Food ratings by country

[WanderALot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidflower tiuxiu, Could someone please explain what is good about Japanese foods? My son loves it, and worked for 6 months as a cook in a Japanese restaurant; but I just don't get the raw fish thing at all. I don't seem to even like their bean ice cream (ice cream, for gosh sakes!) and wasabi. Only their fried fresh veggies seem ok to me, but too fried and unhealthy to me. The only thing I really like is Japanese beer it seems.

DW and I love Japanese food. We just got back from 11 days in Japan this past Thanksgiving and the food was some of the best food of any type we've had.

Our love for Japanese food is hard to describe. Some of it has very subtle flavors; definitely not in your face like Indian or Thai. After all our meals in Japan, we came to conclusion that a lot of Japanese dishes are extremely well presented, tasty, good texture. It definitely seems to hit all the senses. I absolutely love Indian food, especially South Indian food, but I can understand why others don't since it can be so overpowering. There is rarely any subtlety with Indian food and presentation often times in secondary.

There's some about a nice bowl of ramen (which is actually Chinese) or soba. It smells and tastes wonderful! We had some Hida beef (like Kobe beef, but a different region of Japan) which was cooked over a hibachi on a magnolia leaf with a miso paste composed of grilled onions and other spices. SO good! Also, Sashimi is to die for. I can have it for breakfast.

I will agree that Japanese and many Asian desserts leave me wanting. They are either too sweet or have an unfavorable texture (too soft or too grainy). I like red bean ice cream, but it's not my absolute favorite. My favorite desserts are definitely European. Ohh the French and the Austrians can make some incredible desserts!

I like foods of all types, and find it hard to choose one over the other. If I had to pick five, in no order of preference:

- Mexican
- Indian (especially South Indian)
- Japanese
- Italian
- Thai

Countries where I didn't really like the food:

- Germany
- Peru
- Costa Rica
- Egypt
- Any Scandinavian country! (Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland)

[Orchidflower]

This calls for me to go to Japan and try some of their foods there. Good excuse to go, eh?
I agree that nobody presents their food so beautifully as the Japanese, tho. And their food is incredibly fat free, which I'd love now that I'm trying to avoid fat; but, in all honesty, normally I'd say nothing tastes good if it doesn't have fat in it..ha!

[WanderALot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchidflower This calls for me to go to Japan and try some of their foods there. Good excuse to go, eh?

That and the incredibly cheap tickets to Japan right now, at least from the west coast, are a very worthwhile reason to go. It's an expensive destination so any break you get is worth it.

Quote:

I agree that nobody presents their food so beautifully as the Japanese, tho. And their food is incredibly fat free, which I'd love now that I'm trying to avoid fat; but, in all honesty, normally I'd say nothing tastes good if it doesn't have fat in it..ha!

I'll see if I can drag up some pics and post them here. Some of their stuff is pretty fatty, but since everything is small portions, it's OK. A set dinner can have many multiple courses; it's like a buffer with portion control!

[tmm99]

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Originally Posted by megacorp-firee 2) japan for small ma and pa stands/cafe like places that specialize on some specific dish (like yakatori, noodles, octopus balls)

I know what you meant by octopus balls, but I bet some people thought... what??!!!

[Kronk]

Sushi is a taste I eventually acquired. DW loves Japanese food (primarily sushi). So I'd end up taking her there for her birthdays and such. I'd get tempura, pork katsu, or teryaki. It was okay, but not something I looked forward to. Didn't like wasabi.

In the last year (after 15 years of periodic Japanese food), I've really come to like sushi (and wasabi). I started with veggie rolls, and eventually moved to salmon and tuna. Good sushi kind of just melts in your mouth.

Still haven't come around to miso soup. Salad with ginger dressing is good, though.

There's a really good Japanese place called YamaFuji in Front Royal, VA where we go to on most of our holidays. They've got weekly specials, and somtimes on the weekends they have "Tuna Festival" or "Salmon Festival". All-you-can-eat sushi/sashmi -- each time there are around 10-12 different rolls in addition to sashimi and nigiri. It's just an awesome thing eating that pile of sushi. :-)

[DangerMouse]

Must say that I am a sushi fan. For me, if it's good sushi it's about the texture as the raw fish dissolves in your mouth. I love that after eating sushi I feel so clean, I don't feel weighted down by any fatty residue.

Miso soup, it's a dish I love, but varies so much from restaurant to restaurant. A good miso is out of this world, subtle, but thinking about it makes my mouth water.

[WanderALot]

Here is the kaiseki meal we had. The first pic shows some of the sashimi. The second pic shows almost all of the courses of the meal and the third is the beef and veggies we grilled on the hibachi.

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmm99 I know what you meant by octopus balls, but I bet some people thought... what??!!!

I've also had chicken (well ... actually rooster) balls. Not something I would drive far for ...

[heyduke]

you call it sushi - I call it bait...

[BunsGettingFirm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DangerMouse Must say that I am a sushi fan. For me, if it's good sushi it's about the texture as the raw fish dissolves in your mouth. I love that after eating sushi I feel so clean, I don't feel weighted down by any fatty residue. Miso soup, it's a dish I love, but varies so much from restaurant to restaurant. A good miso is out of this world, subtle, but thinking about it makes my mouth water.

I'm a fan of all the typical Japanese food from sashimi to octopus salad. Hey, it's just really good and fresh sea food. My new favorite is agadeshi tofu. It's actually not hard to make, but I have seen some restaurants totally botch it. Thank goodness my neighborhood restaurant 2 blocks away makes really good agadeshi tofu.

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Korean food. I don't know how close Korean barbecue represents real Korean food, but I always come out completely full and satisfied. Just the little appetizers if eaten with rice is enough for a full meal. Add on top the barbecue wrapped in fresh lettuce. Ah...I'm drooling.

[tuixiu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee I've also had chicken (well ... actually rooster) balls. Not something I would drive far for ...

Surprisingly large aren't they? They must easily best most other living creatures in ball to body mass ratio.

[tuixiu]

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Originally Posted by BunsGettingFirm I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Korean food.

I'm with you here. I love Korean food, it's quite popular in Japan as well.

[megacorp-firee]

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Originally Posted by tiuxiu Surprisingly large aren't they? They must easily best most other living creatures in ball to body mass ratio.

Hadn't thought of that, but yes they (roosters) are quite endowed in the testicular area. However, I don't have a lot of comparisons to model against .
...how do we get onto these subjects anyway

[megacorp-firee]

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Originally Posted by tiuxiu I'm with you here. I love Korean food, it's quite popular in Japan as well.

bbq, bulgogi, bimembop, .... yummmmm.... I'm even starting to love those firey pepper flakes they put in the soups.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by megacorp-firee 1) southern France 2) japan for small ma and pa stands/cafe like places that specialize on some specific dish (like yakatori, noodles, octopus balls)

I had no idea that octupuses even had balls.

Ha

[BunsGettingFirm]

Oh, oh, I see somebody got the "ball" rolling. I wonder if it the chicken balls are going to snow ball into octopus balls and stop or ball into something bigger.

In all seriousness, I stayed in Germany for a few weeks. The breakfasts in the hotel were rocking with a lot of variety, but the dinners consisted of a lot of game. I have never had so much venison in my life.

[DangerMouse]

I'm not a big fan of the gamier meets. I think we once had reindeer served to us on FinnAir - if it wasn't reindeer it was horse which is a possibility as the flight was going from Paris to Helsinki.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiuxiu Heh the Cajun restaurant I frequent here in Arizona is run by a Vietnamese family.

Hey - one time I went into a Vietnamese grocery to ask for the coffee that they use to make that drip Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk (what a sin!) and the grocery came out with a can of "Cafe du Monde" ground coffee with chicory!

Audrey

[unclemick]

Resistance is futile - The American cheeseburger will conquer the World.

The jury is still out on cherry coke though.

heh heh heh - And they said rock and roll would never last.

Depending on where the snow/rain settles - white Christmas north of Kansas City. Ham, Turkey - or or or BBQ'd beef? Can't get cheeseburgers off the brain. .

[megacorp-firee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha I had no idea that octupuses even had balls. Ha

hmmmm no birds and bees discussion I take it?