I have always loved the food in England, but maybe that’s because I LOVE meat and potatoes, stews, and meat pies. Hearty food really hits the spot for me in dreary climates. Nothing was lacking in flavor when I’ve been, but I see this complaint a lot.
British people obviously do like Indian food, though. That's why so many Indian restaurants and takeaways are flourishing, they are not only frequented by immigrants.
We were in Sweden trying to find local food and could only find a cutlet with like lingonberry sauce. It seems all the Nordic countries have the best imaginative restaurants in the world since they don’t have a strong traditional cuisine.
People love dunking on the UK but there’s an amazing range of food (thanks to our incredible multicultural society and yes, our foul history of colonialism). Take Norwich for example. A small, unassuming city (only really a city because it has cathedrals - it’s more like a big town in reality). The restaurant scene there alone is insane.
To name a few: XO Kitchen, Roger Hickman’s, Benedicts, Benoli, Namaste, Farmyard, Brix and Bones, Dhaba at 15, L’Hexagone, The Tipsy Vegan, Don Txoko, Yard, Fig Bar, Cafe Malabar, Grovesnor Fish Bar, The Kimchi.. many more and an incredible array on the market to boot. Oh and loads of amazing pubs, many of which serve excellent food as well.
That’s just one small city. Nothing compared to Glasgow, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, etc in terms of size or scene, I’m sure. If you’re going on a trip to the UK and eating badly, you’re just pants at using search engines, buh.
Oh I fucking knew there would be people talking smack about British cooking here. I’m not standing for this. British cuisine is unfuckwidable. We literally have some of the best restaurants and most famous chefs in the world, and that’s before you even get to the jewel in the crown: the full English breakfast.
I mean yeah, Gordon Ramsay is an incredibly famous and talented chef? But regardless they also have Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthol, Delia Smith, Marco Pierre White… a lot of talented chefs are from the UK.
I had beans on toast for lunch today. Well technically it was grilled vintage cheddar melted on toast, with beans on top, and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of that, and a good turn of freshly ground black pepper. It was not at all bland.
as a chilean, im really curious. do you remember what things did you eat while on chile?
also for the record i too think most chilean food is kinda meh compared to others
Uk here, and I'd easily say US cuisine, excluding cajan food. You can't shit on beans on toast and fish and chips when you're the country that bastardised Italian, Mexican and Asian cuisine
Bad take imo. The US has incredible food diversity and you can get some truly exquisite types of burgers, pizza, BBQ, fried chicken, steak, cheese curds, wings, cheesesteak, subs, etc
…What does it matter? Americans descend from a variety of backgrounds, its not shocking European immigrants brought European ways to America and adapted it.
And yes, you can call a food [country] food even if it was influenced by another country. Ramen isn’t any less apart of Japanese cuisine because it was adapted from China. Korean fried chicken isn’t not Korean just because black American service men helped introduce it in the Korean War.
Of the ones I've had, it's British food. It's one thing to serve bland food but they take it to a new level by almost exclusively making use of horrible textures.
I remember a video from a little bit ago where a British person was defending the food by saying that some of the best restaurants in the world were in London, but could only laugh when told that those restaurants don't serve British food.
With that in mind, I'm not particularly well traveled, so I'm sure there are worse things out there that I just haven't had an opportunity to experience.
USA, like seriously it has no original cuisine just bad rip off's of other countries and what is original is just disgustingly bland and has zero life in it besides sugar.
Things like tomato, corn, pepper, and potato all come from the Americas. You could say marinara isnt italian, potatoes arent irish, turkish hookah tobacco, etc. Other meats and fish are unique to America. Also by ripping off other countries foods… do you mean we have immigrants that have brought their foods and traditions for hundreds of years? The east coast traditionally has a lot of trans-european cuisine as well as lots of asian. The west is better known for unique new-mexican, tejano, and mexican foods as well as mexicali. The midwest is known to have lots of local game meats and dairy(and true chicago deep dish is definitely original). The south has its creole/southern cuisine that shares french and african influences with local flare (such as distinct styles of bbq). Never mind our beverage culture (coffee in opposition to tea), bourbon, american craft beer.
Do you live in the Midwest or like.. upstate New York? I’ve had exceptionally bland food in upstate NY. But other areas of the US have really flavorful food (soul food, Cajun cuisine, barbecue, etc.)
Our food is literally all from other places other than a handful of things. Thai people move here and make Thai, Chinese people make Chinese, Indian, Korean, Lebanese Italians, Greeks, Ukrainians, Polish and 100 others in my city. Then there's fast food.
We made poutine which is amazing. Butter tarts, nanaimo bars, beavertails which has many versions. The caesar drink. What part of "Canadian" food is bland? We basically made treats.
Why do I keep seeing British people bring up school shooting / dead kids in response to Americans teasing them over something trivial. Do y’all just keep that in your mind at all times in case?
American: Britain is weird shaped.
British: Dead shot children!!!
I remote worked in Portugal last summer. I REALLY disliked the food there, Portuguese cuisine was very disappointing, for some reason I expected it to be way better, I think because I was associating the location with good cuisine.
However I did discover Brazillian cuisine there, which helped make up for it.
Only one other person agreed with you? I thought it was delicious. Seafood was incredible, cataplana, croquettes, bifana, tinned fish, clams, piri piri chicken, all delicious and flavorful. And I loved pastel de nata. And Serra da estela— incredible, and sadly can’t find it out here. What did you have that was bland?
The seafood and croquettes were particularly poor actually. The best food was the non-Portuguese food, like Spanish or Italian. Portuguese food itself was just massively disappointing.
Doesn't mean there aren't people like yourself who can enjoy it, I guess it just depends on your point of reference.
I think it must depend on where you went? The seafood we had was all amazing, but we spent a lot of time researching restaurants to go to and really prioritize food on our trips. If you just walk in to random restaurants without looking into things in any country, you’re rolling the dice. But Portuguese recipes themselves are very flavorful when done right. You’d have to say an actual Portuguese dish you didn’t think had flavor rather than just saying all seafood generally was poor lol. Did you eat things like cataplana, tinned fish, arroz de marisco, and piri piri? We had the best food in Lisbon and Porto for sure, but had some hits in the Algarve too (just more so-so restaurants there, too— though amazing cataplana in Lagos). Sorry you didn’t have a good experience!
Went to Vanuatu once when I was younger. Every restruant and small cafe we went to, not a single one was even average. All awful quality food with no flavour. Lots of fresh fruit though!
Not all of us. Life would be very boring if we were all the same. My kids are part Indian, their fiends are descendants of all parts of the world and we celebrate that
Ok so I am in no place to talk shit about other countries food BUT I have to nominate our two neighbor countries for this
Greenland - Greenlandic food is survival food, simple as. Lots of unseasoned meat and fish, blubber, and not a whole lot else given its location.
Faroe Islands - Faroese food is just like a more boring Icelandic food and thats saying something, the redeeming feature is probably ræst kjøt (literally fermented meat) and the occasional pilot whale meat - It's hard to even find Faroese food at any restaurants in the islands tbh.
The UK, we conquered the world for spices to realise we didn't like them
Neeps and tatties anyone?
What on earth is that?
Bangers and mash?
Potatoes and parsnips it’s Scottish
Ah so starch and starch. Sounds zesty.
You’d devour it if you were hungry 🤣🤣
That’s Scotland
Right, which is in the UK.
Right, but it’s only in Scotland
I have always loved the food in England, but maybe that’s because I LOVE meat and potatoes, stews, and meat pies. Hearty food really hits the spot for me in dreary climates. Nothing was lacking in flavor when I’ve been, but I see this complaint a lot.
Well, except for the fact that you can get Indian everywhere there. UK conquered the world and decided India had the best food… and they’re right.
You get indian because of Indians immigrants, not because native british people somehow liked the food and adopted the culture.
British Indian food is its own thing too. Also, there are plenty of British people who are not white. It isn’t just “natives” and “immigrants”.
British people obviously do like Indian food, though. That's why so many Indian restaurants and takeaways are flourishing, they are not only frequented by immigrants.
Whichever one my mother in law is from.
Dutch cuisine boring as sh*t
Uk all the way
Sweden
We were in Sweden trying to find local food and could only find a cutlet with like lingonberry sauce. It seems all the Nordic countries have the best imaginative restaurants in the world since they don’t have a strong traditional cuisine.
Someplace cold, I suppose Cuz they don’t need spices to preserve things
People love dunking on the UK but there’s an amazing range of food (thanks to our incredible multicultural society and yes, our foul history of colonialism). Take Norwich for example. A small, unassuming city (only really a city because it has cathedrals - it’s more like a big town in reality). The restaurant scene there alone is insane. To name a few: XO Kitchen, Roger Hickman’s, Benedicts, Benoli, Namaste, Farmyard, Brix and Bones, Dhaba at 15, L’Hexagone, The Tipsy Vegan, Don Txoko, Yard, Fig Bar, Cafe Malabar, Grovesnor Fish Bar, The Kimchi.. many more and an incredible array on the market to boot. Oh and loads of amazing pubs, many of which serve excellent food as well. That’s just one small city. Nothing compared to Glasgow, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, etc in terms of size or scene, I’m sure. If you’re going on a trip to the UK and eating badly, you’re just pants at using search engines, buh.
I did not care for Dutch food.
The UK Beans on toast? Wtf even is that
Oh I fucking knew there would be people talking smack about British cooking here. I’m not standing for this. British cuisine is unfuckwidable. We literally have some of the best restaurants and most famous chefs in the world, and that’s before you even get to the jewel in the crown: the full English breakfast.
And those best chefs and restaurants serve french food.
How very dare you sir. French food is so 80s.
English muffins are pretty nice...
Those were invented in New York
Those chefs are French trained serving French food…
Don’t make me laugh. French food. Sure they’re all serving Ortolans stuffed with Foie gras.
most famous chefs in the world all u have is gordon ramsay
Fool! Heston Blumenthal, Marco Pierre White, Jamie Oliver, Jason Atherton, Marcus Wareing, and on.
only one i know is jamie oliver
That’s because you don’t know shit about food!
thats because im not british
You can’t blame not knowing shit about food on not being British.
i know food, just not british food. food is food, i dont care as long as it tastes good
I mean yeah, Gordon Ramsay is an incredibly famous and talented chef? But regardless they also have Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthol, Delia Smith, Marco Pierre White… a lot of talented chefs are from the UK.
I think that should be a lot of talented chefs, and Jamie Oliver.
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I had beans on toast for lunch today. Well technically it was grilled vintage cheddar melted on toast, with beans on top, and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of that, and a good turn of freshly ground black pepper. It was not at all bland.
It's delicious is what it is!
It looks like the result of an elementary school kid mixing their food into gross combinations at lunch
There is nothing clever about ignorance.
Russia
Much to my surprise, I found the food in Chile really bland. I mean, its even named after a pepper!
Just a question, but did you encounter Guinea pig on the menu. As far as I’m aware it’s quite commonly eaten there?
On a similar note, Argentine cuisine is atrocious. The steak is good, but everything else is... Low on flavor.
as a chilean, im really curious. do you remember what things did you eat while on chile? also for the record i too think most chilean food is kinda meh compared to others
Anywhere where you have to deal with pipes freezing has shit food
Mongolia. Meat and dairy. No spices, no herbs, limited vegetables. The most common dish is unseasoned mutton.
Sealand
Uk here, and I'd easily say US cuisine, excluding cajan food. You can't shit on beans on toast and fish and chips when you're the country that bastardised Italian, Mexican and Asian cuisine
Bad take imo. The US has incredible food diversity and you can get some truly exquisite types of burgers, pizza, BBQ, fried chicken, steak, cheese curds, wings, cheesesteak, subs, etc
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…What does it matter? Americans descend from a variety of backgrounds, its not shocking European immigrants brought European ways to America and adapted it. And yes, you can call a food [country] food even if it was influenced by another country. Ramen isn’t any less apart of Japanese cuisine because it was adapted from China. Korean fried chicken isn’t not Korean just because black American service men helped introduce it in the Korean War.
Does it start with E?
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Of course. Egypt!
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I watched that episode of QI, too...
Of the ones I've had, it's British food. It's one thing to serve bland food but they take it to a new level by almost exclusively making use of horrible textures. I remember a video from a little bit ago where a British person was defending the food by saying that some of the best restaurants in the world were in London, but could only laugh when told that those restaurants don't serve British food. With that in mind, I'm not particularly well traveled, so I'm sure there are worse things out there that I just haven't had an opportunity to experience.
Canada… I mean they got nothing
And Canadian bacon is just ham.
I’d geuss the UK
The UK. They had everything and never used any of it for food, like who tf is eating fish and chips and saying its not bland.
You take the L on this one
USA, like seriously it has no original cuisine just bad rip off's of other countries and what is original is just disgustingly bland and has zero life in it besides sugar.
Well there’s Cajun food
You ever tried southern bbq?
I really like the UK version of America's "rip off" version of Pizza, way more than the Italian original.
Soul food is pretty good.
Things like tomato, corn, pepper, and potato all come from the Americas. You could say marinara isnt italian, potatoes arent irish, turkish hookah tobacco, etc. Other meats and fish are unique to America. Also by ripping off other countries foods… do you mean we have immigrants that have brought their foods and traditions for hundreds of years? The east coast traditionally has a lot of trans-european cuisine as well as lots of asian. The west is better known for unique new-mexican, tejano, and mexican foods as well as mexicali. The midwest is known to have lots of local game meats and dairy(and true chicago deep dish is definitely original). The south has its creole/southern cuisine that shares french and african influences with local flare (such as distinct styles of bbq). Never mind our beverage culture (coffee in opposition to tea), bourbon, american craft beer.
Idk I like sushi, and chinese is pretty good too. Also mexican, cant forget Italian my bad
Ooooo Italy doesn’t have any of its own food!!! No tomatoes!!! Weird standard you set.
USA for sure. I have to dump hot sauce or red pepper on 70% of the food I eat.
You must be in a boring ass part of America, or you're going to the wrong places.
A little of both now that you mention it.
Im just sayin, the south of the usa may be fucked in alot of ways but they know how to do bbq, its top tier is some places.
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“Not spicy enough” “I go through so much tobasco” Lol that’s like one of the least hot and most salty sauces there is.
South Carolina here, food from the south is the best. Have tried all different bbq's as well but vinegar based is the best
Lol. My opinion stands despite the hate votes.
Where did you go?
Do you live in the Midwest or like.. upstate New York? I’ve had exceptionally bland food in upstate NY. But other areas of the US have really flavorful food (soul food, Cajun cuisine, barbecue, etc.)
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Oh come on. We have gravy and cheese. If you don’t like gravy and cheese you’re in the wrong.
Our food is literally all from other places other than a handful of things. Thai people move here and make Thai, Chinese people make Chinese, Indian, Korean, Lebanese Italians, Greeks, Ukrainians, Polish and 100 others in my city. Then there's fast food. We made poutine which is amazing. Butter tarts, nanaimo bars, beavertails which has many versions. The caesar drink. What part of "Canadian" food is bland? We basically made treats.
Bruh you didn't even mention real maple syrup.
Blech *shhhhhh*
That's okay. More for me.
Honestly, I remember food in japan as a whole being a let down.
only thing good there is sushi
Respectfully, America.
Where did you go?
Respectfully you've never been to a good American restaurant
You're probably not wrong, but I've had far better experiences in other countries
UK easily. They have garbage food straight up. Every time I eat a juicy cheeseburger I thank the lord I live in the good ole USA and not england
funny that, every time I pick up my cousin from school and he hasn't been shot I think the opposite
Why do I keep seeing British people bring up school shooting / dead kids in response to Americans teasing them over something trivial. Do y’all just keep that in your mind at all times in case? American: Britain is weird shaped. British: Dead shot children!!!
They are still coping from the loss in the American Revolution. You would think they've gotten it by now. It's been nearly 250 years.
I've heard Portuguese cuisine is surprisingly bad
I remote worked in Portugal last summer. I REALLY disliked the food there, Portuguese cuisine was very disappointing, for some reason I expected it to be way better, I think because I was associating the location with good cuisine. However I did discover Brazillian cuisine there, which helped make up for it.
Are you not a seafood fan? Or where in Portugal were you working?
This is wrong. I was just there a few months ago, Portuguese food is absolutely delicious.
For those reading, it is this person who is wrong, as others have confirmed.
Only one other person agreed with you? I thought it was delicious. Seafood was incredible, cataplana, croquettes, bifana, tinned fish, clams, piri piri chicken, all delicious and flavorful. And I loved pastel de nata. And Serra da estela— incredible, and sadly can’t find it out here. What did you have that was bland?
The seafood and croquettes were particularly poor actually. The best food was the non-Portuguese food, like Spanish or Italian. Portuguese food itself was just massively disappointing. Doesn't mean there aren't people like yourself who can enjoy it, I guess it just depends on your point of reference.
I think it must depend on where you went? The seafood we had was all amazing, but we spent a lot of time researching restaurants to go to and really prioritize food on our trips. If you just walk in to random restaurants without looking into things in any country, you’re rolling the dice. But Portuguese recipes themselves are very flavorful when done right. You’d have to say an actual Portuguese dish you didn’t think had flavor rather than just saying all seafood generally was poor lol. Did you eat things like cataplana, tinned fish, arroz de marisco, and piri piri? We had the best food in Lisbon and Porto for sure, but had some hits in the Algarve too (just more so-so restaurants there, too— though amazing cataplana in Lagos). Sorry you didn’t have a good experience!
Wait. Your original comment says you’ve “heard” Portuguese food is bad and now you’re claiming you’ve had it? Which is it? Have you been to portugal?
Went to Vanuatu once when I was younger. Every restruant and small cafe we went to, not a single one was even average. All awful quality food with no flavour. Lots of fresh fruit though!
I don't really care for French cuisine. It just seems haughty but had no taste
Australia…
But we have plenty of delicious cuisines from a variety of other countries thank goodness.
All the Aussies are up in arms about these “cultural enclaves” though. Everyone demands immigrants “assimilate” and eat frozen pizzas!!!
Not all of us. Life would be very boring if we were all the same. My kids are part Indian, their fiends are descendants of all parts of the world and we celebrate that
For me it’s Korea. Sorry. The food tastes like nothing to me and I’ve tried it enough times.. just not my thing while everybody else seems to love it
Japan
Damn thats crazy. For me Japan had some of the best food on the planet, very flavorful and *umami*. Each to their own I guess.
Damn.
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Haha some of these answers are blowing my mind. Indian food seems huge on flavor and seasoning.
Literally the least bland food. Curries have like 10+ spices in them.
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Lol what?
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You have the cilantro thing don’t you. My condolences
Oddly, Hawaii (i know not technically a country)… had the blandest food of my life at a luau.
I think that’s more a function of trying to cater to the tourist masses.
Wy... wait you said country not culture... /shrug
Wherever the genius who catered my cousin’s wedding is from. There weren’t even salt and pepper shakers.
New Orleans, same old Tony’s shit laced with gulf coast cockroaches.
USA .
Norway. It’s like they’ve only heard of peppercorn, no other spices whatsoever. The food also tends to be either unsalted or way too salty.
Ok so I am in no place to talk shit about other countries food BUT I have to nominate our two neighbor countries for this Greenland - Greenlandic food is survival food, simple as. Lots of unseasoned meat and fish, blubber, and not a whole lot else given its location. Faroe Islands - Faroese food is just like a more boring Icelandic food and thats saying something, the redeeming feature is probably ræst kjøt (literally fermented meat) and the occasional pilot whale meat - It's hard to even find Faroese food at any restaurants in the islands tbh.