Good TASTING food Vs. Good LOOKING food!
By vega83
@vega83 (6342)
Bahrain
July 6, 2007 9:56am CST
Which one would get your vote? Some people say that "You eat with your eyes?". Some people like me says "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder".
Okay, have you ever been to a nice restaurant, and ordered something that sounded and looked really nice on a platter, but when you tasted it, it was crap!
Or how about something that doesn't look that attractive but tastes like heaven?
I'd prefer good tasting food anytime.
Now, I started this discussion because yesterday me and my sister looked up a recipe of a nice dessert on the internet and made it. We had actually done the same recipe once before too, and that time it had looked good as well as tasted good too. But yesterday, it turned out great in terms of taste, but the looks were not that awesome, but you know how critical moms can be. She went on about how we messed up, when in fact we hadn't, we made the sweet for ourselves, and not for a party or something, so taste would be more important than presentation. But she keeps insisting we messed up, so it made me think, what I would prefer, food that looked great but was not so good tasting or food that tastes great and is not so attractive looking. And I realize that I will and I do prefer the good tasting kind. I always give food a try even if it looks bad, and then I would know if it's worth eating or not.
So what kind are you?
I asked this of a lot of people and got mixed answers. Let's see what I get here.
Would you rather have good looking food or good tasting food?
8 people like this
37 responses
@stacyv81 (5903)
• United States
6 Jul 07
well, when I cook I usually go for the look, but it usually tastes good as well. But I know what you mean...When something appears to taste good, by looking at it and it doesnt it is pretty disappointing, however, if it looks like its gross, maybe we wouldnt give it a chance. I would definitely rather have good tasting food. =)
4 people like this
@scarywhitegirl (2766)
• United States
6 Jul 07
I would much rather have food that tastes good. My current favorite food looks absolutely ugly, because it's a whole bunch of stuff mixed together in one pot, but the combination of tastes and textures is what makes it delicious!
Pretty presentation of food is great, but even my friend who went to culinary school, and learned all of the tricks for fancy presentation of food, would rather just have something that tastes good. Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder when it comes to food!
@angelicEmu (1311)
•
6 Jul 07
It's always going to be flavour for me too. Food is there to keep us alive, and to be enjoyed. Some people are more into appearances than getting stuck in and seeing what the food's really like, and those people are really missing out! If they want to look at something pretty, they should look at a painting or a sculpture. Food is there to be eaten, not looked at! Besides, when you know something tastes great, it looks good and appetising to you anyway! I think your mother is a bit tightly wound!!
3 people like this
@angelicEmu (1311)
•
6 Jul 07
Of course I wasn't being disrespectful - just cheeky, and making a general point :-)
2 people like this
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
6 Jul 07
Hey that's my mom you're talking about! I'm sure you didn't mean any disrespect, hopefully, anyway, all moms are like that, they're especially critical to the daughters I guess.
Yeah, I agree, if someone passes up some really good looking stuff that tastes great, then they are missing out, after all, what's the harm in trying it out, right?
2 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
6 Jul 07
If you can make it look good and taste good, then all the more kudos to you. Otherwise, I will settle for it tasting good.
After all, food is primarily to be eaten, not admired.
@raychill (6525)
• United States
6 Jul 07
Well... if I saw something that looked like someone threw up, I probably wouldn't want to eat it. However, as I belong to a cooking club and I give everything a shot unless it has mushrooms which will make me horribly ill, I eat it whether it looks good or not.
Now if I made something or someone else made something that looked like vomit but I knew wasn't vomit and it sounded good, I'd give it a shot.
On that same note... if I'm looking at recipes I need photos. I just don't want to make a meal that I don't know what it looks like before I make it! That's crucial.
Also, if you asked... Food Tasting Good Vs Food Smelling good... it would definitely be tasting. I HATE food that smells bad. If it smells bad I can't eat. plain and simple. no matter how delicious it may be.
3 people like this
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
6 Jul 07
I guess food that smells bad ultimately doesn't taste too good either. Except mayonnaise maybe.
Well, I agree with you and I'm one of those people who never judge anything before they've tried it and that's especially good when it comes to food.
I mean, most of my favorite soups do look like vomit, but who cares, because they taste good and smell great too.
1 person likes this
@raychill (6525)
• United States
6 Jul 07
That's not entirely true. I think one of the worst smelling things in the world is Pickles. People seem to LOVE pickles. I also hate the smell of vanilla... people love things with vanilla in them. Bad smells don't always mean bad taste...though I hate everything about Pickles except for Cucumbers!
I'm a texture eater though...Textures of food are what is most important to me.
2 people like this
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
7 Jul 07
hmm... but pickles and vanilla tastes great. I mean maybe in pickles you don't like the smell of vinegar, but that's not what the pickle is all about, even if that is the dominant smell. Whenever I smell a pickle I salivate, because it's a strong smell.
Vanilla, again, is a very strong smelling food, that's why a very little of it is used to get the flavor of it. I'm sure you've had vanilla ice cream, smells just a little bit of vanilla, but tastes great.
So, you're a texture eater, I'm not sure if textures mean that much to me, never thought of it..
1 person likes this
@matte5 (1913)
• Sweden
6 Jul 07
Hello vega83.
I must say this was a nice discussion, I am working as a chef and this is wat I am doing in my work good tasting food and it shell be good looking to. You eat with the eye thats true and the food on a plate must hawe nice look and the taste must bee good. If you make a wery good meal and the look is bad then it will not taste as good as it was good looking. so it has to be both taste and look.
Hawe a nice day.
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
6 Jul 07
Hey matte, nice to know you're a chef. But if I ever come to your restaurant, I'd rather have food that tastes really really good, you won't have to work on the presentation for me..Of course, if it had both as you said, then that's perfect. I guess the best chefs can do that.
2 people like this
@matte5 (1913)
• Sweden
6 Jul 07
Hello.
I mean that you can maid a wery simpele and beatiful presentation of the meal and I am not a big fan of these presentation there you dont knowe howe to eate the meal make it simpel but good looking then its greate and it must taste wery good .
2 people like this
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
6 Jul 07
Yeah, ha ha I know what you mean, those monuments and the so artistically created foods, that you don't even know how to eat. That only happens at the big places. I don't know why but stuff like that does look a little snobbish, I haven't actually had anything like that. Hopefully it tastes good too.
2 people like this
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
7 Jul 07
Yeah, display is important, I'm not saying that it's not, but taste is just more important than that. And you're right, food never stays on the plate long enough for you to admire it anyway. Especially if it's good food, and the ultimate goal is for it to taste great, if I get something not so good looking in a restaurant but it tastes great, I would munch it down, but if they bring me something that looks like art, but tastes like crap then it's definitely going back.
1 person likes this
@sunshinecup (7871)
•
6 Jul 07
I can't say I eat with my eyes, I could care less what it looks like. I rather the work goes into the flavor more so than the presentation. I see these chefs on TV. Their plates looks like really good abstract art, but not food. Then when I pay attention to what they used…YUCK! Something like shrimp and chocolate sauce or some mess like that. Give me something I can enjoy eating, not staring at.
BTW some of my favorite dishes I make here look like real messes, yet I never have left overs :oD
3 people like this
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
6 Jul 07
Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean, if I go to a really expensive restaurant and pay loads of money for my food, then I would prefer that it tastes like that amount of money I spent, if it's all in the looks and it looks like art, but tastes like barf, then it would be such a waste.
Some of my dishes turn out to look like mess too. The salsa I make looks like someone threw up tomatoes, but it tastes so good.
1 person likes this
@smints8985 (1594)
• United States
6 Jul 07
Well that is one thing that is really disapointing at times with regards to menus. Sometimes the food looks really good and appetizing in the photos and you end up ordering that one and figures that it is totally not good. I have just had this experience once again just last week. There are also times when the serving size looks pretty hearty but then when they serve it to you there's just a tiny serving that wouldn't even make you half full. I have also experienced this at a Japanese Sushi restaurant before. We were ordering the sushi rolls and the one I ordered look really big in the picture, and since it was pricey I thought that was okay since it'll really be satisfying. But when I got my order, it was the smallest serving among all of our order, I didn't even get to enjoy it since I was eating it slowly to not finish up way ahead of everyone.
Hay... and so sometimes it is nice to eat somewhere where you are aware of the menu and the serving size, that way no surprises.
Something that doesn't look as good but tastes heavenly would certainly be the one for me, but there are also those moments when I'll be feeling a little classy and will be going with which ones looks better.
3 people like this
@kelly60 (4547)
• United States
6 Jul 07
It's great when you can have it both ways, but if I can only have either looks or taste, I'll go for the taste every time. I have tried some foods just because they looked delicious, and found out that they weren't edible. I have also tried some that looked horrible, and found them to be some of the most delicious foods ever. You really can't tell by looking at them. As the old saying goes, "You can't judge a book by its cover."
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
7 Jul 07
My vote is for a balance of both. I love food that tastes great and I also like the way it's served and how it looks.
Even for my everyday cooking I always arrange food nicely on trays or plates and decorate it nicely adding color and making it look pretty:)
The main task is really to make the food taste good. The looks can always be fixed later when serving.
Even when we're in a hurry we tend to do this and my kids are so used to it that they expect it each time.
They even become very good not only at cooking but also at arranging the food in a pleasant arrangement.
so... in this case.. we really can have it all heheheh
2 people like this
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
8 Jul 07
Yeah, I think you're right there, that no matter how messy it gets, you can always make it look nice, maybe by adding a bit of garnish, or something like that, of course, which just proves the point that it's the taste that needs to be worked on perfectly because the looks can be adjusted anyway, with a little bit of food "make up".
1 person likes this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
7 Jul 07
Sure taste has to come first. No point on a nice presentation when it doesn't deliver. The idea of presenting food nicely is to get us all worked up about eating it and if it doesn't taste good it certainly won't work.
ON the other hand I am a firm believer that no matter how messy it gets we can always work it out in a way to make it look nicer.
But yes, Taste needs to be worked out before we get that food on a plater and make it look pretty :)
2 people like this
@mermaid911 (798)
• Philippines
6 Jul 07
Definitely good tasting food! Food that only looks good but doesn't taste good is only good for first impressions. Once you know that the food doesn't taste good, you would vow never to eat that food again. I've tried that several times and I never did eat them again.
@Sushicook (690)
• Sweden
6 Jul 07
I always go for taste first. Some dishes I've made looked very.. interesting, to say the least, but tasted great. Visual appeal is great as well, but as long as it's not in a restaurant or for a party I don't really care what the food looks like.
3 people like this
@smilelxp (17)
• China
6 Jul 07
Of course I know there are many people will put more attention to the looking at there first time to see a new food.Just because they don't the tasting of it is good or bad. In my hometown, there is a type of food that called Chou doufu, its smell is very terrible and looking is also bad,but when you get to have a tast,you will not forget it. Please believe me, and have a try!!
3 people like this
@urbandekay (18278)
•
7 Jul 07
Taste, taste, taste, taste, taste, taste, taste, taste, taste, taste as long as it doesn't look disgusting I don't care what it looks like.
all the best urban
2 people like this
@teleios (737)
• Philippines
7 Jul 07
that's one thing i hate the most, food that looks really good but tastes really bad. leaves you feeling cheated, like you've been one-upped by food haha! i've experienced lots of times when i bought something that looked really great but tasted horrible. what made it worse was that the food was really expensive....i remember it now, shepherd's pie. no idea why i ordered it, it looked good, but it turned out to be the most boring meal i've ever had ;(
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
7 Jul 07
Yeah, it can make you feel cheated, especially if you paid a lot for it and expected a whole lot better. I was about to order that the other day in a restaurant but my friend suggested I order something else. Good, I was saved from having a boring meal.
1 person likes this
@saivenkaat802003 (4823)
• India
7 Jul 07
Hi Vega, Your Avatar is nice, How did you load the GIF image in the avatar?
Regarding this,topic, I would give 90% of weightage to good tasting food and 15% to good looking food..
From my experience often the good looking food dont have good taste in it.... This i find/ experienced from the restuarants that i have visted.. Happy posting Vega..God bless U.
@vega83 (6342)
• Bahrain
8 Jul 07
Well, any GIF avatars work, if they have a resolution of 50 x 50 or 60 x 60. So that's the avatar resolution you wanna get if you want it to move here in my lot.
Hm.. although 90 and 15 don't really add up to a 100, but I get your point, it's taste that's most important, but it would help a bit, if it looked good too. That's what you mean, right?
@crazypumpkin (501)
• Philippines
7 Jul 07
I will go good tasting anytime. You could eat with your eyes close but you cannot taste with your eyes. I have many times eaten a dish that looks so good but but leaves much to be desired on the "taste" arena. so Yeah I prefer taste over looks.
2 people like this
@Deathknight_31 (500)
• Pakistan
7 Jul 07
well when usually ordering something we go for the looks , i mean we will definitely take things which look good cause sometimes we judge by the looks that if it looks a little burned it will taste bad etc. so we choose from looks, and at other times like when home cooking we dont really go for looks we just taste the food and judge it cause we know either we taste it or we just .. discard it if it doesn't taste nice.
2 people like this
