Japan: engaging with the other

[Mulboyne]

From here:

There's about 5 or 6 things you can eat in Japan:

Just got back from a 12 day trip to Japan. Pictures and some of the more interesting stories to come later (like dealing with Japan's airport security when you're carrying six or seven wooden swords, a couple of jo staves, and several metal practice swords -- that was fun the first time; not so much the second and third time around). Anyway, I'm still seriously jetlagged so I'll talk about what I've discovered about Japan: there's really only about five or six things you can eat there.

1) Japanese food and by extension, Chinese food, though I did see a Vietnamese restaurant somewhere there, I think. Your basic rice or noodles and meat stuff. I grew up eating this sort of stuff every day so I had no problems with it. I think Karen was craving steak and potatoes by fifth day we were there.

2) Bread. It's what I had for breakfast every day. Japan has all sorts of savory and sweet bread type things such as bread rolls stuffed with red bean paste or covered with almonds. It's very good stuff. Except when you get something with mayonnaise. Like bread covered with tater tots and what looks like to be scrambled eggs but is in reality mayo. Who the hell combines tater tots and mayo?!? I'll tell you who: the same people who thought it would be a good idea to bake the mayonnaise directly on the bread and make it look suspiciously like garlic cheese toast. That's who. Sheesh...

3) Hamburgers. No, really. McDonalds was pretty much everywhere in Japan. More so than Starbucks. We actually went to McDonalds a couple times. It was a little bit better than what you get here in the US but it was still McDonalds. There was also a Mos Burger and a Lotteria, which are supposed to be pretty good too.

4) Italian food with a Japanese flavor. I can't really explain it but if you've tried it, you'll know what I'm talking about. Even simple and innocuous dishes such as spaghetti bolognese taste like, well, Japan. The only thing I regret is not trying the Shakey's Pizza the one time I saw it.

5) Fruit parfait. Basically, fancy ice cream sundaes in a tall glass. More or less. They're apparently quite popular.

So yeah, that's pretty much what I ate during my 12 days in Japan.

[Oradea]

Uhm, right. So your saying that all you can eat in Japan is' bread, hamburgers, mayo, ice cream, italian food and Japanese food?

Please tell us which outlandish back neck town you visited.
Christ, in the 7 minute walk to the Underground I can see 13 different eating places, all with a different cuisine.

[gkanai]

Quite the foodie, this one ...