Anyone who knows me knows that one of the things I love most in life is eating. So, it came as a surprise to many people in my life when I chose to study abroad in Scotland this past spring, which arguably does not have the best reputation when it comes to cuisine. But all the haters were wrong because I ate so much good food in Edinburgh and there were soooo many amazing restaurants. I absolutely loved my time in Edinburgh and I travelled to so many new places during my time abroad, and trust me, I ate A LOT of food. So, here is my ranking of all the new foods I tried during my time abroad. I limited the ranking to only foods I tried for the first time ( because otherwise we’d be here all day), but I will give a major shoutout to ramen because Scotland had the best ramen ever. Also big shoutout to all the insanely good Indian restaurants and good ol’ fish and chips. Anyways, here we go!
14. Scottish Breakfast
Ok I know I just said Edinburgh had amazing food, but I fear the Scottish breakfast just wasn’t for me. A full Scottish breakfast has sausage, bacon, black pudding, haggis, tattie scones, baked beans, toast, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Individually all of these things were good. I definitely was not the best fan of the black pudding but everything else I did like. The weird thing to me was that nothing really went together that well. I just feel like eating cooked mushrooms and haggis and then an egg is not something that really makes my heart sing. I am sorry to everyone in Scotland, please do not hate me.
13. Crumpet
I tried a crumpet for the first time in London and it was actually weirdly really good. It was similar to an English muffin but for some reason 10 times better. The only reason it’s ranked low is because it’s just not that exciting compared to the other things on the list. But I literally would buy crumpets every single week and eat them for breakfast so definitely no hate for the crumpet.
12. Vegetarian Haggis
I tried this for the first time when I was first in Scotland and felt too scared to eat haggis. The vegan version is made from grains, beans, vegetables, lentils, and seeds. It tasted similar to a veggie burger but the texture was just like regular haggis. I don’t think I would eat this on its own but I had it in a sandwich and it was actually really good. I think generally I would go for the actual haggis over the vegetarian version, but it was honestly a lot better than I expected.
11. Wotsits
Ok this definitely shouldn’t count as a type of food because they are literally cheese puffs but tell me why these were the best cheese puffs I’ve ever eaten in my life. I can’t even tell you the last time I ate cheese puffs of any kind before I went abroad, but these things were genuinely so good my flatmates and I would have to buy a new bag every week. I know you think I’m crazy for this, but trust me – go and buy these next time you’re in the UK and you will understand.
10. Millionaire shortbread
Millionaire’s shortbread is a Scottish shortbread that has a base layer of regular shortbread, a layer of caramel, and a top layer of chocolate. This is pretty simple but it’s as good as it sounds. I mean, I don’t know how you could go wrong with those three ingredients and a cup of tea.
9. Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties
I tried real haggis for the first time on Burns night and I will say it was actually way better than I was expecting. Apparently it’s illegal to produce in the United States, which had me thinking it would be so scary and gross, but it literally just tasted like sausage with a different texture. Haggis, neeps, and tatties is haggis with mashed turnips and potatoes, and having everything together kind of reminded me of a Scottish version of Thanksgiving dinner. I will say haggis was not my favorite food I ate for sure, but I do think it’s way over-hated, and overall I enjoyed it.
8. Potato Dumplings (knedlíky)
I tried these when I visited Prague, and they were basically giant potato-based dumplings filled with sweet or savory filling. We had some filled with meat and cheese, and some dessert flavors. The place we went had a million different kinds, so it was very hard to choose what to pick, but these were soo yummy. Surprisingly I liked the savory ones better than the sweet, because they tasted better with the potato flavor of the dumpling.
7. Percy Pigs
If I gained anything from studying abroad it’s an addiction to Percy Pigs. I literally went to buy these because a Scottish girl at the bus stop heard me talking with some friends and was horrified that none of us had ever tried Percy Pigs. So, obviously I listened to the wise local and went to the store only to find an entire wall of different Percy Pig variations. I think during my months in Edinburgh I tried most of the types, and my favorites were the phizzy pigtails and the Percy Pigs and pals. I recently found out that they now sell the basic Percy Pigs at Target and that has made my life just that much better. So, everyone go to Target and buy some ASAP. The only reason these are not ranked higher is because I do have some level of decorum and I know that candy is not real food, and therefore it had to be placed here. But I’m telling you, go buy these.
6. Kaiserschmarrn
This is an Austrian dessert that’s basically a shredded pancake topped with powdered sugar and served warm with a fruit topping. I tried it in Vienna and it was served in this little cone thing with plums on top and it was sooo good. I will say it was really cold when I ate this and I think that made it taste even better because it was so warm and sweet and yummy. My only gripe here is that I wasn’t the hugest fan of the plums. Overall this was so good and I definitely would get this again.
5. Chimney Cake (kürtőskalács)
These were literally being sold at every corner when I visited Budapest. So, like seasoned and well-read travelers, my friends and I looked on tiktok to make sure we went to the best place to try these for the first time. A chimney cake is basically a sweet cake-like batter that’s wrapped around into a funnel shape and covered with sugar, and then filled with different fillings. It’s kind of the texture of a croissant but sweeter. The place we went had so many different options of fillings like cinnamon sugar, vanilla cream, nutella, strawberry. I had vanilla cream with cinnamon on the outside and it was so so so good.
4. Wiener Schnitzel
Going into this meal I knew I would like it, but it was even better than I thought. I feel like fried meat is always a safe bet, but this was just so perfect in every way and I loved it so much. I understand now what Maria was singing about in the Sound of Music.
3. Bibimbap
I know I’m kind of behind with this because I think most people have tried bibimbap before, but oh my goodness I loved this so much. I tried it once in Edinburgh and then everytime I was too lazy to cook I would just go get bibimbap and it was so good everytime. I just found out that they have this at Iya so I am very excited to go try it there.
2. Sunday Roast
Imagine sitting in a cozy pub, it’s really cold outside and you just walked all over the place, there’s a bunch of people and dogs around, and you’re eating a Sunday roast. Honestly, peak life experience in my opinion. I had a Sunday roast in England and Scotland and it was so good both times. It comes with some type of roast meat (I had pork), yorkshire pudding, potatoes, vegetables, and gravy. It’s so much food but it’s so good. I feel like Scotland really taught me that you can’t go wrong with good meat and potatoes, and also the yorkshire pudding just makes it even yummier.
1, Hungarian Goulash
Ok I was really struggling to decide which came first, but as I looked back through all my food photos, this was the photo that literally made my mouth water. It’s basically a stew made with paprika, vegetables, and veal or beef, served with csipetke, which are tiny little egg dumplings that look sort of like pasta. I tried this in Budapest on the very first day we got there. My friends and I had walked what felt like 1000 miles and we were all starving and we went to this food market with a million different restaurants and decided to try goulash. It was literally so amazing. Truly in the top ten meals of my life, which also was partly because I was starving, but also because it was just that good.