One of the nice things about living in NYC is that if you fancy some food from another country, there's pretty much certain to be a restaurant serving that food somewhere in the city. And if you're in the right neighborhood, there's all sorts of stuff within a few minutes walk. I spend a lot of time in Park Slope, Brooklyn, one way and another, even though I don't actually live in that neighborhood. And walking along 7th Avenue, in the space of about a mile you pass Tex-Mex, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Greek, New Zealand, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and even American. (And for most of these, more than one example, and there may be a country or two I've overlooked.) So this evening it occurred to me to wonder which cuisine I like the best.
I really enjoyed the food when I was in France, but I've never been that impressed with French restaurants in America. I'm not prepared to pay the prices demanded by the top-rated ones, so I guess that's it for that.
Italian food is OK, pretty reliable, but I've never really been wowed by any of it.
I like spicy food, so I eat a lot of Indian. But I don't think I can give a thumbs up for the cuisine overall - the spice tends to overpower the flavors of the ingredients.
I love tempura and sushi, but the rest of Japanese cuisine doesn't impress me.
Chinese food strikes me like Italian - pretty reliable, a number of dishes that I like, but not one that has ever knocked my socks off.
I love burgers and steaks and fries and onion rings, but American doesn't do it for me beyond that. Oh, mustn't forget BBQ, but still.
I love Mexican food. Somehow it all seems like comfort food to me (and fattening).
Greek food I find very acceptable. It's not spicy, but moussaka is terrific comfort food, kabobs are flavorful, even Greek salad is better than most others.
I don't know. If I had to pull out just one, I might segregate BBQ from the rest of American, and go with that. Or maybe Mexican. Or Greek.
First world problems.