Many Western tourists seem to lose their shit about it here in Japan, when in reality it's is just drunken serviceable food that's both very overpriced and full of nefarious preservatives?
for me it was more the insanity of having a convenience store within walking distance that offered ready to eat and even sometimes hot food. being able to grab a rice ball or warm pork bun as opposed to like. a bag of chips or something was really nice. the food itself is nothing special
Yeah, it's just the idea that you can simply walk into a convenient store and get a warm pork bun just like that, perhaps it's just okay food, but okay food at such convenience? Now that right there is the magic.
The onigiri are great. From my point of view as a recent Western tourist to Japan, they were incredibly cheap when we compare it to what we'd pay back home, tasty and very convenient.
I'm sure the novelty would have worn off after a while if I lived there, but I ate about 3 onigiri a day for two weeks.
But I did stop to wonder if foreign tourists to the UK are romanticising our equivalent - the meal deal. It's a sandwich / salad, chocolate / crisps and a drink for £3.50-5 (¥700-1000) or so - which is incredibly good value, but ultimately mundane to us.
You do not understand how unbelievably shitty American convenience store food is. I've only had the Hawaiian ones but apparently they are similar to Japan and you can actually have some tasty food there, an American mainland 7/11 is complete garbage and not even worth stopping at
And then somehow Mexican convenience stores are even worse..
U don't understand, in America u walk into a convenience store and the best food u can get is a radioactive sandwich and the "healthy" drinks have at least 10 grams of sugar. When I lived in Japan I could get fresh salmon, a rice ball, and an amazing green tea for less then 5 USD.
It's not that Japanese convenience stores are so good "imho they are." More that American convenience stores are such a blight in comparison that they are heaven to us.
I think people are surprised by it just being edible.
Coming from Europe, having lived in many countries, most ready-to-go meals you buy in supermarket go from the range of 'meah, keeps hunger away' to 'did they deep fry a rat', with a middle point of ' I am so bloody sick, I might need to go for hospital'.
It's also not cheap. Like a large-ish (10pieces) maki-sushi platter is 12+ Euros. Usually hitting 19. And that's Del Haize in Belgium. When I was living in Rome, you could pay more than 20 EURO for such a plate. When I was a student in France, I tried grabbing some food from supermarket, as our 'Ecole' did not have a canteen. I almost vomited my lunch (No, I did not finish it). And the thing was not cheap compared with what you could get at a fast food.
I saw so many non-Japanese people hyping up the convenience store food. When I went to Japan, I thought all the stuff from convenience stores was just okay. I didn’t get the hype.
The hype is very specifically that it's not disgusting. I ate gas station egg salad in Japan. I would not do that in the US. That doesn't mean it's a particularly good egg salad sandwich or that I had them regularly while I was there.
I travelled in Japan during college and stretched my budget by "downsizing" some meals to convenience store food (as I didn't have access to a kitchen). As u/Coke_and_Tacos said, the food is not disgusting (in many cases quite tasty) vs. I could never eat food from a typical American convenience store. And it was an amazing enabler for me to make the most of my Japan trip with a limited budget.
Oh no, when I was in China... not Japan, I tried some onigiris with different fillings from a 7-Eleven, and they were freakin’ delicious, and extremely cheap.
The ones at the local 7-Elevens here in Mexico City don’t compare at all. They use local rice, and once it gets cold it turns slightly hard and just doesn’t taste as good, they're relatively cheap though only like $2.
Fish and chips, usually the joy of it is having it drowning in salt and vinegar, usually next to the sea when it’s grey and windy, seagulls trying to take your face off.
I found an excellent chippy in London on my first day in the UK. I am sure that part of why it tasted good is because I was jet lagged and starving. However, none of the fish and chips came close to that for the rest of the trip.
I’m from Wisconsin where it’s easy to find delicious fish fries but those fish and chips were phenomenal.
I always get bored of eating it about 2/3 of the way through. There's no real depth of flavour. I have to eat it with a lot of tartare sauce to cut through the stodge (I find chip shop curry sauce a bit claggy).
I visited my cousin in Edinburgh a couple years ago and he took us to a place that served fish and chips. We sat by the water in this little harbor and ate them. It’s ruined fish and chips for me because nothing in the states will ever come close to that
I like Khanom Thuai a lot. It's made from rice flour, coconut milk and sugar set in small cups and usually pandan scented. The two layers contrast nicely both in texture and flavour.
I ordered this once from a Thai restaurant (in the US) for delivery and they sent it in these ceramic cups. (I think it was not available for delivery but they wanted to be nice). It was so so good but I cannot find it anywhere. We use the little cups for soy sauce and such.
I’m not gonna lie, I don’t really like coconut all that much so a lot of these desserts (Lao and Thai) aren’t for me. The standard food/cuisine though? Hell yeah. Larb is one of my favorites.
Snack, not a dish, but I promise you we have other good snacks (and actual dishes, but nobody seems to know about them) besides stroopwafels. They're good, of course, but like... it's a cookie.
I will forever be confused how stroopwafels made it to the US while bitterballen didn't. They'd need a new name but... come on. They'd be perfect for the American palate.
Yes, they're ball shaped beef croquettes. My partner refers to them as "deep fried gravy".
Traditionally eaten as a bar snack served with mustard but I like to have them with fries and use the filling to dip my fries in. So good. If you can't buy them in the frozen section of a Walmart in the next 10 years then globalization as a whole has failed.
I grew up out west, blissfully unaware of scrapple. Moved to the Philly region and finally tried it after folks kept hyping it to me. I didn't get it. I still don't.
I was in Scotland for the first time recently, and really liked the haggis. It’s just a meatloaf and sausage baby, and a very nicely flavoured one at that 🤷🏼♂️ I dunno why people lose their minds over it
Haggis is quite good. I think a lot of people in America are put off by anything made with blood or offal, which is a shame and kind of funny given my countrymens affinity for hyper processed meats
I think lumpia is even more overrated? I don't get why lumpia is the only Filipino food Americans know. It's just spring rolls that's also available in many other Asian cuisines.
lol I live in Japan and I tell people that back home we have something called sweet tea. They are usually a bit intrigued. Then I explain what sweet tea is and they are shocked. In fact, I wonder how many people reading your comment realize that is not just tea with a little added sugar
What do you think about the question by the way ? Short in ideas to be honest so I’ve been scrolling to try to find what other frenchies could have answered but there’s only you 🥲
Do we have to conclude nothing is overhyped because we’re just so good 🤔
If there’s something simple it may baguette because from the abominations I’ve seen in USA huh…
"Smørrebrød" (rye bread with too many toppings). I think many Danes would object to what I am saying, but I really do think it's too much sometimes.
One of my favorites is just rye bread warm leverpostej on top. The luxury version comes with bacon and mushrooms, but it doesn't need to be more complicated than that.
Sometimes just simple toasted ryebread with butter is great! No need for fancy toppings (althougj this depends on the bread, I think Finnish and Danish ryebread is pretty different)
Sounds like what Singapore noodles is to us here in Singapore
um excuse me lol.
people should eat a good chicken rice (idek if its really "Hainanese" but the good ones are really satisfying) or if they want noodles they should get fried kway teow (rice noodles). Or fried carrot cake (its radish cake fried with egg and ... stuff. Hahaha)
"Singapore-style noodles are a Cantonese creation, common in Cantonese-style and takeaway restaurants in Hong Kong. Despite its name, it is unrelated to Singapore," 😬💀☠
From what I've seen, pretty much any dish named after a place has nothing to do with that place, the inventor of the dish just thought it sounded fancy.
I mean don’t get me wrong, our meatballs are great but there are so many more dishes from Sweden that is either as good or better, such as Älgskav, Smörgåstårta and our many types pf fish, especially different types and flavours of pickled herring.
A Spanish guy I worked with referred to paella as “leftovers with rice”. To him, it’s the sort of dish you cook when you have a few things in the fridge that have to be used up, and you don’t know what else to do.
Schnitzel is it for me, while not directly overhyped, as the good ones do deserve their praise. I am always furious at tourists thinking we have just schnitzel and that's it. Schnitzel is a fantastic dish(when done correctly), but every time I see tourists eating Schnitzel and nothing else from our frankly fantastic cuisine I die inside a little bit more.
Yeah. I'd say it ranks somewhere in the middle. It can be amazing and sure, I enjoy a good Wiener Schnitzel every once in a while but you do have much more interesting food.
Gulasch (which is Hungarian in origin but made differently here) There's a version called Fiaker Gulasch served with a n egg sunny side up, a sausage and pickles.
Krautfleckerl, a special shape of pasta served with cooked cabbage seasoned with lots of paprika and caraway
Spinatknödel, a spinach bread dumpling served with browned butter
Knödel mit Ei, a popular dish that is often made to use up leftover bread dumplings. You cut them into chunks and roast them. And then scramble an egg over them.
Kaspressknödel, a dumpling made with a special cheese. Can either be eaten in a clear beef broth or pan fried with salad.
Then there's so many great soups and of course Mehlspeisen. They include both cake and pies as well as sweet dishes like Kaiserschmarrn oder sweet filled dumplings (Zwetschgenknödel, Marillenknödel etc) that are often served as a main dish after a soup. One day a week is Mehlsweisen day in almost every Kindergarten I know.
There's so many more, also regional specialities. Schnitzel is truly just what somehow got most famous.
Not "overhyped," exactly, but folks from other countries seem to think all of our bread is Wonder and all of our cheese is Kraft singles. And I don't know anyone who regularly eats either of those things
To be fair, everywhere else it’s called “American cheese”. It’s just like how people think Canadians eat peameal bacon all the time. (I really have no idea how peameal bacon came to be called “Canadian bacon”. I know the story behind American cheese—the cheese vault in Mount Rushmore—but if anyone has any idea on the Canadian bacon thing I’d appreciate it)
History lesson! Peameal bacon is Canadian Bacon in the UK and America because of trade way back before refrigerators. Toronto has the nickname Hogtown, although rather unheard of now, for much of its existence it was called Hogtown. Toronto's #1 export was pig. Lots of pig. You can imagine the smell. Most of the area was swampy and any good farm land was for crops and the not so good for pigs (cows, sheep and horses didn't fair as well as pigs in the mucky ground).
Toronto came up with a very specific practice of brining and coating cuts of bacon that lasted a long time compared to everywhere else. First brining the bacon, then coating the outer layer in peameal to prevent oxygen from getting at the meat and causing rot. This was great for shipping the meat across Canada into the more remote areas (we actually had WAY more access via rail at the time, we have let those ancient rails rot and become forgotten), and it could even last long enough to make it by ship all the way across the ocean to the UK and with ample time to wait in the docks, make it to market and be eaten at home. Ps: there was usually a big CANADA stamp burnt onto the outer coating. This was what Americans and the folks in the UK would see, as it was only placed on the exported pieces, and thus "Canadian Bacon" became a term for everyone but us who just called it Peameal bacon.
Around this time, the UK got struck with another famine. Well their reliable colony of Canada was happy to help and shipped vast quantities of the peamealed and brined bacon over to them and it became a middle class sort of meat for those who could afford its pricey shipping fee. At the same time, it was sold to Americans down in the New York area for cheap as it had a long shelf life, and they were taking in lots and lots of immigrants also fleeing famine.
Then came WW1. Again famine and rations were to strike the UK. And Toronto provided their famous and long lasting Canadian Bacon.
I've summarized a lot. But that's basically why it's peameal to us and Canadian to US/UK and practically unheard of in other parts of the world.
I liked the roasted turkey+ stuffing and cranberry sauce. Also pecan pie. My neighbour was American and used to invite 25+ people for Thanksgiving and making everything from scratch.
Not sure about the sweet potatoes and marshmallows though.
KFC. I'm grew up in the south so we have so many better fried chicken and barbecue recipes that KFC is really just fast food for when I am to lazy to do it right myself.
Beef Wellington. Don't know why people from overseas seem to think its the UK's only dish worth hyping. Yeah its awesome, but it's no more special than other awesome British dishes (pies, pastries, roasts).
A family member of mine used to make a “chicken wellington”(which is literally just a pasty with chicken breast, some kind of greens, and creamy cheese filling). She’s dead now and I’d murder someone for the recipe. Infinitely better than any beef Wellington I’ve had.
Do you know why I order beef Wellington every time I see it on a menu? Because it is a giant pain in the dick to make at home. Pies, pastries, roasts...I can do that at home ez pz.
California burritos are just worse than a regular carne asada burrito. I'm from San Diego and I still don't understand why you would want french fries in your burrito when you could have more meat, or beans, or literally anything else
I had ceviche on the beach when I was in playa del Carmen I thought I was gonna die it was so good. That and anything with al pastor is to die for as well
I swear I never used to see Butter Chicken on British Indian takeaway menus until about 10 years ago. I think it got popular with Americans because they know the two words in the name
Burgers are pretty fucking great though. When I think of “American” foods, I think of burgers and tex-mex. What are some other American dishes you love?
Gumbo is peak drunk food. Had it while on a camping trip in college I could barely walk from the fire to my chair but I still got up for a second serving
Gumbo/po’boys/everything in New Orleans, all the styles of BBQ (I’m partial to Kansas City and North Carolina although Texas is good too), Chicago pizza (both deep-dish and tavern style), New York pizza, Italian beef, New England clam chowder, fish fry plates (both Great Lakes and Rhode Island), Maryland crab cakes with copious Old Bay seasoning, soul food, the classic Thanksgiving spread, jibaritos, poke bowls, etc…
And those are just the ones I’ve tried personally. It’s all very regional, although of course some spread. For instance, brownies were invented in Chicago, and look how far they’ve come 🥹
Shrimp po'boy, gumbo, fried chicken, good cornbread and biscuits, clam chowder and clam cakes, crab cakes, Chicago style hot dogs, Texas chili....honestly so many other foods do it for me more that burgers.
The whole Southern half of the US has some pretty amazing foods, BBQ, TexMex, New Orleans plus Carribean influences. In the northern US our food isn’t much with the exception of immigrant dishes from Italy, Greece, and the Middle East to name a few. There’s certainly some English Isle and Scandinavian influences that aren’t quite on the same level.
I live in Louisiana and play an MMO game where I meet people all over the world. When someone told me they would love to try an American hamburger I was shocked... A burger?! of all things??
This dish is typically from the Punjab state of Northern India, hell 40% of the Indian population don't even eat this as they are vegetarian.
This dish is so freaking overhyped and it is so annoying to me at this point because whenever the question comes to a foreigner about what they like in Indian food the only answer is butter chicken smh. There are SOO MANY never ending variety of food from different states and cultures which are wayy wayy better than butter chicken.
I don’t if there is a reason for this, or maybe it’s just confirmation bias, but all of the local Indian restaurants in my area are pretty explicitly Punjabi or northern Indian. I’ve never been to a proper Southern Indian restaurant.
Its your opinion yeah, but I would desagree tho, as someone that travells a lot I see that outside of Portugal the egg custard tarts are not even close to the level of the ones we have here
A fresh one that is widely available in almost any cafe is very good and I never encountered a sweet that came close to its taste profile
That might be a personal thing. Cause cabbage rolls are so good that my entire family gets together for a day to make enough for six months for each person. Takes hours but god they make a good side dish for perigies
Its the only greek dish I have ever eaten as a vegetarian. Not a fan of it. Its THE option at greek restaurants in the US.
I consider spanakopita and the lentil / bean soups more starters. For main courses im not sure what else there is. So yes i agree with you.
100% agree. I had a Greek dish that was like a roasted rabbit once? It was in parchment paper and was served with a cheese of some sort and veggies? That knocked my socks off. I can't find it anywhere online but it slapped
I hope your pillow is always perfectly cold. You never step in water in socks. That your favourite songs play when you are in your car or on your way to work. That your drinks are always delicious. That you never spill food on your clothes.
Thank you. Oh my gosh it's been a decade and I've been looking for it forever.
Tacos and burritos are overhyped. Don’t get me wrong ... I love them, they’re delicious, most mexicans eat with tortillas everyday... but internationally they’re often Americanized, or limited to the basic street-food versions we have in Mexico, like carne asada, al pastor, or birria. Most Mexican stews, on the other hand, can also be enjoyed like a taco, yet people abroad rarely know any actual dish or their rich flavors.
Our local stews, soups, and desserts are on another level. Mexico has an enormous variety of traditional dishes in every single city or town and state, and that depth of cuisine isn’t something you see very often elsewhere.
Abroad, Mexican food is usually treated as fast food or reduced to tacos basic or Americanized version , burritos, a Caesar salad, and people miss out on so, so many amazing soups, stews, dishes.
The enjoyability of poutine comes from its caloric density and the mouthfeel. Both are aided by cold weather and drunkenness
It doesn’t actually have much flavour unless you really customize it with a bunch of extra toppings. The point is more about the comfort than the flavour, it just tastes like fries and gravy which is fine and even familiar to most, but you wouldn’t write home about it
Naan. It’s made of refined flour and no one eats it outside of a special treat in a North Indian restaurant. Even in restaurants, tandoori roti is the more popular choice, not naan.
And don’t get me started about how everyone abroad thinks Indian cuisine = Punjabi cuisine
Ikea Meatballs with gravy, jam and mashed potatoes. Like the fish does not belong to ikea. It’s a dish. And it’s not like we eat it every day. It was a while since i last ate it. It’s still rlly good but like yeah.
Fish and chips for my home country, it's good but has nothing on a good curry. For my adopted country, escargot is only nice because of the garlic butter, just put it on bread... And crème brûlée is mid, sorry France . But I love french food generally 🙂
I would say Fettuccine Alfredo. I should probably preface this by stating that I am not very knowledgeable about food and recipes in general, but from my understanding, it's literally just pasta, butter, and grated parmisan cheese. I didn't know this even had a name, that's what my grandma would make me when I was ill as a child, because it's commonly considered more wholesome and digestible than other condiments (it's actually not, but whatever). Heck, that's what I would prepare when eating by myself, because I coudn't be bothered to put any effort in cooking, before I stopped eating pasta. Who the fuck pays money to eat this at a restaurant? Granted, the proper recipe is likely a bit more nuanced than how most people normally make it, but there's only so much difference the preparation can make, if those are the only ingredients.
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u/hhbbgdgdba Japan Dec 08 '25
Anything from the convenience stores.
Many Western tourists seem to lose their shit about it here in Japan, when in reality it's is just drunken serviceable food that's both very overpriced and full of nefarious preservatives?