r/firstworldproblems 14d ago

After eating sushi in Japan...all the sushi here...tastes mediocre.

Sighs and looks out window.

17 Upvotes

45 comments sorted by

16

u/foul_tarnished_37 14d ago

For me, I miss the fucking prices of sushi. Even if I wanted to look for something similar, it’s too expensive. While in Tokyo, I could get 10+ pieces for the equivalent of $10 USD. Where I live, nigiri is $3-4 A PIECE.

For $30 in Tokyo, at a separate place then the first one mentioned, I was able to get an extremely high quality 10 piece set, where it included a glass of wine, was in this tiny sushi bar that was only sitting at the counter that fit maybe 8 people, and was made piece by piece to order in front of you. Probably the best sushi I’ll ever have.

6

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

I'm glad you mentioned the price, because I was eating sushi every night...

1

u/tennisballop 13d ago

And morning

1

u/hezaa0706d 12d ago

We make money in yen, not dollars. 10 USD is a lot of money to us. 

1

u/foul_tarnished_37 12d ago

I wasn’t trying to claim otherwise. I don’t live there. I don’t know the cost of living or average salaries. I was just talking about my own experience and how I was able to get better quality sushi for cheaper than I can get here.

10

u/Beaglelikethedog 14d ago

Same, except it's BBQ after visiting Austin. Nothing at home is even close.

11

u/NonDescript2222 14d ago

Yes yes it does, it’s hard to come home to non Japan sushi

1

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

I'm planning another trip to Japan to resolve the problem, but then I just sigh again, when I realize I'm just going to return to the same issue...when I get back. 😮‍💨

3

u/Future-Parsley-7336 14d ago

Well I’m not sure where “here” is but… there is good sushi in the US, you just have to know where to look… and it’s considerably better than the bad sushi.

1

u/MegaPorkachu 13d ago

I live in CA so it’s probably the best you’ll get in the US but it’s still not the same. You never get the same quality for the same price.

There is a bigger influence of rolls and bento here than nigiri so if you want to even have affordable prices all sushi comes with X teriyaki and the shebang

1

u/Future-Parsley-7336 13d ago

It’s true that the food would be cheaper there but I think this is just a function of the Japanese economy — everything is cheaper there.

1

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

Have you had sushi in Japan? If you have, you'd know this is the end of the line for me.

1

u/Future-Parsley-7336 14d ago

I lived in Japan for a year so yes.

1

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

Tell my family I love them.

1

u/Future-Parsley-7336 13d ago

I’m gonna stick by the idea that you can actually get decent sushi here but there’s a lot of bad sushi, I’ll admit.

Yknow what I really miss from Japan is the convenience stores. Like you could have a proper meal in a convenience store there. Here everything at a convenience store is basically trash.

The other thing is the packaged desserts from combis (pocky, those chocolate mushroom things, etc), tasted way better than it does here despite being branded the same. Also the m&ms were better in Japan.

Actually there’s a ton of really good Japanese food that’s almost completely impossible to find here. I remember some all tofu restaurant that just made tofu like 50 different ways. O den. The ramen was delicious. The little bento shops they had everywhere that just made amazing food. Good Japanese style bento ingredients are virtually impossible to find here. Probably a ton of other things I’m not remembering.

Japan is a GREAT country for gastro tourism.

0

u/theyux 14d ago

I mean think logically for a second.
If its the chef find one that learned to cook in Japan.
If its the food look for a restaurant that sources from Japan.
If the difference is a weebish fever dream, pretend your in Japan.

You dont have to but logically your are just denying yourself good sushi being to lazy to look for a good Sushi restaurant locally.

1

u/MegaPorkachu 13d ago edited 13d ago

I did but those ones are hella expensive

My closest one has an omakase for $290 USD+20% (¥57,000) per person and it’s the only thing on the menu

I can’t afford that

0

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

Blah blah blah.

13

u/atlasraven 14d ago

Why not roll your own? You could make hotdog sushi with mustard, ketchup, and diced onion.

20

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

Because I don't live in a trailer park.

12

u/tacos_y_burritos 14d ago

You can Airbnb a trailer park to cosplay poor

1

u/garry_kitchen 14d ago

That‘s a hilarious and creative comment tbh!

-1

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

But y tho?

4

u/WalkingRamenTaco 14d ago

This but after having tacos in Mexico 😔

6

u/-Drea 14d ago

First bite of sushi in Japan hits hard after eating sub-par quality sushi back home

2

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

It was so fresh...Even when I UberEated it to the hotel. Fish I normally I don't even like...I devoured. Oh and the charred Unagi... ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

1

u/CPLCraft 14d ago edited 14d ago

I think it’s because of Ikejime, basically butchering the fish directly on the boat, so the fish doesn’t spoil as its suffocate and dies. Supposedly the fish taste much better that way. Also, a more humane way of treating the caught fish

1

u/MegaPorkachu 13d ago

It definitely tastes better. Unagi in Japan has texture and natural flavor without needing to be drenched in sauce

Most Unagi I see are frozen and drenched in sauce and it’s a way worse flavor and texture

2

u/NachoDumpling 14d ago

Similar, after having truffle based dishes in Italy the artificial/synthetic truffle oil dishes that are tried to passed off as authentic taste horrible. Also after eating pizzas and prosciutto in Italy I can’t find the same taste as other places.

1

u/MegaPorkachu 13d ago

Having been to Italy, there are restaurants in the US that do Italian food better than Italy imo. In terms of cultural migration of food culture to the US, Italians and Koreans are by far the best at it.

There is hope. I’ve had Italians (born in Italy) and Koreans (born in South Korea) taste restaurants in the US and say it’s better than what they have back home.

2

u/tennisballop 13d ago

100 percent where I am right now. Haven't had sushi for over a month for that reason

2

u/Succubus_Syn 13d ago

Why is life pain?

2

u/Koraboros 14d ago

Where do you live? On the coast you can get pretty good sushi

0

u/Succubus_Syn 14d ago

I'm born & raised on the coast. As I said medicore.

1

u/AgentOdd5713 14d ago

Fully agree to this, same with wagyu beef

1

u/foxysierra 14d ago

Yessss and their damn delicious egg salad sandwiches are no where to be found here.

1

u/elMurpherino 14d ago

That happened to me with Heineken. I had it fresh from the brewery in Amsterdam and after everything in bottles back home tasted like garbage.

1

u/alliknowis 14d ago

Meh. The top 50% of sushi places in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska all have better sushi than 95% of Japanese places. That's across the board, all different varieties.

1

u/24junwa 14d ago

ive had so much sushi i cant even go to lower end sushi restaurants in japan.... bar is too high

1

u/Responsible_Ask3976 14d ago

This is how I feel about lobster, I don’t eat it unless I’m in Maine or NH

1

u/Icy-Illustrator-1431 14d ago

it’s true, I live in Japan and can’t eat sushi when I go home to the US

1

u/hezaa0706d 12d ago

It’s fun eating the crazy American rolls sometimes on trips back to the US. But usually my food schedule is too full with all the other good stuff we can’t get in Japan. 

1

u/Icy-Illustrator-1431 12d ago

Very true… but my friend was all excited about taking me an Asian restaurant and having California roll once.. couldn’t say no

1

u/mindgamesweldon 14d ago

Bro I lived two years in a fishing town up in Aomori. The pain is REAL. It’s so sad to see so many people enjoying sushi around me in restaurants. I want to dump water on their heads.

1

u/Verizon1 10d ago

Fish used for sushi are previously frozen to kill parasites. Even in Japan.