History Main / TastesBetterThanItLooks

* Fertilized duck eggs [[note]]quail and chicken eggs are also alternatives[[/note]], common in countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam, contains (among other things) a bird embryo. They look like something straight out of a horror movie, but are actually very nutritious and considered a great restorative food for pregnant women in Vietnamese culture.

* In Creator/JamesHarriot's autobiography, ''The Lord God Made Them All'', he recounts a voyage on a Danish ship to Russia, when he was disgusted by seeing the preparation of a traditional dish involving uncooked beef and eggs, tried to hold his breath when forcing it down but accidentally inhaled, and found it was actually delicious.

'''Pinkie Pie:''' More rock, please!

* The page quote comes from the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The 30% Iron Chef", in which Bender enters a cooking contest. His dish looks disgusting, but the judges love it and he's declared the winner. Then it turns out it tastes better because [[spoiler: it was because it was laced with LSD]].

->''The challenger's ugly food has shown us that even hideous things can be sweet on the inside.''

* The page quote comes from the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The 30% Iron Chef", in which Bender enters a cooking contest. His dish looks disgusting, but the judges love it and he's declared the winner. Then the trope is subverted when it turns out that [[spoiler: it was because it was laced with LSD.]]

* Pomegranate is a fruit whose inside can look slightly visceral and bloody to sensitive people. You eat or juice the seeds, and the taste is actually very juicy, very sweet, and comparable to a grape or a cherry.

->''The challenger's ugly food has shown us that even hideous things can be sweet on the inside''

* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', During week 2, Joshua and Neku go to a ramen shop struggling to keep up with it's competitor on the same street. The shop owner offers them a special ramen he created, which Neku thinks looks disgusting. Before he can say anything, Joshua orders two of them and after being pressured into eating it, Neku realizes that it tastes great

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''LightNovel/DateALive'': "The Seventh Spirit", the first episode of season 3, starts with all the girls of Shido's {{harem|Genre}} making a stew consisting of all of their favorite foods, such as fried chicken, an ice cream cone, and a lollipop. The result is a grotesque, bubbling blob radiating a sickeningly purple color. To almost everyone's surprise, though, when Shido tastes it... it's actually pretty good. Disbelievingly, some of the girls try it and find that the taste is surprisingly pleasant.

* In ''Film/TheSmurfs'', Grouchy lands in a pile of M&Ms which look normal but they look to him [[ToiletHumour like the droppings of some creature in Smurf Village]]. However, when he eats one, he enjoys them.

* ''Manga/MyGirlfriendIsAShobitch'': Subverted when Akiho is trying to complete a cooking assignment in class to impress Haruka (her boyfriend) and makes a horrific-looking mess. Her friend Misaki volunteers to test it and gushes that it's very good to Akiho's delight. However, as soon as Akiho walks away, a sickly Misaki begs Haruka to never let Akiho know about "her condition", whereupon she keels over and her spirit [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence ascends to the heavens]].

* In ''[[Literature/CiaphasCain Death or Glory]]'', the breakfast Jurgen makes one day is described as "gray and lumpy". It smells appetizing, and Cain comments that after eating the whatever-it-was, he felt ready for anything the day might hold, so it must have tasted good.

[[folder:Light Novels]]
''LightNovel/DateALive'': "The Seventh Spirit", the first episode of season 3, starts with all the girls of Shido's {{harem|Genre}} making a stew consisting of all of their favorite foods, such as fried chicken, an ice cream cone, and a lollipop. The result is a grotesque, bubbling blob radiating a sickeningly purple color. To almost everyone's surprise, though, when Shido tastes it... it's actually pretty good. Disbelievingly, some of the girls try it and find that the taste is surprisingly pleasant.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* A few episodes of ''Series/IronChef'' featured chefs who made some questionable-looking but delicious dishes. The Japanese series featured an ice cream episode with the crab ice cream described as "not at all fishy and surprisingly good". Chefs had, over a number of episodes, attempted some kind of fish ice cream, which the tasting panel hated. Finally, Stephanie Izard, challenged with yellowfin tuna, dared make an ice cream with it, and she finally pulled off a fish ice cream that worked. The American show had beer sherbet in the Battle Oktoberfest (featuring Bavarian ingredients). The caramelized bacon on top of the ice cream threw people off, but the judges loved it.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': In "Too Many Cooks", the recuperating Private Paul Conway spends his time at the 4077th cooking for the personnel, using what little ingredients he has to work with, but applying his ingenuity; at first, his dishes (such as Spam Parmesan) may sound and look awful, but they turn out to smell and taste so wonderful that the camp practically lines up outside the Mess Tent for his culinary delights.
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** In "Don't Ask Me," Spinelli feel she's hit on an improvement to the school cafeteria's cornbread: layering lime gelatin on it, as it works as a lubricating agent to the dry cornbread. The other kids are disgusted by this, but Gus eventually tries it out for himself, and he agrees that it actually tastes good.
** In "Chez Vince," Vince is wrangled into improving the cafeteria food. To vat of gray mush the lunch ladies identify as, "Meat... mostly", Vince adds various different ingredients, ranging from different spices and other additives like eggs and onions. The meat still looks exactly the same, but the added ingredients to go over really well with both the students and the lunch ladies.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoon'' "The Kitchen Casanova", a man attempts to cook a lovely dinner for his visiting girlfriend; however, a series of different comical mishaps in the kitchen result in every dish he tries to prepare getting ruined. Even attempting a salad ends in failure. Finally, he presents her with a gross-looking mound of mush consisting of various different animal parts (and presumably human as well). The man finally has an emotional breakdown, so the woman samples the dish out of sympathy, but she finds it to be tasty, much to his surprise. The more they eat, the more animalistic they become. They finish the dish and eat up the plates, silverware, and even the table.

* In Creator/JamesHerriot's autobiography, ''The Lord God Made Them All'', he recounts a voyage on a Danish ship to Russia, when he was disgusted by seeing the preparation of a traditional dish involving uncooked beef and eggs, tried to hold his breath when forcing it down but accidentally inhaled, and found it was actually delicious.

** In, "Don't Ask Me," Spinelli feel she's hit on an improvement to the school cafeteria's cornbread: layering lime gelatin on it, as it works as a lubricating agent to the dry cornbread. The other kids are disgusted by this, but Gus eventually tries it out for himself, and he agrees that it actually tastes good.
** In, "Chez Vince," Vince is wrangled into improving the cafeteria food. To vat of gray mush the lunch ladies identify as, "Meat... mostly", Vince adds various different ingredients, ranging from different spices and other additives like eggs and onions. The meat still looks exactly the same, but the added ingredients to go over really well with both the students and the lunch ladies.

* In Creator/JamesHarriot's autobiography, ''The Lord God Made Them All'', he recounts a voyage on a Danish ship to Russia, when he was disgusted by seeing the preparation of a traditional dish involving uncooked beef and eggs, tried to hold his breath when forcing it down but accidentally inhaled, and found it was actually delicious.

** On some occasions, Calvin's mom jokes that she's made something over-the-top disgusting for dinner, like fried monkey heads or spider pie. Invariably, this intrigues Calvin enough that he tries it with an open mind and actually likes it—but Calvin's dad gets grossed out and can't finish his meal.

Adopted by Tabs. Indexes: FoodTropes, DoesNotLikeThisIndex, MoreThanMeetsTheEye
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* One episode of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime in the ''Advanced Generation'' series is about this. The main characters come across two competing restaurants whose chefs are Pokemon[REPLACE WITH EACUTE CHARACTER ON LAUNCH], a Sneasel and a Mr. Mime. The Sneasel's food looks bland but tastes great, while the food cooked by Mr. Mime is visually appealing but tastes terrible.

--->'''Calvin's mother:''' ''[Calvin is looking at his AlienLunch dinner in disgust. He takes a bite, and has a disgusted WildTake reaction.]'' Oh, knock it off, Calvin. It's hamburger casserole. There's not a thing in there you don't like.
'''Calvin:''' This is ''hamburger?'' ''[takes another bite]'' Hmm... ''This'' bit wasn't so bad, for some reason. [[BlatantLies I was able to choke it down, anyway. My stomach is still cramping up, but the pains aren't as sharp any more. The secret is to suppress the gag reflex. After I swallow it, I can stand it.]]