If money and personal safety (like Syria and the like) were no issue, is there any place in the world you wouldn’t go for great food?
We were in SE Asia last year (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) and I wouldn’t go back to the area because I was so miserable due to the heat. I simply have no particular interest in India and that area generally. Otherwise I’d have to say no. We’re pretty adventurous travelers and eaters. I ask because I had an exchange with someone from overseas who seems to have plenty of money who’s never been to SF and LA and would never return to NYC. That kinda blew my mind. I’m almost 70 so may not make it everywhere I’d like while we’re still healthy enough to go for it but it won’t be for lack of desire. So back to my title: is there any place you wouldn’t go? TIA
For me it is also the heat, and mosquitoes. I have great difficulties coping with these.
Another problem I face is intense pollution due to my allergies. Had many opportunities to die in China such as in road accidents and am high-risk for anaphylaxis (-could be- fatal allergic reaction). Had many brushes with both in China alone.
For holidays I tend to prefer cold places or during colder months. So maybe if I ever return to hot countries it’d have to be during the cool season there.
I’m not going to mention those places . There are plenty of them for different reasons . I would like to explore more of the U.S which will satisfy my culinary interest .
Sure. A country where women aren’t allowed to drive, for instance, would not be on my list of places to go for fun, no matter how great the food might be.
Oh, good point. I wouldn’t go there either. 'Course in NYC you’d be nuts to drive But thank goodness public and private transpo can take us to food nirvana!!!
If money & personal safety weren’t an issue, and I wouldn’t be supporting a criminal regime or a country with serious human rights violations, I can’t think of any place to which I wouldn’t travel.
Yes, there are places I’d be daunted to go, unless I had high confidence that I had a knowledgeable guide/interpreter. This isn’t a safety issue for me, but rather a concern that I might be wasting my time and money in missing what is available. IME, local connections are precious commodities even when language and getting around are easy. But without either of those, making your way can be tedious and lonely, and it’s arguably not worth it. I refuse to be Ugly American #32 exiting the motor coach…
I’m jealous, though–I’d love to go to Vietnam on a food vacay. Looks like I may have missed the sweet spot with Cuba…
But, Kaleo, remember, money would be no issue so you could hire the very best guides for food and other things. We were actually on an escorted tour in SE Asia. It had its pluses and minuses. Plus was that you got fantastic info and it was all so darn easy which at this age we appreciated. The minus was little time to break away from the group and find the really authentic food. Here’s a photo of what Bourdain called the best soup in the world. In Vietnam.
Does everyplace necessarily have great food? I was disappointed in the food in Costa Rica - so close to Mexico, so little of the flavor! - and also had my personal safety compromised there , so I’m not so keen on going back to Central America. Belizean food was a little better, but way too many creepy dudes loitering around for me to want to go back. I guess I did slip over the border from San Diego for a nice dinner when I was there a few years ago. I would go back to SE Asia in a heartbeat though. The heat is rough, but the food is worth it.
I wouldn’t go anywhere that could only be reached by a small boat ride of more than 5-10 minutes, boats make me so nauseated I wouldn’t enjoy the meal.
Yeah, for me anyway, I have to suspend reality. I wonder what the ‘food’ is like in Antarctica? What about Iceland and Greenland? But to say one would never return to NYC, with all the amazing food(s) of ALL types, I just shook my head.
There’s nothing grown in Antarctica. Everything has to be flown in for the scientists and researchers based there during the southern warm(er) months. Though there are research bases that are open year round. The tourists come to Antarctica by boat, they eat what is served on the boat and what is served depends on the company.
Mine was just fine, not too much food and not too little. I was the only one making photos of my food on the boat so I could remember what we ate.
I have read about foods in Greenland and Iceland (both are on my list to visit). They eat lots of seafood and common native animals. Fresh and preserved (the latter due to their long, harsh winter).
Speaking of Iceland, I will have my first taste of Icelandic food on my next holiday. More about that when I’m actually there!
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
16
That’d be me.
And, to answer the question posed, there is nowhere i would go for great food (excepting places within a couple of hours or so drive/train from home). I visit places for reasons other than eating - and then try to find as good eats as it’s reasonably possible to find. Sometimes I find it, sometimes I don’t.
By the by, we have a number of long haul trips pencilled in for the next few years. They include northern India, a return to South Africa and two, possibly three, trips to America/Canada.
I second SE Asia. The heat and humidity are just too much. I’ve been three times, and there is no way I’ll return again. Add in the hazard of road travel, in Thailand, and it’s really not worth it.
I don’t drive. But I assume that this is because it is a human rights issue, making women dependent on the men in the family for anything. Montréal also has good public transport, and when there isn’t snow I cycle a lot here.
But I wouldn’t travel to Saudi Arabia, for example, anyway, because of gross human rights violations there, not only against women but also the way immigrant workers are treated.
Kaleo, I think Cuba will still be a decent destination for some time, with better food than before. The youth crave more Internet access, which they are getting at last! One positive about Cuba is decent health care. While not old or decrepit yet, once one reaches 50 or so, that is a consideration. There are places I’d hesitate to go just because of sanitation issues. I don’t mean it has to be of Swiss or Dutch cleanliness standards, just thinking of drinkable water etc.
It is too bad about Syria, because that is a country with truly stellar food. Probably Syrian restaurants will be opening in other countries of refuge…
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
20
Most of the Lebanese restaurants in my city are actually Syrian owned, predating the current crisis. As I understand it, the cuisines of Lebanon, Palestine and Syria are pretty much interchangeable.
