “thou shalt not kill” laws. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/64 "2025-12-21T16:17:30Z")
My first experience with sushi was at the Rio Buffet in Las Vegas (this was also my first exposure to Mongolian Barbecue\*) and it became one of the things I looked forward to on my annual trip to Vegas. Now I order some variety of sushi on DoorDash from one of the local restaurants. \*One year when I was at the Mongolian Barbecue station a sudden flood of contestants from the World Rodeo Beauty Contest showed up, and I had the pleasure of explaining to them how to prepare their meal. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/65 "2025-12-21T16:27:57Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > All three species are endangered and hence protected by various “thou shalt not kill” laws. well, I am just here to wait… for my response to write itself ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/66 "2025-12-25T20:19:08Z")
Pizza! Growing up I tended to judge foods by their appearance. And MAD! magazine had a cover one time of a pizza that was made to look like a primordial swamp with all manner of creatures emerging from the ooze. Met my wife-to-be around age 21 and she took me out for pizza. Closed my eyes and started eating. Some 60 years later it’s now averaging twice a week! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/67 "2025-12-25T23:17:12Z")
In N Out in Reno and Carson City now also. The fries are garbage! ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/68 "2025-12-26T00:14:30Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > The fries are garbage! Yeah, nobody goes to In-N-Out for the fries. It’s been a long time since I had them, but ISTR that McDonald’s has the best fries, whereas INO may be about the worst fast food fries. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/69 "2025-12-27T04:48:58Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > The fries are garbage! Ordering them well done makes them better. I didn’t say good, just better. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/70 "2025-12-27T05:59:48Z")
> [@Fir\_na\_tine](#): > > Pizza! [Snip.] I’ve always loved pizza, but it was always of the “sauce, cheese, and pepperoni” variety. Maybe green peppers, olives, and/or mushrooms too, but nothing really weird like ham and pineapple (“Hawaiian pizza,” as some call it). Until I started seeing a girl who absolutely loved Hawaiian pizza. More often than not, a night at the movies would end with a trip to a pizza place where she would insist upon Hawaiian pizza for the both of us. Wanting to be a good boyfriend, I dealt. And you know what? It actually wasn’t too bad. In fact, it was pretty good. I’ve enjoyed it ever since. It’s not always my first choice when ordering pizza, but sometimes, it is. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/71 "2025-12-27T15:38:24Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > And you know what? It actually wasn’t too bad. In fact, it was pretty good. I can feel my Italian ancestors crying at this from beyond the grave… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/72 "2025-12-27T15:44:22Z")
There is no cuisine so hallowed that a North American cannot bastardize it beyond recognition. We do it almost gleefully. It’s kinda like English’s attitude to foreign vocabulary. We just steal and repurpose whatever we want. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/73 "2025-12-27T15:50:21Z")
The original perpetrator of this particular abomination was a Greek-born Canadian (Sam Panopoulos) though. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/74 "2025-12-27T16:03:42Z")
Until embarrassingly late in my life I had thought catfish was trash meat akin to squirrel or carp. You can eat it, but shouldn’t. That was until I tried fried catfish in a New Orleans dive cafe on vacation. It was heavenly. I am also now a fan of collard greens, which look like a plate of greasy wet leaves but is again, heavenly. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/75 "2025-12-27T16:09:48Z")
Have you tried grits yet? If not, do so. While down South. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/76 "2025-12-27T16:27:50Z")
Hummus. Always thought it looked horrid, but now I love it. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/77 "2025-12-27T16:29:32Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Until I started seeing a girl who absolutely loved Hawaiian pizza. More often than not, a night at the movies would end with a trip to a pizza place where she would insist upon Hawaiian pizza for the both of us. Wanting to be a good boyfriend, I dealt. > > And you know what? It actually wasn’t too bad. In fact, it was pretty good. I’ve enjoyed it ever since. It’s not always my first choice when ordering pizza, but sometimes, it is. I must respectfully disagree with my esteemed fellow Canuck. I can (barely) tolerate ham on pizza, though I’d never actually order it. But pineapple on pizza is an abomination. Pizza is a savory dish, period. The sweetest thing that should ever be on it is the pizza sauce which might have a little sugar in it. Ironically tonight I’m having sweet & sour Chinese chicken with pineapple, soy sauce, and maybe a dab or two of Huy Fong chili garlic sauce, but that’s a whole other thing. Chinese stir-fry chicken isn’t pizza! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/78 "2025-12-27T17:10:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > There is no cuisine so hallowed that a North American cannot bastardize it beyond recognition. And when it comes to pizza or anything else like that, you do you. Creativity is a virtue. If it’s something you personally like, go ahead and have it, even if it isn’t “authentic” or “ethnically correct.” That said, I’ll pass on the pineapple pizza. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/79 "2025-12-27T17:18:09Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > And when it comes to pizza or anything else like that, you do you. Creativity is a virtue. If it’s something you personally like, go ahead and have it, even if it isn’t “authentic” or “ethnically correct.” > > That said, I’ll pass on the pineapple pizza. I’m in your camp on all of this. Cuisines are creative evolutionary efforts. They weren’t invented by cloistered geniuses 400 years ago then set in amber. The fact we now have near-universal worldwide travel and nearer universal instant communication means that of course everyone is going to try to mix everything together somehow. Yaay for that. I’m no fan of pineapple on pizza but that’s not out of any misplaced orthodoxy. I’ve just never been fond of most sorts of sweet + savory. The surest way to destroy a perfectly good ham is to slather it with a sugary glaze. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/80 "2025-12-27T17:25:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s kinda like English’s attitude to foreign vocabulary. We just steal and repurpose whatever we want. [Touché](https://www.google.com/search?q=Touch%C3%A9&oq=touche&gs_lcrp=EgRlZGdlKgwIABBFGDkYsQMYgAQyDAgAEEUYORixAxiABDIKCAEQABixAxiABDIKCAIQABixAxiABDIHCAMQABiABDIPCAQQABhDGLEDGIAEGIoFMg0IBRAAGIMBGLEDGIAEMgoIBhAAGLEDGIAEMgoIBxAAGLEDGIAEMggICBDpBxj8VdIBCDIxNzZqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ved=2ahUKEwje7JS7pN6RAxWUFTQIHdbVNooQgK4QegYIAQgAEAM) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522.md?page=5)