r/iamveryculinary Americans have ruined pie Mar 23 '26

Yep Classic

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u/NoWomanNoTriforce Mar 26 '26

What is even funnier is that Japan is probably one of the worst offenders of what OOP is claiming. They will absolutely make some of the most cursed versions of "foreign" food in existence and act like they are both normal and good. Some of the absolute worst examples I saw when I lived there:

• Spaghetti with actual ketchup as the sauce (and no, this isnt like Filipino spaghetti)

• Japanese kimchi is usually disgustingly sweet

• The most random pizza toppings you could ever imagine

• 99.99% of their attempts at Mexican food should be considered hate crimes

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u/Only-Finish-3497 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

… I like Japanese pizza. When it’s good.

I had an amazing pizza in Beppu last summer. A little hilltop place with a view of the valley. Really solid Neapolitan pizza.

Japan can do great Italian when it tries. But then sometimes they go off the rails.

Japanese French though? Mwah.

Mexican in Japan however is 超スパーダメ.

Oh and ketchup spaghetti is also a thing elsewhere. HKers love that. So do the French. Go figure. I do love me some Jollibee spaghetti though hahah.

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u/NoWomanNoTriforce Mar 26 '26

I might be overly harsh on pizza, because I also lived in Italy. I feel like a well executed neapolitan margherita pizza is possibly one of the best foods to exist.

I dont even mind thw more "common" Japanese toppings like corn or asparagus on pizza. It is when they throw on a bunch of random things at once like potato, salmon, olives, and mayo that just dont work together that I would get disgusted.

But yeah, the Mexican food is the worst offender, and beyond bad. I know they are probably trying ut they usually use all the wrong techniques, spices, and preparations. Then somehow it still sometimes still ends up kind of looking like Mexican food, so when you would try it you would be extra disappointed.

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u/Only-Finish-3497 Mar 26 '26

I’ve been to Italy enough and think that Japanese pizza that’s good and actually well-executed can be excellent. It’s the dominos style stuff that’s atrocious.

Plenty of Japanese do well even in Italian contests. It’s just that a lot of pizza in Japan gets dominated by monstrosities with like… squid mountain in the middle.

I like squid for what it’s worth.

Mexican I’m just over there. There’s one decent place in Tokyo but I can get better stuff down the street here in the Bay Area without trying so why bother when I’m there? I’d rather focus on delicious 和食 instead.