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As in the situation when you are expecting your food to be average, but it is really good. "Yummy" probably doesn't cover it.

On the flip side, what adjective would describe food that is unexpectedly bad?

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For unexpectedly delicious food, I'd probably just say something commonplace and platitudinous like "That was fabulous! Can you teach me how to make it?" On the flip side, my late wife always used to say: "That was very special". – user21497 Nov 2 '12 at 7:44
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"Inexplicious!" / "Suprigusting!" – Hugo Nov 2 '12 at 9:03
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The OneLook Reverse Dictionary can be helpful in cases like this. I don't think you'll be able to use a single word to describe the deliciousness and the unexpectedness. I'm all for economy, but if you're complimenting someone, then I would stick with two words instead of searching for some potentially obscure word dating back to the 17th century. :) – Zairja Nov 2 '12 at 13:03
What's wrong with using two words? – Mitch Nov 2 '12 at 13:11
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I think this is Too Localised. Plus I'm not convinced English has any words meaning unexpectedly [some adjective]. All we have are various words/phrases meaning unexpectedly, which can be combined with whatever adjective you like. OP's food could just as easily be predictably yummy if he knew it had been prepared by an expert chef, for example. – FumbleFingers Nov 2 '12 at 15:16

closed as too localized by J.R., MετάEd, FumbleFingers, Mitch, RegDwighт♦ Nov 2 '12 at 20:15

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1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote accepted

I think outstanding conveys the surprising/unexpected sense of delight.

For a bad experience, I would definitely call it disappointing, which Merriam-Webster defines as

failing to meet expectations

Edit: An alternative phrase would be to say that it "exceeded my expectations", but if you are trying to compliment the chef, then this might imply that you did not have very high expectations.

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