What are some examples of fancier, expensive, boutique versions of things that are worse than the mass market version?

Totally agree on the fancy wine-opening gear. Dude I've got a pocketknife, don't come at me with that Rabbit or gas-injecting thingy or whatever.

In a pinch I've used a ball-point pen.

Hot sauce

wine openers otm, the basic steel ones with the two legs are the best by far.

Pretty sure I'd take the shittiest microbrew over Coors or Budweiser.

having had some really bad microbrews and having enjoyed a domestic tall boy with bbq, nah

^^^

Pho

Burgers

expensive niche house fragrances

Tea

Crisps

every time i eat a fancy taco it just makes me with i was at a cheap mexican restaurant instead

makes me wish

i think this applies in general to a trend over the last decade or so i've taken to calling "fancy junk food." but there are some isolated cases in which a 3 dollar donut really is pretty excellent.

oh mannn i have been burned several times by dry, airy, flavorless 3 dollar Dough-brand donuts when all i actually wanted was a krispy kreme or something to make drinking my coffee more interesting.

I don't love paying 10€+ for a burger but when I've done it they've been the best burgers I've ever had

but I'll add: potato chips

I'm having trouble finding an example of this. Mass-market stuff is generally bland and mediocre at best, and I consume enough of it. Like, I'd easily take the three tacos made by Mexican people that I can get for $5 down the street over some weird $10 paleo vegan hipster taco place but fuck Taco Bell.

That's what I meant by "crisps" ftr xp

Lots of drip coffees!

Movie theater popcorn

like fancy theatres versus cineplex, or cineplex versus microwave/pre-made bags or what? this one's weird because the cineplex version is SUPPOSED to be the mass-market everyperson's food but nowadays it costs an absolute fortune.

bottomless popcorn night and “bring your own popcorn container” night beg to differ

ah yes "crisps" sorry mate ;)

staples like butter differ from place to place; in the usa yr land o'lakes is pretty bland but the store brands in france uk etc. are totally good imo. I still buy hipster butter from time to time but it's not like the leap from supermarket cheese or w/o

Cineplex popcorn is so cynical! It’s like movie theater popcorn simulacrum. Just bags and bags of grainy old popcorn that fulfills some idea of pleasure, without any of the pleasurable elements of popcorn. No crunch, no deliciously cloying butter flavor, just styrofoam with salt and flavorless oil.

Microwave butter popcorn < air pop with butter < movie theater style popcorn > fancy cineplex popcorn > artesianial flavored pre-popped kernels in a bag.

I'm not sure I understand the categories there ("crisps" guy over here) but yeah "fancy" popcorn is a letdown

Although reading that over again, cheapo salty popcorn (which is the norm here everywhere you go) > popcorn with I can't believe it's not butter on it imo

there isn't a percent profit on earth bigger than the one on multiplex popcorn

the average greasy diner burger is better than anything more fancy but mass-market burgers = mcdonald's which are clearly inferior (though i like them fine).

To the first post - I'll happily pay a premium for flouride-free toothpaste. And, to quote Andy Warhol, 'A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.'

there isn't a percent profit on earth bigger than the one on multiplex popcorn

KETCHUP!!!! Heinz has perfected it y’all, no need to bother.

Coke and ketchup otm

I don't buy food when I watch a film because that is for mugs

i know some ushers who'd like you

wait did someone just out themselves as a fluoride conspiracy theorist

xp I aim to please - we don't really have ushers here tho

I go to the cinema fairly frequently tho & can sit still for 2 hours without needing to chug strawberry laces constantly or whatever, because I am not six. I'm glad that the ppl who choose to do so pay inflated prices on the whole

we don't really have ushers here tho

well whoever's job it is to keep roaches from crawling across the projector lens like the tingler.

i unexpectedly stopped being able to eat popcorn without becoming violently ill around age 25 for some ominous reason so now i just drink sprite at movies. when i did get multiplex popcorn tho it was always gone before the end of the trailers. maybe that has something to do with it.

haircuts, sometimes

poutine

I think Coke and ketchup are the only two of these I can really get behind so far. Being a snob is more fun for me than being a reverse snob.

yeah, i bought a fancy poutine last week, it was a mess

i would extend to brunch in general: low-end cheap brunch = good, high-end cheap = good, then things get incrementally worse the more you spend

brunch is a great pick.

I'm in favour of banning cinema popcorn at any movie below a certain volume threshold since seeing Solaris. It's okay at King Kong or whatever, but some movies should not have to compete to be heard over nonstop popcorn munching.

I must have posted this before, but the boutique snack at my local arthouse is WASABI PEAS. Like well done, you have found the snack that is not only crunchier than popcorn, it's louder than literally all snacks. Dried fucking peas, my god. Let's just go the whole hog, like, I'll have one for last year at marienbad and some m&ms and a fucking vuvuzela

I've had some pretty great artisanal/boutique ketchup, though the difference in quality between it and mass produced ketchup isn't as big, as stuff like bread, popcorn, chocolate ... many things ... but the fancy (lol) ketchup is no worse than the store brand "fancy ketchup" at the supermarket.

fancier version tends to be not as good as the cheaper version: fried chicken

Strongly disagree with that one.

peanut butter

Car audio systems.

I don’t know what it is, but my Toyota Echo’s sound is so much better, punchier, and more fully-defined than what I’ve heard from fancier systems.

cats
dogs

peanut butter cups

fancier version tends to be not as good as the cheaper version: fried chicken

also they have nice soap

Some nice grey Celtic/guerande sel gris is definitely worth it; It tastes like the sea and it takes a couple of months to go through a kilo. It is an order of magnitude more expensive than big standard salt but not much more in monetary terms, I guess.

also, how did I not know about Eazy's career and why am I not getting preferential treatment

"There's a time for Bud" is a different statement from "Bud is better," I will grant.

― piezoelectric landlord (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, November 13, 2017 8:41 AM (three hours ago)

that's how I feel about Taco Bell vis a vis Mexican Food. Taco Bell is it's own category. Taco Bell Pintos n Cheese is good in a different way than an artisanal taco or yucca fries.

one dollar plastic corkscrew

― scott seward, Saturday, November 11, 2017 11:29 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

honestly i usually break or bend these

the same with ice scream scoops

same here

a $10 waiter's key is the sweet spot for corkscrews

This two-stage corkscrew design is the GOAT and well worth obtaining:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/810kU9UAGrL._SL1500_.jpg

Please note: it is not a one-dollar corkscrew.

http://www.vintageguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/01_TRAINWRECK.jpg

Please note: it is not a one-dollar corkscrew.

― A is for (Aimless), Monday, November 13, 2017 10:48 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you're right, it's the $10 corkscrew i just posted about

I have several waiter's corkscrews. I think they are great. Most of them are a one-stage design. I posted a pic of a two-stage design that is even quicker and easier to use and more consistent in its results.

Have you ever actually handled a Dyson fan? They feel cheaper than a $2 clock radio and move less air and look ridiculous. Other than that, great product and investment.

For example, I noticed that a lot of the fancy-pants toothpastes are missing fluoride.

― Philip Nunez, Saturday, November 11, 2017 8:54 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

interesting

re: philippe starck
https://www.stardust.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/alessi-juicy-salif-MAIN.jpg

maybe "fancy but worse" is all he makes?

I keep hearing that fancy cheese is worse than American cheese on a burger, but surely there must be some good fancy burger cheese?

yeah I feel like kraft american cheese slices are the most generic burger experience, it’s not optimal at all

really any good cheese slice is good on a burger, is the thing

it should be something that works good in slice form, some nice cheeses disintegrate in that form

blue cheese crumbles are ok on some fancy burgers but people tend to gild the lily and put carmelized shallots and eight other things on

either David Chang or J Kenji Lopez-Alt argues in favor of American cheese, based mostly on the way it melts

I'll take a slice of sharp cheddar on a burger every time.

The ultimate example of this is probably the smartphone -- there is simply no way that a phone aimed at a handful of ultra-rich customers will ever be as good as a mass-market smartphone, because the technology is so complex and pretty much relies on widespread use, and because it's not economical to produce a better phone for a far smaller market, even if they pay 10x as much.

This is a good one too:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/dining/raw-water-unfiltered.html

cream cheese

Coc... hey let's just pretend somebody said it and move on

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Philly_cream_cheese.jpg/1200px-Philly_cream_cheese.jpg