This is for those of you who have also travelled abroad...

[Mr. Scorpio]

What food does the US do better than anyone else?

In my limited travel experiences, I found out quite quickly that, for some foods and dishes, the US has been outclassed by other countries. For me, the best Big Mac that I've ever had was in The Philippines, as were some Dunkin' Donuts. The sweet and sour prawns there could not be beat by anything that I've ever had in the US.

Also in Asia, I've sampled the most delicious of Chinese food and could never be beaten by anything that I've had in the states, and I've dined in both the DC and NYC Chinatown districts at times.

In Europe, the chocolates, dairy (milk and cheeses), bread and even breakfast cereals were all much better tasting than anything that I've had here. As a matter of fact, during my time in Europe, I was fully involved in the Cult of Cruesli... A European Quaker Oats cereal that has no equivalent in this country. For me in Europe, the soft drinks, wines and beers, Levant-based cuisines, even French fries (with the assorted condiments), were all much more tastier and satisfying than anything I've had in the States.

My favorite pop of all time has been a Detroit staple called, Vernors and for many years, it was produced in Detroit, in oak barrels, crisp and satisfying and unbeaten by anything else I've had. Unfortunately, the company was sold the Dr. Pepper many years ago, who took the name and label, completely changed the formula (no more oak barrels) and closed the Detroit plant... It's now made in Plano, TX.

For me, I can name three things off the top of my head that's best done here in the states: Creamy peanut butter, BBQ ribs and Detroit/Chicago style deep dish pizzas... (I've never had pizza in Italy, so I can't make any comparisons.)

So, for you, what does The US do better than anyone else?

[Walleye]

1. The Philly cheesesteak

[zanana1]

20. Yup.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. CalMex. . . . nt

[Mr. Scorpio]

3. Is it better than Mex/Mex?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. No question about it, yes. TexMex great too, and hard to beat. Regardless, good Mex is good Mex. nt

[Emile]

4. French Fries and Pizza

[Emile]

6. I ate Pizza in Naples and was not impressed.

[Yonnie3]

7. I think tex-mex was missing

I also agree on BBQ ribs and BBQ pulled pork

I traveled some for work and northern Germany (Bremen) was great.

I also went to South Wales and some of the food was mediocre.

Japan (Kyoto) was very good as well although MCDonalds there wasn't.

[Mr. Scorpio]

9. Since I've never travelled to Mexico, I can't rate their food against ours.

However, I did live in Texas for two years and was always impressed by the Tex-Mex (minus anything with soapy tasting cilantro).

Tex-Mex is top notch.

[Yonnie3]

15. Mexico!

I spent a month and a half in southern Mexico (Oaxaca state) and the cuisine was not much like the Tex-Mex I have enjoyed. There certainty were some similarities. This was more than a half century ago so the memories are fuzzy.

[Shrek]

8. Chili

In Australia I decided to try the "real Texas chili" listed on the menu.

Whatever was in the bowl did not much resemble anything like chili and tasted so bad I had to suppress a gag reflex.

[Mr. Scorpio]

11. I've have similar experiences in Korea with hamburgers and fried chicken.

Granted, that was almost 40 years ago... Perhaps they've fixed those problems these days.

[genxlib]

10. Beer

I'm kidding! Its a joke. Don't yell at me.

In fairness, most of my time abroad has been spent in England so from my perspective, just about everything is better here... except the beer.

[Mr. Scorpio]

12. I'm lucky to have never eaten any in the UK

I would jump and the chance to go back to Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands for a meal excursion though

[genxlib]

13. The Indian food is top notch

And it is very widely available.

Which tells you a lot about English food.

[Shrek]

17. I was at a pub in England

There were maybe 20 or 30 local and regional beers on tap.

One of the locals walked up to the bar and ordered . . . a Budweiser.

I just shook my head and said "you're killing me." He laughed.

[genxlib]

19. And paid the "import" price to boot

There is no accounting for taste.

I love the vibe of a great pub. I did a study abroad year in London in college and lived 2 doors down from a great pub. It was a nightly ritual to consider a last call pint. Great times.

[Scrivener7]

14. Brunost, man! We need brunost here!

(Norwegian brown cheese that isn't really cheese and has a distinct caramel flavor. Sounds gross, but it is heaven!)

What we do better? Depends on the region. There is a dairy in upstate NY that sells their butter in some of the downstate farmers' markets. We refer to it here as "the crack butter."

Maine lobster?

New Orleans crawfish casserole? Po' boys?

[Effete Snob]

16. Pizza in Italy is a different thing from here

Not bad, but different.

Granted, I have not been to Naples, so pizza in Northern Italy more or less transitions into Flammenkuche which is a similar flatbread with toppings on the other side of the Alps.

For extra weird, there is a "Western US" theme restaurant chain in France called "Buffalo Grill".



As interesting as it is to find canned Budweiser on the "imported beer" menu, it will make you appreciate some US food favorites.

The decor is... entertaining, as is always the case in encountering foreign stereotypes of US culture.

It's worth a visit, but not for the food. Just for the really weird vibe of being an American in an "American theme restaurant" which looks like a Galaxy Quest type reconstruction of a culture by aliens who were exposed to the worst media products.

Best part - being offered the "English menu" for a menu in which most of the items are identified with English names anyway, just in case you need translations of the descriptions of them.

[NightWatcher]

18. Sandwiches. I've never had a good sandwich in Europe

I've had sandwiches in Parisian cafes in the footprint of the Eiffel Tower, Pubs near King's Cross and Trafalgar Square in London, Amsterdam, Koln, Brugges, Den Hague and never had a sandwich that compares to the ones I've gotten here.

Mufalettas, Po-Boys, Meatball subs, Cheese steaks, burgers...... USA all the way!

[lark]

22. Maybe you ate the sandwiches at the wrong places there?

I had the best sandwich of my life pre-made at the front of a French grocery store called Simply. It was so fresh, the tomato was totally ripe and tasted fresh picked as did the romaine lettuce. The jambon (french ham) was so delicious and the whole big sandwich was only 1 euro. My daughter turned me on to these, it's what the students get and they are so awesome, fresh & delicious.

[RobinA]

21. Iced Tea

Iced tea is my drink of choice. Now granted, it can be pretty bad here sometimes. But when I traveled to Scotland and ordered iced tea they just looked at me. I just looked back, because at first it was a mystery to me how you can be a tea drinking nation and seemingly never heard of iced tea. Someplaces they gamely offered to "try," but I declined the kind offer. Thankfully the UK has any number of cool bottled beverages that we don't have here.

And Starbucks coffee. When we were leaving France we were at CDG Airport and I got a Starbucks. It was fine, but nothing like ours. I remarked to my travel companion that it tasted nothing like Starbucks coffee and a woman sitting across from us in the terminal proceeded to argue with me about how it had to taste the same, it was Starbucks. Now mind you, she was drinking a different coffee. She then engaged my companion, who was drinking a third kind of coffee, in a discussion of how impossible it was for the Starbucks coffee to taste different just because we were in France. They both agreed that it had to be the same. At this point I gave up the discussion as being too ludicrous to be worth the effort. Yeesh!!!

[Shrek]

23. Brits in general seem mystified by our use of ice in beverages

I have a hard time getting them to ice anything, not just tea.