Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Oh, and if you love food but don't watch Top Chef, you're missing out. 

Man... REAL Chinese food is delicious.

American Chinese food is oversauced and syrupy, most of the time.

Of course, much like Italy being a collection of different regions with very different cuisine, and America being a collection of different regions each with certain specialties and unique dishes, China is a collection of provinces with widely varying cuisine. Give me Sichuan / Hunan every day over Shanghainese / Cantonese.

Real Chinese food- that which isn't prepared in a high profile restaurant, to my taste and sensibility- is far from delicious... and to the point a person would have to be pretty dang hungry to consider it.  now, IN a high profile restaurant? you'd be right.  this is doubly true for Cambodian, Vietnamese, ect... even Filipino... i don't know how those folks develop a taste for their 'average' fare whatsoever... the shocking thing to me is the difference between their 'average' and their premier- it's NOT like they don't know what good food is!!! 

somewhat funny story:  During Ramadan one year, and while in Doha Qatar, I would race to find food before sunrise- knowing it would be night before available again, and working 16-20 hour days that kept me from going out at night and enjoying the feasts.... I was so hungry I stopped at a gas station and ate a 'kebab' intended for the Indian work force.... and it was fantastic... a few mornings later i got to the care-for mall just in time for Starbucks (and my required Kahwa- means coffee- but was a M.E. 'style' with dregs- Latte at the time) to be closing... they had ONE chicken salad pita left and i purchased it........ and i've never ever been sicker due to food poisoning than that.  It was coming from every place it could- i had a choice as to which i wanted to clean off the floor (gross, i know).   My villa and master bath had a bidet but i had it used it as a planter some time prior (suggested by the cleaning staff- who said 'all the American's do it'?) ... but.... (again, gross but funny) each bathroom was equipped with what we would call a wand- the kind you find in some kitchen sinks to spray with.... intended for the same purpose as the bidet... the bathroom was wall to wall marble.. only the ceiling wasn't... so.. after the fireworks stopped (a few days of this) I fired up a cigar, slung dishwashing soap all over the room, and sprayed everything from top to bottom making sure it was legitimately 'clean'... I've NEVER eaten anything from any Starbucks since... i stopped by that gas station many times (after that initial discovery). 

I got pretty jacked up in Mumbai once, too... made the mistake of drinking water from a glass when i didn't know the source, or, i'm pretty sure that is what it was.... 

 

I'll check, but I think it's either maple or cherry.

He's quite good--it's his retirement hobby, which has been awesome for us. He's made us two sideboards, a coffee table, end table, bedside tables, and an entertainment center. 

We went to Ruth's Chris once.  It was mundane.  Same with Morton's.

Meh.

I'm hard on steak places.  It's not that hard to fix.  I liked Eddie Merlot's because of the wine program.

I could get great wines for retail pricing.

Athens was just so so? I definitely want to go see Athens, but I do kind of want to experience the islands more. So I get where you’re coming from, I guess.

So so?  I'd go lower.  It's a dump.  My least favorite place I've been in all of Europe.