Food ratings by country

[tuixiu]

Offshoot of the Panama vs. Mexico thread where we all started whining about how bland food in Panama and Costa Rica is.

If you had to rank food by country, say top three or five, how would you rank 'em? It can be from eating there, going to authentic restaurants, or having a mother in law from there who cooks whatever.

Yeah I know by country is often too broad, food in Sichuan is pretty different from Harbin and Memphis isn't like Omaha, so feel free to throw in regions if you want.

For me I'd go:

1. Thailand
2. Vietnam
3. Southern China
4. France
5. New Orleans

I've never been to Italy, curious people's thoughts there.

 

[DangerMouse]

Wow, this is a tough assignment as so many countries I have been to have fantastic food. However, I think it can all depend what restaurant you happen upon to some extent. The only country I have been to where I really did not like any of the food was China. I think I could land just about anywhere in the world and would know exactly which restaurant I would head for and what I would be eating.

1. Vietnam. Just returned from there recently and the food was outstanding. Only bad food we had was when we were part of a tour and got schlepped to one of those joints catering to pigs at the trough mentality. Ingredients were so fresh and tasty. Found Central and Southern food to be better than Northern.
2. Italy. Hmm my mouth waters just thinking about our favourite restaurant where I always have the roasted lamb with rosemary roasted potatoes along with some yummy vino. Love observing the locals and their sense of family. What I love about Italian food is it is not so heavy on the sauces.
3. France. We lived in Paris for a while, so found lots of good restaurants more for locals rather than tourists. Hmm give me a nice beef bourgeone with a fresh baguette to dip into the sauce. For a while my favourite game was going from restaurant to restaurant to find who did the best French Onion soup. What I do like about french food is the sauces.
4. Brazil. It's just over 20 years ago that I was there, but the food in Rio was outstanding. In a month didn't have a bad meal.
5. Thailand. Who can forget the Beef Massaman curry I used to eat every day at the Cheers bar on Koh Samui beach. It was so tasty. My favourite Thai dish is Tom Yum, so for me if a restaurant can not make a decent Tom Yum I don't venture any further. I have never found Thai food outside Thailand anywhere near as good as what the locals make.

Honourable mention for me would be the UK. When we lived there our local restaurant was a Moroccan and boy did they do a decent Lamb Tagine.

 

[kevink]

Fun thread; thanks!

My wife and I are avid French and Italian food/wine/culture fans and spent a lot of time over there when the $/euro exchange was do-able. We also did a big swing through Asia a couple of years ago, and currently live in Mexico. So, that said, here's our list:

1. Italy: specifically the wine villages of Piedmont (Barolo, Barbaresco, the small town of Alba). 2nd favorite: Emilia Romagna, especially Parma and Modena

2. France: much more hit or miss than Italy but when it's good...amazing. Burgundy region if someone else is buying, otherwise Rhone valley and the southwest.

3. Surprisingly for us: South Indian Vegetarian cuisine, in places like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Complex, exotic and you feel lighter than air after eating it for a couple of weeks. Amazing stuff.

4. Thailand. World-renowned, and rightly so.

5. Mexico: Puebla and Oaxaca. Intricate mole sauces, amazing fruits and veggies - did I mention Mezcal and Tequila.

Subject to change as we do more travel!

 

[clifp]

1. Thailand never had a bad meal there.
2. Italy except for Venice, when my ex-girlfriend, who spoke fluent Italian I went there we couldn't find a good meal in Venice, the rest of Italy is quite good.
3. Pacific Rim lots of places combine the exotic flavors of the Asia with fresh fish and local produce. I think California has the best but Hawaii has some great places also.
4. Tahiti French sauces, and tropical fruits and seafood. Yum
5. Northern China, my trip in China was hampered by having to eat in places catering to tourists, but I love Sichuan tand he couple of meals I had there were excelent.

 

[Moemg]

For #1 I'd have to say France
#2 would be Germany
#3 Ireland - I had great food there in even the smallest of pubs
#4 Bora bora - the best seafood & fruit
#5 Not a country but definitely my favorite Italian food area - New Jersey and The iron bound section for Portuguese food is pretty great also

 

[tuixiu]

1. Vietnam. (...) Found Central and Southern food to be better than Northern.

Ditto, we came across great stuff up 'round Hanoi but nothing could touch the food at the markets in the South. Like you said everything is just so fresh limes here mint leaves there, grilled meat charred just right, shrimp in coconut juice for about a dollar, fresh bread being pulled out of brick ovens (thanks France) and something that can be hard to come by in Asia: good coffee.

Vietnamese, like the Thais, don't mess around when it comes to food.

 

[FIREd]

France - particularly southern France. Lyon and the surrounding area is "it" when it comes to French gastronomy IMO, but the southwest has a lot to offer too.

Thailand, Italy, Vietnam, China, Japan, Spain and Germany round up the top of my list. I have incredible memories of a German breakfast with large soft pretzels and delicious cold cuts. Nothing better in the morning!

 

[Fireup2020]

Japanese, Lebanese/Eastern Mediterranean, Thai, Colombian, and of course Italian (thanks Mom & Grammy)

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Personal experience:
1. Southern Louisiana
2. Denmark
3. NW India (Punjab)
4. Mexico (this requires much more extensive research; it is a BIG country.)

From all accounts, (but not personal experience--looking forward to checking it out, though. Kramer, where art thou?)
5. Peru

 

[CoolChange]

Quickly, before I crash or over think this:

1. Thailand (spicy, seafood, tropical, etc.)
2. India (the only place I might actually be able to pull off the vegetarian thing)
3. Mexico (spicy, beefy, seafood, etc.)
4. Midwestern United States (hard to beat a good steak, potato, and salad; good wine too)
5. New Orleans (the only place where I am almost guaranteed to gain one pound per day)

 

[audreyh1]

Italy comes out top for me! Always blows me away. Everywhere we ate in northern Italy was awesome.

Had some pretty awesome food in Oaxaca Mexico. And lots of good eats in other areas of Mexico although Oaxaca was a standout.

Audrey

 

[simple girl]

This thread is making me hungry!

Thailand tops my list, for sure. We spent several months there and fell in love with the food and culture.

I have an excellent Thai cookbook: Amazon.com: Thai Home Cooking: Quick, Easy, Delicious Recipes to Make at Home (Essential Asian Kitchen Series) (0676251650051): Robert Carmack, Sompon Nabnian: Books I have been successful in making several dishes from this book. They are very authentic. In fact, I once took my green curry to a party here in the US hosted by some thai friends (bold, I know), and they all said I made better green curry than they made.

After reading the threads above, I can't wait to try Vietnamese!

 

[samclem]

Gosh, I've been to lots of places in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The food was the same everywhere--dark green vaccuum-sealed foil envelopes with glop inside. Delicious, and cheap!

 

[friar1610]

Of the countries that I've been to that were mentioned above, I can't argue at all. We've loved food in France, Italy, Ireland, New Orleans. A few that I did not see mentioned that we think are great:
- Canada, by which I primarily mean the Province of Quebec and Montreal and Quebec City in particular.
- Spain, where we lived for 4 years a long time ago.
- Argentina (particularly for beef) which we have been to twice. And Chile is a close second.

 

[unclemick]

1. New Orleans - Mother's, Central grocery and on and on.

2. south(of I-10) Louisiana.

3. Finland(Helsinki)Smorgusboard breakfasts - too expensive though

4. Certain Tex/Mex/Southwest styles around Denver/Littleton

5. KC BBQ - lots of places to debate.

heh heh heh - snow on the ground - and making Zatarain's Gumbo with rice out of the box - with sausage and shrimp. . After thirty yrs of living there - predjudiced toward N.O. styles.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Gee! I like almost everything if it is well prepared. But....hmmm...maybe New York deli food, seafood anywhere along the east and west coasts, Mexican, Thai, southern Italian, Philly cheese steaks, Middle Eastern.

 

[Orchidflower]

1. Middle Eastern (Lebanese)
2. Thai
3. Indian
4. Mexican
5. Vietnamese
(and not necessarily in that order all the time)

 

[clifp]

Gosh, I've been to lots of places in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The food was the same everywhere--dark green vaccuum-sealed foil envelopes with glop inside. Delicious, and cheap!

Delicious? ok I've only had 1 MRE in my life, I guess I needed to be much hungrier...

 

[Disappointed]

Thai
Cantonese
Japanese
American (Steak/BBQ/Breakfast)
Mexican.


mP

 

[traineeinvestor]

1. Chinese (Hunan, Canton, Beijing, some Shanghai - not so keen on the Sichuan or Yunan)
2. Japanese (tepenyaki, sushi, sashimi - less keen on tempura, yakatori and some other dishes)
3. Thai
4. Italian

Among other cuisines, I can pick certain dishes or styles that stand out but would not rate the entire experience as highly as the ones listed above.

On a cold, rainy day like today, a good Irish stew or a beef stroganoff would go down very nicely.

 

[kumquat]

Anything with spice.

1) Indian
2) Vietnamese/Thai
3) Other Asian
4) Tex-Mex

Worst:
1) Great Britain
2) France
3) Japan
4) North American Indian (or Canadian version thereof)

 

[vicente solano]

Thank you Friar and Fire! if it weren´t for you....

 

[unclemick]

What nationality is pizza now a days? I lean toward thin crust.

heh heh heh - BUT no sliced fresh cucumber on top like I got in Finland in July. .

 

[megacorp-firee]

1) southern France
2) japan for small ma and pa stands/cafe like places that specialize on some specific dish (like yakatori, noodles, octopus balls)
3) taiwan - night market foods and the food courts in the bottom of department stores
4 a) Big cities in China - Beijing (duck of course), Shanghai for dumplings
4 b) smaller cities (less than 2 milliion people ) for local cusines
5) Hong Kong - dim sum, seafood, noodles ... nuff said
6) Mexico - various regional and street foods
7) New York City - ethnic foods in the neighborhoods
8) Chicago - see above and Chicago style pizza
9) San Francisco - seafood, bistros, cafes
10) Boston - North end italian, seafood chowders, ...etc., great bars
11) North Carolina - BBQ pork sausages, beef briskets
12) Texas - chicken fried steak, BBQ
13) Las Vegas - local Mexican and Chinese food, strip hotel high end dining
14) Toronto - ethnic foods

I have not been (yet), but looking forward to trying different regional foods in southwestern and western China, Singaporean hawker market foods, and Thailand street food.

ooooh almost forgot - Indian food in London ... go figure
New Orleans - no further comment required

 

[Gumby]

1. Italian
2. French
3. Indian
.
.
169. Traditional English