Surprisingly good food where least expected (ingredients, restaurant, burger, grilled)

[Parnassia]

I had an outpatient surgical procedure at the local hospital yesterday. To my surprise, instead of the predictable few pages of hospital forms, the discharge nurse handed me a paper bag containing instructions plus a container of frozen "get well" chicken noodle soup from the cafeteria. How good could hospital cafeteria soup be? Still, not one to let food go to waste, I microwaved it for dinner. Not only did it smell delicious, it WAS delicious! It wasn't just because I was ravenous from my pre-op fast either. It was probably the gosh darned best chicken soup I've tasted in my life. Packed chock full of everything to the point it was almost a stew. So good I'm currently trying to find out how to score more!

OK, OK, anyone who knows me knows I'm no gourmet and I don't play one on TV. Maybe my palate isn't super discriminating, but this soup was a true pleasure.

Anyone else care to share a pleasant surprise like this?

[Threerun]

Had to travel to Lewistown MT for work- a small town and all the local hotels/motels were booked. We stayed in a smaller 'town' about 1.5hrs away called Niehart MT- near to a local ski-hill. Only place in town to lodge was a little brick roadside motel called Bob's Bar Restaurant & Motel. My co-worker was not thrilled to stay in an old motel, lol.

OMG- Best damned 'bar food' I've ever had! The place has a trained east coast chef on board and although the menu is simple it is oh so good. I had baby back ribs that were smoked and covered in a homemade BBQ sauce and then drizzled with some kind of bleu cheese mix that was to die for. I've had ribs in a lot places all over this country, including Texas and this ranked well up there. The calamari was the some of the best I have ever had. HUGE and flavorful! No dipping sauce needed or wanted.

The rooms were quaintly redecorated, the owner is a fantastic lady, the bartender was fantastic. We'll be staying there again for sure.

If anyone travels to MT and wants to really get into 'the real Montana'- go here, you will not be dissapointed! Their reviews are off the charts awesome.

https://www.google.com/travel/hotels...tm_source=htls

[MechAndy]

I do the cooking at our place
A good meal usually starts out with good ingredients.
Good ingredients are not overly expensive and a good meal isn’t much harder (if at all) to produce.

It’s a shame that some food places go cheap on ingredients because of a corporate policy situation.
Our hospital in California has a good kitchen/dining area.
When I was still employed I worked at all of the hospitals in San Francisco and they all had decent meals.

Hopefully this new/newish trend will continue flourish and spread throughout.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

I had an outpatient surgical procedure at the local hospital yesterday. To my surprise, instead of the predictable few pages of hospital forms, the discharge nurse handed me a paper bag containing instructions plus a container of frozen "get well" chicken noodle soup from the cafeteria.

Edited to add: Just talked to the surgery department that provided the soup. Unfortunately, that soup isn't offered in their general cafeteria. The cafeteria staff makes it up for the surgery department's patients. I'm sure I could get a recipe, but I doubt their recipe is particularly unique. Cooking up a manageably small batch at home doesn't mean it will turn out like theirs...doubtful. It also requires me to cook which sort of cancels out the benefit . They did say I could come by and pick up another container though!

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

Edited to add: Just talked to the surgery department that provided the soup. Unfortunately, that soup isn't offered in their general cafeteria. The cafeteria staff makes it up for the surgery department's patients. I'm sure I could get a recipe, but I doubt their recipe is particularly unique. Cooking up a manageably small batch at home doesn't mean it will turn out like theirs does. They did say I could come by and pick up another container though! It also requires me to cook which sort of cancels out the benefit .

Just chat with the cafeteria lead after main serving times.

Speaking of hospital food. While SO was still in recovery I was told that I could wait and work in his room. Family meals were included and options were three pages. The grilled salmon with fresh greens was simply to die for. I had it for breakfast the next day. Yes, a nice card to the kitchen staff.
I asked SO if any of his follow up appointments are around lunch hours - we can stop at the hospital:>)

[toylilly]

Recent trip to Athens. Food was amazing and better still it was so cheap. I love the Revithokeftedes, gyros, tzatziki, taramasalata and just general Mediterranean food and vibes!

[lubby]

When my husband was in the hospital last year he ordered Penne Alla vodka. It was actually really good. We shared it.

[Mikala43]

We stopped at a diner literally in the middle of nowhere, nothing else for hours around.

Figured it wouldn't be very good because people had to eat there are travel a couple hours.

It was fabulous, homemade corned beef hash and jams. There menu was so good it was hard to decide.

[SnazzyB]

I am a fan of pineapple and Canadian bacon pizza. Some chains do it better than others, but the BEST I've had so far, comes from a convenience store located in Woodland Lakes, close to Sullivan Missouri. NOT a place I would think of for good pizza, nevertheless...there it is.

[Sand&Salt]

I had the same chicken-noodle soup experience in the hospital here. I was amazed. It was homemade and delicious! There's no packaged or processed meals served.

When we lived in Moab, Utah, there was a funky little diner from the 50s called "Milt's". They had/have the best burgers we've ever eaten. And tater-tots! Ohhh, Santa Fe burger with Swiss and a green chili....

When I was a teenager, I worked in a Swedish Smorgasbord serving Swedish rye bread (never found it again, either), carved ham on a rotisserie, carved roast beef, baked cod, tiny shrimp-and-sour-cream with capers on rye.....

And Sven, the owner, was a Swedish dream-boat....