# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/81 "2025-12-30T22:22:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The humor of that joke is rather US-centric. All three species are endangered and hence protected by various “thou shalt not kill” laws. Here’s a British version I first heard Barry Cryer do - oh - forty years ago? > **[Barry Cryer's Favourite Legal Joke - The Oldie](https://www.theoldie.co.uk/blog/barry-cryers-daily-joke-10)** > > Every day, in these dark times, the great Barry Cryer is telling Oldie readers a joke j ---
**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:** [January 6, 2026, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/82 "2026-01-06T22:33:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Have you tried grits yet? If not, do so. While down South. while back OT: I don’t know if you guys in warmer waters get Congrío…?? [![](https://pellagofio.es/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/pejesable-37-1-780x470.jpg) ](https://pellagofio.es/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/pejesable-37-1-780x470.jpg) A predator “fish” which is not a fish (Conger Eel for saxons) … and often gets confused with Murenas … well the point is … if you find in in some restaurant, give it a try or 3 … soft, white, no fishbones, juiciy, falls into pieces with just a fork … [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYnr1DGsRECLWBHXE4mwa2JrII5_tDRHJUbA&s) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYnr1DGsRECLWBHXE4mwa2JrII5_tDRHJUbA&s) ---
**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:** [January 6, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/83 "2026-01-06T22:37:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > That said, I’ll pass on the pineapple pizza. Pineapple Pizza is like so-so-sex … not great, but not passing on, either 😉 ---
**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:** [January 6, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/84 "2026-01-06T22:44:09Z")
righty … just think of the most typical local dishes: - pizza - paella - feijoada - Gulasch - and its 2-3 derivatives - Grenadiermarsch (an old Austro-Hungarian K&K army “friday’s special”) those were all poor-mens-eatery that allowed them to recycle y’days leftover in some way, shape or form. The formula being “cheap Carbs with thrown in leftovers” … Of course peasants in the 1600s were just waiting for some hipster to go full-balistic, b/c you added ingredient a before ingredient b and that is obviously sooo wrong …. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/85 "2026-01-26T18:57:19Z")
Dinner tonight reminded me of this thread - Burns night (one day late). I first tried haggis at university - basically a big old lamb sausage, and very cheap on a local market stall (don’t really know why they stocked it, as we were nowhere near Scotland, but it fed a houseful of students for not very much money.) These days you only see haggis in English mainstream stores in the run-up to Burns night, so it was an annual treat for us. There was a time when a few of us used to drink on a Saturday night at the local cricket club; and it was quiet enough over the winter for us to take turns cooking a group meal in the club kitchen. Around Burns night, Mrs T and I would do traditional haggis and neaps. Alas, with ailments and whatnot, neither Mrs T or I can eat haggis any more. When that happened, we became aware that there was also such a thing as (wait for it) _vegetarian_ haggis. Heigh-ho… I think I’m right in saying that Haggis can’t be imported into the US for safety reasons (?!), but presumably that wouldn’t apply to the vegetarian version. Thing is, the vegetarian version is _incredibly_ good - back at our little cricket club dinners, dedicated meat eaters would go for the veg option. That’s dinner tonight and tomorrow, and as delicious as ever. And if it is available in the US, I recommend it to you. j ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/86 "2026-01-26T22:12:59Z")
We had haggis in Scotland. It was pretty good, similar to scrapple in the US. I don’t know what the vegetarian version might contain, but I’d give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/87 "2026-01-26T23:13:10Z")
Similarly, a few years ago I tried black pudding at a pub in Ireland, and actually liked it (as long as I don’t think about what it’s made of). ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/88 "2026-01-27T06:41:25Z")
Black pudding is the best part of a cooked breakfast. I think it is delicious when cooked well. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/89 "2026-01-27T17:21:15Z")
I do think the “when cooked well” is the key part, though. I liked it when I got it from a proper pub, where it was indeed cooked well. But I did not like the stuff from the warming tray at a hotel breakfast buffet that I had a few days later. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/90 "2026-01-27T21:26:31Z")
Yeh, ‘ice hockey puck’ springs to mind if overcooked. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/91 "2026-01-27T21:56:46Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > On that note, mayo on French fries No thanks, but if the fries arent perfect, i do dip in 1000 island dressing. > [@WildaBeast](#): > > Or specifically guacamole. I GOOD guac only. I had sushi as a kid, as we lived in Gardena and one of our fave restaurants served those small rolls with IIRC celery in one and tuna in the other. I had no idea i was eating raw fish. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Now the last dozen years the hype is dying out, but us geezers keep repeating it as current gospel. And meanwhile other regional chains are expanding again. 5 Guys being one of them. They’re all pushing the same narrative: “We’re not bland cheap garbage burgers like McDs, BKs, or W”. > > My bet is in 5 years we’ll all be wondering what the In n Out hype was all about. I grew up with them and ate an awful lot of them in HS & college. They were good by comparison to what else was on offer. Are they standout special in 2025? Still the best fast Food Burgers. 5 guys is on the line between true fastfood and a sit down eatery. In&Out still makes the burgers at Mcds, Bk, Carls etc look sad. > [@dorvann](#): > > Olive Garden and Dominos. With the way people joke about both online I was expecting the WORST but I enjoy them a lot. Dominos used to be pretty bad, but they got better. Olive garden is okay. > [@solost](#): > > . But we believed that Canada watered down the beer they exported to America; we were convinced that the Canadian stuff was higher in alcohol and tasted better. Years later I read a newspaper article that said this was never true; that Canadian beer exported to America was the exact same stuff. True, but the longer beer is shipped, the worse it tastes. Molson in Canada is likely much fresher than the same brew in Florida. > [@Gatopescado](#): > > In N Out in Reno and Carson City now also. The fries are garbage! Some people love them. Not me. > [@ricepad](#): > > but ISTR that McDonald’s has the best fries, whereas INO may be about the worst fast food fries. Five Guys has the best- IF we count it as fast food, which i do not. Mcds are still good but Jack in the Box Curly Fries are better. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > We had haggis in Scotland. It was pretty good, similar to scrapple in the US. I don’t know what the vegetarian version might contain, but I’d give it a shot. I had it once- a lot of neeps- aka turnips, but mostly oatmeal. But there are dozens of versions. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/92 "2026-01-28T01:35:17Z")
or pineapple on top, as some people do ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522/93 "2026-01-28T01:52:17Z")
Some things I had to try many times before they took. Is that weird? I was just thinking of cross-stitch. I’ve dabbled in cross-stitch before, off and on, but it never really grabbed me (also I suck at it) and then last year for some reason something just clicked. Maybe it was that for the first time I got to pick out my own pattern and supplies vs. buying a kit. I don’t know. But I decided to stitch a rocket ship for my son, using a [pattern I found on Etsy](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1825339038/space-cross-stitch-pattern-art-nouveau?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=rocket+patterns+cross+stitch&ref=sr_gallery-1-3&dd=1&content_source=f9471e33-d6ff-4e15-a232-e169f025b339%253ALT1a9c8d4377166eb4c4abe18a7aa1dd029acdc565&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=f9471e33-d6ff-4e15-a232-e169f025b339%3ALT1a9c8d4377166eb4c4abe18a7aa1dd029acdc565), and it was awesome! Since then, I’ve been doing it every day for the past 18 months. I’m slowly working on a pattern based on John Tenniel’s original _Alice_ illustration of Alice and the Red Queen. I’m not obsessed or anything but I definitely need my morning fix, the way some people need their coffee. Turns out it’s really fun working with all those colors. (I’m still pretty bad at it. But arguably I am improving.) I’ve got all the supplies, the stitching stand, and recently purchased all things needed for blocking and framing a finished piece, so it’s like, apparently this is what I do now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-you-never-tried-and-were-pleasantly-surprised-when-you-finally-did/1025522.md?page=4)