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If they like Japanese culture, they like to go, but most people in all of China do not like Japanese culture. Some Chinese in the bigger cities shop at the Japanese department stores regularly or eat at a Japanese cuisine restaurants sometimes, a few study Japanese language at language schools, work at Japanese companies in China, but it is still rare for most of the Chinese. Some Chinese do not like Japanese culture, but visit Japan for shopping or do business. Some Chinese study in Japan.
Korean restaurants do well in China. Italian is increasingly popular too.
Sushi won't be too successful because Chinese don't like raw fish, but udon etc. should be widely accepted.
Udon is fairly popular; you can order prepared udon noodles at 7-11 for example. If my students see it, they go "WHOOOOOA UDONG!" Ajisen Ramen is a Japanese restaurant chain that has many locations in China and you can buy their "fresh" (refrigerated) noodles in supermarkets - they're popular because they're made in China, but to Japanese health standards. Some of their locations got trashed during the Diaoyu/Senkaku fracas a few years ago... the people who hate Japan that much aren't going to go there in the first place, but they'll come out to smash it up if there's a riot. I'm sure that the average person who goes there, while being aware of the fact it's Japanese, is still able to disassociate the cuisine itself from any feelings they have towards Japan, like an American who dislikes "Mexicans" but loves tacos and burritos.
Sushi is already popular enough in urban areas with younger and/or middle-to-upper class folks. There are tons of sushi places all over GZ and Shanghai, even outside their CBD's. 7-11 and Family Mart, another Japanese chain, sell premade sushi, and you see it in supermarkets. There are people who have sushi carts, like the noodle carts you'll see. I have noticed that some of the sushi that would otherwise use a big hunk of fresh fish instead have it braised, or they use previously-cooked fish that is simply served cold, but raw fish or octopus, fish eggs, etc are still common.
There are more and more Italian restaurants popping up, that range from Sayizeria (sort of like a Denny's in terms of market placement) to very posh gourmet joints. The popularity of Pizza Hut gave Italian food a boost.
Sayizeria, spelled incorrect but similarly, is actually from Japan, the people are not aware of it because the food is mostly Italian, actually Japanese style Italian. Like Pizza Hut is from the US, not Italy, it is mostly other countries, not Italy, promoting Italy food in China.
Udon and ramen clearly originated in China, Chinese do not credit the Japanese for their noodles, Chinese regard themselves as the noodle expert, with many types of noodles, made from wheat, rice, mung beans, eggs etc Again Asian noodles are not popular in the West
Sayizeria, spelled incorrect but similarly, is actually from Japan, the people are not aware of it because the food is mostly Italian, actually Japanese style Italian. Like Pizza Hut is from the US, not Italy, it is mostly other countries, not Italy, promoting Italy food in China.
Sayizeria is pretty bad too, imho... I thought it was just a domestic company. Pizza Hut here is more of an upscale chain, which is funny, and they have other types of pasta. It's definitely not authentic... but, that's the first exposure that most mainland Chinese are getting to Italian food. In Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, etc there are a fair number of much more authentic Italian restaurants, many of them upscale, and others that are more fast casual... lots of them do pretty good business.
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Udon and ramen clearly originated in China, Chinese do not credit the Japanese for their noodles, Chinese regard themselves as the noodle expert, with many types of noodles, made from wheat, rice, mung beans, eggs etc Again Asian noodles are not popular in the West
The type of noodles probably did but the dishes themselves are Japanese, and they're generally marketed as such, and Asian noodles are pretty popular in the US, especially on the coasts.
I had no idea what the heck Sayizeria was until I googled it. It is like really low or something because the price is like crazy cheap? Even for Taiwanese standard. I was like this must be in HK dollar but to my surprise it wasn't.
Btw I don't like udon. I just don't like any Asian noodles.
Saizeriya has restaurants all over Tokyo and in Taipei, HK, Singapore, and some Chinese cities.
Both Saizeriya and Pizza Hut are much cheaper in China than in Japan and the US.
Common Italian food anywhere worldwide should be charged affordably, as the ingridients are not expensive. Italian food, including American Italian and Japanese Italian, is popular all over the world because it is not expensive.
I know Pizza Hut. It's quite popular here. Actually there is one like two streets away from my house lol. They sell decent junk, greasy food.
But I have never heard of Sayizeriya, must be that most people I know just don't go there.
Saizeriya ( ) is pretty gross in terms of quality, imo; the pizzas are all premade, frozen crusts with canned sauce and what we would call "mozzarella topping" in the US (i.e., an artificial cheese made largely of soy oil and the like, melty but tastes sweeter than real cheese) whapped on them and thrown in an oven. I had a pasta dish there and tit tasted like the canned Chef Boyardee ravioli or spaghetti we have back home that is popular with kids. So, it's basically a sit-down fast food restaurant. No one here would consider it to be a "nice place," just a quick, simple place to go for a pizza or some pasta. Most of the dishes are in the 30-50rmb if I recall correctly ($5-8 USD); a big mac with fries and a soda costs like 25rmb, for comparative purposes.
Pizza Hut's menu here is way larger and has way more stuff on it. In the West, you order a pizza according to what you want on it ("I'll have a large thin-crust pizza with extra cheese, pepperoni, sausage, and olives"), while in China, you order it more like you'd order any other dish: there is no list of available toppings or anything, you'd basically say "I want a large seafood pizza." If you try to order a pizza with only sauce or only cheese, it throws the staff member for a loop because there's no cheese pizza on the menu; it's like saying "I'd like spaghetti bolognaise with alfredo instead of bolognaise" to them. It is pricier than Saizeriya ( ) and better quality; it's acceptable to take a date there early on. Pizzas there start at about 55-60rmb ($9 USD) and can run up to 150rmb ($25) for some of their crazier pizzas - which are pretty damn crazy.
Comparatively, in the US, Pizza Hut is usually running a promotion right now where for $7 each (85rmb), and you can select the crust and four toppings. So, it's cheaper in the US, but Pizza Hut is also now almost entirely delivery as opposed to having sit-down restaurants as they do in China, and it's generally thought of as simply cheap, lowest-common denominator, junky pizza.
The actual Italian restaurants that make pizzas here vary from about 40 to 60 to 80 from large to medium to small (respectively) for carryout or simple sit-down, to 80/120/140rmb for better pies at nicer places.
Our promotion is if you order a large pizza, they give you two, you'll have to take them home by yourself though, if you eat there then no discount for you, so everybody takes greasy pizzas home.
But they're also about twice the price as in China, according to you. A big regular one here costs about 20 USD.
I was reading an article that Japanese pop culture is surprisingly popular among young people in China. I wonder if the two countries are becoming more similar, since China is becoming richer and more industrialized and high-tech.
No.
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) is pretty gross in terms of quality, imo; the pizzas are all premade, frozen crusts with canned sauce and what we would call "mozzarella topping" in the US (i.e., an artificial cheese made largely of soy oil and the like, melty but tastes sweeter than real cheese) whapped on them and thrown in an oven. I had a pasta dish there and tit tasted like the canned Chef Boyardee ravioli or spaghetti we have back home that is popular with kids. So, it's basically a sit-down fast food restaurant. No one here would consider it to be a "nice place," just a quick, simple place to go for a pizza or some pasta. Most of the dishes are in the 30-50rmb if I recall correctly ($5-8 USD); a big mac with fries and a soda costs like 25rmb, for comparative purposes.
