Job Discussion Forums

[Seibu]

Question for those who have returned home and visit home often.....

Has living in Japan completely ruined your Japanese food experience to the point you've become snobbish about it?

Reason I ask.....I did an eight year stint in Japan....fell hard for the food...especially shabu-shabu and sukiyaki.....and now cannot get pumped about the sushi craze here in the States.

Sushi in the midwest doesn't seem to come close to the cheap sushi houses in Tokyo......and it's extremely overpriced to boot.

Is it possible to avoid being a sushi-snob?

[markle]

No.

I had this experience when I came home from Thailand, I even worked in a Thai restaurant which I wouldn't eat at for free (staff ate off the menu).

I'm lucky in a sense because I had the opportunity to eat some good Japanese food in Bangkok (catering to expat Japanese) so when I went home I got used to mediocre J-food. On the bright side I did find a little eatery, basic menu but as good as any Mom'n'Pop eatery here, so all is not lost when we go back soon.

My advice. Embrace your local expat J-community, you're bound to get invited to some get-togethers.

[G Cthulhu]

I think it's common, to a degree. I know that after 7 years in Japan and having not lived there for almost 6, I still can't stomach sushi. I've just gone off it entirely.

And the snob factor is def. there - although given how crappy "sushi" is (with a few notable exceptions) here in the US midwest, I'm not sure it's all snob factor.

[fhsieh]

I spent just a term abroad in Japan during college and ended up the same way. Even though it was short term, my friends and I really let go of the Western food crutch (McD's, KFC, etc) and dug into the local food culture. It's pretty difficult to stomach "Westernized" Japanese food now.

Now at most of the Japanese restaurants I go to in America, I get the impression the menus are concerned more with trying to cook "Japanese" food than simply good food. So yeah in that sense I've gotten a bit snobby myself.

It's a bit ironic -- now that I'll be returning to Japan -- that friends and family want to invite me out to Japanese restaurants before I leave. I know they're just excited for me, but it sure is a little unnerving to say, "no, no thanks, I think I'll wait until I'm in Japan for real Japanese food."

[markle]

[Seibu]

To add to the snob factor.....I'm not sure whereabouts you live in North America...but in Oklahoma City, there is no Japanese ex-pat community. Only a few Japanese kids attending local universities and that's it.

As a result, we have a number of local white guys that are cashing in on the sushi craze and opening restaurants that I don't think pass the bill as top-notch sushi.....just trendy. And it's at least double the price. I shake my head.

Finding really nice sushi in a city like Tulsa, Omaha, Winnipeg, etc...is probably akin to finding good BBQ in Yokohama.

And forget getting shabu-shabu or sukiyaki. Gotta make it yourself.