# Which (non-native to you) ethnic cuisine do you crave most often? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493 "2014-05-28T19:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [May 29, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/41 "2014-05-29T04:18:02Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > I find Thai a bit overrated but that’s only from restaurant eating. It’s like other ASEAN cooking except that it’s spiced up a bit more. Well, it’s spiced a bit differently. That said, personally, my answer was Thai and adjacent cuisines, so any of Thai, Laotian, Malaysian, Vietnamese will suffice for me. (Although them all a bit different, especially Vietnamese. Then again, Vietnam is not directly adjacent.) ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/42 "2014-05-29T05:14:30Z")
Well folks, at this point it’s still a tight race, with Mexican, Italian, Chinese, and Indian all neck and neck. Surprised no love yet from anyone for Jamaican food…if I could vote twice :D. Will have to try Ethiopian; heard good things elsewhere too. Thanks for the responses so far. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/43 "2014-05-29T05:16:48Z")
Only Italian from the Med area. Hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/44 "2014-05-29T09:28:34Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > It just doesn’t feel like dinner if I’m not crying and numb. I had a similar childhood. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/45 "2014-05-29T09:47:12Z")
Italian. I could eat it every night. I answered a hypothetical once along the lines of, “if you were marooned on a desert island and could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?” and I decided I could probably eat lasagne forever. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/46 "2014-05-29T12:07:40Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > I find Thai a bit overrated but that’s only from restaurant eating. It’s like other ASEAN cooking except that it’s spiced up a bit more. I think it’s popular in the US because it tends to be _sweeter_, and we likes our sugar. I don’t go for the spicy dishes much, but I think galangal, tamarind, peanuts, coconut and lime are seriously some of the best flavors ever put together. I also like that it tends to have more vegetables (in volume, not necessarily variety) than Americanized Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/47 "2014-05-29T12:08:59Z")
I don’t have a drop of Mexican blood in me, but I could eat Mexican food probably 5 days a week. If I lived somewhere like Chicago with a fair sized hispanic district I could eat it almost every day. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/48 "2014-05-29T12:10:49Z")
I’m not sure it’s exactly non-native… we’re white-bread German/Celtic midwesterners, but my mother made stir fry at least twice a week the whole time I was growing up, so now I crave it as my home cooking comfort food of choice. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/49 "2014-05-29T14:06:20Z")
Japanese, but _not_ sushi. I mean, I _like_ sushi well enough, but I _crave_ noodle soup (soba, udon, ramen, don’t matter much) and nabemono. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/50 "2014-05-29T14:23:12Z")
I voted Mexican as it is a food I must have on a regular basis. While I definitely enjoy many of the others, they do not rise to the level of need. However, I would hedge with Italian - in that in my experience Italian food is so prevalent and integrated into my day-to-day diet (and has been all of my life) that it has ceased to be considered “ethnic”. (FTR I’m not of Italian heritage.) ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/51 "2014-05-29T15:16:55Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I guess it depends on what is available to us. I can pretty much get my favorites Indian, Brazilian/Portuguese, Italian, Korean and Japanese any time I want. But there is definitely a shortage of good and reasonably priced Greek restaurants in Manhattan and NJ, so I’ll go with that. One of my favorite things about visiting Toronto is the plethora of Greek spots. I love Greek food. Give me a nice chicken and rice soup, some feta, a kebab, a bit of spinach pie and then baklava and I’m happy. My local Greekish favorite place in the NYC area is Garbanzo’s Mediterranean Grill. They’re a chain but a good one. But I crave pizza most often. I’m a slave to anything Italian – a risotto, some fresh bread, good tomato sauce, al dente pasta, Italian cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/52 "2014-05-29T15:33:02Z")
It’s hard to pick just one. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/53 "2014-05-29T16:05:59Z")
The top 3 are: Chinese, Chinese and Chinese. I could eat it all day, and nothing else. Oh sure, I’ve indulged in quite a few other cuisines, and love many of them . . . but always come back to Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![claramorena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@claramorena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/claramorena)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/54 "2014-05-29T16:23:03Z")
Indian. I looooooooooooooveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee naan ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/55 "2014-05-29T16:25:25Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > Will have to try Ethiopian; heard good things elsewhere too. Ethiopian is awesome. I happen to live in the city with the most Ethiopians in America; in certain sections of the city and the suburbs, sometimes it seems difficult to find a NON-Ethiopian restaurant. For me, Chinese I guess. Not to sound snobby, but _real_ Chinese food, not the slop doused in sugary sauce from the local carry-out. Which can be difficult to find, or not remotely convenient (I know exactly where to go for the good stuff, but I don’t want to go downtown or out into The 'Burbs). ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/56 "2014-05-29T17:16:14Z")
I could eat American style Chinese food every meal of every day, except breakfast. More than once I’ve asked my mom if maybe she had a Chinese mail man back in the 50’s? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/57 "2014-05-29T18:06:59Z")
Thai. I loves me some coconut and lime and cilantro type flavours. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/58 "2014-05-29T21:25:09Z")
I voted Indian because it’s what I cook for myself (and others) most often. It’s a wonderfully varied, and also healthful, cuisine. If I were restricted to one cuisine only for the rest of my life, I’d choose Indian. Thai would be a close second. And Ethiopian. And Turkish or Greek. Also, Lebanese. And UK (REAL haggis, bubble and squeak, black pud with runny eggs, Cornish pasties…oh my.) ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/59 "2014-05-29T22:05:04Z")
I chose Greek because Lebanese wasn’t listed. I think Greek is pretty similar. Used to date an American girl of Irish-Lebanese descent. Beautiful girl, my first love, actually. She introduced me to a restaurant called the Phoenician Club. Loved it ever since. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493/60 "2014-05-30T11:33:12Z")
Definitely Indian - I eat it at least 5 times a week - followed by non-westernized Chinese, then English, Italian, Thai, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Spanish, Korean. Now I’m going to have to cook a curry… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-non-native-to-you-ethnic-cuisine-do-you-crave-most-often/689493.md?page=4)