• quixotic120@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I went to a western restaurant in Japan that was “stereotypical USA” themed and there was mainly kitschy shit all over the place like advertising memorabilia (stuff m&m character statues) and of course american flag themed stuff (but iirc no actual flag)

    It was a long time ago but I remember the menu was like burgers, hotdogs, mac and cheese, etc and the food was super mid. Main thing I do remember was the mac and cheese was 100% kraft dinner which was so disappointing. the burger was also weak which is inexcusable because japan has serious burger game

    • Mossy Feathers (She/They)@pawb.social
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      7 days ago

      Honestly, that kinda sounds like the average American diner experience. Not bad, not good, just okay. Granted, a small hole-in-the-wall or independent diner that’s been around forever will almost certainly be better; but when it comes to your average American diner (like IHOP, Denny’s, etc) that sounds about right.

      • quixotic120@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        yeah no shit, america is a melting pot and it’s food culture is an amalgamation of foods from other cultures

        And frankly some aspects of most of those are spurious. The origin of the hamburger is debatable mainly because before america it was (probably) just a mince patty served with sauce, much closer to what japan serves as hambagu/ハンバーグ. It likely wasn’t until it came through shipping ports to america that it was served on bread, ground instead of minced (though this was likely a function of the era), and eventually over time evolved to the modern version of what we consider a “hamburger”

        Mac and cheese actually goes back to medieval england and was closer to a lasagna. The extruded version is also probably england, or possibly france. Unless you’re simply attributing dried pasta, which is probably an italian invention, but may be arabic

        Frankfurter is german but the modern hotdog is american and debatably the idea of serving it in a bun is an american invention, which again goes back to the hamburger and the insanity of prior to america people struggle to combine meat and bread

        In closing I bet you’re fun at parties. Also while america sucks at so many things we definitely make the best burgers in the world, hands down

        • jawsua@lemmy.one
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          6 days ago

          Totally agree with you

          The Hamburger they’re referring to is a Hamburg steak, which is a grilled and gravy-topped plate version of Steak Tartar, a rare beef dish that’s a French version of … a Tartar chopped beef dish. It’s all versions of something else and they change each time. The American change to grilling, buns, and a handheld version isn’t any less than the German or French, IMHO

          Same for “Frankfurters”, they’re pork, lamb intestine, boiled, and only served on a plate. But American hot dogs historically are kosher beef, spiced more heavily, are typically grilled, and absolutely are served on specialized buns developed for them.

          This is typical for American food inventions, a rejection of any updates or improvements.

      • quixotic120@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        No it was a small hole in the wall place in (I think) kyoto that had a single employee and like 4 tables. The walls were literally covered in Americana shit but heavy on the advertising slant (which is pretty definitive of american culture tbh)

        It did have drink bar though, though not nearly as much selection what you’d see at a family diner type place or karaoke

  • frezik@midwest.social
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    6 days ago

    One of the subtler jokes in Arrested Development is Little Briton having an “American-style” restaurant where the whole plate is covered in fries.

  • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I like this a lot better than the standard American [insert meme here] where everybody has like 5 guns. Such a tired trope.

    • pyre@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Indeed, it has been done many times, but there’s no sign of it stopping anytime soon. like their school shootings

      • Cort@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Completely stopping school shootings, probably not, but it seems likely that some may be getting redirected to the C-suite.

  • CityPop@lemmy.today
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    7 days ago

    They have authentic American food all over the world.

    It’s called McDonalds and its authenticity highly processed and commercialised. Even prepared by children to give it that true American experience.

    • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      MERKA BAAAHD

      I literally emigrated because it’s so bad and I don’t talk like this. If you want to talk shit on America I’m right there with you, but if you’re going to pretend our food sucks you’re not invited to the cookup.

        • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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          7 days ago

          Honestly just born a dual citizen, hardest part has been keeping my US job and calling in to west coast businesses in my evenings.

          As for the destination, just the UK. Been here three years now, and still just barely getting used to it. I didn’t fit in in America either so I might as well not fit in somewhere better.

        • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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          7 days ago

          If you’ve got a college degree you can pretty easily teach English in Japan for peanuts (though still more than the minimum wage offered in 20 US states).

            • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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              6 days ago

              You mean how do you teach a language to foreign speakers if you don’t speak their language? It’s an interesting question with varied answers in terms of effectiveness, but for practical purposes in this discussion, the cheapo language schools in Japan really want their teachers to not use any Japanese in the classroom. They have you teach out of a series of textbooks and mostly don’t care about the outcomes for the students. In fact, the worse students do, the longer they stay applied to the courses that schools offer-- a relatively cynical view on things, but there’s a reason Japan ranks pretty low in English ability among Asian countries, despite being a wealthy nation. Like I mentioned above, there’s a reason you’re working for peanuts (and why the major language school companies don’t tend to want actual licensed teachers).

              If you’re serious about wanting out, I’ll put links here to the major companies, but just keep in mind that they’ll pretty much provide you with a method of existing in Japan without being able to put away much savings, and like many large conglomerates they don’t really care about you if any problems come up-- there’s always the next weeb ready to take your place.

              Ideally the best you can do is the JET Program, but that’s a long application process (about 6 months IIRC), and you’ll need to be under 40 (and from one of the listed native English speaking countries).

              https://jetprogramusa.org/

              The rest I don’t have much direct experience with but the salaries are all less and they all sort of suck equally (Interac may be slightly better):

              https://interacnetwork.com/
              https://www.gabateachinginjapan.com/
              https://recruiting.altmoot.com/
              https://nova-holdings.jp/teachinjapan/
              https://www.peppy-kids.com/

              And there’s one that takes applicants to teach in universities, though you might need some credentials in ESL/EFL, but I haven’t checked very closely

              https://www.westgatejapan.com/

              If you have any questions let me know. I’ve been in Japan awhile, though I eventually managed to get a teaching license and masters, so I’ve been out of the ALT (assistant language teacher) game for over 10 years now.

      • alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml
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        7 days ago

        America is a big place. There’s some good food, but a lot of the food people eat does suck. The entire midwest or god forbid you live in one of those highway stops where your only options are fast food chains or a fast-casual chain.

        McDonalds, Starbucks, and Dominoes exist because people buy that shit.

    • GHiLA@sh.itjust.works
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      7 days ago

      Listen to this stupid clown talk.

      not for this guy. You want authentic American food? Leave your house at 8pm…AM!!!, Google “restaurant”, find a small diner.

      Go in, order breakfast, two eggs, sausage patties, a southern biscuit, gravy, and get a pancake while you’re there.

      You’ll leave feeling like someone hugged you and everything will be ok, and all you wanted to do was eat breakfast.

      Are you crying?

      Hug it out, man. Come here. It’s ok.

    • Gerudo@lemm.ee
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      7 days ago

      There is plenty of American born and bred food without reducing us to hur dur McDonalds

  • KoalaUnknown@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    If your normal diet consists of healthy food like many Japanese diets do, eating authentic American food is NOT a good idea, especially southern food. I say this from experience.

    • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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      7 days ago

      healthy food like many Japanese diets do

      Wanna explain what that is? Because obesity is on the rise here and people day-to-day are just eating konbini (convenience store) pre-packaged stuff laden with fried food and instant noodles.

      • KoalaUnknown@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Meals that aren’t stuffed with butter and sugar. Even the stuff at 7-eleven or Lawson is far healthier than a lot of American food.

        • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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          7 days ago

          There’s still a fair bit of sugar in everything. I think trans-fats are also still in use here unless that changed recently.

  • tacosplease@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I want to see Buc-ee’s and the fast food chain Cookout go international. That’s authentic American food, and it’s pretty damn tasty.

    • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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      7 days ago

      I couldn’t imagine a Buc-ee’s in Europe.

      In Texas there are signs for “Next Buc-ee’s 108 miles”. Do that in parts of Europe and you have to cross multiple international borders…and none of them will know wtf a mile is.

          • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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            6 days ago

            There is? I just searched Google maps…I live in MA and it showed a response on Cape but it was actually a “Bucky’s”. It showed one in New Jersey but that was a podunk little place named Delta Gas.

            Northernest ones I saw were in Kentucky. There were closer ones to Europe…probably Florence SC, Pelham NC, or Daytona FL.

        • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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          6 days ago

          As an ignorant American, does Europe even have billboards like America does?

          For context…Buc-ee’s takes pride in their exceptionally clean restrooms. Also idk if gross rest stop/truck stop restrooms are as much of a trope over there.

          • MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml
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            6 days ago

            does Europe even have billboards like America does?

            At least not here (Switzerland).

            Also idk if gross rest stop/truck stop restrooms are as much of a trope over there.

            More in public restrooms. Bigger train stations have “Mr. Clean” since a few years now, clean and nice for 1.50 CHF. Not like the same service would make train billets much more expensive but anyway.

            But rest stops, we have as much as villages; all few km the next one.

  • hobovision@lemm.ee
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    7 days ago

    I used to work down the street from another building that had a small cafeteria, but on Fridays the chef would set up a big grill outside and cook up sausages, hot dogs, burgers, chicken, and grilled veggies. It was just like going to a backyard BBQ. Those were some good Friday lunches when we made it over there.

  • tiredofsametab@fedia.io
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    7 days ago

    There are a couple of “real” BBQ places, but none that I know of that would have sufficient lawn for lawn chairs. There are plenty of grill-your-own places here, most of which are Korean-style BBQ, but some of which let you grill other things. As I think about it, I don’t think I’ve seen the type of lawn chair (like oven “fabric” style) that I was used to here; it’s all just plastic molded chairs these days.