I hate food in good hotels

@vandana7 (99078)
India
September 28, 2015 1:18pm CST
I am essentially a person who likes street food. That too vegan. And absolutely pungent with some sour tastes to go with. Frankly, I am not rich enough to go to five star hotels. We were invited and I was forced to accompany. The gentleman ordered my second favorite food in the world, and that is mirchi bhajji. It simply means use green peppers that are pungent, remove the insides, stuff some paste if you want, or don't bother with stuffing. Just dip it in gram flour batter, and deep fry in oil. You can eat without adding anything except some finely chopped onions, tamarind or lime juice. I know it is pungent and sour, but I love it. And there I was acting as if I love it, because the party was especially for me. The mirchi bhajji was ...well the peppers were apparently boiled or dipped in boiling hot water to take away their pungent flavor. Why oh why did they have to do that? Now my fear is, the next time he arrives in India, I am going to get the same bland food. I will feel as if I am on hospital bed. I dread the thought. So guys, do you all really like food in expensive hotels, or are you ok with street food?
8 people like this
10 responses
@MALUSE (69390)
• Germany
30 Sep 15
Theren isn't much street food to be had in Germany and certainly nothing Indian-style. Pungent food wouldn't sell well here.
3 people like this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
30 Sep 15
One reason I am proud to be Indian. I get pungent food here.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
30 Sep 15
@MALUSE ...actually there is not much to be proud about so I am finding reasons to be. lol.
@MALUSE (69390)
• Germany
30 Sep 15
@vandana7 What is there to be proud of? I can understand if you say that you're happy to live where the food is cooked that you like. But proud??
1 person likes this
• Hyderabad, India
14 Oct 15
Taste like in street food couldn't be found in a 5 star hotel
2 people like this
• Pune, India
15 Oct 15
ya that is a true fact ...taste like that cannot be found in any hotel dish..
1 person likes this
@hora_fugit (5862)
• India
11 Oct 15
I can understand about the food experience you had, as you are drawn to that particular taste - big hotels don't dare keep that. Liked the gentleman of yours. I might not have paid much attention to the food, for once.
1 person likes this
• India
13 Oct 15
@vandana7 Lol. Is he the one who changed the pronunciation of your name? Maybe he is no more able to tell the difference between bland and not. And which brother would like to treat his sister on street food... kids of course!
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
11 Oct 15
For ordering bland food! He is by relationship a distant cousin. lol. Too distant, but distant alright. He is older brother kind. lol. And like all brothers and sisters, I don't like anything the brother does. Like he does not like long hair, I love it. He does not want aunty to travel, and I think he is being hyper. Just because he is a doctor does not mean he knows better than me.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
13 Oct 15
@hora_fugit ..I only know one thing. I hate doctors. They don't eat, and they don't let others eat.
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
29 Sep 15
My rule of the thumb is - never ever go for Indian dishes at any of the posh restaurants/hotels. They are purely waste of money. There are two reasons - 1. They dont prepare to serve an Indian. They mostly prepare to serve those foreigners. So definitely they will be tweaking the original recipes 2. We grow up eating Indian food at home and Mom is the best cook for us. We get so very tuned to those tastes, that any deviations just wont be appreciated. We know where the fault is as we have tasted and feasted on the original stuff. Now, when I opt for say a Mexican dish at a Restaurant, I have no clue how the original tastes or even looks like. So anything that is served is welcomed and appreciated (on most cases). From an Instance - We had been to a Bakery at Kolkatta, and ordered Black Forest cake to celebrate the birthday of a friend . It wasn't until I was on this discussion that I realized - the real Black Forest Cakes do not have Strawberry Toppings. On the discussion shishy7 and marlina - both mention that the original Black Forest does not come with Strawberry.
So I clicked the pencil to start a discussion and was confronted with the 'What's on your mind?' header. I had some ideas what I was about to write before, but...
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
30 Sep 15
Ha ha, you were taken for a ride. That is one more thing. They know that we don't know so whatever they prepare will have to be certified as a good foreign preparation. Aunty tried some Chinese, because she thought they were koftas (difficult to explain but vegetables bound tightly in gram flour, deep fried and then made into curries). She did not like it at all.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
30 Sep 15
@thesids ..that is brilliant. Why don't you start it?
1 person likes this
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
30 Sep 15
@vandana7 I think they should start a new concept - cook your own dish kind of thing wherein if the customer wants, can use their resources and prepare a dish or more as per own preferences
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
28 Sep 15
I suppose they tried to improve the taste of food... Personally I don't appreciate street food and fast food. I prefer to go 2 or 3 times per year in good restaurants where I can discover new flavors and new tastes. 20 years ago I had the luck to have in the area where I was living a fabulous cook. This man was one of our "best cook of France" (it is a prize conferred by cooks to one of them every year). He had been the chief cook of the most prestigious ocean liner we had and bought a small restaurant in the countryside when he retired. He was doing 100 km every morning to buy his fish near the sea, was producing his owned smoked fish, etc. I ate incredible dishes in this restaurant, and the price of the bill was not expensive compared to the quality you had in your plate. I was going there once or twice a month. I have been in several good restaurants since I leaved this area, and I have found always the same care taken to choose the food they are serving, and the same will to push their limits and satisfy the customer, but I keep a special place for this old cook in my memory.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
28 Sep 15
He must have been a real good cook to be remembered. :) There was a time when I could only afford street food, that also one time a day. So my affinity of it may be more out of nostalgia.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
28 Sep 15
@vandana7 I had hard times when I was a student, and I did not ate correctly every day ; if I have some nostalgia for this period, it is not due to the food I was eating. But I have some nostalgia for the food that my mother was doing for us, and I still have a few recipes coming from her that I like to prepare.
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
1 Oct 15
When i am in an expensive hotel (that happened once or twice courtesy of a rich birthday celebrator ) , i let the one who is buying the foods , choose . WHen he asks for what i like to have , that's the time i will choose what i know is delicious . Luckily , the foods they choose are soooo delicious !
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
15 Oct 15
Take my advice. Never go to a restaurant with a doctor. They have got so habituated to hospital food, that they will only order bland food.
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90722)
• Philippines
16 Oct 15
@vandana7 Really ! Hmm , let me see when my daughter is already a doctor .
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
28 Sep 15
I like plain food, possibly I like bland food. I mean, I like salty food. I don't like sour food. But I don't like fancy sauces or food that is too decorative. Just plain food.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
29 Sep 15
By bland I meant no salt or very little of it, like they serve in hospitals. If it is not sour, it is not getting in, kind of situation for me. I would rather starve.
@kevin1877uk (36988)
29 Sep 15
Never been in expensive hotels to try food so I wouldn't know.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (99078)
• India
30 Sep 15
Not worth the experience, trust me. You can't ask for tomato ketchup. I returned home and has sumptuous meal after that.
• Preston, England
28 Sep 15
I like most quality hotel food - I have stayed in cheap hotels with dreadful food standards - one was so bad I avoided the breakfasts included in my room stay bill and ate in a café nearby each day instead after my first breakfast was so atrocious.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (49252)
• United States
1 Oct 15
We don't have any street food here.