Any good anime for a noob?

If you don't mind something older, Initial D is really great even if you don't like cars.

Fullmetal Alchemist (OG and Brotherhood) are both great, but Brotherhood assumes you have seen the OG and skips really fast over the first half of the story.

As other have said, Death Note is great if you like mind games.

Shokugeki no Soma is about competitive cooking. It's Master Chef turned to 11, with a lot of fanservice.