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Old 05-12-2023, 11:54 PM
 
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Goat's a highlight of any trip to Mexico, grilled with green onionns.

I'm surprised at your high prices in Japan. A convenience store was doing a brisk supper business in nice tubs of excellent mixed seafood salads, Y200-something a tub,, see-through lids for non-Japanese readers. Made me feel Japanese to fill up with that. Japan is Japan, why pay more.
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Old 05-13-2023, 09:09 AM
 
Location: NYC
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I remember two or three notable surprises while eating "natively" abroad. Once, a very long time ago while still a teen and typically less experimental about food, I was in some neighborhood of Florence just after dusk. It was pretty dark and a cart vendor was dishing up hot something-or-other sandwiches to a happy crowd of locals. I was traveling rough & hungry so I jumped at a cheap, local cooked meal. He was putting steaming, white filets on buns and I assumed it was some kind of fish.

When I bit into it with my expectations, the reality was a soft, chewy thing with absolutely no discernable flavor and the texture of sponge. Apparently I had stumbled onto the local delicacy of boiled/steamed tripe, I couldn't finish it. (Maybe locals put on some kind of sauce to tart it up?)

On the island of Grenada, early '80s, there was a local place called "Mama's"... no signs or menu, all word of mouth. A local woman who would cook up a bunch of dishes and serve them family-style at dinner time on her large porch fitted with long picnic tables and copious amounts of local beer & rum. While eating one of the mystery dishes, most were delicious, this one was more oily & I kept biting into very chewy or crunchy bits, I was advised that was her "famous" possum stew & I probably had some tail. Unfortunately it was the only tail I got on that trip.

Another trip some other Caribbean island, we stopped at a rural, roadside vendor with a sign "Chicken Roti", a kind of empanada with a local curry. I took a big bite and ended up with a mouthful of chicken bones, I mean....

OTOH the fried grasshoppers when snacked on with local beer is delicious.
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Old 05-13-2023, 02:08 PM
 
Location: Spain
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Quote:
Originally Posted by arr430 View Post
Japan is Japan, why pay more.
To experience proper ramen and sushi in Japan, which is a slightly different experience than eating a refrigerated 7-11 convenience store item in a plastic container. I think the best convenience store item in Japan isn't even refrigerated, it is the spicy dried squid. For prepared refrigerated items you're better off going to the supermarket anyway, similar prices but a much bigger selection.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Hefe View Post
OTOH the fried grasshoppers when snacked on with local beer is delicious.
Indeed, garlic and lemon grass grasshoppers I can crunch on those all afternoon with some cold beers!
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Old 05-13-2023, 06:06 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
To experience proper ramen and sushi in Japan, which is a slightly different experience than eating a refrigerated 7-11 convenience store item in a plastic container. I think the best convenience store item in Japan isn't even refrigerated, it is the spicy dried squid. For prepared refrigerated items you're better off going to the supermarket anyway, similar prices but a much bigger selection.

One of my bucket lists is to stop at a 7-11 in Japan and enjoy all of the food - maybe pick up five dishes and take them back to the hotel. We did something like that in the UK and thought it was great.

One of the most difficult things about entertaining Japanese clients is trying to dissuade them from even entering a 7-11 in location in the US. They always come out so disappointed.
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Old 05-13-2023, 07:31 PM
 
Location: Niceville, FL
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Originally Posted by jlawrence01 View Post

One of the most difficult things about entertaining Japanese clients is trying to dissuade them from even entering a 7-11 in location in the US. They always come out so disappointed.
The killer app in a US 7-11 is a Coke Slurpee on a hot summer day. It’s the one thing that makes them different from other convenience stores that serve inferior pulverized ice drink products.
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Old 05-13-2023, 10:33 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
To experience proper ramen and sushi in Japan, which is a slightly different experience than eating a refrigerated 7-11 convenience store item in a plastic container. I think the best convenience store item in Japan isn't even refrigerated, it is the spicy dried squid. For prepared refrigerated items you're better off going to the supermarket anyway, similar prices but a much bigger selection.!
That would have pleased a Foodie -- wrong thread. By all appearances, there were plenty of Japanese doing it, so I'm ringing it as a Japan experience. No doubt, at some price, I could have searched a source for "proper" ramen.

A local shop can make food as good as they want, and cut costs in other ways. I've had really good Tex-Mex food at Valero stations.
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Old 05-13-2023, 11:13 PM
 
Location: Spain
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Originally Posted by beachmouse View Post
The killer app in a US 7-11 is a Coke Slurpee on a hot summer day. It’s the one thing that makes them different from other convenience stores that serve inferior pulverized ice drink products.
I used to like the nachos best, our 7-11 had a nacho bar and we became at expert level at using chips layered vertically around the edges to create higher container walls and get more junk for your money. These skills translated into adulthood with Mongolian barbecue joins.


Quote:
Originally Posted by arr430 View Post
That would have pleased a Foodie -- wrong thread.

By all appearances, there were plenty of Japanese doing it, so I'm ringing it as a Japan experience. No doubt, at some price, I could have searched a source for "proper" ramen.

A local shop can make food as good as they want, and cut costs in other ways. I've had really good Tex-Mex food at Valero stations.
From wiki: A foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food, and who eats food not only out of hunger but also as a hobby.

Wanting to eat dinner at a restaurant instead of 7-11 doesn't make one a foodie, nor is a traveler who is interested in sampling local cuisine when visiting another country. I never said eating at a convenience store in Japan wasn't a Japan experience, I ate at convenience stores as well it isn't a one or the other binary choice. You asked why pay more and I answered, you can experience different things and better food. A local ramen shop is very much part of the culture of Japan, sorry you missed it.

Cool story on your experiences with Valero stations, I've not seen anyone claim that local shops can't make good food.
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Old 05-14-2023, 12:29 AM
 
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I used to do the same at the self-serve Chili tureen at K-Marts. And it was the best chili I've ever tasted, really good. There was a Kmart in Valdosta GA, where you could ask the ladies for a burger in a special bun with leafy lettuce, and they'd go over to the grocery aisle and customize it. Gone forever.

"Ardent OR refined". Refined alone qualifies. And, back at the hotel, I iliked my tub of supper, far beyond my expectations. I was more than satisfied with my "unrefined" choice.
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Old 05-14-2023, 02:31 AM
 
Location: Spain
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Originally Posted by arr430 View Post
"Ardent OR refined". Refined alone qualifies. And, back at the hotel, I iliked my tub of supper, far beyond my expectations. I was more than satisfied with my "unrefined" choice.
Someone who wants to eat at a local ramen joint instead of 7-11 is "refined" now? Nevermind the kobe beef, nevermind the expensive cooked to order shellfish from the market, nevermind the puffer fish, never mind all the five star restaurants in Japan, to you someone who sits there among all the locals slurping away at ramen for $7 must be "refined" and therefore a foodie. I congratulate you on your ability to be more satisfied with one thing than another you didn't even try.

In USA every foreign tourist eating a burger at a local diner must be a refined foodie, since they aren't eating a hot dog and nachos at 7-11 in their hotel room.
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Old 05-14-2023, 05:58 AM
 
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If I had gone to your Ramen place instead, and paid 25 bucks for noodles and fish, and was not impressed, then what? I'm often underwhelmed by US places that profess to be above RLob or OGar level. So much so, I'd never go in one on my own.

I like Japan, a lot. All positives. I wouldn't trade the brief memories. I've probably had Pad Thai that was as bad as a Big Mac. First time I ordered Hummus at a mall food court back in USA, it was clear -- ambience is everything.

Say, my friend from Poland is visiting me in south Texas. We stop at a truck stop for a burrito. Back in Poland, he can tell friends "Ew, we had a burrito at a truck stop." Or. "Wow, we had a burrito at a truck stop." No facts changed, only perspective. Your call.

Last edited by arr430; 05-14-2023 at 06:54 AM..
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