# Worst national cuisine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 6, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134 "2015-08-06T05:49:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/181 "2015-08-31T01:52:24Z")
I’m British. Reading this thread is like the last 20 years never happened. Nigella and Jamie will be so disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/182 "2015-08-31T23:21:11Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > I’m British. Reading this thread is like the last 20 years never happened. Nigella and Jamie will be so disappointed. I wouldn’t sweat it, mate. The whole idea that an entire “national cuisine” can be bad, or unpalatable, must less “the worst” is a ridiculous notion. Anyone who can offer a serious answer to the OP’s questions isn’t operating at a level that should bother you. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/183 "2015-08-31T23:43:50Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I wouldn’t sweat it, mate. The whole idea that an entire “national cuisine” can be bad, or unpalatable, must less “the worst” is a ridiculous notion. Anyone who can offer a serious answer to the OP’s questions isn’t operating at a level that should bother you. Yeah, I mean, just look at some of the cuisines suggested in this thread. Probably all my favorite cuisines in the world have been mentioned at one point or another. I lived in Britain in the mid-90s, and found the food there to be quite wonderful. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/184 "2015-09-01T02:09:06Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I wouldn’t sweat it, mate. The whole idea that an entire “national cuisine” can be bad, or unpalatable, must less “the worst” is a ridiculous notion. Anyone who can offer a serious answer to the OP’s questions isn’t operating at a level that should bother you. Except for Nepal. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/185 "2015-09-01T02:26:07Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > So far as “national” cuisines go, none of them are bad, unless you define “American” cuisine as fast food, convenience foods, and processed foods. In that case, American cuisine is the worst. Spoken like a man who has been to Mali. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/186 "2015-09-01T10:35:10Z")
My own least favourite that I’ve tried a lot of is also Phillipino. But then I haven’t tried most African cuisines, despite having access to their restaurants (in the UK, so maybe not truly authentic and obviously not the same as home-cooked food anyway). I’m vegetarian and those restaurants usually don’t offer a full meal for me even if I order multiple side-dishes, which I’m happy to do instead of ordering a main course; the sides are just starches all the same colour and flavour, so I go elsewhere. I think any national cuisine that can’t do something tasty without using meat is doing cooking wrong. I mean even for meat-eaters, because it implies that the cooks are unimaginative and have a very small repertoire, relying on just giving you MEAT rather than cooking well. Some countries famed for their meat dishes also do some awesome veggie or bean-based dishes, either as sides or mains - France, Italy, Vietnam (someone above mentioned Vietnamese food as being awful, but they manage to make tofu taste amazing), Japan, Korea. > [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > I’m British. Reading this thread is like the last 20 years never happened. Nigella and Jamie will be so disappointed. I actually find it quite refreshing that British food has been mentioned so little. People have learned. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/187 "2015-09-01T11:10:37Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I actually find it quite refreshing that British food has been mentioned so little. People have learned. 🆒 From my vast experience\*, a lot of the improvements aren’t even a matter of doing anything particularly exotic, so much as treating better what is there. Even something as simple as a breaded slice of fish is a lot better when it’s cooked right before serving than when it’s been fried whenever and kept in a pond of warmish frying oil. - Not particularly vast, but it does cover 30 years and multiple locations and price ranges. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134/188 "2015-09-01T12:34:18Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > From my vast experience\*, a lot of the improvements aren’t even a matter of doing anything particularly exotic, so much as treating better what is there. Even something as simple as a breaded slice of fish is a lot better when it’s cooked right before serving than when it’s been fried whenever and kept in a pond of warmish frying oil. > > - Not particularly vast, but it does cover 30 years and multiple locations and price ranges. No. I didn’t mean that British people have learned, but that others have. And fish and chips does not involve breaded fish. The fish in that dish is battered, not breaded. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-national-cuisine/727134.md?page=9)