Trying local cuisine - how adventurous are you?

[casanovawa]

Not very adventurous at all, in fact food usually plays very little role in why I travel...

I am almost always travelling on my own so I don't usually go in for sitting down at restaurants all by myself, its often fast food or at least something i can eat quickly or on the run...

I also am not fussy particular about trying the local cuisine, in Italy I'll eat sushi, in Asia I'll eat Mexican, in South America I'll eat Italian, in Italy I'll eat Macca's etc, etc... Depends on what i find and am feeling like at the time and then I'll just grab it an enjoy... I don't totally steer clear of local stuff but won't go out of my way to find it and sample it either...

Lastly, I also am a bit fussy about the meat i eat and cleanliness standards and so stick to fairly straight and narrow stuff, i don't eat octopus or tripe or any of that stuff here in Oz and I certainly don't want to go eating sheep's balls or animals eyeballs, or frogs or deep fried insects overseas... I'm quite happy eating my typical dishes I enjoy and often when confronted by a multitude of choices will go round and round and then revert to fish and chips or burgers or pizzas or kebabs etc, etc...

 

[drron]

So you haven't tried Prairie oysters in Texas.Boy missing out what.

 

[harvyk]

It took me while to work out what “mango moose” was - I’m slow.

It the moose you get when your phone decides mousse is just a little too fancy.

 

[juddles]

I scored zero on the test because I was looking for a bar instead If the questionnaire was about bars and weird or almost-lethal beverages I would get double the possible top score. The day I stopped at the roadside, deep bush in Ghana, and got "happy' on "palm wine" straight from the source was one of those days I should not have survived, but did

As for food, I really do love trying new things, but have learnt from painful experience to exercise extreme caution. Some things are just not right.

Perhaps the worst meal of my life (and that is an award given amongst strenuous competition) was armadillo in the Colombian countryside. Picture a two-foot long prawn, with obscene shell to match, but also with coarse hair and internal bones

Noone should score any "points" in any possible manner for happily choosing such a thing.

 

[kelvedon]

And it was only Burn's night yesterday. I'm quite fond of it myself as well as the blood-filled Black Pudding-the King of breakfast selections

Danny Bhoy described Black pudding as a giant scab.!

 

[leadman]

Mrs Leadman has always said i have a cast iron stomach, as there is not much i have not eaten, but two nights ago here in Reno NV i took my team of five out to a Thai restaurant i found during a prior visit that is at least acceptable in taste (although no lemongrass in the Tom Yum or Isan food available). But my five colleagues would have to be in the negative range, they we all "virgins" to Thai food!!!!! With an average age of around 35 - 40, i arrived a bit late to find them trying to understand the menu. I asked if they wanted me to order and were amazed i could order without looking at the menu.

It was like taking a bunch of kids out, but great to see how they liked the tastes and flavours. But it was back to burgers the next night!

 

[love_the_life]

Spare a thought for me, when a friend and I were in Japan last year. I knew she was a bit of a fussy eater but didn’t really realise the full extent. She doesn’t like the flavours or textures of some foods. So, no red meat, no fish and certainly not raw, no oysters, no udon or ramen dishes (she didn’t like the smell of dashi), no pies (this came up as she was hungry and I suggested a PieFace veg one at Kyoto station which she ate but then said she didn’t like). She also wanted to stay one night in a ryokan with dinner and breakfast, which was interesting. We got by but ate a lot of chicken. Another friend wants to come next time but she doesn’t eat chicken!

 

[drron]

LTL that reminds me of the time in the 70s when we went to Singapore and Hong Kong with 2 other couples.One our neighbours in Maitland.typical meat and 3 veg country folk.The other couple were a Chinese fellow i went through medicine with and his wife.
In Singapore our neighbours came the first night when we went to a hawker place but after that ate in the hotel.We kept going to the hawker places as I wasn't going to miss that.Interestingly one couple got food poisoning-but they weren't eating hawker food.

Then in Hong Kong our neighbours had eaten Australian country Chinese and were surprised the dishes didn't have peas,carrot,broccoli and capsicum.My Chinese friend got a little upset by all the negative comments so at a Yum cha lunch ordered things like chicken feet and various offal dishes.I loved it,a couple went hungry.My friend's family was from Hong Kong.

 

[leadman]

Then in Hong Kong our neighbours had eaten Australian country Chinese and were surprised the dishes didn't have peas,carrot,broccoli and capsicum.My Chinese friend got a little upset by all the negative comments so at a Yum cha lunch ordered things like chicken feet and various offal dishes.I loved it,a couple went hungry.My friend's family was from Hong Kong.

Still happens to me in 2019; I eat off the streets in BKK, SIN, KUL, et al and often when you are with Westerners/Farangs/family, they will not eat with you and go starving. There is a little vendor down on Sukhumvit that makes the best soft-shell crab in pepper sauce One bonus of them not joining you is you can have it all to yourself!

 

[amaroo]

I’ll give any and all things a go at least once. Had some really horrid meals in China, just swallow, smile, and drink.

In Bordeaux I made the mistake of ordering the house special - AAAAA (andouillette). The smell was something else .... google will fill in the gaps.

In Urubamba we stopped by a roadside grill and tried the local favourite - Cuy

 

[Lemon_Party]

I’ll try anything once. Grilled insects on sticks as street food in China was interesting.

Chicken and prawn sashimi in Japan was derisory, never again.

Jellyfish surprisingly good and horse sashimi excellent- you never know unless you give it a whirl...

 

[straitman]

Mrs straitman who is not a a super adventurous eater surprised us all by ordering Roast Guinea Pig in Lima.

 

[leadman]

Mrs straitman who is not a a super adventurous eater surprised us all by ordering Roast Guinea Pig in Lima.

I wasn't too impressed with the guinea pig in Lima. i had one dish and found it an oily meat. did i get a bad batch and should try again? I thought Llama et al. was superb.

 

[drron]

I sampled cuy in Peru.Thought it was a bland form of chicken so no need to have it again.

 

[love_the_life]

I remember a couple of interesting dishes from when I was young. My parents tended to be meat and three veg eaters but Dad did like to try new things from time to time. We got a pile of mutton bird once - so greasy and strong flavoured. It was awful. Another time we were in Batemans Bay on holiday and Dad bought a dozen oysters. Being of Scottish extraction this meant he was going to eat them by hook or by crook. We (sister and I) carried on a treat about how disgusting they were (and now I love them) so poor Dad was reduced to eating them in a sandwich. Mum wouldn’t touch them.
The other treat when in Iceland as I tell Denali is of course hakarl. You really haven’t lived till you’ve eaten it.

 

[VPS]

I’ll give any and all things a go at least once. Had some really horrid meals in China, just swallow, smile, and drink.

In Bordeaux I made the mistake of ordering the house special - AAAAA (andouillette). The smell was something else .... google will fill in the gaps.

In Urubamba we stopped by a roadside grill and tried the local favourite - Cuy

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I was with a friend in France who ordered andouilette - it was hilarious and he didn't eat it but was trying to identify the organs

 

[RooFlyer]

The other treat when in Iceland as I tell Denali is of course hakarl. You really haven’t lived till you’ve eaten it.

And then you wish you'd die.

 

[marki]

I am on Nauru where fresh veggies are expensive 1/4 cabbage costs 10 AUD. However eating salads at the local Chippies bar near the harbour can cause a real backfire.

 

[Bodie]

Mrs Bodie and I were just discussing this topic and trying to remember

We have tried in Aust kangaroo, crocodile and witchetty grubs.
South Africa buffalo, kudu, antelope, ostrich guinea fowl and mapawi worms
We have pointed at things on menu in hong kong but luckily the had pictures which was helpful - best wasabi shrimp washed down with beer ever had.
Have tried chicken feet in china - not our cup of tea at all.

 

[amaroo]

I was with a friend in France who ordered andouilette - it was hilarious and he didn't eat it but was trying to identify the organs

The waiter made a little bit of an effort in broken English to ensure I knew what I was ordering... having NFI, but having all the ignorance of youth, I pushed on and ordered it. I managed to eat around half before downing tools. Every mouthful was a major effort .... but I was determined not to leave a full plate for the kitchen to have a good laugh over.

The waiter was suitably impressed .... the GF (now wife) gave me a wide berth for that evening