“All bread served in Japanese French restaurants is sweet. It feels sugary and sweet, but not the natural sweetness of butter. Besides, it’s fluffy, and it feels like a souffle. It overwhelms the flavor of the meal. I miss French bread.”

Something else that was shocking was about extra bread.

“There was a charge for extra bread. In France, extra bread is basically free. Not only is it a small portion, they also charge you for more (laugh).”

France is one of the most famous countries when it comes to bread. I think Japanese bread is really good, but its texture and flavor are different from the original one.

In Japan, instead of bread you can often get refills of rice or noodles - depending on where you go, it can be free or very cheap. I guess that's Japan's version of unlimited bread!

“Doria does not exist in Italy. That’s why I was surprised to see it on the specialty section of the menu in an Italian restaurant. But it was delicious and now I love it. I wish it could be popular in Italy too!”

Doria is often mistaken for an Italian dish in Japan, but it's actually a Japanese dish, created at the Hotel New Grand in Yokohama. Upon learning this, the Italian we interviewed was a little relieved about not hating it.

“In Japan, Thai dishes are milder compared to the ones in Thailand. Even if you order the ‘spicy’ version of a dish, it’s probably not going to feel like it.”

As expected, Mr. K., who grew up eating very spicy Thai food, found the Japanese Thai food too mild. Thai food in Japan is adjusted to the local preferences. Some Japanese people can’t handle hot peppers, so the food may be mild.

“Pho is a noodle dish that is often eaten in Vietnam, but the noodle called ‘bun’ is more common in Hanoi, where I’m from. There is only pho in Vietnamese restaurants in Japan.”

What kind of noodle is the so-called bun?

“It's thinner and chewier than its pho counterpart. A common dish is bunchar, which is eaten in soup or sour sauce. After that, you can use it a spring roll, wrap it with lettuce, and get more from your dish than you do with pho.”

This dish sounds delicious! I want bun to be popular in Japan too.