Things the United States do well.

[Gmac]

Anyone slating the food in America doesn't know what they are talking about. I remember my brother's in laws saying the food was horrible and I asked them where they ate - Sizzlers they replied. An all you can eat $10 buffet that makes comfort food that mostly people from the Deep South would eat. I'd imagine many more of you are judging the food on similar experiences.
I won't eat Pizza outside of NY/NJ or Italy - nobody else knows how to make it in my opinion. The variety of authentic food from every corner of the world is outstanding. Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Cuban, the list goes on and on. The healthy options and the culture to eat healthy is very refreshing.  My kids rarely get sweets,have never tasted minerals/coke/fanta of any kind and it's ok.  I've never ate as many vegetables in my life.

From the TV shows you watch you might think that they do Prison Rape well -but would you prefer like Ireland it was consensual? I worked in a bar frequented by many former prisoners and one well known gay one who was executed 10/11 years ago and he would openly tell everyone about the men who "turned" in prison.

everywhere has something great about it - it's why we choose to live there....there's a great line in the film Brooklyn when the auld begrduging biddy corners the main girl about her husband back in the U.S:
"i'd forgotten what this place was like..."
One thing America does great is applaud and encourage success. Ireland still prefers to begrudge.

You ruined it all with one sweeping generalisation. How is Cam Newton being perceived in the states? Is that begrudgery? Or is his success being celebrated? Or perhaps some people begrudge, and others celebrate? Just like here.

its more an old school versus new school with cam the old school say score the touchdown and hand the ball to the ref not run around dancing and uncovering superman Uni ,taking pictures on sideline and maybe showing up opponents . The new school say the man is having fun and enjoying himself and don't let him score if u don't want to see it, I don't think its a black /white thing  because I've heard opinions from old players and they are split.lots of players still are very old school

[armaghniac]

While everyplace has some good restaurants, contrary to previous statements the US does not have most Michelin Star Restaurants, France does. Food is not a strength of the US, and much of the good food mentioned is derivative, where the chef was imported. The general standard of food is middling, but Pecan pie has its role to play and Cajun is decent.

National Parks.

[Muck Savage]

Anyone slating the food in America doesn't know what they are talking about. I remember my brother's in laws saying the food was horrible and I asked them where they ate - Sizzlers they replied. An all you can eat $10 buffet that makes comfort food that mostly people from the Deep South would eat. I'd imagine many more of you are judging the food on similar experiences.
I won't eat Pizza outside of NY/NJ or Italy - nobody else knows how to make it in my opinion. The variety of authentic food from every corner of the world is outstanding. Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Cuban, the list goes on and on. The healthy options and the culture to eat healthy is very refreshing.  My kids rarely get sweets,have never tasted minerals/coke/fanta of any kind and it's ok.  I've never ate as many vegetables in my life.

From the TV shows you watch you might think that they do Prison Rape well -but would you prefer like Ireland it was consensual? I worked in a bar frequented by many former prisoners and one well known gay one who was executed 10/11 years ago and he would openly tell everyone about the men who "turned" in prison.

everywhere has something great about it - it's why we choose to live there....there's a great line in the film Brooklyn when the auld begrduging biddy corners the main girl about her husband back in the U.S:
"i'd forgotten what this place was like..."
One thing America does great is applaud and encourage success. Ireland still prefers to begrudge.

You ruined it all with one sweeping generalisation. How is Cam Newton being perceived in the states? Is that begrudgery? Or is his success being celebrated? Or perhaps some people begrudge, and others celebrate? Just like here.

I think he is perceived pretty well here in Super Bowl city. Sure there are traditional folks that don't like the new guy coming in a having fun on the sideline but most people believe he is a slam dunk MVP.
It's like the Warriors in basket ball, lots of people see the fun they are having as a team on the sideline as gloating but to me it's just pure amazement at what Curry is doing in this league. No-one acts like a superstar, all of them are like a bunch of kids having fun.

[AZOffaly]

Anyone slating the food in America doesn't know what they are talking about. I remember my brother's in laws saying the food was horrible and I asked them where they ate - Sizzlers they replied. An all you can eat $10 buffet that makes comfort food that mostly people from the Deep South would eat. I'd imagine many more of you are judging the food on similar experiences.
I won't eat Pizza outside of NY/NJ or Italy - nobody else knows how to make it in my opinion. The variety of authentic food from every corner of the world is outstanding. Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Cuban, the list goes on and on. The healthy options and the culture to eat healthy is very refreshing.  My kids rarely get sweets,have never tasted minerals/coke/fanta of any kind and it's ok.  I've never ate as many vegetables in my life.

From the TV shows you watch you might think that they do Prison Rape well -but would you prefer like Ireland it was consensual? I worked in a bar frequented by many former prisoners and one well known gay one who was executed 10/11 years ago and he would openly tell everyone about the men who "turned" in prison.

everywhere has something great about it - it's why we choose to live there....there's a great line in the film Brooklyn when the auld begrduging biddy corners the main girl about her husband back in the U.S:
"i'd forgotten what this place was like..."
One thing America does great is applaud and encourage success. Ireland still prefers to begrudge.

You ruined it all with one sweeping generalisation. How is Cam Newton being perceived in the states? Is that begrudgery? Or is his success being celebrated? Or perhaps some people begrudge, and others celebrate? Just like here.

Out here most people are cheering for the Panthers because thats the team that beat the seahawks.
There's a funny video out there about Irish - lots of things you'd hear and it's all true. One of the skits was:
Look at your man with the new car - dick.
Look at your man with the new wife - dick.
Look at your man with the new house - dick.

I don't think that exists for the most part in America. Facebook likes dont count as applause - it's what people are really saying - all gossip - lots of begrudgery

Sorry, but I think that is nonsense. You're talking about moving back next year? I think you might be in for a pleasant surprise. I've absolutely heard about lads getting too big for their boots, and a lot of the time that's true, but the old begrudgery isn't nearly as bad.

[gallsman]

While everyplace has some good restaurants, contrary to previous statements the US does not have most Michelin Star Restaurants, France does. Food is not a strength of the US, and much of the good food mentioned is derivative, where the chef was imported. The general standard of food is middling, but Pecan pie has its role to play and Cajun is decent.

National Parks.

Additionally, not that Michelin star restaurants are the only things that matter, but if you're going to use it as the barometer, stars per capita would be a better metric.

[The Iceman]

Anyone slating the food in America doesn't know what they are talking about. I remember my brother's in laws saying the food was horrible and I asked them where they ate - Sizzlers they replied. An all you can eat $10 buffet that makes comfort food that mostly people from the Deep South would eat. I'd imagine many more of you are judging the food on similar experiences.
I won't eat Pizza outside of NY/NJ or Italy - nobody else knows how to make it in my opinion. The variety of authentic food from every corner of the world is outstanding. Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Cuban, the list goes on and on. The healthy options and the culture to eat healthy is very refreshing.  My kids rarely get sweets,have never tasted minerals/coke/fanta of any kind and it's ok.  I've never ate as many vegetables in my life.

From the TV shows you watch you might think that they do Prison Rape well -but would you prefer like Ireland it was consensual? I worked in a bar frequented by many former prisoners and one well known gay one who was executed 10/11 years ago and he would openly tell everyone about the men who "turned" in prison.

everywhere has something great about it - it's why we choose to live there....there's a great line in the film Brooklyn when the auld begrduging biddy corners the main girl about her husband back in the U.S:
"i'd forgotten what this place was like..."
One thing America does great is applaud and encourage success. Ireland still prefers to begrudge.

You ruined it all with one sweeping generalisation. How is Cam Newton being perceived in the states? Is that begrudgery? Or is his success being celebrated? Or perhaps some people begrudge, and others celebrate? Just like here.

Out here most people are cheering for the Panthers because thats the team that beat the seahawks.
There's a funny video out there about Irish - lots of things you'd hear and it's all true. One of the skits was:
Look at your man with the new car - dick.
Look at your man with the new wife - dick.
Look at your man with the new house - dick.

I don't think that exists for the most part in America. Facebook likes dont count as applause - it's what people are really saying - all gossip - lots of begrudgery

Sorry, but I think that is nonsense. You're talking about moving back next year? I think you might be in for a pleasant surprise. I've absolutely heard about lads getting too big for their boots, and a lot of the time that's true, but the old begrudgery isn't nearly as bad.

I hope so AZ

[gawa316]

1. Being able to take a compliment.

2. Beer

3. Sports coverage (except Olympics and golf majors).

[seafoid]

While everyplace has some good restaurants, contrary to previous statements the US does not have most Michelin Star Restaurants, France does. Food is not a strength of the US, and much of the good food mentioned is derivative, where the chef was imported. The general standard of food is middling, but Pecan pie has its role to play and Cajun is decent.

National Parks.

The standard of food innovation is high even if there are fewer michelin stars. Americans do interesting stuff with flavours.

[Captain Obvious]

City blocks
Festivals
Very sweet cereal
Large starters
Free refills on drinks
TV shows,series and the occasional blockbuster movie
The Military invading foreign countries in order to steal oil.

[omaghjoe]

While everyplace has some good restaurants, contrary to previous statements the US does not have most Michelin Star Restaurants, France does. Food is not a strength of the US, and much of the good food mentioned is derivative, where the chef was imported. The general standard of food is middling, but Pecan pie has its role to play and Cajun is decent.

National Parks.

The standard of food innovation is high even if there are fewer michelin stars. Americans do interesting stuff with flavours.

Im gonna throw my 2p in here. I will try and categorise the eating out options in America and compare them to Ireland's options. Talk about Michelen star is irrelevant, who the feck eats at a Michelin starred restaurant? I think I have eaten at one in my life.

On the bottom rung of the ladder is the McD, Taco Bell etc etc which are shit and everywhere, the equivalent at home in terms of frequency at least is the local chippy which is vastly superior in terms of quality.

Then you have the casual dining places which are mostly crappy as well but a little higher in terms of quality, these would be the equivalent of pub grub, so to compare these I would say pub grub shades it, however the American casual dining spots offer a far bigger selection and are more family friendly.

Moving on up you have the middle priced restuarants which are generally independent spots instead of chains, these usually give you a pretty decent feed. Would compare them to the average restaurant in Ireland thats people head to at the weekend. Wud say America shades this category.

Then there is the high end restaurants that you would get, America has more of these, more diverse but they are usually bloody expensive. Irelands very good for these but they are rare and they only seem to be in the cities (and Blacklion for some reason). America wins this category hands down.

There is also the ethnic food in America which can also be hit or miss  the biggest problem is that they try to "Americanize" it and it ends up in the first category. Generally the more authentic it is, the better it is. However with that said you need to know what you are getting into as well, some Oriental food can be very off putting for Western tastes. But still America wins this category hands down also because of the amount of immigrants it has

So to sum up its difficult to categorise American food because there is alot(and I mean alot) of shite food here but there is also some amazing food. Would say the further you go up the scale the better it does in comparison with Ireland but if you where to compare the food to say France,Spain, Italy its not even worth talking about. Also seafoid mentioned that food innovation is high which is true but sometimes it just doesn't work. However as I mentioned earlier American are very open minded and sometimes fall for the appeal to novelty, the decent into horrible levels of bitterness with hoppy beers is a great example.

[armaghniac]

So to sum up its difficult to categorise American food because there is alot(and I mean alot) of shite food here but there is also some amazing food. Would say the further you go up the scale the better it does in comparison with Ireland but if you where to compare the food to say France,Spain, Italy its not even worth talking about.

"further up the scale" is just a reflection of a lot of rich people rather than any intrinsic cultural thing that exists in France or Italy.

[Keyser soze]

Wish to **** I had never quibbled about the food issue now, it's taken over the thread lol.

They make great films.

[Longshanks]

They have actually seasons of the year, when its sumer its really warm and very rarely rains and winter expect snow and very cold... not like here when its much of a muchness the whole time and could rain in the summer and be sunshine in december...

[AZOffaly]

They have actually seasons of the year, when its sumer its really warm and very rarely rains and winter expect snow and very cold... not like here when its much of a muchness the whole time and could rain in the summer and be sunshine in december...

That wouldn't be all the states in fairness. A lot of the Southern and Western states have really only two seasons. In Arizona, I got sunburned on Christmas Eve playing Golf.

[Longshanks]

They have actually seasons of the year, when its sumer its really warm and very rarely rains and winter expect snow and very cold... not like here when its much of a muchness the whole time and could rain in the summer and be sunshine in december...

That wouldn't be all the states in fairness. A lot of the Southern and Western states have really only two seasons. In Arizona, I got sunburned on Christmas Eve playing Golf.

Yeah in fairness sorry have to agree there alhough then again I wouldn't mind getting sunburned playing golf on christmas eve (another thing they do well then)