What are you eating?

[shinta|hikari]

Yeah, I just got back yesterday. We drove there from Minnesota, missing toll gates along the way.

I wanted to try those three dishes Chicago is known for (excluding Pineapple fried rice which was a pleasant surprise), and I managed to do it even with my companions not willing to take the effort to visit such places.

They wanted to eat at McDonalds the entire trip, for crying out loud.

[David75]

Is this shop run by actual Japanese?

Yes, it is.

[Buffalobiian]

Most of the sushi places I know here are run by Koreans. And this ramen place at the shopping center tastes like 2-minute noodles.

[David75]

Most of the sushi places I know here are run by Koreans. And this ramen place at the shopping center tastes like 2-minute noodles.

In Paris, most of them are Chinese. Quality is really low to very bad. However I know one case of "Almost the same" at a reasonable price, near my work place.
Then there are some very high quality places I have tried, but prices are really out of the everyday category.
Thing is, one of the two, the most expensive one, has had a great fall in quality.
Then there's that japanese restaurant, opened in the late 50's that I like. It's just that they are not opened saturday and sunday at noon and it's a shame since I can't really go to restaurants in the evening.

That udon affordable place, is run by japanese and many workers there seem to be students.
And these are not instant noodles, kitchen is right in front of you when you come early enough to have one of the 10 seats of the upper floor.
Amazing all they do in that very small place with like 5 people, each assigned some particular tasks (udon, frying, etc...)

All in all, in the last 10 years, I have evolved to discovering, to liking japanese food. Then I tried to understand and now found some nice local places. I wish I could find more of those nice places, it's just that I'm now too picky and fear bad experiences. Had one yesterday...
frost tuna (ice cristals inside...) no taste, poor quantity etc... I wish I had the choice to go to a good chinese restaurant instead (I know some)

[Zinobi]

I'm currently eating some nice milksteak.
Boiled over hard.

[fahoumh]

I wanted to try those three dishes Chicago is known for (excluding Pineapple fried rice which was a pleasant surprise), and I managed to do it even with my companions not willing to take the effort to visit such places.

I was there with my family back in October and we went to Giordano's. It was pretty good but not as good as the hype would have you believe. I can't remember where I had a Chicago hot dog...but it was pretty damned good. And you can't go Chicago without having a deep-dish pizza or a Chicago hot dog; it's a gastronomical crime.

[Animeniax]

Yes, it is.

Are you sure it's not just a bunch of Chinese posing as Japanese?

[David75]

Are you sure it's not just a bunch of Chinese posing as Japanese?

Certain,
Way of dressing, make up for girls, way of moving, faces, and most important language and accent...

[rockmanj]

I was there with my family back in October and we went to Giordano's. It was pretty good but not as good as the hype would have you believe. I can't remember where I had a Chicago hot dog...but it was pretty damned good. And you can't go Chicago without having a deep-dish pizza or a Chicago hot dog; it's a gastronomical crime.

Being from here (and living here again), I suppose that never was a big deal to me, as I ate the stuff all the time. Although since I stopped eating meat, I can't really enjoy a Chicago dog anymore :\.

[shinta|hikari]

since I stopped eating meat, I can't really enjoy anymore :\.

Fixed it for you.

Kidding aside, why did you stop?

[rockmanj]

Fixed it for you.

Kidding aside, why did you stop?

I hear that a lot hahah, but when I came back to the US I got sick from eating a lot of meat. I also started learning more about the US factory farming and those sorts of things. I watched and read a lot and decided that eating meat was not for me anymore.

[fahoumh]

Being from here (and living here again), I suppose that never was a big deal to me, as I ate the stuff all the time. Although since I stopped eating meat, I can't really enjoy a Chicago dog anymore :\.

Funny how something world-famous can be so mundane if it's readily available. It was an 8 hour drive to my uncle's house in Naperville, then like a ~40 minute drive into downtown Chicago. Plus, it was the first time I'd been there.

[shinta|hikari]

I can understand something getting boring if you get used to it. Singaporean Laksa and Char Kway Teow are world famous (and I loved them to death when I was there), but those are just street food for the locals.

[rockmanj]

School lunches around the world I must say, the US ones look the least appetizing, and the UK one is just confusing.

[Sapphire]

This is so cool.

[shinta|hikari]

Does that mean it is served free or part of the school service?

If so, the Philippines one is a lie. They would never serve lechon kawali to kids for free. It's too expensive (relatively).

[rockmanj]

I think they are just random examples. I don't think my school lunches were ever free.

[Kraco]

The Asian kids sure eat like kings if those are free and average school lunches in their countries. What was served over here in my time was quite basic but healthy food and the cycle was long enough that you didn't get bored. I had never any complaints. But then again, I had been raised to respect food.

[Buffalobiian]

We don't get food served like that here.

It's all either packaged uncooked foods (bags of chips), prepackaged cooked foods (pies in a plastic wrapping, sausage roles in a paper bag, or handmade foods put into takeaway containers (pastas, curried rice, sandwiches). Everything is take-away and self-paid. Nothing gets washed, and tables for eating are limited, let alone designated undercover eating tables. In fact, rather than "canteens which imply food being served with washable utensils and an area to sit, school eateries here are called tuck-shops where you just buy, leave and eat somewhere.

edit: that said, I think I like the option of having one single large serving of something instead of having bits of everything. I'm not really one who likes to have bits and pieces, but would rather eat one thing today, and another tomorrow. Maybe I'm just weird like that, but not having a full serving of something makes me feel like it's incomplete, even though I can fill myself with another half of something else.

[David75]

We don't get food served like that here.

It's all either packaged uncooked foods (bags of chips), prepackaged cooked foods (pies in a plastic wrapping, sausage roles in a paper bag, or handmade foods put into takeaway containers (pastas, curried rice, sandwiches). Everything is take-away and self-paid. Nothing gets washed, and tables for eating are limited, let alone designated undercover eating tables. In fact, rather than "canteens which imply food being served with washable utensils and an area to sit, school eateries here are called tuck-shops where you just buy, leave and eat somewhere.

edit: that said, I think I like the option of having one single large serving of something instead of having bits of everything. I'm not really one who likes to have bits and pieces, but would rather eat one thing today, and another tomorrow. Maybe I'm just weird like that, but not having a full serving of something makes me feel like it's incomplete, even though I can fill myself with another half of something else.

Strange how habits and culture can vary so much across continents.
I like having multiple things to eat in small quantities.
I love those restaurant where you get like 10 to 18 (yes 18) different dishes, in very small quantities.
You start thinking you'll never have enough to fill yourself, but around 2 third of the dishes, you start getting full... and it keeps coming and is delicious.

Now we are only talking school canteens.
I have to say that quality varies a lot depending on schools and cities. But there's really a full course and they try their best to give a balanced meal.
Also, tables are often organised to help socialisation, talk and eat is very important here in France, so much that many work meetings are in fact done at lunch time.