The best country in the world for foodies!! (calculation, income)

[Bibi12]

I dont think the food and wine list, and Mercers guide gave the rating to tokyo based on cuisine, just quality of the restaurants regardless of cuisine. It is quite possible that French, italian or even Nigerian food is the best in the world, but that's not what the thread is about

[Bibi12]

Originally Posted by drshang

I think what makes a city a great foodie place is NOT the high end selection like many will claim...

The thing with high end dining is for middle or upper-middle income types it is too expensive to be a regular event; for most high income types it is often too time consuming to be a regular event. Regardless I don't really consider a city's top end dining scene to be all that relevant for most people evaluating a foodie city/country.

What matters to me:

1) availability of a diverse set of fresh produce/fresh meat/seafood
2) inexpensive, authentic, high quality ethnic cuisine from a variety of places
3) delicious local cuisine (probably more relevant in places with a smaller ethnic population or areas where local cuisine is much more concentrated in terms of the total food scene)
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4) a respectable (but doesn't have to be amazing) high end food scene for special occasions. I don't think a high end food scene that important because these type of meals are occasional enough that you can travel or eat them while on vacation

I can't say I really have any idea what the best foodie country/city in the world is, but determining it based on number of Michelin stars is a really poor way of judging it. Those type of restaurants can fly in the best ingredients from anywhere in the world on a daily basis, so things like local fresh produce is less relevant. But if you want to cook meals at home or dine out at affordable ethnic options, availability of good local ingredients is incredibly important.

If you go buy that criteria then I think Japan meets it. Freshness is part of all asian cuisine (sometimes too fresh if you know what I mean ).
Inexpensive definately
Delicious local cuisine..perhaps some people hate it some love it.
Respectable yes, thats what Michelin is about.

If you read the article the majority of the article isnt even about the High end star restaurants, but the cheap local food.

[Bibi12]

Originally Posted by Kansaichick

Japanese folks are willing to buy an arm and a leg for "gourmet" food and it's VERY different from the Parisian and French way. Aside from having hit almost all the major cities in the U.S., I have traveled to 5 continents, too. In those places, I spent some time with local friends and dined at the local joints and in their homes so I guess I feel like I have a little bit of credibility here.

In Japan, if you just walk through the basements of department stores, one would understand what I'm referring to when I say "gourmet." After all, this is the country where some folks are willing to pay over 10,000 yen ($100 U.S., give or take) for a prized watermelon. So, when Tokyo is referred to as a "gourmet" city, I am not surprised at all. BUT I wouldn't refer to Tokyo as a foodie city (which Osaka DEFINITELY is).

Japan is a very ethnically homogeneous country but food wise, the largest cities are quite eclectic. I lived/worked in Osaka and spent a lot of time in Tokyo for work/personal reasons and was able to see what was offered up there, too. In fact, I had the opportunity to travel throughout most of Japan so I got to taste a bit of everything.

When I mean eclectic tastes:

• Some of the best Indian restaurants consisted of actual Indian chefs being brought in from India on a sponsored visa. It was quite interesting how that worked out because you'd have the Japanese owner and the Indian chef.
• One of the best French restaurants is located in Osaka (British friend who is fluent in French and worked/lived/studied near Nancy affirmed that)
• Ethiopian, Brazilian, French, Mexican, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Peruvian, Spanish, Italian, and more were all accessible in Osaka (and various parts of Tokyo). The Mexican wasn't so desirable in most places but there were some "odd ones" here and there that was closer to the actual Mexican stuff (not Tex-Mex)
• Some of the finer restaurants had some kick ***** food... for a price (thanks to those who treated me)

This is kind of a brief summary of food in Japan. Before I lived in Japan, I was very close-minded about food. My friends knew that I would typically only eat Japanese, American, Italian, Mexican, or Korean food but ironically, after being exposed to such a diverse array of food in Japan, I came back to the States with a broad range of dining interests.

Of course, the larger immigrant cities like Chicago, New York, Atlanta, etc, certainly do have some of the finest places to eat and when I am in those cities, I've got my favourites all lined up. (I'm referring to the fine dining AND the mom and pop's places). In fact, I often want to visit my friends in those cities because they have some great eateries that are reasonably priced, etc.... sadly, Nashville doesn't seem to offer those benefits. (I have found some little pockets here and there in Nashville but it's just not the same). But regardless, one common desire that some of my former colleagues and I share is that we want to go back to Osaka.... not really to go relive our life there (been there, done that, had a great time) but to just go eat at our favourite eateries. This is coming from the opinions of some folks who have spent a lot of time traveling overseas and eating with the locals.

Anyways, for what it's worth, I hope this info helps answer some of your questions somewhat.

Hmm yeah I would agree that osaka has better food in general than Tokyo..but it's less known than Tokyo. Alot of Japanese cuisine was invented in osaka itself.

Also about diversity yes the food in Tokyo is very diverse, more diverse than most people realize it is. Are people saying that just because it's japanese cooks that it's only japanese food? Just because it's for the most part homogenous doesn't mean we don't have food from around the world, or music from around the world, or movies from around the world. This is just text so people won't believe it until they just visit themself

Keep in mind the Michelin guide is french, and the article was written by westerners not Japanese. This isn't some biased Japanese sources.

[dougie86]

"The Michelin Guide for 2010, the bible of all matters gastronomic, has given its much-sought-after three-star rating to 11 restaurants in Tokyo, while Paris has only 10. French chefs can still hold their heads up, the 2010 Michelin Guide still gives the whole of France 25 three-star establishments compared with Japan’s 18."

"As the BBC points out “Tokyo is much bigger than Paris and has 160,000 restaurants compared with about 40,000 in Paris."

source: Michelin Guide for 2010

0.0069% vs 0.063%

I rest my case.

[King0fthehill]

Malaysia, specifically Penang, has to be up there in the street food category:

http://www.uncorneredmarket.com/2009...g-in-malaysia/

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by neutrino

Singapore has to be one of the top foodie destinations. Malay, Chinese, Indian, and British fusion cuisines.

Singapore is probably one of the best for Asian cuisine overall. I found Hong Kong not all that great (pricier, too), while Bangkok was pretty good.

In the world? It depends on the type of food. For sheer diversity, maybe New York?

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by King0fthehill

Malaysia, specifically Penang, has to be up there in the street food category:

Malaysian Food Round-Up: From Laksa to Satay

Yes I should mention Penang and Malaysia in general. KL is great for cheap, quality food; from Indian, to Malaysian, to Chinese and some lesser known Asian cuisines. These places are at the crossroads of Asia so they have alot of diversity.

[Bibi12]

Originally Posted by dougie86

0.0069% vs 0.063%

I rest my case.

What case is that? It just shows that Tokyo has tons of restaurants everywhere...making it a good city for "foodies", just like NYC is better than say indianapolis, because there's restaurants everywhere.

BTW Tokyo keeps getting more and more stars everysingle Michelin guide, because it was only recently they began touring the city. Here is 2007.

Cuisine in Tokyo is internationally acclaimed. In November 2007, Michelin released their guide for fine dining in Tokyo, garnering 191 stars in total, or about twice as many as its nearest competitor, Paris. Eight establishments were awarded the maximum of three stars (Paris has 10), 25 received two stars, and 117 earned one star. Of the eight top-rated restaurants, three offer traditional Japanese fine dining, two are sushi houses and three serve French cuisine.

Of course the 2009 report has Tokyo getting many more stars. Tokyo had 261 stars in total up from 191 in 2007.

[Bibi12]

Here are my pictures of food in Tokyo

Okonomiyaki


Yakiniku you cook the meat yourself in the little grill in middle of table, than dip the meat in nice sauce

This beef is wagyu and the entire meal costed around $10. Wagyu and kobe beef is considered the best quality beef in the world.

Sushi

Deserts

[dougie86]

Originally Posted by NihonKitty

What case is that? It just shows that Tokyo has tons of restaurants everywhere...making it a good city for "foodies", just like NYC is better than say indianapolis, because there's restaurants everywhere.

BTW Tokyo keeps getting more and more stars everysingle Michelin guide, because it was only recently they began touring the city. Here is 2007.

Of course the 2009 report has Tokyo getting many more stars. Tokyo had 261 stars in total up from 191 in 2007.

Just a cursory glance at the extract of Michelin Guide 2010 below, shows the number of restaurants/3* ratios for Paris & Tokyo to be 2:1
And on a per capita basis, France will have double the 3* Michelin ratings than Japan. On this fact alone, your claim as reflected in your thread title does not hold water.

"The Michelin Guide for 2010, the bible of all matters gastronomic, has given its much-sought-after three-star rating to 11 restaurants in Tokyo, while Paris has only 10.

French chefs can still hold their heads up, the 2010 Michelin Guide still gives the whole of France 25 three-star establishments compared with Japan’s 18."

"As the BBC points out “Tokyo is much bigger than Paris and has 160,000 restaurants compared with about 40,000 in Paris."

source: Michelin Guide for 2010