[ExoticPearTree]

> Japan takes Western concepts, and applies an obsessive cultural devotion to mastery (Shokunin).

Thank you for explaining this. I was alawys amazed how the japanese would take the cuisine from other countries and make it better in all aspects than the country that originated it.

[xandrius]

Why are people saying that the Japanese counterpart of other cuisines are better? Have you guys eaten the originals?

OP mentions curry, bread, pizza, etc. Those are things most gaijins complain about when in Japan!

Can't find a proper piece of bread that isn't sweetened, or you find a French chain doing something almost similar but still not on par with breads found in France.

I helped at a pizza shop near Fuji city and while it was not bad, they weren't quite there yet.

I can say that some foods are not bad but saying that they do things inherently better? C'mon now.

Still haven't found a decent thai or indian restaurant in Japan, and probably never will, given the general aversion for strong spices.

[ExoticPearTree]

> Can't find a proper piece of bread that isn't sweetened, or you find a French chain doing something almost similar but still not on par with breads found in France.

Funny you mentioned France. Japan won the world pastry competition held in France. The french came second.

How about that?

[xandrius]

Japan as a country or a person from Japan?

I still think that you'd find better French bread at any average French town than in Japan, given my personal experience living there.

And sure maybe not upscale Tokyo but Japan is not just Tokyo.

[ExoticPearTree]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Pastry_Cup

[rtpg]

> Still haven't found a decent thai or indian restaurant in Japan, and probably never will, given the general aversion for strong spices.

are you not in Tokyo? Because “no decent Thai restaurant in Tokyo” is a wild claim

You can get spicy food in Tokyo! It’s just not going to be all the restaurants. You gotta to to the right place. But you don’t need 100 good thai restaurants to eat dinner, you just need the one.

[kingkongjaffa]

> general aversion for strong spices

You can get very hot spicy katsu curry in most Japanese cities.

[xandrius]

And yet, many of their Indian restaurants are super super mild compared to authentic Indian ones.

[pezezin]

Lol no.

I am a Spanish guy living in Japan, and while Japanese food is good and I surely enjoy it, their "Spanish restaurants" are a pale imitation of the original. Same for the Italian restaurants (which only cook spaghetti, as if there was no other kind of pasta), and I guess any other imported cuisine.