30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion

Getting acquainted with traditional foods from around the world can be an exciting experience. Or something absolutely terrifying, depending on your taste buds and, of course, the meal itself. Some cuisines, such as Italian, Mediterranean, or Japanese are praised by people from all over. Others, as you’re about to see, are way less appreciated.

A curious redditor, u/KPH102, recently addressed the 'Ask Reddit' community in hopes to find out which country has the overall worst food. The answers provided not only locations, but some amusing commentary as well, which we put on this list for you to giggle at. Sadly, for some countries, they appeared there quite a few times.

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion The Vatican has the worst cuisine. The bread is so flat that you have to wash it down with mediocre wine. And they have outlets for the stuff all over the world.

Joelsax47 , Thays Orrico Report

Final score:

302points

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Lindilou 1 year ago

That is funny!!!!!!!!

72points

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion England. They spent centuries conquering the world in search of spices and decided not to use any of them.

MrWizard311 , Image-Source Report

Final score:

288points

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David Green 1 year ago

Chicken tikka masala is regularly reported to be our favourite national dish. Basically we went searching for the spices and then invited the chefs over. There is not a village in England without a curry house.

98points

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Unfortunately: Iceland.

I can handle bland or bad food…but when I’m paying 5x normal prices for that same bland food…it just pisses me off.

Iceland was one of my favourite places I’ve ever seen. But the food situation there is brutal.

franknorth2010 added:

Iceland. Ever had fermented shark? Horrible.

Entity0027 added:

If I Recall Correctly, Iceland was the one place Anthony Bourdain couldn't wait to leave. When a guy who made a living eating his way around the world, comes to your nation and concludes even the alcohol is disgusting, there be a lot of problems.

Iceland: Pack A Lunch

Benglassco , Steven dosRemedios Report

Final score:

146points

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Dizzie D 1 year ago

I'm sure Icelandic people don't only eat fermented shark. That comes up constantly and it makes me laugh. That's like saying Americans only ever eat hot dogs every day and nothing else.

56points

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion "Technically, all Australian cuisine is prison food" - Jimmy Carr

DavosLostFingers , LightFieldStudios Report

Final score:

117points

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Kathryn Baylis 1 year ago (edited)

Is that a nod to the fact that Australia was a penal colony? What about the truly native food the aborigines ate before colonization?

42points

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion There must be a reason why I've never seen a Finnish restaurant outside of Finland.

roygbiv-it replied:

I went out to lunch in Finland. It was a buffet. I s**t you not, everything on the buffet was a form of potato.

mcdofras , BlackWhaleMedia Report

Final score:

109points

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Nea 1 year ago

The best as well as the worst part of their cuisine is potatoes.

32points

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Russia. It's not even a question.

Yzzy1 added:

Never been to Russia, but had dinner at a Russian family's apartment in Israel. They served chicken feet in a jello mold. What the f**k?

Francesca_N_Furter added::

I've never been to Mongolia or Iceland (the clear winners in this thread), but Russian food is the stuff of nightmares. Mystery soups seem to be big there - you will put bones out of several different species, and the flavor will give you no clue to the origin of those bones. I also saw bread that made me think of the war years....seemed to be made of sawdust and plaster.

Material_Joke1324 , Johnstocker Report

Final score:

95points

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BakedKahuna 1 year ago

Russians cuisine is for getting you ready for the cold. It's warm and provides energy. It's not all for me, but there are some dishes I really like. Like the different style of dumplings they have. Or blinis, pancakes filled with minced meat, folded like springrolls, deep-fried. Last but not least, a rice dish called plov. Similar rice dishes in other parts of the world are known as pilaw or pilau.

40points

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion I'm a chef, and I've cooked all over the world.

This is my *opinion*, but Norway and Russia have the worst local cuisine.

emmiblakk , slub10saker Report

Final score:

87points

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I Am John 1 year ago

Not much to add to that really.

10points

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Scottish cuisine is basically based off a dare.

CharityMacklin added:

I was once gifted a Scottish cookbook and nah I’m good

papmontana , DanielVincek Report

Final score:

73points

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I Am John 1 year ago (edited)

It's not that bad. For a wee Northern country. Various salmon dishes, Cullen Skink, Arbroath Smokies, Millionaire Shortbread, Whisky, Cranachan, Scotch Broth, Stornoway black pudding, Venison stew, mince and tatties, tattie scone, crispy rolls, lorne sausage. Raspberries and wild strawberries here are amazing. If you are looking only at the sleazy options, fair enough.

55points

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Surströmming, the fermented fish from Sweden, smells very bad, tastes very salty and fermented, and has a gooey texture. Surströmming might just be the ultimate disgusting food. Disgust has a very important evolutionary function, it warns us of weird foods that could be potentially dangerous or deadly.

YsnYlmz , Daniel Mott Report

Final score:

69points

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ColorEd 1 year ago

That's just one thing, not an entire cuisine.

7points

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#10

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Pro tip: don’t get Mexican food in Switzerland

InPredicament4ever replied:

I would expand the scope - don’t get Mexican food in any European countries except Spain.

ExtentEcstatic5506 , Jason Lam Report

Final score:

66points

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AndThenICommented 1 year ago

Don’t do Mexican food in Spain - very different flavour profiles

38points

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#11

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Specific cuisine so not what food you can buy in the country it’s absolutely hands down Dutch food. Boiled potatoes, boiled vegetables, a piece of overcooked meat and some packaged gravy is what most Dutch kids eat 5/7 days a week. The other day it’s bread for dinner(no joke) and Sunday more than likely you’re eating Fries and some other deep fried snacks.

It’s the most underwhelming cuisine I can think of. Granted I have never been to Russia, North Korea or Antartica.

Edit: if we’re counting take out or restaurants then definitely not the Netherlands lol. There’s such a variety of restaurants and the food is honestly great.

NinjaSelect3581 added:

The Netherlands. As soon as I could drive we’d go to Belgium for dinner with my high school class mates.

SamBankmanMoneygone , Merinka Report

Final score:

62points

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Luuk Eegdeman 1 year ago

The biggest problem with dutch food is that it ain't really a dish most of the time. You can make something really nice out of those potatoes, vegetables, and meat however you would need to add something like spices and you know not overcook them

17points

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#12

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Cambodia.

Never seen something good from there... But I've seen literal fried spiders...

390D9_lol , Gusjer Report

Final score:

62points

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Pieter LeGrande 1 year ago

The deep fried baby bats and the battered scorpions took a bit of getting used to as well.

29points

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#13

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion You have to consider that there is a difference between a country's traditional "cuisine" and the modern food that you can get in that country.

For example, everyone is talking about how bad traditional English food is, but when you actually go to England, their modern cuisine like Chicken Tikka Masala (probably due to Colonization) is actually pretty good.

A similar example is Japan. Almost all the food that Westerners love from Japan like ramen, teriyaki, okomomiyaki, etc. are modern incarnations. Traditional Japanese food is a bowl of white rice, a few pickles, a bowl of miso soup, and a little fish if you are lucky.

Anyway, from my experience around the world, I would say that the worst food experiences I have had were in Myanmar and the Philippines.

Zubon102 , punctuated Report

Final score:

50points

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Baseball is Life 1 year ago

You were clearly not in the right areas in the Philippes, Filipino food is some of the best I've ever had.

10points

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#14

I'm Irish, I do plenty of family get-togethers centered around a big Irish table of food, I love it, I love the feeling of sentiment and history. The food is always just a wad of boiled ingredients. We eat it lovingly, and there's nothing wrong with it. But it's not like there's anything *right* with it.

SnowMiser26 added:

Ireland

My grandparents emigrated to the US from Ireland in the 1940s, and holy hell the food they made was godawful. Everything was boiled and gray, there were no spices or sauces, and the only sides were root vegetables.

Maybe my experience was unique - please let me know if it is. It's entirely possible my grandmother was just a terrible cook as an individual, apart from her heritage.

Dangercakes13 Report

Final score:

48points

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XenoMurph 1 year ago

Grew up in Ireland in the 70s. A lot of boiled food, ovens are expensive, Ireland was poor. Not sure why we didn't fry much, Maillard obviously never visited Ireland. Things are a lot better now.

13points

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#15

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Mongolia

Given its harsh climate necessitating a largely nomadic and pastoral lifestyle, just not a lot of crops that could historically be incorporated into traditional meals. So everything is either straight up dairy or meat, with little spices of any kind to add any flavor.

Maverick1-618 added:
"Mongolian is definitely the worst cuisine I have ever had. It’s just fermented horse milk and boiled meat (like mutton and marmots). Vegetables don’t exist and they literally don’t season anything because they don’t have any spices at all."

"I don’t like Russian cuisine (it’s pretty mid) but Russian cuisine actually helps to improve Mongolian food at some of the trendier Mongolian restaurants (which don’t serve pure traditional Mongolian food)."

"Generally, cold places with a lack of access to spices or not much agricultural history make the worst food and Mongolia checks all those boxes. Kazakhstani food is similar, but they have more ethnic diversity so you can get some decent Georgian or Korean hyphenated foods."

AvatarTreeFiddy , Ryan McFarland Report

Final score:

43points

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DennyS (denzoren) 1 year ago

I feel like I need to go to some of these places and open a Caribbean restaurant lol

27points

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#16

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion North Korea. Cold noodles and whatever the hell pine mushrooms are.

I’ve actually had soju (weak liquor) made in North Korea. It tasted like a cleaner version of the watered down vodka you can buy at gas stations where I live.

MrLanesLament , Graham Hills Report

Final score:

39points

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DennyS (denzoren) 1 year ago

Somehow it matches the dictatorship.

24points

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#17

I won't say it's the worst but I grew up my entirely life thinking I liked Chinese food. After dating a woman from Shanghai for 3 years I can now honestly say that I do not like Chinese food. Anyone that grew up on a western diet and abruptly switched to eating authentic Chinese food on a regular basis knows exactly what I'm saying.

krayonflux Report

Final score:

33points

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Rose the Cook 1 year ago

Chinese food as sold in western restaurants has been modified to local tastes and quite different to what Chinese people eat at home.

48points

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#18

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Antarctica. Just those disgusting meat paste pouches

chippymanempire , bradhoc Report

Final score:

32points

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Robert T 1 year ago

Well the only native food you are likely to get is a penguin popsicle!

37points

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#19

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Kenya. Poor refrigeration meant that meat was often cooked until extremely chewy. I lost so much weight in the six months I lived there.

ifellbutitscool , Deborah Report

Final score:

30points

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David Green 1 year ago

Disagree. A well cooked plate of ugali (cornmeal), spinach and fish or meat with a tomato based sauce, eaten outdoors with friends and a supply of White Cap (other Kenyan beers available) is heavenly.

39points

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#20

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Worst I experienced as a national cuisine - Kazakh. There are good restaurants there, but they are more Uzbek, Uighur or Dungan.

I am not a fan of boiled meat, especially if it is horse; fermented horse milk, or dried fermented milk. There are a few dishes that are ok, but the lack of strong spices or seasoning make this something I don't enjoy much.

That said, I always eat it when we go to family events with my wife (from KZ!) - I respect the culture, but it is not something I would ever actively choose to eat!

bardachni , Dream79 Report

Final score:

29points

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and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 1 year ago

Dried fermented milk is literally cheese.

14points

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#21

Not a country, but speaking as a snobby east coast native, the U.S. state of Minnesota has the overall worst food I've personally experienced. It's all like weird bland casserole "hotdish"; "salads" made with stuff like jello, marshmallows, canned pie filling, and Cool Whip; and Swedish cultural holdovers like lutefisk (dried whitefish brined in lye). Also, people just really aren't into veggies there!

Even at nicer restaurants, I've never had a dish where I was like: "Wow, this was amazing! I'll have to come back to this place." Restaurant food ranged from "pretty good" to "tolerable."

Oddly, though, the food in neighboring Wisconsin was great!

Still, after reading this thread I think I would rather dine in Minnesota vs. Iceland or Mongolia.

ETA: I just remembered...if you're vegetarian, in parts of Minnesota, you really have to double-check to make sure that baked goods aren't made with lard! I once got sick after eating a doughnut I later found out was fried in lard. One bakery I encountered even used lard to make their cake frosting.

Ava_Raris_12 Report

Final score:

29points

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TTorrest Author 1 year ago

I went to Wisconsin while on Keto. I had the choice to either go off my diet... or starve. (I chose Option A lol) Not a lot of healthy options out there, but definitely a few tasty dishes.

11points

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#22

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion I don't know about the rest of Canada, but Quebec's everyday cuisine was pretty much boiled meat and potatoes and shepherd's pie until the 1970's, when the province underwent a foodie revolution fueled in part by immigration and in part by the increasing sophistication of cooking shows.

Call_In_The_Bin , Fuzzy Gerdes Report

Final score:

26points

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Ottawa 1 year ago

Boiled meat? I've lived in this province my entire life, and I honestly don't know one person that boiled their meat. Quebec traditional meals are tourtiere, pâté chinois, creton, pea soup and lets not forget the wonderful poutine and none are made with boiled meat. As for the boiled potatoes, well, how elese are we going to make mashed potatoes.

36points

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#23

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Years ago I went to a Somalian restaurant with an African friend. They had some sort of…soup….that was basically liquid grass fat. Ugh.

Realistic_Practice16 , AMISOM Public Information Report

Final score:

24points

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V 1 year ago

My kid goes to a school with a high percentage of Somalian students. There are usually a lot of very nice lentil based soups and stews at pot luck's.

29points

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#24

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion New Zealand is pretty sh**t. Everything is borrowed, and the native cuisine is just meat and vegetables cooked in the ground. We don’t seem to have a defined dish or taste.

MarsupialNo1220 , einalem Report

Final score:

20points

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Linden 1 year ago (edited)

Um, crayfish and seafood are our "native food" too if hāngī is not to someone's taste. A lot is from around the world, but we have great fresh ingredients, good wine, good coffee, craft beers, cheese, chocolate. I really don't know what this person has been eating.

33points

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#25

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion I had some truly terrible food in Ukraine, particularly in the Chernobyl exclusion zone workers cafeteria, which we were kindly allowed to use when touring. The best food I had there was in Kyiv in an Indian restaurant!

tidymaniac , Chun Yip So Report

Final score:

18points

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Mani 1 year ago

I am wondering what this person was expecting before using the workers cafeteria of the Chernobyl exclusion zone

61points

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#26

One of the most disgusting dishes I’ve ever had was from Nicaragua, called “Indio Viejo” which literally translates to “Old Indian”.

It’s a stew made out of fermented corn and shredded beef. I’ve had some nasty s**t before, but this tasted like carcass.

GiorgioBroughton Report

Final score:

18points

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Kathryn Baylis 1 year ago

Sounds like the name of the dish is a warning. Or a description of the main ingredient…

12points

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#27

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Just about everywhere I've been in Sub Saharan Africa had some offerings that were pretty unappetizing to me. A lot of pasty starches and stews, some of them rather funky. Perhaps acquired tastes I didn't spend enough time acquiring

Exact-Truck-5248 , A Healthier Michigan Report

Final score:

13points

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OhBlahDi OhBlahDa 1 year ago

I think the pasty starches referred to would be things like ugali/pap/sadza (maize meal or sorghum based) and fufu (cassava based). Lol. They're pretty much like rice or potatoes to folks in most of Africa.

12points

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#28

I looked at booking a week in Kyrgyzstan a couple of years ago and the consensus was that the food is pretty terrible. I still haven’t been but by the sounds of it they could be in with a shout.

theieuangiant Report

Final score:

13points

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SlothyK8 1 year ago

I've wanted to go to Kyrgyzstan forever. The food wouldn't be a deal breaker unless I HAD to drink fermented mare's milk. Just thinking about it...NOPE! And I'll try almost anything once.

5points

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#29

I wasn't a huge fan of the food in Myanmar. But it was interesting.

coxiella_burnetii Report

Final score:

12points

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Mario Strada 1 year ago

Have you tried the Junta 20mm slugs? I hear they are to die for.

3points

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#30

30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion Out of the countries I’ve visited, Tunisia was the worst.
It’s probably prudent to answer this question if you’ve actually tried the cuisine, which I suspect a lot of people haven’t, looking at the answers

crnppscls , Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos Report

Final score:

10points

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David Green 1 year ago

No, disagree on this one. Great mix of French, Italian and North African cuisine.

32points

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Note: this post originally had 40 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

What do you think ?

E Henry Todd 1 year ago

This article tells more about the people posting their opinions than it does the countries they are criticising.

52points

Leo Domitrix 1 year ago

Wish I could upvote you 10,000 times. I quit after 10 b/c this is just one big collection of bigotry.

16points

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Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 1 year ago

Seems like a bunch of folks just having bad experiences that were not the norm. Bearing in mind if you grew up eating this stuff, you probably think it's okay. I do remember going to an Indian -style buffet and not being impressed by the food. But India is a big place; and food that is normal in one place may not be what you find at the other end of the country. So I gave it the benefit of the doubt. In contrast, I love Chinese food, but even I realize it probably tastes nothing like the native stuff.

1point

GiannaElizabeth 1 year ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

This whole article is just complete rubbish. People thinking that the National dish of a country is a reflection on what everyone eats, categorising their personal dislike of 'Indian food' to say that all Indian food is rubbish and eating like one dish and arrogantly stating that is why the country's food is c**p. Wasted five minutes of my life reading this and posting!

RedPepper 1 year ago

I agree, a lot of advice is based on one or two local dishes.

4points

Verena 1 year ago

A couple of exceptions aside: Most of these just prove that 1. the person in question did not understand the limits and preferred taste of the local cuisine, 2. had no interest in other foid than served at tourist spots and 3. didn't do any effort as to simply verify their assumptions with googling it. This would not be a problem as lobg as thus stories were not read by others, who likewise won't verify this.

Your second remark is interesting. I suspect all these people have only eaten standardized international food because that's what restaurants serve in tourist spots, and thought it was representative of the local food.

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30 People Share What Country Has The Worst Cuisine In Their Opinion

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