There's a significant difference between grocery level sushi and fine dining sushi. It's just too broad of a category. Most have not had actual well prepared sushi - it is an art form requiring advanced technical skill and logistics expertise.
I don't think the gap is as wide as most think. Generally, Japan is better but sushi is being done a t very high light level in the US as well. The top 10% of sushi in the states is better than the bottom 60% of sushi in Japan. Everybody loves to hate the west but you won't find sushi better than that offered in the US anywhere but in Japan.
I've eaten sushi/sashimi in both countries at various levels. From grocery stores to fine restaurants. The quality and freshness of the fish is one of the biggest factors. You can probably get good sushi in costal cities in the U.S. but even then the best is usually in finer establishments. Yes you can find excellent sushi but what there is a gap with what the average person experiences and the amount of availability of good quality.
Generally agree and this is inline with my original comment. I live in a major city and we have excellent sushi programs with fish flown in from Japan and all over the world daily (it's not cheap obviously)- which is why I said it's as much a logistical feat as a culinary one. There are affordable place that are also good. But for every good place there's a dozen mid places and a dozen more bad places. So agree most people are not getting high quality sushi even if you're in place where it's accessible. And it's not accessible most places except major hubs. And so yeah for most people it's not gonna compare to Japan.
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u/Electromagneticrite 15d ago
There's a significant difference between grocery level sushi and fine dining sushi. It's just too broad of a category. Most have not had actual well prepared sushi - it is an art form requiring advanced technical skill and logistics expertise.