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The one big difference I found is that in Japan, restaurants would specialize in one thing--for example, yakitori or sukiyaki or tonkatsu or shabu-shabu or kare(curry) or ramen or soba or sushi(and those tend to range from the really cheap conveyor belt places to fairly affordable places to really expensive that vary greatly in quality). At an izakaya or expensive kaiseki places you might see a variety of dishes, but for the most part you have places that focus on one style of dish.
In the US and Canada a lot of Japanese restaurants on the other hand, you have places that try to do everything--they'll have a sushi bar, grilled meats like yakitori, izakaya-style dishes, ramen noodles, and so on--all under the same roof. Even some places that are fairly authentic in terms of dishes will often try this approach. A lot of sushi bars will serve a number of other dishes in addition to just nigiri or maki. I think though in the largest cities and places in the US or Canada with a good food scene you'll find more specialized Japanese restaurants that try to just do a few things right. Izakayas are getting more popular as well in western cities. Most cities on the West Coast have a good selection of Japanese restaurants and not just sushi bars(there's a lot of connection with Japan going back historically and recently on the West Coast, which is evident in the old Japantowns that still remain).
There's sort of a fine line though between places run by transplanted Japanese cooks or people who know the culture and the sort of dime a dozen Japanese-style(or even pan-Asian) places that throw together cheap sushi and teppanyaki or anything else(or teriyaki which is basically a Seattle creation and all over the place, but barely Japanese at this point). Like in Portland, Oregon where I live there's old sushi chefs who were born in Japan and run pretty legit small sushi bars, along with some good izakayas and ramen places and a good Japanese market. But then there's the super cheap sushi places with Mexican and Fillipino sushi chefs that are just okay for a cheap quick lunch but pretty mediocre--or the ubiqutous teriyaki joints usually run by Koreans.
^ for under $1, what do you expect? Guangzhou is not a cheap city.
6 kuai is more like $2 in terms of purchasing power. What food can you buy for $2, a small sandwich? I will take this noodle over a sandwich.
But it's a common food in China... you said they never eat stuff like this, but people here do, frequrently. Just like how people in Japan frequently buy cheap to-go sushi in Japan. It's just so off base and just feels like you want to dump on American food tastes; the same greasy, slimy noodles you disparaged earlier are nowr superior to a sandwich...
There should be more curry places. A good curry katsu.
I'd like to mention that Yoshinoya does have a few locations in California and Nevada. Too bad the ones elsewhere closed--it was pretty good as far as cheap fast food went. There's also been a great proliferation of ramen places, at least on the East and West coast major cities.
I'd really like to see Mos Burger give the US a try.
The only places where you can get relatively authentic foreign dishes are big cities such as San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Chicago, (or Toronto & Vancouver in Canada) because those places have relatively bigger international communities and thus create a relatively bigger demand for authentic foreign dishes.
Without question, Los Angeles has the densest concentration of "authentic" Japanese food, especially in the South Bay / Torrance area. The reasons for this are many, but if you want the experience of local Izakaya joints or 100+ choices for Ramen, you can't do any better.
Without question, Los Angeles has the densest concentration of "authentic" Japanese food, especially in the South Bay / Torrance area. The reasons for this are many, but if you want the experience of local Izakaya joints or 100+ choices for Ramen, you can't do any better.
I found Seattle to be not so bad either in terms of relative authenticity and choices. Oh, don't forget Hawaii. They have good Japanese food choices there too. I love Udon in any variety and I had one of my best Udon soups outside of Tokyo in Maui. The Udon was all hand made and was very, very, good!
There should be more curry places. A good curry katsu.
I was never a big curry guy, but Japanese curry is awful imo. Tastes very bland to me.
If there are any good curry spots in Tokyo-Yokohama or NYC area I'd like to know, because all Japanese curry I've tasted so far has been "meh" at best.
Without question, Los Angeles has the densest concentration of "authentic" Japanese food, especially in the South Bay / Torrance area. The reasons for this are many, but if you want the experience of local Izakaya joints or 100+ choices for Ramen, you can't do any better.
LA South Bay is excellent for Japanese. You can get yakitori, ramen, curry, katsu, Japanese-Italian, okonomiyaki, Japanese-Peruvian, kushiage. My current favorite is the takoyaki stand in the Mitsuwa marketplace.
Strawberry Cones has tried more than once to operate a pizza restaurant in California (Little Tokyo, SGV in LA and in the Bay Area), but I think it's still too weird for most. They might have a better chance in Torrance/Gardena.
I was never a big curry guy, but Japanese curry is awful imo. Tastes very bland to me.
If there are any good curry spots in Tokyo-Yokohama or NYC area I'd like to know, because all Japanese curry I've tasted so far has been "meh" at best.
If you are expecting Japanese curry to taste anything like Indian curry, then you are going to be disappointed. Japanese curry reminds me of a good stew or a more savory version of gravy.
But it's a common food in China... you said they never eat stuff like this, but people here do, frequrently. Just like how people in Japan frequently buy cheap to-go sushi in Japan. It's just so off base and just feels like you want to dump on American food tastes; the same greasy, slimy noodles you disparaged earlier are nowr superior to a sandwich...
I was thinking a similar thing, especially with how this is try for most cuisines pretty much anywhere...
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