I’ll faintly echo the In-N-Out and Krispy Kreme posters.
I won’t say they’re bad- both of them are perfectly tasty, but they’re not the culinary orgasms that their proponents make them out to be. I mean, I like In-N-Out and eat there on occasion, but they’re not that much better than say… Burger King, and they’re on par with our local regional burger chain (Whataburger).
Krispy Kreme is pretty much the same- a perfectly good glazed donut, but nothing remarkable. Truth be told, my favorites are a couple of local donut types- Southern Maid(DFW, and oddly one location in Houston by my parents) and Shipley’s(local to Houston).
Early in the Eighties, my friend and I were huge fans of the band Men at Work. We listened to their albums incessantly, tracked down radio shows with them on, and they were even our very first concert (we both had very overprotective parents).
Anyway, we got to college in 1983 and one morning, out of the blue, the cafeteria had Vegemite to go with breakfast. We couldn’t wait to try it! We’d been hearing about this Aussie ambrosia in MaW’s songs, and thought sure we’d love it.
So I put some on a piece of toast, took a bite, and…
…well, it was all I could do not to spit it out right there on the floor! That was without a doubt the most horrible, vile, and malignant thing I had ever put in my mouth in my entire life! It tasted like pure essence of salt mixed with yeast and melted brown crayon.
My friend didn’t like it any better than I do, but she gamely tried for a while to pretend she did. I think she actually took a second bite. And swallowed.
They never had Vegemite at the cafeteria again after that. I have no idea why it turned up that one day. But yeah…no thanks.
Here’s an obligatory xkcd link about Turkish Delight.
I second the poster who said beer. I tried one sip of it, on my 21st birthday, and hated it. Never again. I do like other alcoholic beverages, like mimosas and wine coolers, though. But I’m on a medication that could affect my liver, so I have to be very careful when I drink.
I like most foods, including most of the ones mentioned here. But my most disappointing experience was getting high tea at Harrod’s. Major fail. And I’ve enjoyed high tea elsewhere. The Empress in Victoria BC is very good; I’ve been there at least twice and there was a restaurant in the West Village in NY called Tea and Sympathy that did a good one.
Then there was the time I got served sea urchin. Meh doesn’t begin to describe that experience. I think it is the one food I ever found revolting. Mainly from the texture.
I’m so glad you mentioned chestnuts! I’d managed to forget about them.
I once made Marrons glacé as part of a holiday dinner dessert array. I’d never had them, just read about them. What a pain in the ass. And they were exactly as you described, mealy and bland. I couldn’t give them away.
I do have to speak up a little bit in defense of Turkish delight. My late Australian husband had a weakness for it and pounced on packets every time he found some. Naturally I tried a piece and immediately proclaimed it was like eating chocolate covered soap. But I have to admit… it sort of grew on me.
In my life, there have been times when I’ve had a dish prepared in just the right way, in just the right setting, at just the right time and with all the planetary bodies in alignment such that it was the greatest example of that foodstuff that I’ve ever had the sensual pleasure to eat and will forever after be what I remember whenever that food is mentioned. For example, one evening many years ago I went to dinner at my chef brother’s apartment. He had roasted some beets as a side dish. I no longer remember what else he served but I do remember those succulent beets. I had never been fond of beets as a child and would only eat them if pickled. But I ate so many of these roasted beauties that my bathroom experience the next day was technicolor. Any time someone mentions beets I think of them. I’ve eaten beets many times since but they’ve never quite reached the same heights.
I think that when people talk glowingly about some food it’s that they’re remembering their own “just at the right time” experience. But that’s a highly subjective thing. Everyone has a different perception, hence the disappointment. I always keep this in mind when trying new things. I’ll try them a few times in a few different ways before I decide I don’t like them.
Just wanted to add that my brother becoming a chef was one of the best things to happen to my diet. He kept fixing things I thought I didn’t like in really delicious ways. I went from a kid who would only eat peanut butter and bologna to an adult who’ll eat almost anything. Except cantaloupe for some reason. I try it once a year but I still don’t care for it. Ditto for fennel. (I like Vegemite and Marmite though.)
For years I’d heard about this wonderful Scottish dish called haggis. So my first night in the UK I headed out to get me some. I already knew what it was made of, but I thought “Millions of people eat this stuff; how bad could it be?” Long story short, it was even worse than I’d imagined, given the ingredients.
So I found some “vegetarian haggis,” made of oatmeal. Somehow they managed to duplicate the horrible taste of the original.
Another one was Limburger cheese. All I knew about it was from cartoons. But again, I thought “They sell this stuff and people buy it. How bad could it be?” So I got me some, took it home and opened the wrapper. The stench was overwhelming, but I forced myself to taste it. It tasted like cat urine, but worse. I guess there are people with no sense of smell who like it.
When I was young and went to pubs and clubs, I used to go to this place which was owned/run by this Greek guy. He used to give me free drinks. So far, so good. The free drinks were this stuff called retsina, which tasted like carbolic lavatory cleaner (no, I’ve never tasted carbolic, it just seems like it would taste like retsina). I used to drink this stuff, mainly because I didn’t want to be rude to the club owner and his generosity and partly because I was as mean as dirt and drinking free lavatory cleaner defrayed the costs of going out. I did get to the point where I didn’t mind it, it too sort of grew on me.
Figs. Sure they’re sweet but that’s about it - no depth of flavor at all and the fact that they pretty much all contain a dead bug is enough for me to say No Thanks!
I had haggis at a Robbie Burns night hosted by my Scottish (as in from Scotland) neighbour. It wasn’t the most amazing thing, but it was pretty good. Reminded me of tourtiere in flavour, with a more mushy texture.
Lobster is definitely up there in disappointment. Turkish delight. Avocado, the only way I can describe it is it tastes too green to me. It’s an odd description but I can’t pinpoint any reason why I just don’t like it much.
I can’t think of anything else offhand that I’ve heard hyped up that much and really wanted to try that disappointed me.
I recently had it for the first time, but I was warned that I should only use a tiny bit. I put a barely visible smear on a cracker. It was OK, pretty much what I expected.
