I'm an Aussie, and had landed in America for a holiday. Was really hungry and figured I'd just get a Quarter Pounder meal from Maccas at the airport. Order a Large meal because that's what I'd normally get at home. They bring out like a litre of coke, a gigantic box of fries, and the burger. It was absolutely atrocious.
Many many years ago. I did some work in Texas. We go into this sit down place. Now, having been caught by the huge portions a previous evening I'm cautious. I just order a chicken burger. The waitress is all like "Oh are you sure, just the chicken burger on its own?" I'm thinking, oh well maybe things are normal size at this place. I order some fries to go with it.
Some time later the chicken burger arrives completely filling the full size plate it came on, and the fries came on an entirely separate plate.
I'm not a small guy, but I could not eat all that.
It's funny, because usually when the fries aren't included at a sit-down place it's because the restaurant is trying to squeeze a couple extra dollars out of you (maybe the sandwich is $2 cheaper than you'd expect but then you pay $5 for the fries because of course you want fries!). That stinginess mentality seems to go hand in hand with a smaller than average sandwich. But maybe my fat American ass can't scale portion sizes.
I once got a burger at South of the Border or smth like that in New Jersey. It was fucking huge and everybody including the waitress commented on how I ate with a fork and knife because it was just impossible to eat otherwise. And I ended up only eating half of it, because I was absolutely full. Insane portion sizes.
Not everything you read and hear is true, either way - I was not prepared for that much of a difference. This was like 10 years ago mind you, so the difference is either far less or much worse.
Anon is a complete fucking idiot for not simply walking into a random Filipino’s house and politely asking for some homemade Filipino food. Idiot anon goes to the McD’s of the Philippines, and calls it a day. Filipinos have many insanely tasty dishes, and dumbfuck anon chooses garbage. Dinuguan (AKA chocolate meat) is my absolute favorite.
Hard pass, balut is goat. Sorry, mate, I eat balut every day they come by, just like taho in the mornings. It helps if you have locals teach you how to eat balut, but some can’t deal.
And hey, all aussies love marmite, yeah? No true aussie hates the taste of a bit of marmite and buttah on toast, right?
Taho in the mornings and balut in the evenings makes the world go round. ;-)
IUm, dinuguan is blood soup (root word is literally blood). I like it, but it has a pretty niche appeal, and you'll be hard pressed to find someone that'll serve it to a westerner.
But yeah, do yourself a favor and find a "carinderia" (or karinderya, depending on region) which roughly translates to "cafeteria" but is usually run by a sweet lady making as close as you'll get to homemade cooking. Some dishes to try:
bicol express - spicy dish with coconut and pork
tokwa't baboy - literally tofu and pork
adobo - classic chicken dish
Or branch out! It works kind of like Panda Express where you point to the dish(es) you want (called ulam) and they'll add rice (I recommend asking for extra). It's cheaper than any fast food chain and way better.
find a "carinderia" (or karinderya, depending on region) which roughly translates to "cafeteria" but is usually run by a sweet lady making as close as you'll get to homemade cooking.
This sounds awesome! Wish we had places like this in the States
Nah, it's definitely valid to get fast food abroad, even if you have it at home. Sometimes they have wildly different things that you can't get at home, or in the case of Jollibee, it's straight up not available at home (unless home is LA). You should probably sample the more wholesome local cuisine too of course, but it's perfectly alright stop at a Burger King in Tokyo to try the new Garlic Hokkaido burger or whatever, if that's your jam. Let people enjoy things.
If you're ordering burgers in the Philippines, you're doing life wrong. If you must go to Jollybee or McDonald's there, order fried chicken and thank me later.
Better yet, don't go there and instead find a carinderia. They often look sketchy, but it's as close to home cooking as you'll get and way cheaper than fast food. Nobody can afford fast food there, so all the locals eat at these little "cafeterias" and the food is fantastic.
Lol they have been waiting weeks for you, they know your training schedule better than you do before you got off the plane. I traded a few goods in Thailand, they were like cookie monsters for American made knives, I traded a Kershaw leek for a khukri that was almost definitely melted Pepsi cans but it is still worth it
I was in some European city and there is one Chinese restaurant serving hot pot. So I wanted to try it. I ordered and selected the items I want for around 50€. The waitress asked me : "is that all? Do you want the menu?". So I was wondering if I didn't order enough. At the end, what I ordered was enough for at least 3 people. I was in a table for 4 people and it was full with all the dishes. The waitress then asked me if she need to bring a bowl of rice!
They brought the sauces and there was garlic on the plate. The odor ruined the whole meal for me. I couldn't eat most of it and I was disappointed as I don't like wasting food.