Japan (8/10)
Students queue up for cheap and tasty food in Japan
The real deal – Japanese food in Tokyo (note: no sauce on sushi!)
Eating out: 8/10
Supermarket food: 8/10
Highlights: Let’s face it, Japanese food is amazing: Sushi, tofu restaurants, tempura, bento sets, convenience food, “Italian” (the Japanese do very well). Japanese food is very healthy and most dishes include vegetables as standard with little processed food. Snack “onigiri” rice balls for just $1 are perfect convenience food. I love the salads you can buy in 7-11 etc.
Lowlights: Never easy to get quality bread in Japan (this is after all a rice country). Additives in most food. Cost is reasonably high for most food. Did anyone say radiation??
Japanese food as it should be – no sauce or mayo on top
Spain 8/10
Eating out: 8/10
Supermarket food: 8/10
Spanish supermarket fresh fish counter is pretty good
Highlights: Tapas, seafood, octopus, pescondito (small fish), cheap quality produce in supermarkets. Dried hams. Cheap healthy Mediterranean fare (olives, lean meats, almonds, olive oil). Little processed food in restaurant fare which is great. In the first 2 weeks we ate out 6 times and 5 times were excellent (which is a pretty good hit rate!).
Lowlights: Bread isn’t so good in Spain (by North European standards)
Fried fish selection (inc. octopus and squid)
California (7.5/10)
Vegan food at Naked Cafe in Costa Mesa – was average
Eating out: 7/10
Supermarket food: 8/10
Highlights: Whole Foods Market is amazing – I love that place!, Kombucha, infinite variety, Asian foods everywhere. Lots of convenience (you’ll never starve here). Some good fusions going on. Lots of experimentation and cool foods popping up everywhere. I think the real cutting edge innovation is happening in the food truck scene.
Lowlights: Tipping! (pet peeve). “Japanese” Sushi made by non-Japanese, fast food, too many “non-foods” in supermarket ingredients, sauce on makizushi (rolled sushi) (could make me cry)
Sushi in Cali – a real mix of qualities and definitely different from traditional Japanese sushi
Hawaii (7/10)
Lots of quality greens at Whole Foods Market
Eating out: 6.5/10
Supermarket food: 7.5/10
Highlights: Asian food everywhere, Whole Foods Market again!!, Kombucha, plenty of Japanese/Asian restaurants although quality of take-out end was average. Some great local fruits.
Lowlights: Take-out Asian food not so great as expected, a little expensive by comparison to mainland
Cyprus (6.5/10)
Greek seafood platter was amazing
Eating out: 6/10
Supermarket food: 6.5/10
Highlights: Seafood platter, Greek coffee, cheap produce in supermarkets (esp fruit & veg)
Lowlights: eating out can be hit & miss, bread average quality
New Zealand (6.5/10)
Eating out: 6/10
Supermarket food: 6.5/10
Highlights: Burger Fuel is the bomb!, local coffee, green tea latte/frappucino at Starbucks, local mussels from supermarkets, local wines
Lowlights: “Japanese” Sushi restaurants (sauce on sushi and deep-fried sushi!), many of the Chinese run fast food joints (sandwiches etc), eating out hit & miss. Cost of eating out high compared to like-for-like in other countries we visited. Limited choice by comparison to other places (NZ after all is sparsely populated and its people would fit into Tokyo 8 times over).
Green tea “matcha” frappucino at Starbucks NZ was a real treat
A highly rated “Japanese” restaurant in NZ turned out to be a bit of a disappointment
Florida (6/10)
Eating out: 5/10
Supermarket food: 7/10
Fiji (5/10)
Indian food in Fiji was very good
Eating out: 5/10
Supermarket food: 5/10
Highlights: Availability of quality Indian food by Indian chefs
Lowlights: Most eat outs cater for tourist fare and quality is often average at best
Related articles
- 5 Countries for Seafood Lovers (gobackpacking.com)
- The Food Travelers Handbook (everything-everywhere.com)
- How to Travel And Eat Your Way Around the World (nomadicmatt.com)
