Most disappointing food you’ve had (Stanley I’m looking at you).

[FancyJapflack]

Stanley Tuccis sandwich.

if looked so delicious on Instagram.

In actuality it was horrible. Prosciutto is like raw bacon. Mozzarella didn’t melt. Olive oil is tasteless grease. I like pesto with spaghetti but not, as it turns out, in a sandwich.

i was so looking forward to it. Went shopping on the way home specially 😕

What food have you had that did t live up to expectation?

No it was bread street kitchen, exact same thing though. I love mushrooms but there was just way too much of it. Ruined it completely. A friend had the same thing at another GR and said the same after me too.

I got the 'world famous' hanging kebab. Now I didn't expect a lot but i've enjoyed other dishes from there. It was bland and overcooked / chewy and is the only meal I've ever not paid for. I had zero enjoyment eating it and couldn't force myself to.

Seriously? That’s going to make all the difference?

@shearwater2 unfortunately that usually leads me to the deep fried things, as I absolutely hate frying at home...the mess, the kitchen roll, the film of oil on everything, burning myself, the excess oil to filter.

I'm sure the extra 1.5 stone round my waist is all from the fried things I order at restaurants because I know I can make anything roasted/stewed/boiled/sautéed/braised better and more to my taste at home.

Cronuts are revolting.
There are a few mongrel baked concoctions floating around take the worst of two things and coat them in sugar.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts are dry unless fresh off the assembly line.

Magnolia cupcakes are far too sweet. Hummingbird’s are better, but still overly sugary.

Lots of bread pretending to be sourdough is just overpriced normal bread. Sourdough is expensive because it takes so much time to make. You can’t convincingly fake that with a quick commercial loaf.

I remember when I was maybe 10 years old my uncle and aunt came back from their honeymoon with a pile of presents including these sweets that looked absolutely beautiful - like little jewelled models of fruits. I put one in my mouth expecting to be delighted and they were FOUL. from that day I have followed the principle that overly beautiful food is always disappointing eg. recent iced cookies from fortnums that look like flowers - disgusting.

Well, yes!

If you take great bread, great cured meat and fantastic cheese you’ll have a totally different experience than bog standard ingredients.

Russell Norman of Il Brutto (RIP, a sad loss) talks about the secret of good food being “use great ingredients, try not to fuck them up.”

Try again with the fancy ingredients OP just out of interest.

Honestly I find almost all eating out and recipes from insta experiences disappointing, I think it's because instagram makes everything look absolutely out of this world delicious and then you see all the hype and hysteria so it's never really going to live up to it.

I follow food places and lust after them planning visits and always come away underwhelmed or feeling ripped off a bit.
I save recipes from Delicious Magazine and get excited to make them for everyone and it's always ok maybe even good but I rarely ever revisit to make again.
I suppose the thrill is in the lusting not the scoffing.

Seriously? That’s going to make all the difference?

Impossible to know. I'd say probably not. As someone who likes prosciutto, pesto, mozzarella and the taste of extra virgin olive oil, I'd quite like the basic version but would really love the version with the better ingredients. But someone else might just dislike, for example, prosciutto, regardless of the quality.

I always find tortellini very disappointing. Even the really authentic, home-cooked stuff in trattorias in Italy. I love Italian food, but I would have a cabbage pierogi over tortellini any day.

I buy shop bought ones and cook them...toss with crispy Parma ham and cherry tomatoes which you have softened in olive oil....lay in a baking dish and top with mozzarella....bake in oven. It's absolutely delicious, quick and cheap

Indeed 👏

Sounds very good. But the only reason they would taste good then is because you're drowning the bland tortellini in other flavoursome things. The authentic way of eating them in northern Italy is just with melted butter and a little salt. And it's just meh.

True!

@therealcookiemonster agreed! I got the chicken biscuits (as in ‘biscuits shaped and iced like chickens’, not chicken-flavoured biscuits) from F&M at Easter and they were so disappointing. Didn’t taste of anything.

Brilliant !...I must be very unrefined -just spat my tea out laughing at this !

This thread is glorious in so many ways, what a rollercoaster.

OP first I thought you were a wanker (my kind of wanker, admittedly) for being so angry you made two threads about a sandwich but now you’re my favourite mumsnet user and the highlight of my day.

Another vote for magnolia bakery. Made my teeth sensitive!

Also Jamie Olivers get ahead gravy or whatever it is called. Absolutely vile.
Thankfully that year I'd done a test run of the gravy prior to the big day.

Also OP amazing comeback 🤣

Awesome comeback

We tried that bastard gravy a few years ago and it was one of our most epic culinary failures. We're both competent and confident cooks, so we're not entirely sure how it went so wrong, but it had an almost gruel-like consistency. Bisto for us from now on!

Also generally loving OP's attitude and this thread. I've always found prosciutto sort of stringy, which is a bit offputting. I used to live near a place that did amazing red pesto, mozzarella and salami paninis, though, so I'm down with the rest of the sandwich!

Thank you!

I too tried Jamie’s gravy a few years back. I assiduously roasted and mashed and strained and basically nurtured the bloody thing like I’d given birth to it, and it repaid me by being so aggressively bland that I chucked the lot away and made some Bisto Best instead.

The threads - both of them - have gone absolutely bonkers and I’ve never been so proud 😄

My dh bought me the most amazing looking chocolates last year, they were glossy domes decorated with splashes of colour. The flavours purported to be incredibly fancy, things like exotic spices, sea buckthorn, unusual liqueurs. So looking forward to them. Never admitted they were bland and boring.

I can recommend dontgobaconmyheart on Instagram
No it's not glamorous food but it's proper comfort stuff that always turns out well
I've never made a recipe of his and thought "meh" and I've actually made every one more than once

My dad who claims to hate leeks, demolished the chicken and leek pie and looked disappointed when I said the rest was being frozen

I am still sad about mine and from what I've heard mine isn't the usual experience, but a bagel fro Beigel Bake Brick Lane Bakery. I had hyped it up so much in my head and was really looking forward to it but it was cold, dry and the staff were really rude and miserable. I may go again next time I'm in London because I know so many people who have loved them but my experience was awful.