Oh hello there :: 19/5/10 ~23:30 :: Comments: 4
category: random
Whilst Glasgow does have some decent places to eat, I really miss the food I tended to eat out in Florida.
Quiznos, for instance. We do have Quiznos here now, there's one on Union St and at least on in Edinburgh too, but it is absolutely not a patch on the US versions. It's basically a somewhat upmarket version of Subway, but out in the US they're just really damn good. The two fast food places I think I miss most though are Moes and Pita Pit. Moes is a southwest/mexican type place which do absolutely awesome burritos. And they're big enough to kill you too. Pita Pit, I don't know how wide that chain is, there are certainly 2 or 3 in Gainesville, FL and I know it's elsewhere too but I don't think it's a particularly big chain. Again, sandwich-type fast food place, but it is fucking amazing. They had this really awesome mango habanero sauce. I'd kill for some of that just now. Another thing I miss from out there is that there's a habanero version of tabasco, which is absolutely amazing. Apparently a couple of places here stock it now, including Sainsburys, so I'll need to keep my eye out for that. On the topic of hot food, there's a salsa company out there called Desert Pepper, I think they're based in Texas. They have a habanero salsa which is by far and away the best salsa I've ever had in my life, I've never had anything else that even starts to compare to it. And I can't find anywhere that'll ship it over here to the UK. Testicles.
Anyway, chains and the like aside, my real rant here is about Glasgow (and indeed Scotland) having a complete lack of South American, and particularly Cuban restaurants. I've been to a few places out in the US that do Cuban stuff, and I discovered that cuban sandwiches are quite possibly the best things in existance. I've managed to find a Cuban restaurant in Edinburgh which I'm going to drop into quite soon, but aside from there (and they don't fucking do cuban sandwiches) I'd have to go to London to find Cuban food. And I'm seriously tempted to do so if I can get cheap flights. There's a place in Gainesville, FL called Virtually Cuban, and I'd really love somewhere like that to open up here. I dunno if there's much of a market for that kind of stuff here though really, Florida (and particularly south Florida) has a lot of South Americans there so there's an actual market for it. Although in my opinion, if a place like that opened up here and did the food like it is out there, it'd be successful as hell because it's fucking awesome and there's nothing else like it here. But I'm hardly an entrepeneur, I have no fucking idea what I'm talking about.
I just want a cuban sandwich. Tomorrow, I shall scour Glasgow for the ingredients - it will be very easy to find them in all honesty, it's nothing too complicated: ham, pork, swiss cheese, mustard, mayo, pickles. What is going to be absolutely impossible to find is cuban bread (imagine a really fat and softish baguette) and it really needs a proper sandwich press to be cooked on. I don't even know what it is about it that makes them so amazing, they just are. In the year I spent in Ft Lauderdale, there was a little Venezuelan restaurant just across the road from where I worked, which I went to regularly to get this kind of stuff. I always felt incredibly out of place there since I was the only person not speaking Spanish, but it was worth it anyway. I miss awesome cheap food. Actually, right now I miss Florida. Amongst other things.
I've tracked down 4 Cuban restaurants in London. None of them do cuban sandwiches. This country fucking sucks.
Comment:
Cuba is not in south America, it's in north America.
Comment:
Heh, poor wording on my part. Yeah, I know where Cuba is :P, I meant I'd be happier if Glasgow were to have more South American as well as Cuban places. The Venezuelan place I frequented had some excellent stuff, including some weird bean type thing which I think was from Chile. A lot fo the people I worked with in Ft Lauderdale were South Americans, and for a few events at work they all cooked stuff from home and brought it in, and it was awesome.
Comment:
Yeah but can you get a proper roll and chips in Florida? You can't even get
that down here! And do they have lorne sausage restaurants in Utah? DOUBT IT.
Fuck all that weird spicy bollocks! Get those arteries clogged properly. Scottish
cuisine is the best.
Comment:
I never looked for a roll and chips in Florida. I never look for them here either! And I doubt I'd go to Utah anytime soon anyway, it's a bit too hot and mormon-y there. Also, I don't think I'd try spicy bollocks. That doesn't sound pleasant at all.