Dinner II: The Gallery of Regrettable Foods (Part 1)

easternsun · October 30, 2005

Any guesses?
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Instead of guessing what it was I immediately started looking for a picture of Mary and/or Jesus. :raz:

I would eat it (especially if there was a bonus of Lego men hidden in it!)

Mooshmouse · October 30, 2005

Instead of guessing what it was I immediately started looking for a picture of Mary and/or Jesus.
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:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

And the Lego-men bonus would have to be wrapped in tinfoil, just like the dimes were in birthday cakes. Damn, that was murder on the fillings!

Ling · October 30, 2005

Instead of guessing what it was I immediately started looking for a picture of Mary and/or Jesus.
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I SHOULD HAVE SOLD THAT BREAD PUDDING ON EBAY!!!!!!!!! :laugh:

Edited October 30, 2005 by Ling (log)

Mooshmouse · October 30, 2005

Instead of guessing what it was I immediately started looking for a picture of Mary and/or Jesus.
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I SHOULD HAVE SOLD THAT BREAD PUDDING ON EBAY!!!!!!!!!
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Only if Jesus or the Virgin Mother were weeping. :raz:

Shalmanese · October 30, 2005

OK, I have another one. This is arancini. Oozy, greasy, arancini. Only 600 calories per piece!
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Goddamn, this thread is meant to make me less hungry, not more.

prasantrin · October 30, 2005

OK, I have another one. This is arancini. Oozy, greasy, arancini. Only 600 calories per piece!
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Y'know, for all that those arancini did not turn out magazine-cover perfect, they still have a kind of homely/homey charm ... I'd at least try one. (And I think your tablecloth is cute.)
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I'd eat the whole plateful! They look perfectly good to me. In fact, they sort of look like they're entirely made out of cheese...that would make them even better!

Grub · October 30, 2005

Are those....leeches stuck to the meatcakes?
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Wow... that's, um... wow. Wow.
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Whahaha! Oh man, I honestly did consider posting this in the "real" Dinner thread. Just cause these babies taste THAT good, and uh, maybe I'm not such a visual guy, and beauty being in the eye of the beholder or whatnot -- and these leftovers taste great, so I didn't quite realize how bad the picture looked... But yeah, it's bad. The leeches are cranberry yelly -- and there's a tater or two left in there also.

Gravy can look good on a plate. I guess that's not true for leftovers. Duh. :smile: Oh well.

Susan in FL · October 30, 2005

I SHOULD HAVE SOLD THAT BREAD PUDDING ON EBAY!!!!!!!!!
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That's the best line yet, Ling! This thread is just too funny. I may be joining the ranks if I don't get used to my new camera soon.

mizducky · October 31, 2005

Ate the following sometime last night in Los Angeles. I wasn't sure whether to post it here, or the thread about places you've dined recently, or the one about blurry low-quality camera-phone photos ... :smile:

I tried adjusting the color in Photoshop, without success ... although this is actually a fair approximation of how the dish looked under the dim lighting in this joint. I can't reveal the establishment's name, however--at least not until you've all had your fun guessing what the hell this is, because the place's name would constitute a hint (which might in itself be a hint).

Oh, but I can't resist another hint: the main item on this plate comes perilously close to violating the classic B. Kliban rule about never eating anything bigger than your head. :laugh:

Carrot Top · October 31, 2005

Whoa.

My mouth is literally hanging open.

That is. . .

Oh, c'mon. You did it for our Halloween gift, didn't you! :laugh:

mizducky · October 31, 2005

Whoa.
My mouth is literally hanging open.
That is. . .
Oh, c'mon. You did it for our Halloween gift, didn't you!
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BWA-hahahahahahahahah! :laugh:

While there was indeed a Halloween theme going on at the establishment where I consumed this, erm, repast, this was no holday special, but a regular and typical offering from their menu.

C'mon, folks--any guesses?

Megan Blocker · October 31, 2005

Cheesesteak and...something?

mizducky · October 31, 2005

Cheesesteak and...something?
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You're getting warm. There is definitely melted cheese involved. No steak, however. No meat-protein anywhere on that plate.

snowangel · October 31, 2005

Pizza?

tejon · October 31, 2005

I'm thinking some kind of pizza, too. A truly frightening pizza, that is.

Austin · October 31, 2005

Honestly, as horrible as some of these meals appear, I think a great deal of the yuck factor is due to a lack of photography skills rather than bad cooking! Too much flash, glare, bad composition, and in particular, a lack of understanding of White Balance don't exactly help very much! I would recommend that those of you with digital cameras take an afternoon (or three) learning about your cameras and trying different things with them. In particular, learn about the different types of flash (slow-sync flash, for example, uses a slow shutter speed and "less" flash, which allows more ambient light to creep in), and White Balance (which can either be set in-camera, or altered using Photoshop or with your camera's editing software), which has a HUGE impact on the colors of your photographs.

Austin Bush

www.austinbushphotography.com

prasantrin · October 31, 2005

It looks like a quesadilla, to me. With a big blob of sour cream at 12:00. With either mushrooms or beans...I can't figure out what the butter would be for, though.

*Deborah* · October 31, 2005

There's coleslaw or salad on the right! with red cabbage!

On the left, my first guess was poutine (fries, cheese curds, and gravy) but then I decided it looks like mushroom chunks covered in cheese. Maybe in a pita. There's definitely some sour cream involved though...So I'm down to some kind of German Oktoberfest pile of carbs? or Eastern European, given the sour cream. Oh dear.

mizducky · October 31, 2005

Check, mushrooms. Check, sour cream. And ...

There's coleslaw or salad on the right! with red cabbage!
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You get a special gold star for identifying the salad, which indeed included red cabbage. :biggrin: (Plus some forgettable commercial Eye-talian dressing.

Okay, I'll put the whole mystery out of its misery. What you are looking at is a humongous baked potato, topped with mushrooms and melted cheese, with a small side salad. This is one of the namesake dishes served at The Baked Potato, a tiny hole-in-the-wall jazz/rock club in Studio City/LA. Their whole menu is baked potatoes with various toppings. They look pretty homely (especially under crappy lighting), but as bar food goes they're relatively wholesome. And they're really efficient for cushioning one's stomach against a night's booze intake. But given the Potato's fame in certain circles for the excellent quality of musicians they book, I think they won't mind if I say that people don't tend to make it a destination just for their food. :wink:

M.X.Hassett · October 31, 2005

Ate the following sometime last night in Los Angeles. I wasn't sure whether to post it here, or the thread about places you've dined recently, or the one about blurry low-quality camera-phone photos ...
I tried adjusting the color in Photoshop, without success ... although this is actually a fair approximation of how the dish looked under the dim lighting in this joint. I can't reveal the establishment's name, however--at least not until you've all had your fun guessing what the hell this is, because the place's name would constitute a hint (which might in itself be a hint).
Oh, but I can't resist another hint: the main item on this plate comes perilously close to violating the classic B. Kliban rule about never eating anything bigger than your head.
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I am curious as to what two drinks you had. :wink:

mizducky · October 31, 2005

I am curious as to what two drinks you had.
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Ohhhhh, I had a few more than just the two (see my comment above about the food's excellent booze-absorption qualities). :biggrin: This joint being basically a dive-y jazz bar, I tend not get very adventurous with my drink orders there. My first drink was meant to be a Manhattan, but they screwed it up even worse than usual--tasted pretty much like just scotch (!) with no vermouth whatsoever (hey, but they remembered to plop a maraschino cherry in the thing!). The rest of the night I stuck to bourbon-and-coke--at least the bartender couldn't screw those up.

dockhl · October 31, 2005

Honestly, as horrible as some of these meals appear, I think a great deal of the yuck factor is due to a lack of photography skills rather than bad cooking! Too much flash, glare, bad composition, and in particular, a lack of understanding of White Balance don't exactly help very much! I would recommend that those of you with digital cameras take an afternoon (or three) learning about your cameras and trying different things with them. In particular, learn about the different types of flash (slow-sync flash, for example, uses a slow shutter speed and "less" flash, which allows more ambient light to creep in), and White Balance (which can either be set in-camera, or altered using Photoshop or with your camera's editing software), which has a HUGE impact on the colors of your photographs.
Austin Bush
www.austinbushphotography.com
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Austin, what a party pooper you are ! Those helpful hints are for the beautiful photography in the REAL dinner thread :biggrin: