An image of squid ink pasta.
milanfoto/istockphoto

There are foods that can be disagreeable with most anyone’s digestive system, just as there are other foods that will quite literally throw your body into harm’s way due to you having a literal life-threatening allergy to. For instance, choosing to go all in on a dish that’s almost entirely made up of cheese is just a tad bit of a risky decision. To suggest that you might end up dealing with a tidal wave of gas is just a bit accurate. To the person that ordered the squid ink pasta, bold bold move indeed.

1. Spaghetti With Squid Ink

Spaghetti that's been dyed with squid ink and then tossed with vegetables.
milanfoto/istockphoto

Oof. The nerve. While the dish itself must’ve felt fancy enough, and is no doubt just the kind of dish that one orders when you’ve decided to treat yourself, you’re also setting yourself up to end up making quite the mess. Redditor u/Barbara_Celarent writes, “Once o ordered spaghetti with squid ink on a date. I looked like Marilyn Manson.” That’s probably not exactly the look that you’re going after.

2. Onion Soup With Cheese Melted

A bowl of onion soup that's been paired with melted cheese and has bread on the side as well.
bonchan/istockphoto

Okay, now while this is absolutely an utterly delightful seasonally-relevant dish, it can also end up being quite the messy process when you try to wolf it down. Basically, there’s currently no known graceful way to eat the dish when you’re joined by someone else.

3. Bone Marrow Appetizer

A little dish of bone marrow that's been paired with onion and carrots.
MKucova/istockphoto

Now, you might assume that a bone marrow dish would come with some kind of bread accompaniment but therein you very well might be wrong. Take it from Redditor u/smda827, who writes, “I once took a first date to a Scottish restaurant and ordered bone marrow as an appetizer, thinking it would be served with toast to spread it on like I’d seen on TV. Nope. Plastic straw I had to slurp it out of the bone through. It was like a warm beef milk shake. I figured at that point the date couldn’t get worse so I drank the bone goo. Married my date a few years later and we still laugh about it.” When you drink the actual bone goo you’ve know you’ve descended to newfound disaster date levels. At least it all worked out for those two somehow.

4. Hot Peppers

A pile of hot red peppers.
real444/istockphoto

While you might enjoy the spice delivered to a dish via hot peppers, it’s most definitely not guaranteed that your date will enjoy the after burn effects that linger on your tongue for a while after you’ve eaten a hot peppers-inspired dish. There are plenty of other ways to spice up a date.

5. Garlic-Heavy Dishes

A close-up image of some cut up garlic cloves.
chrisboy2004/istockphoto

If you weren’t already well aware that garlic has a world renowned reputation for being able to make one’s breath absolutely stink. You really don’t even have to have that much of it to become painfully aware of how you might not want to speak to close to someone after that seemingly innocent little garlic clove. So, mindfully err on the cautious side and resist the urge to go in on the garlic-infused dishes.

Meet the Writer

Matt has spent over the last 8 years as both a writer and editor, working in Seattle and Brooklyn, where he is now based. He loves escaping the tirelessly fast pace of the “Mad Apple” that is NYC by taking walks and runs through parks where he’s able to catch up on the latest tea about society from the city’s ever chatty, always hungry, occasionally maniacal, pigeons. They always have a lot to say. When he’s not taking his urban nature strolls, or dutifully combing the deepest rabbit holes of the internet to find the content that’s worth sinking your mind’s teeth into, he’s likely holed up at a dark-lit dive bar with a new book and/or some friends, or just as easily he could be on the hunt for the next addition to his steadily growing plant family.

These days Matt’s caught up in trying to provide folks as many vivid glimpses into the days long since passed as he can, through fun and engaging collections of hand-picked vintage photos.