Here's one of the most useless lists you'll ever come across: A list of fifty great places to eat a specific food item. Like, it's real handy for me to know that if I ever decide I want to try suckling pig — and I've somehow made it to age 57 without having such an urge — the place to go for it is the Montimar in Estellencs, Mallorca. I'm sure whoever designated that as the best suckling pig in the world has tried suckling pig in every other eatery that serves it. (Note that they also seem to love the suckling pig at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Cebu, Philippines. The two restaurants cannot both have the best suckling pig in the world. I sense a duel-to-the-death looming…)
I've been to exactly one of the restaurants listed here — Katz's Deli in New York where, the list says, one can get the best pastrami sandwich in the world. And when I have been to Katz's, I've always had brisket or corned beef which, by the way, were terrific.
So it's a useless list but an entertaining one. You can even fantasize about the perfect meal: Oysters as an appetizer from Strangfor Lough in Northern Ireland…then a "surf 'n' turf" composed of the steak at El Carpicho in Jimenez de Jamuz, Spain plus prawns from Casa Bigote in nearby Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain. Add in the fried potatoes from the Bomba Bar Cova in Fumada, Barcelona and finish off your meal with chocolate cake from Pierre Hermé in Paris. Or if that's too much trouble, you can go grab an In-n-Out Burger, which is what I may do. Yum.