idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
I see that you were using Vancouver, not a US city. So this may be irrelevant - I know nothing about Vancouver's culinary scene.
I'm using the term "sushi" really loosely. It's just what I generally call japanese food, and generally what the restaurants call themselves, not just maki etc. I only mentioned it cause a lot of the dishes being specifically spoken about are stuff that is quite common in restaurants around here.
I am quite sure there are all sorts of dishes available in Japan that aren't common here but stuff like Katsu Don is really common.
Authenticity is itself an interesting concept but that's a whole nother conversation. I know there is a lot of "innovation" happening that riffs off the Japanese theme (see the story I linked about the sushi chef in vancouver) but is, in itself totally different than what you'd be likely to find in Japan. So, your point generally stands as applied to Vancouver as well.
Though I'd say with Japanese food and Chinese food in particular the culinary scene in Vancouver is really tapped in - so while what's emphasized may not be what you'd see in the country of origin, it's building on the roots of that cuisine, not bastardizing it. (speaking of better restaurants anyway- in the sh*tty places there is probably lots of bastardization going on)
His Excellency Aethien wrote:
San Diego is also pretty much beer heaven. You'd be hard pressed to find many places with a craft beer scene as big as there.
Yeah my city also has a huge craft beer scene. As lolgaxe pointed out, that's great, until you're sent to a suburb that thinks offering three kinds of Bud is "choice."
Edited, Jun 11th 2013 3:04pm by Olorinus