A question which came up in Delhi with my friend S, only fully explored today in New York with his wife L: S took me to the divey but delicious Karim, "the best Mughlai food in Delhi," and apparently one of the best restaurants in all of Asia - or so did Time Magazine declare in 1985. (As this sign indicated, it has the same problems with imitators as the One and Only Original Ray's Pizza.) Supposing it were indeed the world's best Mughlai food, should I be taken there for my first experience of the cuisine? Would I even be able to appreciate what made it good, let alone the best? And wouldn't it in any case condemn me to disappointment in all future Mughlai food-eating experiences? They may sound snarky, not to mention ungrateful, but they were serious questions.Thursday, February 02, 2012
Is the best good enough?
A question which came up in Delhi with my friend S, only fully explored today in New York with his wife L: S took me to the divey but delicious Karim, "the best Mughlai food in Delhi," and apparently one of the best restaurants in all of Asia - or so did Time Magazine declare in 1985. (As this sign indicated, it has the same problems with imitators as the One and Only Original Ray's Pizza.) Supposing it were indeed the world's best Mughlai food, should I be taken there for my first experience of the cuisine? Would I even be able to appreciate what made it good, let alone the best? And wouldn't it in any case condemn me to disappointment in all future Mughlai food-eating experiences? They may sound snarky, not to mention ungrateful, but they were serious questions.