He thought the food was " terrible"

[groupw]

On a service call today, I was in the office of a long time friend. She and her husband just got back from a trip to Italy. Before I get much further, I need to preface it a bit. 

Her husband is a very nice guy, but he is the definition of a "meat and potatoes" guy. She said almost all he eats is "steak", well done, no less. His drink of choice is Bud Light if a sloe gin fizz is not available! That's it. He will not even try anything else, even at home. If steak is not on the menu of a restaurant, he will not even walk in.. she loves to try new things so she often goes out with a circle of friends. WoW is among them. 

Now back to Italy! She wanted to show me photos, but her husband hadn't shared them with her quite yet. Since she brought him up, I had to ask. Did he try anything new over there? "NO!" Was her reply. 

He ordered "steak" everywhere! She emphasized what I already knew that steak is not a thing over there. What they served him was often thin, tough (even by "well done" standards) non familiar cuts. He often could not finish them. She begged him to try her food, which she said was consistently fabulous! He would not. He would complain he was still hungry, but she refused to feel sorry for him. 

I have nowhere else to go with this. I was just flabbergasted!

[Guest]

My brother traveled to Spain expecting good food. He was very disappointed, said it was terrible and skimpy as well.

[Page Turner]

...anyone who goes all the way to Italy and orders steak deserves to suffer. Probably didn't try any wine, either. 

[Caretaker]

There's always McDonalds.

[Digital_photog ★]

4 hours ago, Page Turner said:

...anyone who goes all the way to Italy and orders steak deserves to suffer. Probably didn't try any wine, either. 

It sounds like he had whine with every meal. 

[BR46]

I work with a guy like that. If a restaurant doesn't have a hamburger on the menu he's not eating there. 

[Dirtyhip]

7 hours ago, Page Turner said:

...anyone who goes all the way to Italy and orders steak deserves to suffer. Probably didn't try any wine, either. 

If I went to Italy, I would not drink wine. Alcohol is poison.

[Caretaker]

2 minutes ago, Dirtyhip said:

If I went to Italy, I would not drink wine. Alcohol is poison.

If it was I'd be dead by now.

[Randomguy]

I had friends go to Italy and say the food was awful.  That said, they live in TX, and I don't think they are the adventurous sort.

[ChrisL]

Wow, I couldn't imagine going to Italy or Spain and not trying the local food.  When I visit family in Holland they always want to take us to fancy places or places that have American food.  I always ask they take us to places they go to.  I want to eat what you guys eat. I remember visiting family in Zwolle Holland, not particularly well known city in Eastern Holland.  We went to the local bakery, got some fresh rolls that were still  warm, went to the local meat shop down the street and got some fresh cuts of meat and cheese and had some fantastic sandwiches along the canals.  Nothing special really but it was just so freaking fresh and good. I would never seek out an American chain just to have familiar foods. 

My future SIL is kind of that way. He was really picky on what he would eat but after 5 years with us he has expanded his palate quiet a bit and eats stuff now he would never eat before.    For that matter my wife was the same way, she was resistant to a lot of the Indo food I ate but loves it now. 

[Randomguy]

2 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Wow, I couldn't imagine going to Italy or Spain and not trying the local food.  When I visit family in Holland they always want to take us to fancy places or places that have American food.  I always ask they take us to places they go to.  I want to eat what you guys eat.

This is what I like to do, too.  If you don't want to try what the locals do, why leave home?

[jsharr ★]

You can lead a horse to water....

[Page Turner]

1 hour ago, Randomguy said:

I had friends go to Italy and say the food was awful.  That said, they live in TX, and I don't think they are the adventurous sort.

...you have to work really hard to get a bad meal in Italy.  In ten months there, the only bad meal I can recall in a restaurant, (and this includes a lot of places, some of them basically just a couple of tables out in front of a tiny storefront in some back street in a town you never heard of,) was in a Chinese restaurant.  When in Rome, do not order Chinese.

 

Having a waiter bring out a whole fish (so you can inspect the freshness and quality of it prior to preparation), then reappearing with it cooked and deboning it at the table with a flourish is a treat.  That it occurred in the remains of a 14th Century castle  on a small island in the bay of Naples that you reach by driving  through a short tunnel just made it that much more memorable. It kinda ruins pizza for you once you get back to the States, though.

[Page Turner]

18 minutes ago, jsharr said:

You can lead a horse to water....

...chili in Italy, beans or no beans ?

[2Far ★]

I worked with a guy who self-admittedly was a very picky eater. As a part of his MBA program the whole group went to China. When he got back I asked him how it went. He grinned & said he managed.

[jsharr ★]

26 minutes ago, Page Turner said:

...chili in Italy, beans or no beans ?

Why did you even bother coming back?

[Page Turner]

4 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Why did you even bother coming back?

...like I haven't asked myself.

[groupw]

2 hours ago, ChrisL said:

Wow, I couldn't imagine going to Italy or Spain and not trying the local food.  When I visit family in Holland they always want to take us to fancy places or places that have American food.  I always ask they take us to places they go to.  I want to eat what you guys eat. I remember visiting family in Zwolle Holland, not particularly well known city in Eastern Holland.  We went to the local bakery, got some fresh rolls that were still  warm, went to the local meat shop down the street and got some fresh cuts of meat and cheese and had some fantastic sandwiches along the canals.  Nothing special really but it was just so freaking fresh and good. I would never seek out an American chain just to have familiar foods. 

My future SIL is kind of that way. He was really picky on what he would eat but after 5 years with us he has expanded his palate quiet a bit and eats stuff now he would never eat before.    For that matter my wife was the same way, she was resistant to a lot of the Indo food I ate but loves it now. 

I have to admit that my own travel tastes have evolved over time. I have always liked to try new foods, but trusting unknown cooks was an issue for me.  I used to seek out famous food places from particular regions that were still relatively "safe" when we would go to other parts of the country.  However, as I found there is a certain level of food with a "corporate" taste, I have started to seek out the mom & pops and the "you haven't experienced XXX until you eat here" places. We are enjoying our experiences more not just because of better food, but often you get to know the personalities of people better that way...

[petitepedal ★]

I don't  know how many years I wasted on fast food? however it fit my budget of the day

But even in college..we did a trip to NYC and I promised to eat from a vendor cart  and not McDonald's. 

I told my girlfriend in Cape Town I would go anywhere and try anything, just dont bring me to a US chain.

 

 

[Ralphie ★]

6 hours ago, Page Turner said:

...you have to work really hard to get a bad meal in Italy.  In ten months there, the only bad meal I can recall in a restaurant, (and this includes a lot of places, some of them basically just a couple of tables out in front of a tiny storefront in some back street in a town you never heard of,) was in a Chinese restaurant.  When in Rome, do not order Chinese.

 

Having a waiter bring out a whole fish (so you can inspect the freshness and quality of it prior to preparation), then reappearing with it cooked and deboning it at the table with a flourish is a treat.  That it occurred in the remains of a 14th Century castle  on a small island in the bay of Naples that you reach by driving  through a short tunnel just made it that much more memorable. It kinda ruins pizza for you once you get back to the States, though.

You do realise that is like jsharrt's delicious bass, just one fish reused for show many times.

 

[JerrySTL ★]

One of my sister-in-laws and her hubby are also 'meat and potato' people. We all went on a cruise together and they complained about the food! The food was great. Finally they found the place on the ship that served things like hamburgers and that's mostly what they ate. They skipped the nice dinner meals for junk food. Of course my brother-in-law is about 100 lbs overweight.

[MickinMD ★]

It almost sounds like a psychological disorder.  Whenever I've traveled on group tours, cruises, etc., we always end up in a group of new friends that likes to try everything. 27 of us Americans on a two-week tour of China all decided we were going to eat with chopsticks and stick with Chinese food except for breakfast (Chinese breakfast cuisine is pickled and spicy stuff not to Western tastes).

A woman I often travel with, though, hates it when others want to try something off her plate and she won't do so to others. Once a dozen of us found a back-alley restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey, and no one working there spoke English so we pointed to the pretty pictures in the menu and each ordered something different - great food for something like $7 each including the wine or beer!  Everyone was sampling everyone else's plate and my friend began glowing a bright red. So I ordered her a second plate since she liked the beef dish she had and she was assuaged (Hey! I haven't thought of that word in decades!) but missed out on a lot of fun.

It was about 80,000 Turkish Lira to the U.S. Dollar then (1996) and I have a photo somewhere of me holding up a 1,000,000 Lira note (about $12) to treat the same dozen people to ice cream from a street vendor!

[sheep_herder ★]

18 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

It almost sounds like a psychological disorder.  Whenever I've traveled on group tours, cruises, etc., we always end up in a group of new friends that likes to try everything. 27 of us Americans on a two-week tour of China all decided we were going to eat with chopsticks and stick with Chinese food except for breakfast (Chinese breakfast cuisine is pickled and spicy stuff not to Western tastes).

A woman I often travel with, though, hates it when others want to try something off her plate and she won't do so to others. Once a dozen of us found a back-alley restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey, and no one working there spoke English so we pointed to the pretty pictures in the menu and each ordered something different - great food for something like $7 each including the wine or beer!  Everyone was sampling everyone else's plate and my friend began glowing a bright red. So I ordered her a second plate since she liked the beef dish she had and she was assuaged (Hey! I haven't thought of that word in decades!) but missed out on a lot of fun.

It was about 80,000 Turkish Lira to the U.S. Dollar then (1996) and I have a photo somewhere of me holding up a 1,000,000 Lira note (about $12) to treat the same dozen people to ice cream from a street vendor!

I loved the Chinese breakfasts.  There are many more things than just spicy tidbits (eggs and baked goods).  Some places even served menudo. I preferred the buffets.

[LoneWolf]

I'll admit to being a picky eater, but when I go someplace that isn't home, I want to try food from the restaurants that locals would say is the best, preferably the hidden gems.  I'm definitely less picky than I used to be, and I try to find something that has local flair but still fits within my semi-picky guidelines.

And anyone who orders steak well-done doesn't get it in the first place and probably has half-dead tastebuds.  That's taking a wonderful product and removing all the taste and making it tougher to chew and eat.  It has taken me years, but I've finally persuaded WoLW to order steaks  medium, and she has realized she gets more flavor (I'm a medium rare person myself) and juicy tenderness.  Wanting beef done right also caused me to eat *less* burgers because too many places can't do them right, and take much of the best flavor out of the meat, then attempt to compensate with special flavored mayonnaise  or toppings that mask how badly they overcooked the beef.

I had the best surf and turf of my life the other week on the Outer Banks, both the lobster and the filet mignon were done perfectly.  I had amazing scallops too.  One good crab cake experience, one less good (crab cake eggs benedict for breakfast, the crab had an overly sweet taste that seemed off).  But I'd totally try non meat-and-potatoes stuff, even if I love those.  Life's too short not to experience different things.

 

[Caretaker]

Last 'restaurant' I ate in was this place in an indoor food market in the Gracia district of Barcelona. There's one off Las Ramblas where all the tourists go but I was the only tourist here.

Three courses and wine for €10.