Which country has the best cuisine?

Cafe Society
41

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: “utility food” and “food I look forward to eating.” 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. I’ve spent only a week total in Paris from my trips there, but nothing I ate fell in the “utility food” category for me.

Not that I don’t believe subpar food doesn’t exist in Paris. It’s just that, of all the places I’ve visited, it stands out, because I really cannot remember a single thing I’ve eaten there that I wouldn’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.

42

For me, it would probably be Italy or India. Japanese is close.

Southern BBQ is not on the short list (too limited in variety)–although I do crave it from time to time.

43

Sure there is. It’s the same excuse used for that kabob shop three doors down from the pub, ie “Drunks, stoners and college students (if that isn’t a tad redundant) will eat anything.”

44

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 didn’t realize before I met Korean exchange students here in Japan), but it’s not all that diverse.

I’m going to go with Italian. Unlike all the other cuisines I’ve had, I don’t think there’s ever been a time when I’ve said “Italian? Nah, I had some the other night… I’m sick of it.”

45

I had the exact same experience. We had an awful meal in a place in Rue Mouffetard in Paris. The food was disgusting – 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.

46

Since the word “cuisine” comes from french, I’m going with France by default.

47

Mexican food is good

48

I vote Mexico. You get enough of Thai after a while.

49

This is tough.

Mexican & Southwestern “Mexican” is always good.

I’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 can’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 don’t like Indonesian food. Weird, since I love Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese.

50

If I’ve got to pick one, I’ll go with Italian. Southern Italian specifically – 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 can’t vouch for how authentic what I have eaten is.

51

Aah, but french food is heavily influenced by Italian, thanks to Marie and Catherine de Medici. Here. So Italy wins for me.

52

I like Greek food a lot. I’d probably like French food, too–at least the breads and the soup. Overall, though, I’d have to go with the Greek food. There’s a lot of flavor, and a lot of freshness, and it’s just. . .you know, everything’s so good.

53

This is a tough one. I think it’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 it’s the clear winner.

54

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 food…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.

It’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.

55

OK, I live in LA so I’ve got access to a lot of foods I’ve eaten Thai food with Thai people, Japanese with Japanese people, Chinese food with Chinese people, Vietnamese with Vietnamese, Korean with Koreans. I’ve been to nearly every Korean BBQ place in downtown LA.

I’ve had a lot of the genuine stuff. I’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 & I’m of Indian heritage. I know how crappy most British food is! I know Indian food pretty well. I’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 opinion…my rankings are:

Indian (I mean north Indian, as in Punjabi food), very rich, tasty and unhealthy! Indians don’t do good salads
Chinese - I prefer Cantonese food. I’ve been to China, but I haven’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 there’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 they’re not very genuine.
Vietnamese - Pho’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.

Isn’t Malaysia supposed to be great for food? I’ve never been but there’s a huge mix of Indian, Malay and Chinese cuisines going on over there.

56

I’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.

57

Basic ingredients are so, so good.

58

It is, and by extension Singapore.

59

That’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 that’s a foodie’s dream. Check out the pics, but doing so while hungry can be torture.