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“The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

jmspae.se

331–340 of 374 posts

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#333
post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is a nice selection of European cities to compare! Having lived in Berlin and Stockholm (and a few other cities), I'd say Stockholm has by far the worst kebab options of all places I've lived, while Berlin was the best one. I'm curious whether this is reflected in local reviews, or whether the locals just lower or heighten their standards based on the what the average food quality is like.

As someone whose been living in Berlin for the last 11 years I'm always horrified to read people say they wish the had high quality kebabs "like in Berlin" - the average kebab here is atrocious (obviously optimized for price and not for quality) - the best ones are OK but definitely not amazing. I don't want to find out how bad the kebabs are in Sweden and other places you hear the from like some US cities if you thi…

Well, technically I did say "has best options", not "the kebab quality median is great".

I now live in Malmö, which has a much higher number of people from Middle-Eastern countries, so their cuisine is also a lot better than what you can get in Stockholm. However, since I've also become vegetarian in the intervening years I could not tell you what the local quality of the kebab is. Falafel is pretty passable though. And one of my Iraqi friends has said the better places in Malmö win the "least disappointing experience in Sweden compared to home" award, for what it's worth.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#334
Besides the other mentioned issues, using average user rating as a proxy of quality is something that needs at least an argument why you expect the ratings to be comparable. Consider that for example shops near a train station will see a lot more one-off customers who might be inclined to rate differently compared to the shop's neighbors.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#335
post #86

Hi there, "OP" here. First off, it's been fun to see this post spread across the interwebs since I first wrote it one caffeine-fueled day just over a week ago (first Menéame, now here) and for the heck of it, I thought I would clarify a few things; This post was (sortof) a meme. Sure, I "understood the assignment" and performed the quick "study" ("analysis" might be more fitting) for the sake of the original post ove…

> I suppose I need to start working on part 2....

I'll wait for the ignobel paper.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it would if it was actually a steak. for the type of meat you get on cheeesteaks - trust me - you want the cheese :)

Technically they're not allowed to call it cheese. ;)

lol

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pardon my ignorance, but I always wonder how these money laundering kebab places work. We have some in my city too and they always leave me puzzled. If nobody eats there, how do they launder money? I'm probably daft/naieve but can't figure out the mechanics of money laundering when the business doesn't actually move any product.

Although no one eats there, he declares 50 kebab sales, the purchase of a frozen kebab skewer and bread rolls, etc. The raw materials will either be thrown away or sold on to another real restaurant. But to pass the checks, the purchases of raw materials must be consistent with the sales. The 50 sales are made with cash from drug trafficking. The simpler the activity, the fewer raw materials and the bigger the margin…

Ireland and the UK have Vape Shops, Mattress Stores, Internet Cafes, Sunbed Salons, Phone Repair Shops, and increasingly 'US Sweet Shops' for some reason (presumably high margin, low price shelf-stable inventory, no significant food safety or service regs for ambient goods storage, can be run by minimum wage staff.)

https://www.irishtimes.com/world/uk/2024/05/08/londons-plagu...

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a non-Parisian: the hard distinction between "metro" and "train" can be non-obvious, even perplexing, depending on which train systems one is accustomed with. Some systems just don't have it, in manners that if said in Paris terms it might be train to Lyon arriving next to Line 6 Westbound.

It doesn't need to be a hard distinction. I'm sure everyone can see the difference of a building with multiple platforms and usually shops and other things targetting non-locally-resident travellers and your average metro stop with has two platforms (one for each direction) and not much more than an entrance and exit. Where exactly you draw the line doesn't really matter.

That. That kind of distinction isn't universal. Some places just have a fused metro-plus-train system, in which you can slip in a $1 metro ticket, ride along changing metro trains for over a day across >1500km/1000mi, and pay outstanding fee at the exit, like on Japanese JR networks and metro trains interoperating with it.

I'm not saying which modes of thinking are more rational or superior or anything of that sort, just that the seemingly instinctive distinction you have described is not necessarily so to everybody.

Re: “The closer to the train station, the worse the kebab” – a “study”

#340
So, this is anecdotal, and it's not true at the moment (because the end of the Santa Cruz wharf just fell into the ocean, and now the clam chowder restaurants are closed), but ...

... I had an ex who was a huge clam chowder fan, so she did her own "experiment" and tried every chowder-serving restaurant on the Santa Cruz wharf (I think there were seven).

Her completely unscientific finding was that the very best chowder was at the end of the wharf, and generally speaking the chowder got worse as you got closer to the start of the pier (ie. the closest place to The Boardwalk ... where all the tourists come).

It makes perfect sense to me: if people come to your restaurant because of its location, you don't put much effort into quality. If you're far from the walk-in traffic, you need to do something (like make really delicious chowder) to get people to walk out to you.

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