What food do you crave a lot but is hardest to get where you live?

[xbuzzerx]

A tikka is a cube, often of meat. It can be cooked in different ways, in a tandoor, on a barbecue, in a pot or smothered in a claypot.

^ That's what I had, I've had tandoori too. The Tikka I had was claypot for sure.

[chatolandia]

Good Mofongo and good Cuban Sandwiches

There are few places that make their own version of Cuban Sandwiches here, but it's not the same.

Mofongo, I haven't found a good place for that since El Conquistador closed... I can get great Dominican food, which covers most of my rice and beans needs, but no mofongo

[chatolandia]

I prefer woodfired chicken. Peruvian style. It blows away all fried chicken places.

http://www.examiner.com/review/la-s-...-pollo-del-rey

I love rotisserie chicken Latin style, I get that in CT when I visit my brother .. great Peruvian restaurants in there. But I call them Latin style because in PR you can get that too, there is a local chain that makes amazing rotisserie chicken, I miss that too.

I also love fried chicken, but there is a place 20 mins from where I live that makes amazing fried chicken so I can get my fix there.

[xbuzzerx]

Well I have posted on them in the past and Peruvian restaurant is one of the best I've been to. There are a few hidden Mexican restaurants I like.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tacos-michoacan-northridge

These are around... but they are quite good.

Giancarlo what's your opinion of El Pollo Inka?

[justsimon]

I miss some of the food from my hometown. It's only about four hours away, but the salmon is fresher and the Thai restaurant is better.

[xbuzzerx]

It's mediocre. At least the one I had in the Lawndale area. Food is a hit or a miss... depending on what you get... and the service was less than great.

Chatolandia, Puerto Rican restaurants are hard to find around here. Cuban restaurants are more common in LA.

But this is one I do know about:

http://mofongosrestaurant.com/

The namesake of your favorite dish. It's pretty good. I've been there like a dozen times... I love Puerto Rican food... absolutely love it. It's not exactly like the real thing, but it's pretty close.

I wondered, yeah. I've had it a few times but I doubted, with it being a chain and all, if it represented the best of what was out there. The soup is addictive though-- I don't know the name of it, but if you do and better yet if you know where it's better somewhere else, you should tell me.

[sokker]

Well, don't "look at" KFC if you want *good* chicken, either. Just curious, what country are you in?

In the USA, Popeye's Chicken beats the snot out of KFC...and, in Canada, Mary Brown's Chicken beats the snot out of both of those. Or at least is USED to when I had it eons ago. (A LOT of recipes, etc. can change in 28 & 1/2 years...)

I'm from Norway. It's such a shitty country. We do have some fast food chains, but not a lot. We have like some Italian restaurants, pizza chains, chinese, macdonalds, burger king and subway. But that's about it. Fast food really isn't that big here.. people mostly go to macdonalds and such. It's REALLY, REALLY, REALLY expensive to go out here though. People would go bankrupt if they went out to eat every day, it's not like in the US. Norway is the most expensive country in the world, and it's very noticeable when you go out to eat. A regular cheese/ham sandwich can cost like 10 dollars or more. I'm not even kidding. A pizza can cost 30-40 dollars. But most of all I just wish we had Starbucks, because I love Starbucks coffee, and Norway is one of the biggest coffee drinking country in the world (per capita of course). They'd make a ton of money here. There was even a petition online for them to establish themselves here, and they are going to now.. they'll start in Oslo, but they'll probably never come to my town, sigh. I'd love it if Nando's came to Norway though.. I've heard that their chicken is really good!

[xbuzzerx]

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/-6xAJ...b5xJPaB29L_ACA

This one? I haven't tried it there. I had it in other locations.

That's the one! Where's the best place you've had it?

[frankfrank]

Well I have posted on them in the past and Peruvian restaurant is one of the best I've been to.

i HAVE YOUR pERUVIAN RESTUARANT POST (oops, all caps) sitting in my restaurant travel folder. It sounds worth it next time I'm in or near the Valley.
On the opposite side of the continent, there's a place in Passaic NJ that I really enjoy, called the Peruvian Family Restaurant, downtown. Their seafood casserole (more of a soup, really) is entirely to die for.

You'd better be hungry if you order it.

Being that it's a thousand miles from here, I guess that qualifies as a food that I crave but cannot get where I live.

[Beachguyj]

good Cuban Sandwiches

(

I make my own.

I cook the pork shoulder in a slow cooker with a recipe I found online. Usually the first day I eat the pork as part of a meal, and the next day or two it's Cuban sandwiches.

I heat up the pork which shreds easily. I use Italian or French bread (Cuban is too crusty) a very light coating of mustard on one side of the bread. Thinly slices pickles. Ham, Virginia if you can find it, Swiss and pork on top. I toast it first open face with the cheese on one side and the pork on the other, that way the cheese melts and the ham gets warm too. Then I put it in a panini press for a few minutes and

[xbuzzerx]

I live in Italy, I think I can't actually complain about food lol.
but yeah I always wanted to know oriental food better.

My sister lived in Italy for two years and that was her complaint, she said that France and Italy have horrible Asian food.

[Seto187]

Peaches. I live in florida and I haven't seen a nice big juicy peach. Here the they are small and hard with no flavor.

[xbuzzerx]

Spanish tapas is something I've never had... I've seen it only in a few of those "help a restaurant" type reality shows. Would like to make a point to try it next time I can.

[frankfrank]

I'ver never managed to try it, either - almost always when I'm in a location that has places as adventurous as tapas, there's something else in the same block that appeals even more.

I also live about 900 miles from the "pick your nationality" Adams Morgan neighborhood just north of Dupont Circle in Washington DC. The Senegalese place there is set up to feel like you're actually eating at a big house party in Dakar, rather than in a restaurant. Cool.