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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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#1
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.
#2
England. They spent centuries conquering the world in search of spices and decided not to use any of them.
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.
#3
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
#4
"Technically, all Australian cuisine is prison food" - Jimmy Carr
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?
#5
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.
#6
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.
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.
#7
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.
#8
Scottish cuisine is basically based off a dare.
CharityMacklin added:
I was once gifted a Scottish cookbook and nah I’m good
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.
#9
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.
#10
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.
#11
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.
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
#12
Cambodia.
Never seen something good from there... But I've seen literal fried spiders...
Pieter LeGrande 1 year ago
The deep fried baby bats and the battered scorpions took a bit of getting used to as well.
#13
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.
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.
#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.
#15
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."
DennyS (denzoren) 1 year ago
I feel like I need to go to some of these places and open a Caribbean restaurant lol
#16
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.
#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.
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.
#19
Kenya. Poor refrigeration meant that meat was often cooked until extremely chewy. I lost so much weight in the six months I lived there.
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.
#20
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!
#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.
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.
#22
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.
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.
#23
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.
#24
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.
#25
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!
#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.
Kathryn Baylis 1 year ago
Sounds like the name of the dish is a warning. Or a description of the main ingredient…
#27
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
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.
#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.
#29
I wasn't a huge fan of the food in Myanmar. But it was interesting.
#30
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
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.
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.
Load More Replies...
Dizzie D 1 year ago
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.
Load More Replies... 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.
RedPepper 1 year ago
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.
Load More Replies... Susie Elle 1 year ago
There's bad cooking and then there's bad cooking, but saying "I went to this incredibly poor country for vacation or work and the food was terrible" seems a little unfair to me.
Mariele Scherzinger 1 year ago
This whole listicle is about as valuable as listening to a person who eats at a McDonalds in every country they visit, and then saying: "Oh, this and that country is the worst. The cheese had not melted yet on my burger."
VonBlade 1 year ago (edited)
I do love a positive post on a Friday. Really sets you up for the weekend with love for your fellow meatbags.
Tristan J 1 year ago
Ignoring the overly woke crowd in the comments, Lithuania (home of Bored Panda) had intriguingly bland dishes. Learning the history of the country explains this, but much like traditional cuisine here in the UK, it is a little uninspiring. The desserts were good though.
Leo Domitrix 1 year ago
I upvoted you simply for the "intriguingly bland". Never ate *in* Lithuania, but other Eastern European nations were pretty zingy compared to, say, "traditional UK/German/etc.". (Which is the basis of the "traditional US", ugh IMO).
Load More Replies...
Higgleton 1 year ago
Man these negative articles... Who wants to read about ignorant people s******g on other people's culture. So much arrogance in the comments from people thinking they are superior because they think their food tastes better. Might as well go on Reddit and have a proper argument over nothing.
Powerful Katrinka 1 year ago
I stopped reading after the third item. Why does BP think this nonsense is interesting?
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago
It is pure clickbait that gets people riled up and generates traffic to their site. Sigh, I miss the days a couple years ago where BoredPanda wrote their own articles based on funny news stories around the world. They also used to feature a lot of fun artwork from newer artists.
Load More Replies...
Victoria 1 year ago
For me, it's not the taste but availability of Vegetarian options, especially in Restaurants . Certain foods are inherently not very friendly. All Island cuisines, with the exception of Trini, most South American, Korean, Viet, Lao and Japanese, Eastern European, etc. I make dishes from these cuisines at home if I want to eat those flavors.
Lesley Christie 1 year ago
Erm, people generally eat what's native to their country so deep fried tarantulas is no different to southern fried chicken? Bugs are also very nutritious.
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago (edited)
With a few exceptions I feel like this is entire article is based off of stereotypes. One person tried a dish from another country and didn't care for it and then decided that the all dishes from said country are absolutely rubbish and horrible. Do the people complaining in this article live off a diet of white bread, chicken nuggets, and mayo? What an absolutely bonkers "listicle". I think my brain cells have atrophied after "reading" this dribble.
Dan Holden 1 year ago
This article mostly boils down to either "I'm a picky eater and foreign food is weird" or "I went to a country that isn't Italy or the US and I didn't like the pizza and burgers".
ConstantConstance 1 year ago
The article is terrible. Seems to be coming from people who have never properly experienced the food of the country they are talking about. As a general rule, food is good and I don't think any country does it worse if you take away factors they can't control.(like how in North Korea, the food won't be good because they are in a dictatorship)
Rose the Cook 1 year ago
I think a lot of these are based on one badly cooked meal that was different to what the person ate at home. I haven't been to some of the countries but the ones where I have the food served was nothing like described here.
Mim“the Swede”Sorensson 1 year ago (edited)
How is Sweden not on here? I mean, we eat raw fermented fish pretty much every holiday! I don’t even know what our national dish IS, and that should say something in itself! I don’t know, I feel we should be on here. But ok - at least surströmming was on the list. Fair enough.
R Dennis 1 year ago
It seems to me that most of these aren't about the cuisine. Some are based on "grossest dishes" - fermented shark, surstromming, fried spiders. Some are people who had a bad meal. Some are being exposed to a food very different from what they normally eat. The first time I went to a Korean restaurant as an adult, it was so bad I didn't try it again for 20 years. I tried it at another location and it was amazing. I had one of the best and one of the worst French meals I have ever had in France, pretty sure the bad meal was because I fell into a tourist trap. One or two experiences does not equal a cuisine and neither does the "weirdest" dish they have.
Eve Forbes 1 year ago
The English stuff is pretty good - if you go pre-Victorian. The Industrial Revolution and the 2 World Wars did a number on our *native* recipes. It broke transmission chains and the ingredients people could access in ways that left the results bland as f**k.
Justin Trouble 1 year ago
I love food arguments they are so entertaining people want to fight you because you don't like what they like. I've had people throw punches because I said I didn't like NCY pizza, I was lying just like fu¢king with people.
Alecto76 1 year ago
Ethiopian food. I have had it in Chicago, and maybe that is the issue, but I don't think so. I love it. But, I hate sour dough anything. So I love the food, but can't stand the utensil if that makes sense. The samosas are wonderful.
ColorEd 1 year ago
It doesn't make sense. How is the sour dough a utensil?
Load More Replies...
gerard julien 1 year ago
" don’t get Mexican food in any European countries " well DON'T GET ANY SO CALLED EUROPEAN FOOD IN AMERICA Y'ALL ! emoji-6416...851a58.png 
E Henry Todd 1 year ago
This article tells more about the people posting their opinions than it does the countries they are criticising.
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.
Load More Replies... Dizzie D 1 year ago
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.
Load More Replies... 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.
RedPepper 1 year ago
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.
Load More Replies... Susie Elle 1 year ago
There's bad cooking and then there's bad cooking, but saying "I went to this incredibly poor country for vacation or work and the food was terrible" seems a little unfair to me.
Mariele Scherzinger 1 year ago
This whole listicle is about as valuable as listening to a person who eats at a McDonalds in every country they visit, and then saying: "Oh, this and that country is the worst. The cheese had not melted yet on my burger."
VonBlade 1 year ago (edited)
I do love a positive post on a Friday. Really sets you up for the weekend with love for your fellow meatbags.
Tristan J 1 year ago
Ignoring the overly woke crowd in the comments, Lithuania (home of Bored Panda) had intriguingly bland dishes. Learning the history of the country explains this, but much like traditional cuisine here in the UK, it is a little uninspiring. The desserts were good though.
Leo Domitrix 1 year ago
I upvoted you simply for the "intriguingly bland". Never ate *in* Lithuania, but other Eastern European nations were pretty zingy compared to, say, "traditional UK/German/etc.". (Which is the basis of the "traditional US", ugh IMO).
Load More Replies... Higgleton 1 year ago
Man these negative articles... Who wants to read about ignorant people s******g on other people's culture. So much arrogance in the comments from people thinking they are superior because they think their food tastes better. Might as well go on Reddit and have a proper argument over nothing.
Powerful Katrinka 1 year ago
I stopped reading after the third item. Why does BP think this nonsense is interesting?
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago
It is pure clickbait that gets people riled up and generates traffic to their site. Sigh, I miss the days a couple years ago where BoredPanda wrote their own articles based on funny news stories around the world. They also used to feature a lot of fun artwork from newer artists.
Load More Replies... Victoria 1 year ago
For me, it's not the taste but availability of Vegetarian options, especially in Restaurants . Certain foods are inherently not very friendly. All Island cuisines, with the exception of Trini, most South American, Korean, Viet, Lao and Japanese, Eastern European, etc. I make dishes from these cuisines at home if I want to eat those flavors.
Lesley Christie 1 year ago
Erm, people generally eat what's native to their country so deep fried tarantulas is no different to southern fried chicken? Bugs are also very nutritious.
LokisLilButterknife 1 year ago (edited)
With a few exceptions I feel like this is entire article is based off of stereotypes. One person tried a dish from another country and didn't care for it and then decided that the all dishes from said country are absolutely rubbish and horrible. Do the people complaining in this article live off a diet of white bread, chicken nuggets, and mayo? What an absolutely bonkers "listicle". I think my brain cells have atrophied after "reading" this dribble.
Dan Holden 1 year ago
This article mostly boils down to either "I'm a picky eater and foreign food is weird" or "I went to a country that isn't Italy or the US and I didn't like the pizza and burgers".
ConstantConstance 1 year ago
The article is terrible. Seems to be coming from people who have never properly experienced the food of the country they are talking about. As a general rule, food is good and I don't think any country does it worse if you take away factors they can't control.(like how in North Korea, the food won't be good because they are in a dictatorship)
Rose the Cook 1 year ago
I think a lot of these are based on one badly cooked meal that was different to what the person ate at home. I haven't been to some of the countries but the ones where I have the food served was nothing like described here.
Mim“the Swede”Sorensson 1 year ago (edited)
How is Sweden not on here? I mean, we eat raw fermented fish pretty much every holiday! I don’t even know what our national dish IS, and that should say something in itself! I don’t know, I feel we should be on here. But ok - at least surströmming was on the list. Fair enough.
R Dennis 1 year ago
It seems to me that most of these aren't about the cuisine. Some are based on "grossest dishes" - fermented shark, surstromming, fried spiders. Some are people who had a bad meal. Some are being exposed to a food very different from what they normally eat. The first time I went to a Korean restaurant as an adult, it was so bad I didn't try it again for 20 years. I tried it at another location and it was amazing. I had one of the best and one of the worst French meals I have ever had in France, pretty sure the bad meal was because I fell into a tourist trap. One or two experiences does not equal a cuisine and neither does the "weirdest" dish they have.
Eve Forbes 1 year ago
The English stuff is pretty good - if you go pre-Victorian. The Industrial Revolution and the 2 World Wars did a number on our *native* recipes. It broke transmission chains and the ingredients people could access in ways that left the results bland as f**k.
Justin Trouble 1 year ago
I love food arguments they are so entertaining people want to fight you because you don't like what they like. I've had people throw punches because I said I didn't like NCY pizza, I was lying just like fu¢king with people.
Alecto76 1 year ago
Ethiopian food. I have had it in Chicago, and maybe that is the issue, but I don't think so. I love it. But, I hate sour dough anything. So I love the food, but can't stand the utensil if that makes sense. The samosas are wonderful.
ColorEd 1 year ago
It doesn't make sense. How is the sour dough a utensil?
Load More Replies... gerard julien 1 year ago
" don’t get Mexican food in any European countries " well DON'T GET ANY SO CALLED EUROPEAN FOOD IN AMERICA Y'ALL ! emoji-6416...851a58.png
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