What are your "must order" dishes/ingredients at any restaurants?

Pan-fried dumplings. What a weird autocorrect.

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Just remember the one thing I ate many times in Sicily
 Arancini/o! (They have slightly different names for it in the west or east of the island)

It was my first and last meal. Not only that, I bought a box of 6 and took it with me on the plane! (Ate them as soon as I got home of course)

The only rice I eat is in the form of sake or noodles, but arancini is a special case. The crust is shatteringly crispy, my favourite fillings are ragu, aubergine, cheese. (<-- 3 different types of fillings. But there are more.)

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Goes to show just how different we all are. There aren’t much of any rice dishes I seek out ever, in fact, it might be the least interesting ingredient I can think of. I’ll take a bowl of pasta over risotto any day, same with fried noodz over fried rice (although I do like it properly fried). And if we’re talking Sicilian, I have to order caponata whenever I’m at a Sicilian resto.

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Depending on preparation, foie gras, duck confit, short ribs, lobster/crab, game meats, pork/lamb belly, sweetbreads, unusual cheeses, ramps or other highly seasonal fruit/veg. I also tend to look for things I don’t cook frequently at home, either due to mess/fuss or DH’s distaste for said item.

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I like pasta, too, and can make it at home (don’t like fresh) but I can’t make arancini. Deep-frying, making risotto and that kind of things I don’t do at home.

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I discovered my favorite take-out breakfast sandwich in a bar in Rome: spinach and fresh mozzarella (grilled) panini.

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One of my favourite sandwiches was an arugula and prosciutto sandwich in Bologna, near the main station. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Which reminds me, when I see a spinach or arugula panini, I usually order it.

My regional must-orders:

Northern CA
Crab Louie
Enchiladas
Chilaquiles

OBX/ DC
Crabcakes

Greece
Fried calamari made with fresh calamari (often have to specify fresh/local calamari, which costs more than pre-frozen from Asia)
Fried eggplant
Frappe (iced Nescafé/instant coffee frappe ordered medium sweet with milk)

Italy
Fritto Misto
Gelato (mint)
Granita (coffee or mint)

France (admittedly I haven’t been to France since 2015, and haven’t been to Paris or in the summer since 2008)
Cassis ice cream (not sorbet)
Coupe de LiĂšge
CrĂȘpes with lemon and sugar
Café Liégeiois

UK
Fish & chips
Petit Fours
Eton Mess
Sticky Toffee
Full English
Kippers

Austrian Tyrol
Gröstl
KÀsespÀtzle
Austrian-style fried chicken

Germany
Eiskaffee
Donauwelle
The ice cream menu available in so many restaurants and cafés in Germany- I like looking at it.
The Buns /Semmel / Brotchen available everywhere in Germany. I like the seeded buns the best. Fresh baked before breakfast. When I stay at a hotel that has a nice breakfast included, I have my German breakfast plate down to an art. :rofl: 2 buns, changing which meats/ cheese/ smoked fish I top each half with, each day.

Bavaria
KÀsespÀtzle

Franconia
Nurnberger sausages in a bun / Drei im Weggla

Berlin
Königsberger Klopse
RotegrĂŒtze

Japan
The pastries in the department store food halls- so beautiful
The tonkatsu

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Why enchiladas in NorCal?

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My extended family lives in Northern California, and my cousin’s husband is Mexican American, so that’s when I get a chance to visit restaurants with good enchiladas.

The truth is I also order them in Montana and Colorado, when I visit for ski trips.
I haven’t been to Texas since 1995, and haven’t had Mexican American food in NM/AZ/etc.

I order enchiladas suizas or enchiladas with green sauce pretty much any time I see them on a menu. (You saw the sorry Canadian enchiladas I ordered on my birthday takeout , right? LOL)

Colorado
Colorado Green Chile

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Cool :sunglasses:
Enchiladas seem at least pretty decent almost everywhere I’ve lived and eaten Mexican food.
Other mexi dishes not so much :slight_smile:
If you love green chile stew and chili verde you’d feel right at home in Arizona.

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I’ve never cooked with natto at home. However, I had a Japanese Airbnb guest who made spaghetti with natto sauce. It was delicious.

My husband doesn’t share my fondness for bitter flavors. When he tried natto in front of our Japanese guests he made a sour face which our guests dubbed “natto face”.

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Hah! I don’t find natto particularly bitter, just slimy, which I think is what a lot of people object to. But I also like okra, raw oysters, etc. I’ve never sought out natto but I’ve encountered it for sale at a few open air markets in Manhattan (I think it was the same vendor each time).

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As somebody from Northern Germany (Hamburg) I have to correct this - Berlin has nothing to do with Rote Gruetze which originated (and has by far the best versions) around Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein

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I’d never heard of a Pueblo Slopper.
Learned something new today.

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I don’t have such a dish/ingredient. :disappointed:

I typically pick the dish based on the restaurant or pick the restaurant based on the dish I’m interested in.

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If the restaurant is a good one, and I see the following on a menu I will forsake all other options:
Pad Thai
Tom Kha Gai
Chiles rellenos
Chicken enchiladas with salsa verde
Spanakopita
Moussaka (with beef)
Chicken piccata with angel hair
Spaghetti Carbonara (not with bacon)
Eggplant parmesan with spaghetti
Pate
Foi Gras
Lemon meringue pie

From good delis/street food:
Toasted Italian with everything
Muffuletta
Gyro
Doner kebab
Bratwurst with sauerkraut
Jambon beurre baguette

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When I’m back in NY a Hard Roll! (What some places call Kaiser Rolls) Every other place I’ve lived has never equaled one–and I’m convinced that the water where you grow up permanently changes one’s taste-buds. Yes bread & rolls can be excellent but something is lacking.

Americanized Chinese:
Chicken Fried Rice
Chicken Egg Foo Yong
Garlic Chicken

Any Diner
Burger
BLT
2 egg & meat & HOME-FRIES breakfast.
London Broil
Open Face Hot Turkey Sand.

Italian
Lasagna
Chicken Picata

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Thanks for the clarification.

I like the version that I get in the hotel I stay at in Berlin, which is where I first had it, around 2000, before I visited Hamburg, LĂŒbeck and Bremen (around 2006). You’ll note this discussion is about dishes you choose to order, not about where these dishes originated. I order Rote GrĂŒtze in Berlin because I see it on menus or included at hotel breakfast buffets in Berlin. I have been to LĂŒbeck once and I’m more likely to revisit Berlin. So- Rote GrĂŒtze is a go-to dish for me to order in Berlin, even if it’s an iconic dish for Hamburg / Schleswig Holstein.

I had no idea where Rote GrĂŒtze originated.
Appears the Danes and Scandinavians have RĂždgrĂžd.

It certainly is available everywhere in Germany.

I buy the Bad Schwartau brand of jarred Rote GrĂŒtze and Kirsche GrĂŒtze here in Canada.

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