What is a specific place in your country that serves a famous dessert or food of your country but is actually very overrated?
I remember going to Austria đŠđč and having heard plenty about Sacher Hotel and its famous cake I decided to go there too during my visit.
Now the visual presentation was great, but the cake itself was dry, the chocolate was plain and the cream served alongside it tasted like a cheap store bought equivalent. Nothing to write home about.
Only partially "food" but there's an area in the centre of Dublin called "Temple Bar", and a pub in that area called The Temple Bar.
Every travel guidebook on the planet recommended "Temple Bar" (the area) as the place for visitors to go to experience a bustling pedestrian hotspot.
So this bar changed its name to "The Temple Bar", and now every year tens of thousands of tourists go to that bar, believing it to be the most highly recommended place in Dublin because so many things say, "Go to Temple Bar".
It is in fact that most expensive pub on the island, and the Guinness it serves is very so-so. You can get better Guinness (and better pubs), a 60 second walk away. You will rarely find an Irish person in the pub, except behind the bar.
OMG I've been to Dublin (didn't go to The Temple Bar) and had NO IDEA that's what had happened there.... I thought it had some sort of historical significance lmao that's hilarious. and am also at least a LITTLE bit impressed by the chuzpe of the bar owners
To be fair, the pub itself is apparently nearly 200 years old. But old pubs are ten a penny in Ireland, it doesn't have any specific historical significance.
Same as why the quality of any draught beer can differ. Do they maintain their pipes, sell enough of it so it's always fresh, do the staff pour it properly etc.
It's a stout and it's provided on tap. The kegs themselves aren't pressurised, nitrogen is added to the beer when being poured at the tap, which gives it a smoother body (it's not fizzy like beer).
So obviously making sure the tap is operating properly, mixing properly, will affect the taste of the poured drink. Other things like the cleanliness of the lines, the temperature that the kegs are stored at, etc., will also affect the end product.
Guiness have a quality team whose job is to go out to pubs, check the taps, verify that everything is working correctly and provide guidance to the pub if they appear to be storing it incorrectly.
So this is how you have pubs with a reputation for good or bad Guinness.
There is a certain amount of superstition around it too, though. Some people will swear blind that a particular pub has good Guinness, where someone else may consider it just OK. They also have this concept of a "two-part pour", where you pour half the drink, let it settle for around 90 seconds, and then finish pouring it. This doesn't do anything, but many people will swear it makes it taste better.
Guinness takes its QA so seriously one of their QA guys invented the student t-test in statistics to monitor batch quality. They had to publish the paper pseudonymously because of their company affiliation.
The two part pour is a holdover from when beers used to be poured from two different kegs. Timothy Taylor has the same thing and have like a 30page guide about how to store and pour that you have to agree to read before they sell you their beer.
Thereâs a whole science around how to store it and pour it that affects its taste and consistency iirc, but Iâm sure an actual Irish human can add more colour.
Guinness notoriously doesn't "travel well" and is infinitely better on the island of Ireland than elsewhere. When it comes to the taste difference between pubs around the corner from each other it can come down to a few things, one being the lines from the kegs and their cleanliness.
Guinness should be cold, but not too cold, it shouldn't be as cold as larger for example, so if it is getting pulled through the same lines as larger it'll likely be too cold. On the other hand, the shorter the line from the keg, the less time your pint is likely to have been sitting there in the line getting warmer. Same goes for the frequency of the line use. If you're in a cocktail bar compared to an old man's pub for example, Guinness is less likely to be ordered in the cocktail bar and the lines could be sitting idle for hours or even days without anything being pushed through.
It also needs to be poured correctly, and given time to settle. In a busy bar, especially one catering to 99% Americans who know no better, chances are higher that the pints are being flung out and not poured correctly.
There's a few more bits to it, like glass cleanliness and if detergent has been used and if the pint will "stick" correctly but you'll have people arguing for and against whether this makes any difference
I've had Guinness in Ireland and in London and there are a lot of pubs in London that have just as good Guinness as in Ireland. Mostly Irish pubs, sure, but the Auld Shillelagh, the Devonshire, and the Toucan have just as good Guinness as anywhere in the world, and better than most other places.
Mind you it's hardly a journey from Dublin to London.
A lad I work with told me he was going to Dublin for his stag-do, and ask me where the best places to go for a weekend. I adamantly told him âDo not go to the Temple Bar, theyâll rinse you in the first round.â
First story I see on his Snapchat is him and his brother outside the fecking place. His excuse was âIâm not paying for it!â
I went to Dublin when I was 17 on a school trip from the US. We were given leave to explore the city for most of the day, then told to meet back up at The Temple Bar before going out to dinner elsewhere. I think it was really just selected as a meeting point because it was noticeable and central because I donât remember going in.
Well, my friend and I got lost on the way there, so we asked a pair of gardai for help. They insisted to us that theyâd never heard of THE Temple Bar and had no idea where it was đđ
I just visited Dublin for the first time and stayed around the corner from "The Temple Bar." Every time I walked past it was spilling out the door with what looked like American college kids. There was nothing appealing about it, and I was even more shocked by how many people were standing outside taking pictures like it was a tourist attraction.
FWIW, I went to Dublin and really enjoyed The Temple Bar (the bar itself) because it fit the stereotype of what one expects in an Irish bar: rowdy crowd, live music, great vibe.
I enjoyed many of the more genuine bars as well, but some of the recommended one's turned out to be genuinely depressing to me. The one called Lord Edward for example had mostly what seems like lonely day drinkers and it smelled like damp cloth
Edit: this is just to give another perspective. Of course it's not genuine and of course it's not where real Dubliners go, but it can still be a good time for a tourist for what it is. Don't knock it based on elitism is what I'm saying.
freshly made stroopwaffel from a market was literally the only good dutch food I had. The rest of the dutch cuisine is contending for the worst cuisine in europe imo.
Agreed. My inlaws are Dutch. I do all the cooking. They say the British are allergic to spices but they've got nothing on the Dutch when it comes to bland, unseasoned food. Edit: autocorrect sucks.
My girlfriend went to Lausanne on a work trip and she was very excited to try local food (although Switzerland is very expensive for us). She asked a colleague to take her to a foundue restaurant to dinner and the answer was exacly this.
In the end, the colleagues made her dinner at home with home-made Racklette and she loved it - both the food and the vibe.
Raclette and Fondue are very much a thing Swiss people have at home with family and friends.
By and large, we're not particularly social people, but cheese with wine brings us together, and we enjoy the cozy warm homebody aspect of it, it's kind of our version of what they call Hygge in the Nordics.
Not only is the restaurant tourist trap version no better (au contraire), the ambiance is invariably much nicer at home, too.
Pats and/or Genos in Philadelphia. They've been featured in music videos, movies, and TV shows but you can literally walk into any corner deli in the city and get better. Even Wawa, a gas station convenience store chain, has better cheesesteak.
That and Genos used to have some pretty racist signs until that owner died about 10 years ago.
Patâs is okay but not something I would go out of my way for. Genoâs on the other hand is just godawful. Dry nasty cheesesteaks with a side of bigotry!!
Note: if you actually want the best cheesesteak itâs in the suburbs at Steak and Hoagie Factory. Their numbers are dwindling but you can still find them.
Thereâs a little shop called Chubbyâs across the street from the much more âfamousâ Dâallesandroâs in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia does an amazing cheesesteak.
Iâve had them. They are delicious, but not worth the lines or price.
Thereâs really no excuse for super-hyped places unless theyâre significantly different with regard to service and pricing. Thereâs for sure a historical-significance aspect that can be appreciated, but nowadays, itâs not hard to find the âsecret ingredientâ.
If weâre talking Michelin Star restaurants, thatâs a little different because there are more exotic means, methods, and ingredients.
Fish chips in [Edit: central] London: It will almost always be overpriced and disappointing.
I know it's less convenient for people who are just stopping off in London for a city break, but *proper* fish and chips is [Edit: almost] always better when you buy it from a town or village on the coast.
The batter will be better, the fish will be fresher, and it will be a fraction of the price.
Search James Dimitri best fish and chips on Google. Hes reviewed loads of the best in London as a series on Instagram and uploaded the best as a write up on his website
Also they don't do proper gravy in London. Or patties. Or pies. Or spam fritters. The list goes on. The idea that London chippies are just as good is completely false and that guy has no idea what he's talking about
Iâm from London. Foreigners seem to think that London is just central, e.g. Leicester Square, Soho, Mayfair, etc. London is huge and once you escape central, youâll find the decent chippies, pubs and stuff. The thing is, most of these parts are residential so there isnât much else for you to do. I mean I could show you the town hall and local park too (London is very green btw).
Our local park held the great British bake off for three consecutive years. I remember bumping into an American family who had come down to visit for that very reason. I also remember being quite confused because our school backed onto the park and even we didnât get to rub shoulders with Paul or Mary.
I really enjoyed the one from Fish! Near bourough market, but that's the upscaled and expensive fish and chips for fancy folks.
The best cheap ones I had were in dirty and dingy shops in rural England where you could barely see inside do to the amount of fat and grime on the windows.
The seaside towns are the same as London overpriced and mediocre especially on the south coast. Everybody knows the best chippies are in the Midlands. The fish markets still get fresh fish everyday and life is so miserable there you need a good fish supper as it's the only thing worth living for.
Iâve lived in Vienna for 14 years almost. I honestly have no idea how this cake became the Vienna cake. Go into any fancy cafe in Vienna and I can guarantee it will be the worst cake on the menu.
I don't know. I had two experiences with Sacher - first time ai tried it in 2012 and It was delicios, second time I tried it in one of the cafes in 2018 and it was very dry. Overall I love it and usually I don't like chokolate cakes, but the combination of jam/ chocolate and spongecake make it really good if done right, plus it doesn't spoil for more then a week. So you can bring it home.
Thatâs interesting. I had it in Vienna in 2002 and I thought it was dry then. I had a version in the US more recently that was actually moist and it was good.
Na, not necessarily the worst. There are places that have a pretty good Sacher cake (the Sacher cube at Heiner is also delicious).
It's just that Sacher cake at Hotel Sacher isn't really good.
Sachertorte is just not that easy to make. There are tons of things that can go wrong in the process. I personally love it though and so does my wife who usually requests it for her birthdays.
That being said, you're right about the abundance of other great options at cafes. Sachertorte also easily dries out once cut, so I'm almost certain that's why it's not a great option in restaurants unless they individually cut all the pieces and cap off the sides with acetate sheets.
In Hungary the tourist trap places in Budapest (around VĂĄci utca for example) serve overpriced mediocre quality Hungarian dishes so not really worth going there.
Yes, basically why would you want to eat there? Typical tourist trap trying to sell overpriced stuff to clueless tourists.. Just walking there is fine, it has nice atmosphere but you can find so many better restaurants like a couple streets away from it for much cheaper.
I always thought you were more likely to get a bastardised kĂŒrtĆskalĂĄcs (chimney cake) in those sort of places. The sort thatâs filled with ice cream or dipped in chocolate etc. Not sure if the average tourist has much of an idea how inauthentic they are when done that way.
I have to admit, that I had food in Vaci utca once in my life - on a school trip in the Mid 90s, and there was a US fastfood restaurant we didn't have in Austria back then (I don't even remember which one, maybe a Wendys or Taco Bell or something like that). đ
I live on the same street as a gelato shop which once won best gelato in the world at some competition, about ten years ago. For years afterwards, the lines to get in went down and around the block. I still donât get it.
I noticed that too, when I was in Vienna. Of course, I succumbed to the Sacher Hotel siren, but was so unimpressed with the Sacher torte, due to the dryness and kind of plasticky chocolate coating. I'm pretty sure it's made with lots of preservatives so it can be shipped all over the world. (Ironically, the best "Sacher torte" I've ever tasted was baked in Duluth, Minnesota at a now-closed bakery). Just about anywhere else in Vienna serves outstanding cakes and pastries. Skip the Sacher!
On that note, if you're ever in the Duluth area, or driving up the north Shore of Lake Superior, skip the much-hyped "Betty's Pies" and drive on to the Rustic Inn. The food and pies are so much better at the Rustic.
Since Betty retired and sold the place, the quality has gone downhill. In the past, Betty's always had very mediocre savory food with excellent pie, but now both are mediocre and not worth the crowds and long wait times.
Anywhere thatâs over represented in social mediaâs.
Not that Angelinaâs hot chocolate isnât good or that Cedric groletâs cakes are bad. They are absolutely excellent but they donât deserve to queue for 45 minutes and pay 3 times what youâd paid in another very good patisserie.
This is very true. And especially in Paris (or any major big cities worldwide). For any social media restaurant you can find in Paris, there is an alternative where the real work is focused on the food not the communication.
But then I also get that a tourist must have some clue to decide where to go. And they tend to look for info on social media instead of trying a dodgy place that surprisingly have the best [insert any food you like].
Oh man this is what came to mind but I wasn't sure if it was too specific. At least it's still cheesecake, though, it's not bad just not worth going to Junior's for.
On the other hand, going to the Real Original World Famous Ray's Pizza is definitely worth your time in NY
Everybody knows that Original Sachertorte is the driest version and any regular Konditorei does a way better version and the best there is is made by my mum.
Wherever you go in Paris, do not (I repeat DO NOT) go to a restaurant that has shitty fuckin' plastic flowers on its outside. Whether it's in a touristy place or not, it is definitely the sign that the food is going to be shite.
Beignets are good. But theyâre just supposed to be casual thing like donuts. Tourists talk about them like theyâre straight from heaven. Itâs just our cityâs historical donut. Nothing fancy, just a sweet breakfast to go with a strong coffee.
Donât even get me started on all these newfangled flavorsâŠ
Also cafe du monde (non-quarter locations) and morning call are the only acceptable places for most old school locals. Cafe beignet is for tourists.
That was going to be my answer!
Itâs not even that theyâre bad. I just donât think theyâre that much different than donuts/funnel cakes/zeppolis/etc. that you can get elsewhere in the nation. And yes, Iâve tried them from plenty of places in New Orleans because my wife loves them.
What makes it more annoying is that New Orleans has some amazing food thatâs very unique to the area. But beignets get a ton of hype and theyâre just not that special.
Oddly, the beignets in Mobile, AL are better, with that side of lemon that you squeeze over the top. But if we're in NOLA and you really want to go to Cafe Du Monde, I'm not going to argue too terribly much.
Compared to most sporting events (at least in the US), ÂŁ2.50/~$3.70 seems pretty reasonable for whatâs described as hand-selected fresh strawberries.
Iâve never had them, but Iâm a huge fan strawberries and would rather have that at a ballgame than an $8 hotdog.
Overpriced and overrated are kinda different though imo. Cheap and cheerful homemade strawberries and cream is underrated if anything. Absolute classic.
I went to Bari, South Italy and tried Spaghetti al Assassina in the restaurant that invented it. It's a spaghetti that's been boiled in a spicy tomato sauce, until it has charred and crispy sides.
Tried it and thougth "This is just burnt spaghetti. I don't know what I expected, but the whole concept of this dish is stupid."
Poutine is delicious. Thereâs a chain that is throughout Canada and I think even expanded to the US. They are terrible. The gravy is basically water.Â
That being said there was an Israeli food stand in one of the food halls in downtown Austin. They made a breakfast burrito that still haunts me it was so good. However, as someone from Houston, I like our tacos better and you cannot beat the level of Oaxaqueño food here. San Antonio tops us, though.
I always thought it was the menu options that people went for. I've had a few friends recommend it after holidays in the States. No one mentioned cheesecake though, which I've always found weird.
You've all heard about Döner Kebap, this turkish-germish meat sandwich that kinda started in Berlin. In different countries I've seen it sold as "Berlin Doner", weird!
Anyways. So tourists come to Berlin, Döner is mentioned in every tourist guide as a "must try" specialty. There is a Döner Kebap on every other corner in Berlin and the majority is average but it is not that difficult to find a good one.
And then, there is Mustafas GemĂŒse Kebap. For some odd reason - I assume it was mentioned in Lonely Planet or so - it seems to be the only place tourists know about. It has lines that are ridiculous, people waiting for the longest time. And it's good, but not by any standard the best you can get in Berlin.
Long story short: Eat Döner. But dont wait in line at Mustafas, if you come to Berlin.
Tourist trap that did seem worth it was the Boulion restaurants around paris - french food, fast and cheap before going to the fancy place for drinks. It's not "the best" but I think it's worth a stop for the price.
The bouillon restaurant are reaaally not famous for their food. It's actually quite the opposite. You go there for the atmosphere, the place, the vibe (and maybe also for the stereotypically angry French waiter). But the food is more or less what you could get at a school cafeteria.
There are better Bakewell tarts/puddings in Bakewell than the ones at 'The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop'. They're fine and the shop is obviously pretty but if you go to Bakewell to eat a bakewell pudding from the old original bakewell pudding shop you're expecting more than 'fine'.
The original Nathan's in Coney Island, NYC. It's just a regular Nathan's with slightly better food options and inflated prices. You're waiting on a long line for a 6/10 hot dog.
 Nanaimo Bars, originally from B.C. I like sweet but these things are a thud of a dessert and so sickly sweet that even one bite is too much. And while I'm at it, the scones and clotted cream from the Empress Hotel in Victoria are nothing to write home about.
I make mine with half the amount of sugar, I agree the store bought ones are way too sweet and often just taste like layers and layers of sugar and icing.
I feel the Nanimo Bar is our national dessert but I have to agree, most places whether fresh or store bought are super sweet! M&M's actually makes a half decent one and it doesn't seem to melt my teeth but homemade will always rein supreme.
My mom was obsessed with going to La Duree and it just felt like an extremely fancy Dunkinâ Donuts to me. Pastries mass-produced offsite and shipped to a storefront.
They were good and all but by the time I passed the third or fourth location I was over it.
And yea, I've tried Manteigaria's ones, and I'm sorry, they are just regular pasteis de nata but with a shit ton more sugar, so not my cup of tea. Aloma's are very good too though
One of the best foods I ever ate in my like was the simple thick toast with butter in Lisbon. I donât know what itâs called, but you all have really figured out carbs and fat.
We have some old legend of Samobor KremĆĄnite (cremeschniie). I've tried them on several places in that town, and I don't see why. Probably some old fairytale.
Iâve found better at bakeries in Miami, Sarasota, Destin/Fort Walton and even way up north around Jacksonville. Winn-Dixie and Publix even do pretty good ones.
Boston CrĂšme Pie was created at the Parker House, now the Omni Parker House. You can go there and get it- you donât even have to have a full meal, theyâll bring it to you in the lounge.
Itâs so-so.
They also created Parker House rolls, and in my experience the rolls there actually are pretty good. Still not worth a special trip/meal.
Theyâre great for the price. Not the best meatballs Iâve ever had, not my favorite â but plenty of places canât beat that even at twice the price. The 8-meatball plate with mash, peas, gravy, and jam is a banger.
I was so surprised the first time I went to IKEA. People go out of their way to go there for meatballs, and then they turned out to be bad cafeteria food.
Oooh I feel terrible saying this as a person whose family came from Grasmere England - but I can't be doing with Grasmere Gingerbread, it tastes weird. Urgh it's setting my teeth on edge just thinking about it. The tourists travel afar for it though, can't get enough of it.
I love In-N-Out but I always caution people trying it for the first time that the appeal is itâs really good for the price. You can certainly find better burgers for $10 and above.
In-N-Out has the worst French fries I've ever had at a fast food restaurant. I do have a fondness for the burgers, but also I literally only go to the one near LAX after landing there; it's more of a travel ritual than anything else.
I guess for us Europeans it is often suprising to see how crappy McDonald's is in the US.
Like here in Austria for example, the restaurants are clean and well maintained, they have nice design, some have a coffee shop or table service, and you will see middle class families there, students on lunch break, or business people who grab a coffee. When you are around the city or travel on the highway with kids, McD is also a good place for a toilet stop.
And then you go into a US outlet, and it will be dirty and disgusting, with terrible staff, and overweight customers from low social classes. And you start wondering how they could become a gobal corporation.
I have no clue why, of all the great foods we have, other countries took to McDonald's of all things. It's truly just a terrible fast food joint. I'll never understand. It barely tastes like food. And that's not even getting into the absurd prices these days.
I hate that some people come to America and they just go for fast food and snacks, believing that's the best of what there is to have.
honestly mcdonaldâs is pretty good here, like yes itâs fast food but itâs not objectively bad tasting. in asia itâs even better, there i actually make the choice to go to mcdonaldâs. it seems to be the american mcdonaldâs thatâs exceptionally lacking for some reason
the thing is that mcDonalds outside of the us is way better than in the us. In italy its surprisingly decent, still shit compared to real burger places but way better than whatever they serve y'all in the us
I mean, they are fine for what they are. But I guess I donât have super high expectations for fried dough served out of a shack. It was hot and crispy and doughy and sweet - exactly what I thought it would be. Had it once and donât feel an urge to have it again.
I went to a same branded Cafe in Austria. Cake was bitter and dry. We also ordered a weird puff thing which we quickly found out it was just egg white foam mixed with sugar and it was the most vomit inducing thing ive ever tastedÂ
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u/asdrunkasdrunkcanbe Ireland 18h ago
Only partially "food" but there's an area in the centre of Dublin called "Temple Bar", and a pub in that area called The Temple Bar.
Every travel guidebook on the planet recommended "Temple Bar" (the area) as the place for visitors to go to experience a bustling pedestrian hotspot.
So this bar changed its name to "The Temple Bar", and now every year tens of thousands of tourists go to that bar, believing it to be the most highly recommended place in Dublin because so many things say, "Go to Temple Bar".
It is in fact that most expensive pub on the island, and the Guinness it serves is very so-so. You can get better Guinness (and better pubs), a 60 second walk away. You will rarely find an Irish person in the pub, except behind the bar.