Why can’t Japan get italian food right?

22 comments

1. World leader in beer and cakes mmmm I have to disagree.

   What I think happens with Italian or other westerner/european food is that it looks to me that is the Americanised version of that food. As a Mediterranean person I would never put ketchup in pasta. In fact I lived in different countries on the EU and I have never seen that done in there. I have seen my American sister in law’s husband doing that though. I’ve also noticed how Japan has no clue on how Europe is. They tend to compare everything with the USA like there is Asia and the west is USA and that’s it.
   So my guess is that they just don’t know and the closest reference they have is the USA so they just assume that’s how it is.

2. LA PIZZA D’ORO – one of the best pizza’s I have ever had in my life was in Osaka – one stop away from Umeda station [https://maps.app.goo.gl/Xy6pdCteDvqprPgE6](https://maps.app.goo.gl/Xy6pdCteDvqprPgE6)

3. I’m gonna admit I love the Japanese efforts at Carbonara and always ate it, much to the disgust if my better half who is far more adventurous with food.
   Apart from that, the important question to ask, is Why should Japan get Italian food right? You make me want to swear

4. Not sure what you’re talking about. Best pizza and pasta I’ve had was in Japan:

   – https://maps.app.goo.gl/nZHZHWPJrGchgmbN7
   – https://maps.app.goo.gl/oWGFhcJJEz1a7HkK9

   Same for best Mexican food (Osaka).

5. Are you going to middle of the road cafes and ordering pasta and expecting it to be authentic? Yes, they cater to Japanese tastes which trend sweet with pasta and flavors that are not traditionally Italian sometimes. But there’s plenty of good Italian food, you need to seek out an actual Italian restaurant that is somewhat more expensive.

   Hard disagree on being a “world leader” in beer.

   I do agree that on pastry they are probably close to the best in the world.

6. Ha, I’ll have to show this to my husband later – he’s Japanese and is the executive chef at an award-winning Italian restaurant here in the US. He’s only been praised by Italians for his cooking, and believe me, they do not lie about food. His restaurant has a few places in Japan too.

   I think there are some weird Japanese-Italian concoctions, but for the most part I’ve never considered Italian food in Japan to be subpar.

   If you’re specifically looking for Neapolitan pizza, you could always check out the Top 50 pizza list: https://www.50toppizza.it/50-top-pizza-asia-pacific-2023/

7. It would help if you went into more detail about what you found terrible. In general, when food crosses borders, it gets tweaked for the local palate, so it’s not surprising for stuff to gradually go unrecognizable.

8. The basic chains offering Italian are truly awful but you can find some of the best pizza on earth in Japan.
   Just some places in Tokyo off the top of my head: pizza marumo in ebisu. Pizza studio tamaki, they have several restaurants but I went to the one in roppongi. Pizza strada in azabujuban and savoy also in azabujuban. I heard serinkan in nakameguro is also amazing.

9. Many Italian restaurants in Japan have Michelin stars. Many of the chefs have trained in Italy and speak Italian.

   And Japan has the highest number of Michelin stars in the world.

   Think of it the other way around. How about Japanese restaurants in your country? Aren’t they garbage?

10. I bet it is filtered through Italian-American food culture, which is less refined and more working-class than proper Italian cuisine. As a result, it isn’t respected as a ‘high art’ like French cooking or baking. It might just be that French cuisine is ridiculously well respected.

11. Isn’t there a pizza youtube guy who goes around and rates pizza who said the best pizza he has ever eaten was in Japan?

12. The best italian food I have ever had in my life was at a restaurant in Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki. They had a huge cheese wheel they would grate fresh onto your pasta … and I do not know if I will ever recover from setting the bar that high for delicious pasta again. It almost ruined every other pasta dish I have eaten since. I recall it being a semi-expensive dish (3800 yen, which isn’t bad for theme park price premiums, but more than you would expect to pay for most pasta dishes in Japan).

    I personally am the last person to spend more than 3000 yen on a single dish, regardless of how good it is. I’m not much of a foodie, so long as the taste is decent I will eat it, and will not go out of my way to find exceptionally tasty food since Japan has lots of affordable options for that anyway.

    But damn, that single dish of pasta was the first time I ordered another one immediately after without an ounce of regret.

    So I will say at least from someone with a neutral view on most foods, Japan absolutely did Italian food justice from that singular dish alone.

13. >a secret global no1 for pastires cakes (yes better than france and austria, go to Takashimaya and even Demel has a stall in Tokyo)

    You are trolling, right? Japanese pastries are outrageously bad, and as someone who lived in Austria for 10 years I’m feeling more outraged by this than if you carnally insulted my mother. You might as well call monkey rolls the world’s best hidden sushi delicacy.

14. Hmmm? There are 10 one-star Italian restaurants and 1 two-star Italian restaurant in Tokyo. There is also a pizza place owned by a Naples contest winner. There are 20,000 Italian restaurants in Tokyo, and if you choose the right one, you can have a decent meal. Of course, the average level of Italian food is lower than in Italy.
    Why do you think “Why can’t Japan get italian food right?” I am not sure without specific examples.

15. Potatoes, mayonnaise and mentaiko- should be within mile of a pizza topping but they dump the stuff on.

16. Try going to an actual Italian restaurants in Japan, there’s plenty of great places. Chains like La Pausa etc or local youshokuyas or pasta places are not going to serve you “authentic” Italian…though they may be good for what it is.

    If you want napoli style pizza try Savoy in Azabu, it’s great.
    If you want NY style pizza, try Pizza Slice in the Shibuya area, it’s decent.

17. You should try the pizza at Seirinkan before you close the book on this idea.

18. I had absolutely fantastic Italian food at a little place in rural Tokushima. The chef trained with someone who trained in Italy, and he makes his own pasta and truly delightful sauces. It’s the best Italian food I’ve had outside Italy.

    Also, FWIW, Iron Chef back in the day did have an Italian chef who produced incredible dishes. Japan’s Italian food scene truly is widespread and diverse.

19. I actually really like the way many Italian restaurants here are sort of fusion. Like, a creamy mushroom pasta made with shiitake is something unique that you won’t find anywhere else.

20. I’ve had great pizza in Japan, blows anything from North America out of the water. Could be personal preference, but it seems to do it much better than most places in the US or Canada. Same with pasta. Stop going to Saizeriya.

21. I dunno man, sure I’ve never managed to get a good slice of pizza in Japan (not that I’ve tried particularly hard) but the 3 best carbonaras I’ve had in my life were in 3 different cities in Japan.

    Try different restaurants.

22. I’ve had good pasta in Japan. I’d imagine finding a good Italian American style deli sandwich might be harder.