From orange wine to tom yum, a guide to divisive dishes

January 28, 2026 — 5:00am

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We have a thing in our house when our kids try new food. They’re not allowed to say, “I don’t like this.” Instead, they have to say, “I’m still learning to like this.”

The idea is that tastebuds change, preferences change over time, and saying “I don’t like this” builds the idea in a kid’s head that they will never enjoy the taste of a certain dish or ingredient. Saying “I’m still learning to like this” reframes it, it means they will keep trying it and maybe, just maybe, eventually like it.

We suffer through panettone every Christmas. Why?iStock

That’s great for kids. It’s harder when it applies to you, a grown adult who doesn’t have to learn to like new things all that often.

For travellers though, this is a challenge you will face. You will try new foods. You will have to learn to like them.

But still, inevitably, there will be dishes that everyone else seems to love, and you just don’t understand. So I wouldn’t say I don’t like the following much-loved and sometimes iconic national dishes. I would say: I’m still learning to like them.

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Panettone, Italy

I am reliably informed that there are at least two bakeries in Milan that make amazing, fresh panettone that are legitimately delicious. That, unfortunately, leaves about half a million other bakeries and factories in Italy and around the world that are churning out dull, dry, lifeless panettone year after year, Christmas after Christmas, to masses of people like me who have to pretend they’re nice.

Natto, JapanNatto is a key part of traditional Japanese breakfasts.iStock

I try, every time I’m in Japan. I eat the natto – fermented soybeans with a pungent smell and a sticky, stringy texture – that I’m served with a traditional breakfast. I dump it on rice and mix it around and give this much-loved Japanese staple a red-hot go. I want to like it. But it is safe to say that I am still learning.

Tom yum, ThailandTom yum? Tom yuck more like. Or, at least, tom not-filling-enough.iStock

I will be pilloried for this even in my own household, but I don’t get tom yum soup. I like the flavours, I enjoy the mix of hot and sour, the herbaceousness, the fragrance. But I would never order tom yum in Thailand. It just feels like it’s missing something, with no noodles, no rice, very little meat. It’s unsatisfying. Though there are streetside restaurants in Bangkok that serve pork noodles with tom yum-style broth, and I am absolutely on board for that.

Most Eastern European distilled spiritsRaki: no thanks.iStock

I love a local booze: pisco in Peru, cognac in France, patxaran in Spain, grappa in Italy. With that in mind, I’ve always tried to join the locals when I’m in the likes of Greece or Hungary, Croatia or Albania. Raki, palinka, ouzo, I give it all a shot. And I don’t get it. Rocket fuel.

Banchan, KoreaBanchan [Korean side dishes] doesn’t deserve its “god-tier” status.iStock

Koreans love to say that you can just have a whole meal of side dishes, but I don’t want a whole meal of side dishes. I want a whole meal. Banchan has its place, it’s interesting enough and sometimes – in the case of funky, spicy kimchi, or hoe-muchim, a spicy raw fish salad – it’s properly delicious. But banchan’s elevation to god-tier status is not something I understand.

Orange wine, everywhere

As with natto, I have made it my mission to appreciate orange wine – that is, white wine that ferments and ages with the grape skins, in the way a red wine would, creating something tannic and textural and often with a fair whiff of funk – in every country that it’s produced, but still, I don’t get it. Many Parisian sommeliers foisted this on me recently so I can honestly say I’ve given it a roll. But I’m not buying the hype.

Wagyu, everywhereRestaurants around the world are charging higher prices because they’ve whacked wagyu on the menu.iStock

This is surely one of the most overused and over-appreciated ingredients on the planet. Wagyu has its place. Done right, cooked properly, with thoughtful accompaniments, highly marbled wagyu is a thing of real beauty. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the only good steak around. So many restaurants around the world are getting away with charging high prices for carelessly cooked steak because they can slap “wagyu” on the menu.

Fish and chips, UKFish and chips can be great. Most of the time it’s not.Wolter Peeters

Wait, wait, wait. Fish and chips is great. Or at least, it can be great. And probably one in every 100 fish and chip meals you eat will be delicious. But that means you’re getting a whole lot of bog-average meals, with tasteless chips, fish batter that’s either far too thick or way too soggy, fish fillets that are well past their prime, and tartare that’s straight out of the cheapest jar they could find at the supermarket.

Elevated anything

Alarm bells go off any time a chef announces that he (and it’s usually he) has “elevated” a classic. Mate, you haven’t. You’ve screwed with a traditional recipe in the mistaken belief that you can improve on several hundred years of perfection. There are a few chefs who really can do this. But most can’t.

Magic coffee, MelbourneMagic coffee: I don’t understand the fascination.Eddie Jim

Melbourne takes its coffee culture very seriously, even though the rest of Australia also figured out how to make nice coffee a good while back (and, awkwardly, the flat white was invented in Sydney). But Melbourne has the “magic coffee”, a double ristretto with a small amount of steamed, “stretched” milk and … it’s nice. Lovely even. But better than a regular piccolo, or a cortado? Truly magic? I don’t understand the fascination.

Anything with marshmallows, USSweet potato casserole with marshmallows. Yes, it’s a real thing.iStockRelated Article

It’s wild to me that this is actually a thing, but Americans make serious, savoury foods with marshmallows in them. There’s a sweet potato casserole, often served at Thanksgiving, that is topped with marshmallows. There are salads with marshmallows. I will never understand this.

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Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.From our partners