# What new to you food most disappointed you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630 "2018-09-20T13:29:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/81 "2018-09-21T13:30:48Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Man, you so crazy! Eating foie gras is like eating a silken meat pillow. It’s awesome! Er… name doesn’t check out? 🙂 For me, the food that had to be the most disappointing was roasted chestnuts. My wife and I were in Prague on our honeymoon in December after Christmas that year. We saw a street vendor selling little paper packets of roasted chestnuts. So after hearing about chestnuts roasting over open fires, and about chestnuts in general, and seeing this dude roasting his over a charcoal fire, we thought that this must be something we had to try. So a few koruna later, we had our own packet of hot chestnuts. We let them cool off to an edible temperature and dug in. They were godawful. Bland, starchy and mealy, and what flavor they did have wasn’t particularly great. They were so mealy that they sort of crumbled and infiltrated every part of my mouth with tiny chestnut pieces that I had to then rinse out with some beer. I guess the best thing I can liken them to would be a really mealy, but hard potato. I made the mistake of trying them again in Budapest, figuring that maybe that guy in Prague got a bad harvest or something. Nope, just as terrible. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/82 "2018-09-21T13:58:24Z")
Good call on roasted chestnuts! I was around them in Budapest across five winters, and I never grew a fondness for them, except as a scent of the season. They always smelled great, but were just a bland, mealy mess like a vaguely nut-flavored drier version of a potato. The Hungarians were also into their chestnut purée flavored desserts, and I never warmed up to those, either. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/83 "2018-09-21T14:06:29Z")
I had chestnuts in Germany. They were ok, but too much trouble, I didn’t want to take my gloves off to fiddle with them. I didn’t like them that much. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/84 "2018-09-21T15:06:35Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Foie gras and caviar. Don’t care if I have either of those things ever again. Both were just meh to me. I’ve had caviar some years ago and was completely underwhelmed. Last summer though, my brother and I were visiting “the old home stead,” Santa Barbara, and I tooks us to [Bouchon](http://www.bouchonsantabarbara.com/#about-us-section), which had been recommended. There, as a starter we had the Warm Pan-seared Foie Gras and while it was tasty enough, and certainly rich, the one experience will probably be enough. > [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Scallops just never did very much for me. I’m not a huge seafood fan at the best of times but even a perfectly seared scallop is ignorable. If you’re not a seafood fan I can see why. The taste of a properly done scallop is pretty subtle. Subtle but sublime. When I was watching _Ratatouille_ I noticed we saw a lot of dishes with raw scallops in them. I figured they were extra proud in how that model came out. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/85 "2018-09-21T15:35:52Z")
Now I really like sauerkraut. On hotdogs, with kielbasa with pirogues on ruebens. Hell I’ll have it as a side dish. So it was one thing I was excited to try when in Germany for 3 weeks. Everywhere I had it (at least in Bavaria) it was mushy, and a little sweet and otherwise tasteless. I’ll take the American version any day. Oh, and watch out for real schnapps. I’m used to the flavored stuff. And I’ll second deep fried ice cream. I think they dunked it in liquid nitrogen before frying. Ever see ice cream break? ---
**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:** [September 21, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/86 "2018-09-21T16:23:27Z")
I’ll second In & Out burgers. I was anticipating something extraordinary and instead got a tasteless patty. That and their stupid ‘secret menu’ means I’ll never go back. Another one for me was an Australian dessert called pavlova that a neighbor made. Perhaps it just wasn’t made properly, but crunchy, tasteless meringue with a bit of fruit was less than thrilling. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/87 "2018-09-21T16:25:10Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I’ve had caviar some years ago and was completely underwhelmed. Last summer though, my brother and I were visiting “the old home stead,” Santa Barbara, and I tooks us to [Bouchon](http://www.bouchonsantabarbara.com/#about-us-section), which had been recommended. There, as a starter we had the Warm Pan-seared Foie Gras and while it was tasty enough, and certainly rich, the one experience will probably be enough. > > If you’re not a seafood fan I can see why. The taste of a properly done scallop is pretty subtle. Subtle but sublime. When I was watching _Ratatouille_ I noticed we saw a lot of dishes with raw scallops in them. I figured they were extra proud in how that model came out. **DesertDog** knows what’s up! The seared foie gras (which is usually finished in an oven) is probably my favorite preparation, particularly when it’s being plated with some kind of acidic fruit to cut all that richness (FAT) in your mouth so it isn’t cloying. Washing it down with sips of Sauternes helps too. I totally agree about scallops re: their subtlety, which often baffles me because when people say they “don’t like that fishy taste” of fish, I immediately want to recommend scallops as they don’t taste like fish. For me, what grabs me every time I eat seared sea scallops is their minerality and their oceanic echoes of flavor. They should remind you of the ocean, and not in a “plastic patch double the size of Texas” way either. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/88 "2018-09-21T17:56:14Z")
Speaking of Australia, a long-time ago I had a co-worker from Melbourne, who swore Vegemite was so awesomely good, I just had to try it. I figured, what the heck - may as well try a jar of the stuff, and you do what?, spread it on toast? OK, thinks me, I can have it in the morning with breakfast. O.M.G. Horrid in every way! Salty, bitter flavor and the texture of watery toothpaste. Looks like runny shit. I could barely get past the first bite, much less the first serving, or the first jar. Threw it away and complained to my co-worker thinking I was being played. Nope. just a regional taste, I guess. Never again. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/89 "2018-09-21T22:43:03Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Another one for me was an Australian dessert called pavlova that a neighbor made. Perhaps it just wasn’t made properly, but crunchy, tasteless meringue with a bit of fruit was less than thrilling. I don’t like pavlova, but it’s ridiculously popular. Maybe your friend bought a meringue and topped it? Store-bought meringue is not like the “proper meringue” it’s meant to be, which is crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. It’s still yucky, even when done with the proper meringue, but it’s better than a hard meringue from the shop. It’s incredibly sweet. blerk. Vegemite is an acquired taste, but many who try it overseas just slather it on like it’s jam instead of thinly. Even we couldn’t eat it laid with a trowel. (I get a different type called Mighty Mite, it’s nicer than vegemite…) That reminds me of when I was a kid and they brought out this spread called Koogle. Chocolate, nuts, what’s not to love, right? I saw it on tv, thought ‘wow!’, pestered my mum into buying it and it was revolting. It was only on the market for a short time, everybody else must have agreed. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/90 "2018-09-21T23:39:04Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > When I was young, perhaps 6 or so, my grandfather provided me with a glass of buttermilk. For quite some time he’d been telling me how it was his favorite food, how he’d loved it as a kid, a rich mix of both whole milk (which I loved) and butter (which I loved). I’d been waiting to try it. And finally here it was. > > I grabbed the glass, took a huge swallow, and promptly barfed it across the room. > > Never again . . . . Qadgop, aren’t you the person who loves very old cheddar cheese? Earlier this year, my neighbors went on vacation to Wisconsin and Michigan and I fed their cat while they were gone. They returned with some 12-year-old cheddar that they purchased in Mt. Horeb, a town they LOVED, and offered me some. I ate a sliver about the size of my big toenail, and not only was the taste way too strong for me, it also had a weird gritty texture and kind of sank to the bottom in my stomach. So, I probably won’t have that again. And IMNSHO, commercial buttermilk is meant for cooking, not drinking. I’ve heard that homemade buttermilk, the by-product of homemade butter, is delicious. Maybe that’s what he drank? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/91 "2018-09-21T23:57:01Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Most disappointing of all were the crumpets. Really?? _THOSE_ are what Lord Peter and a million school kids slavered for? :mad: Crumpets are a vehicle for goodness. After some butter, try putting jam or cheese on top. For me, the most disappointing food was beer. I simply don’t like it. ---
**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:** [September 22, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/92 "2018-09-22T00:20:06Z")
I tried a Krispy Kreme doughnut, and after awaking from the diabetic coma it put me in, felt like hurling. Yuck! > [@Bullitt](#): > > Agree here about sake too. What’s the big deal? > > meh With sake, its the Destination, not the Journey. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/93 "2018-09-22T00:22:35Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Crumpets are a vehicle for goodness. After some butter, try putting jam or cheese on top. or honey… drool. (I love cheese, but I’ve never thought about putting it on a crumpet, I’ll have to give it a go.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/94 "2018-09-22T04:32:23Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I tried a Krispy Kreme doughnut, and after awaking from the diabetic coma it put me in, felt like hurling. Yuck! My old pastor’s wife said she always had terrible morning sickness when she was newly pregnant, and Krispy Kremes are one thing that she still cannot eat, all these years later. (Another, from a different pregnancy, is pepperoni pizza.) After several people said they were the same way, not from pregnancy but instead overindulgence, she did admit that she’d eaten several, because she was hungry and KKs are not very big. And then there’s this. I sure wouldn’t want to clean up afterwards, that’s for sure. > **[Krispy Kreme Challenge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krispy_Kreme_Challenge)** > > The Krispy Kreme Challenge is an annual charity event in which participants run a 2.5-mile (4 km) road course leading to a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts shop, eat one dozen doughnuts (totaling 2,400 calories and 144 grams of fat), and run the 2.5-mile (4 km) back to the finish line in under 1 hour. The event began in 2004 and is still planned and executed by Park Scholars at North Carolina State University in Raleigh N.C. Profits from the race are donated to North Carolina Children's Hospital, and In... My opinion of them? They’re OK, but not the best thing I’ve had in my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/95 "2018-09-22T08:06:38Z")
Most of the posters in here commit the fallacy of trying a single sample with NO quality control, virtually all using the product in the wrong way, then complaining it is not ambrosia. . You might as well have heard of the wonders of Kobe Beef. So you buy a McD big mac (its beef, right?), and complain that it really isn’t that great. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/96 "2018-09-22T09:06:59Z")
> [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > Most of the posters in here commit the fallacy of trying a single sample with NO quality control,. Tell us, please do, how you approach it. How many restaurants do you book and attend to try something? If you don’t like it, how do you manage to keep going and keep going and keep going until you have a statistically significant sampe size? How much does it cost for you to employ your own personal qualify control co-ordinator? Please, please, tell us. We inferior beings need to know. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/97 "2018-09-22T10:00:38Z")
Not so much the food itself as finding out what it was. I’d been reading mentions of _cuscús_ or couscous as if it was some sort of exotic food. Turns out the basic ingredient is just _pasta maravilla_ by its Northern African name. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/98 "2018-09-22T11:16:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > some sort of exotic food. Same with polenta. I always thought it was something marvellous. I like it, but it’s not fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/99 "2018-09-22T13:53:40Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Another BritLit fail for me. > > I forget what I was reading exactly, but macaroons and meringues figured prominently. When I got to try them, meh. Nothing special at all. > > On the flip side, from watching food shows, I had heard of Scrapple and I thought it looked interesting. I was at a food festival a couple of years ago, and some folks from Delaware were making Scrapple to give out as samples. I got to try it for the first time and was impressed. When I moved out East I was excited to try funnel cake, but for some reason I get scrapple confused with funnel cake (some odd brain glitch). My first funnel attempt, a friend took our orders for a festival booth run, I ended up with disgusting innards rather than delicious funnel. Now I ask “which one is the dessert, not the meat?” before I order. I’ve also been disappointed by BritLit tea foods. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/100 "2018-09-22T15:05:30Z")
> [@MarvinKitFox](#): > > Most of the posters in here commit the fallacy of trying a single sample with NO quality control, virtually all using the product in the wrong way, then complaining it is not ambrosia. > . > You might as well have heard of the wonders of Kobe Beef. > So you buy a McD big mac (its beef, right?), and complain that it really isn’t that great. This is very silly. Which posts, specifically, do you think did this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630.md?page=6)