NC Penguin

I've tracked down the authentic ethinic eateries in my area. I know they're authentic by the number of native people eating there and the scarcity of Americans there.

Plus, the menus and ambience can be a giveaway of authenticity. e.g. chicken feet, tripe and congee on the menu at Chinese restaurants, goat dishes, dosas and whole chillis (without you indicating hotness that you'd like) in food at Indian restaurants, soccer in Spanish blaring from the TVs and mariachis in Latino restaurants (Mexican, Salvadorean, etc.).




NC Penguin

Eskimo

nessun piuttosto mangerei l'escremento

BritGuyTN

Chinese - PF Changs - pretty reasonable, not sure about authenticity, but at least it has a lot of options, nice decor and good cocktails....

Italian - only one or two restaurants in nashville that serves italian and not some disgusting cheesy greasy shitty parody of italian cuisine (AKA Olivegarden etc)

IHOP - sorry but the food is complete shit, the only time I will be forced to go there is with my inlaws so I don't look like a complete ass

red lobster - do you want lobster with your grease and cheesy shit we give you?

I have completely embraced living in the south and its cuisine - what i haven't embraced is the slop Cracker Barrel serve, i've been there more times and eaten different food in different locations than i care to think about, but its still all crap - with a very high salt content as another poster mentioned

as far as chains go, o'charleys could be worse and chilis is not entirely crap

bottom line

Americans like quantity - not quality, this ethos applies to pretty much everything from cars to houses to food

big houses made of wood and plastic
shit cars with leaf spring suspensions/push rod V8s/interiors made of recycled plant pots
loads of carbs with plasticy tasteless cheesy shit

Pretty crap from my perspective

However. the above mentality means that some items comparable to stuff in europe have to be relatively cheaper.

Lord Lionheart

Yes, Italy is only second to France for it's food IMHO. I go to Milan usually once a year, the other thing I like to do is stop by one particular bar near the center and have a 'Negroni' cocktail, I can't remember the bar name but they are famous for their Negroni's served in a massive glass like a large brandy glass.
Me mum cooks Indian food although her spaghetti was good when we were kids.
Also agree with NC's comments about 'authentic' Chinese food, most westerners would not want a full menu from Chinese food such as chicken feet, fish bladders and sea cucumbers etc.

anotherlimey

On the topic of southern food, perhaps someone could tell me what 'Grits' are? It sounds like gravel and porridge.

The best burger I've ever had came from a place called the 'Purple Cow' on the Gulf coast about 20 miles south of Houston.

BritGuyTN

grits are like savoury semolina

95% of the time they taste nasty

the other 5% is pretty good

to be on the safe side i would leave well alone

NC Penguin

Grits are white ground cornmeal. Very similar to Italian polenta (yellow ground cornmeal).

I won't rave on about the food in France or Italy here.

I will admit authentic food does cost more but in many ways, I see justification because:
the ingredients are sometimes higher quality (inc. fresh) than the chain restaurants
the restaurants cannot benefit from economies of scale for buying ingredients
they need to employ chefs who know how to prepare the food authentically

e.g. went to a gem of an Italian (not Italian American) restaurant only minutes from where I live. We each had two courses and a glass of wine and the check came to just over $60.00. Was it worth it? Most definitely. Would I eat there regularly? No, just once in a while (special occasions).



NC Penguin

Perfumdiva1

I beg to differ

100% time nasty


End of story

PD1

woodsey

worst thing I have ever seen whilst being here, wasn't a chain restaurant though, it was a local one down the road was 'chicken curry served on penne pasta', erm....no thanks,(there isn't a smilie to describe my feelings on this)

ironporer

Wallpaper paste rather similar in taste to a snail cooked in nothing- they assume the flavor of whatever you put on them/cook them with. Like butter? eat grits and butter. Like Garlic, eat snails cooked in garlic. Don't ever eat either alone.

Lord Lionheart

What about the burgers Carl's Jnr have been coming out with??
Pastrami burgers - And a picture at the end of a double meat patty with loads of pastrami slung on it.
The Jalapeno - Same with loads of Jalapenos - If you want to enjoy heartburn before your heart attack
And some other totally gross, piled high burgers whose name escapes me? Have you seen those ads?
I can see it now on TV;
Voiceover guy: "New from Carl's Jnr. The steaming turd burger"
And a burger splats down with 3 1/2 pound meat pattys and a great steaming turd on top ...........

woodsey

I agree, not good. One question, why is it called a six dollar burger when it doesn't cost six dollars? Am I missing something..

Lord Lionheart

Because $6.00 is what a fancy restaurant would charge for this 'gourmet' burger...... marketing bullshit.

woodsey

it all makes sense now..thanks but somehow the words 'gourmet' and 'burger' are never, ever going to go together..

Bob

bit harsh on the poop that ain't it?