# Which country has the best cuisine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535 "2011-03-30T18:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/41 "2011-03-31T15:12:02Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Damning with faint praise? šŸ˜ƒ I suppose the wording makes it look that way, but it is meant literally. In other words, everywhere I go, I generally divide food into two groups: ā€œutility foodā€ and ā€œfood I look forward to eating.ā€ For me, bread and butter, up until that point, had always been utility food: just a way to get calories quickly and efficiently into me so I could go about my day. Iā€™ve spent only a week total in Paris from my trips there, but nothing I ate fell in the ā€œutility foodā€ category for me. Not that I donā€™t believe subpar food doesnā€™t exist in Paris. Itā€™s just that, of all the places Iā€™ve visited, it stands out, because I really cannot remember a single thing Iā€™ve eaten there that I wouldnā€™t eat for pleasure. Perhaps there is a little romance in my memories, but that baguette and butter was, quite literally, a defining moment for me and my relationship with food. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/42 "2011-03-31T15:29:16Z")
For me, it would probably be Italy or India. Japanese is close. Southern BBQ is not on the short list (too limited in variety)ā€“although I do crave it from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/43 "2011-03-31T15:41:55Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > (Thereā€™s no excuse for Taco Bell.) Sure there is. Itā€™s the same excuse used for that kabob shop three doors down from the pub, ie ā€œDrunks, stoners and college students (if that isnā€™t a tad redundant) will eat anything.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/44 "2011-03-31T15:57:07Z")
Ouch, this is hard. I was going to say Chinese for the variety before it was (rightfully) banned as an answer. My favorite individual cuisine is probably Korean (something I didnā€™t realize before I met Korean exchange students here in Japan), but itā€™s not all that diverse. Iā€™m going to go with Italian. Unlike all the other cuisines Iā€™ve had, I donā€™t think thereā€™s ever been a time when Iā€™ve said ā€œItalian? Nah, I had some the other nightā€¦ Iā€™m sick of it.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/45 "2011-03-31T16:32:38Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Iā€™ve had plenty of bad French food in France. > > Donā€™t get me wrong - I love French food, and done well itā€™s amazing. But what got me after spending 3 weeks touring around France is how uniform it is. Most towns in the US - especially towns that tourist visit - will have a choice of cuisines. French, Italian, Chinese, etc. In France, outside of Paris, every single restaurant was French food. A lot of very good French food, delicious French food, but man, at the end of 3 weeks, we got back to Paris, and spent our last 4 days in France eating Japanese and Italian. I was even sick of pate and croissants, which are pretty much my absolutely favorite two types of food. We ate breakfast at fookinā€™ McDonalds one day, if you can believe it, because I couldnā€™t get my head around yet another French pastry. I had the exact same experience. We had an awful meal in a place in Rue Mouffetard in Paris. The food was disgusting ā€“ a poorly cooked omelette, steak that was inedible. I was also a bit sick of French food by the end of our three week trip to the French countryside. My family and I wound up craving food from other cuisines. Half the rest of our meals were either Chinese, American fast food or Italian during our last three days in Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/46 "2011-03-31T16:44:14Z")
Since the word ā€œcuisineā€ comes from french, Iā€™m going with France by default. ---
**Author:** ![dkwrtw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@dkwrtw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dkwrtw)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/47 "2011-03-31T16:45:27Z")
Mexican food is good ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/48 "2011-03-31T16:51:36Z")
I vote Mexico. You get enough of Thai after a while. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/49 "2011-04-01T05:43:22Z")
This is tough. Mexican & Southwestern ā€œMexicanā€ is always good. Iā€™ve been fortunate to eat great Thai food in Bangkok, Pattaya, and Songkhla. The best Thai restaurants in Southern California are not quite the same, yet still excellent. You canā€™t go wrong with Italian, both northern and Mediterranean. Heaven. French pastries and desserts are my favorites. Portuguese is a close second. My wife is Indonesian, and sadly I donā€™t like Indonesian food. Weird, since I love Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/50 "2011-04-01T12:14:52Z")
If Iā€™ve got to pick one, Iā€™ll go with Italian. Southern Italian specifically ā€“ they do amazing things with the simplest, finest ingredients. Plus lots of seafood. Plus they use a lot of chilli, which will satisfy my spice need. I would say Indian, which I love, but having never actually been to India, I canā€™t vouch for how authentic what I have eaten is. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/51 "2011-04-01T12:17:33Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Since the word ā€œcuisineā€ comes from french, Iā€™m going with France by default. Aah, but french food is heavily influenced by Italian, thanks to Marie and Catherine de Medici. [Here](http://www.food-links.com/countries/france/french-gastronomy.php). So Italy wins for me. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/52 "2011-04-01T19:23:12Z")
I like Greek food a lot. Iā€™d probably like French food, tooā€“at least the breads and the soup. Overall, though, Iā€™d have to go with the Greek food. Thereā€™s a lot of flavor, and a lot of freshness, and itā€™s just. . .you know, everythingā€™s so _good_. ---
**Author:** ![TheTerribleTako](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@TheTerribleTako](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTerribleTako)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/53 "2011-04-01T20:50:49Z")
This is a tough one. I think itā€™ll have to be a toss-up between Japanese and Italian with a slight edge to Japanese cuisine. Japanese home style cooking is so simple and elegant with its abundant use of vegetables and tofu while Japanese pub food (izakayas) really indulges the meat and starch lover in me as well. When you add in sukiyaki, ramen, and sushi itā€™s the clear winner. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/54 "2011-04-01T21:07:44Z")
By all means, hands down, with no reservations Sichuan Chinese- preferably from Yibin or maybe Leshan (Chengdu has a little too much _ma_ and not enough _la_ for my palate.) In fact, I would gladly give up all other cuisines if it meant I could have access to this foodā€¦well, maybe not for breakfast. i never did get used to my morning bowl of spicy noodles for breakfast. Anyway, I lived for two years in a town with nearly no non-Sichuan food, and I never once got bored of it. In fact, my appreciation just grew and grew. Itā€™s by far the freshest, most flavorful food in the world (though it is spicy as heck), and packed full of healthy fresh veggies to boot. ---
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/55 "2011-04-02T22:59:40Z")
OK, I live in LA so Iā€™ve got access to a lot of foods Iā€™ve eaten Thai food with Thai people, Japanese with Japanese people, Chinese food with Chinese people, Vietnamese with Vietnamese, Korean with Koreans. Iā€™ve been to nearly every Korean BBQ place in downtown LA. Iā€™ve had a lot of the genuine stuff. Iā€™ve also been lucky enough to eat a lot of home cooked Korean, Chinese, Mexican and Japanese food I was born and raised in UK & Iā€™m of Indian heritage. I know how crappy most British food is! I know Indian food pretty well. Iā€™ll be honest with you, my experience of French food is very limited, but I grew up in the largest Italian community in UK. In my opinionā€¦my rankings are: Indian (I mean north Indian, as in Punjabi food), very rich, tasty and unhealthy! Indians donā€™t do good salads Chinese - I prefer Cantonese food. Iā€™ve been to China, but I havenā€™t tried a lot of regional cuisines. I had Sichuan once but it was basically all chillis- way too spicy for me! Italian - love a traditional Italian style pizza. Fantastic desserts. Thai - lots of varied tastes Japanese - can taste great, but take away the wasabi and the soy, and thereā€™s not much taste. Their deserts are crap. A lot of Izakaya food is pretty bland, but the beer makes up for it. I love sushi rolls, but a Japanese friend told me theyā€™re not very genuine. Vietnamese - Phoā€™s great. Love Banh mi! Korean - Korean BBQ is fantastic, not much variety, gets boring very fast. I love their seafood pancakes. I really like Kimchi and their fishcakes. Mexican - Not really my cup of tea, some of reminds me of Indian, and I prefer Indian. BTW Americans make amazing steaks, burgers, and ribs. Isnā€™t Malaysia supposed to be great for food? Iā€™ve never been but thereā€™s a huge mix of Indian, Malay and Chinese cuisines going on over there. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/56 "2011-04-03T02:44:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > France. You canā€™t get bad food in France (or in Montreal, which follows similar traditions). Iā€™ll second that. In general, I have noticed the French understand and celebrate food more than many cultures. Some serious effort is put into the cuisine and it shows. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/57 "2011-04-03T03:24:24Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Iā€™ll second that. In general, I have noticed the French understand and celebrate food more than many cultures. Some serious effort is put into the cuisine and it shows. Basic ingredients are so, so good. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/58 "2011-04-03T04:06:44Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > Isnā€™t Malaysia supposed to be great for food? Iā€™ve never been but thereā€™s a huge mix of Indian, Malay and Chinese cuisines going on over there. It is, and by extension Singapore. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535/59 "2011-04-03T04:27:39Z")
> [@NiceGuyJack](#): > > In China, I love Shihuan, specifically Chengdu. > Spicy! I donā€™t get to Chengdu very often, but when I doā€¦Amazing. Thatā€™s my current favorite. About once a month my wife and I get delivery from the best Chengdu restaurant in NJ. We live in an area thatā€™s a foodieā€™s dream. Check out the pics, but doing so while hungry can be torture. > **[NJ Dining: Chengdu 1 (UPDATED October 2009)](https://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2009/04/04/nj-dining-chengdu-1-updated/)** > > Click for Hi-Res Slide Show! Chengdu 1 89 Pompton Ave (Pilgrim Shopping Plaza) Cedar Grove NJ, 973-239-7726 I think that by now people realize that I love really spicy food. One of my favorite spicā€¦ [http://www.tommyeats.com/tommyeats/2007/07/chengdu-1-cedar.html](http://www.tommyeats.com/tommyeats/2007/07/chengdu-1-cedar.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-country-has-the-best-cuisine/576535.md?page=2)