When my wife and I visited some friends in Scottsdale, we all went out for dinner to an Ethiopian restaurant. Almost all the food tasted extremely salty–so salty, it was right on the dividing line between edible and inedible. However, our friends insisted that it couldn’t actually be salty, because “they don’t use salt here,” they use an Ethiopian seasoning that only tastes salty (which is like saying, “I’m not actually knifing you, technically, I’m shivving you.”). The only thing that wasn’t salty was the “bread” (spongy sheets of purple foam rubber)–and that was sour–not sourdough sour, but sour milk sour.
I’m sure there must be better Ethiopian cuisine somewhere (Ethiopia?), but after that slugicidal meal, I’m not willing to give it another go.
I love Ethiopian food and was very sad when the one closest to me, Blue Nile, closed. Berbere is the, shall we say, national spice of Ethiopia and its main flavor note is heat, not salt. Also injera, the spongy bread made from teff that you use to pick up the various offerings, is fermented for a couple days before being finished in a big skillet and supposed to have a tangy, not sour taste.
Sounds like you got a dud restaurant.
I think in a way, foreign food should be excluded here, some people will just not like it, and if it is your first time eating it, then how do you know if it’s a good version of something you don’t like? Though foreign bad versions of other food does count (Indian in Germany for instance, hotdog in Indonesia).
I quite liked the Ethiopian food I had when we visited Portland, it’s not a restaurant you see a lot of in the UK (saw some in Belgium), and I quite liked the food I had, including the rubbery bread, but I can see how some people might not like that bread.
Last time I ate Hardee’s was 1984. I was a freshman in college. Someone pulled the fire alarm in the dorm and we had to exit at 3 am. There was a Hardee’s across the street that was open 24 hours so I figured I’d get a snack. I ordered a plain cheeseburger. When I bit into it I found they had put mayonnaise between the meat and the cheese which had formed a pocket. I got a squirt of hot mayo in my mouth. I fucking hate mayo. still makes me gag to think of it
A few years ago on a trip to India, I got the taste for sweet lassi as a drink, and one night decided to try the alternative, salty lassi.
It was disgusting, even more salty than sea water. I tried a couple of sips but had to leave it.
I used to love monkfish–a friend described it once as a “fleshy velveeta” texture. A Japanese restaurant in Seattle was where I usually had it. Then one time on a vacation we went to a higher-end seafood restaurant and they had it on the menu. I ordered it and spent most of the night with an the sluice open at both ends. Haven’t had it since.
I never tried the green pureed vegetable plate at Indian buffets, more because the paneer doesn’t look appetizing than the vegetables, but it does remind me of another disappointing thing I’ve seen at an Indian buffet: Goat meat. I’ve tried it several times at a particular buffet but it is always bony, and what’s worse, many of the bones are hidden surprise bones. But the meat itself tasted good and the sauce was pretty different from the sauce on the rest of the dishes, so I kept trying my luck but no dice, only stabby bones. I think I’ve only had goat one other time at another restaurant and it was decent, but I will stick to lamb from now on just in case the bones resurface elsewhere.
I think of it as an acquired taste but my friend who grew up in Chennai says it is wonderful to drink on a hot day and that the salts replace what you might lose through sweating. But she only craves it when the day is hot and humid.
That reminds me of the last time I ate at Sonic, about the same time period as you. I had the Frisco burger. It was two thick slices of Sunbeam bread, a wimpy hamburger patty like what you get at middle-school lunches, and enough mayo to choke several horses. Frisco made me Sick-sco.
A western motif steak place, good cuts, fresh ground burgers, sides good. They advertised sushi coming to the menu. A spicy tuna roll had canned tuna, warm rice, and a few drops of hot sauce. Let your taste imagination run wild. It was worse.
The old dining rule about never ordering fish at a steakhouse comes to mind here.
I once had blue eggs at a casino diner in Vegas and when I complained the manager acted like I was the asshole for complaining about the egg color because apparently the blue came from printer ink they accidentally got on the eggs but it was “non-toxic” so it should be fine.
I worked in a restaurant that at the time was the best seafood place in Pittsburgh. We sold a ton of steaks.
Reminds me of an encounter at a local sub shop back in my college days, when I found a staple in my sandwich. When I took it up to the counter to complain, the girl shrugged and said “Yeah, that happens sometimes. Our stapler is on a shelf above the make table.” 
My response, along with demanding a new staple-free sandwich, was “Maybe you should find a different place to keep your stapler.”
Did they promise they wouldn’t do that?
Some time ago, I bought a prepackaged salty mint yogurt drink from the Indian grocery store out of curiosity’s sake; the label did not say lassi, but I believe it would be in the same family. The first few sips were terrible. I don’t like to waste food, so I put it back in the fridge and tried to think of a use for it. A few days later, on a steamy hot day, I was dying for it and finished the bottle. It hit the spot like nothing else.
How good were the steaks?
Well, it wasn’t bad at the time I ate it but I had a chicken sandwich from a local place that I got food poisoning from.
Very good. We had NY Strips in 2 different sizes, and filet mignon 2 different sizes. My line would go weeks without getting a steak sent back due to legitimate concerns for doneness.
We’d get many oddball requests, like an 8 ounce filet mignon butterflied and cooked well done. Also many Pittsburgh blue rare NY Strips (guys trying to impress their dates?).
Kitchen Secret from back then: the kids fish&chips was a hidden treasure. We had a great cod source. The fry cook took great pleasure in seasoning, batter dipping, then deep frying the cod, plus the fries were awesome. When the cooks ate a meal, we’d order kids F&C rather than lobster.
As good as the steaks were, we were the absolute best fish place, the only restaurant (at the time in Pittsburgh) getting fish flown in twice a week.
Goat meat also tends to be very tough. I have prepared it successfully in my Instant Pot, and you’re also right about it being bony.