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Comment by bonzini | Hacker News Reader

I had the best Italian food outside Italy :) in Japan at a conference. The food was super simple, but really authentic---like, what you could find at a family gathering or potluck party---and good. Plus the pizza makers were tossing dough like there's no tomorrow, one of them had even learnt in Italy!

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Japan has won best pizza in the world 5 times by some Italian pizza judging contest in Italy

https://www.google.com/search?q=japan+wins+best+pizza

Yes there is also bad pizza in Japan but, for example, there are around 90 "certified" neapolitan pizza restaurants in Tokyo.

https://www.pizzanapoletana.org/en/

Whether or not you believe the certification means anything, the point is there's lots of good pizza.

There's also lots of bad too ...

Chefs in Japan are incredible at doing non-Japanese food. I haven't had the best croissants in Paris, but croissants I've had in Tokyo are better than the ones I've had in Paris.

I guess it can boil down to the range of qualities available.

In France croissants are available everywhere but you have a very high range coming from high artisan standards to very low industrial products with very basic places in the middle mostly heating stuff rather than doing the whole process.

In Japan i guess there's less available bakeries specialized in things like croissants and they sell it as a high quality product. There's also highly qualified bakers from France that are working in foreign countries.

Too much possibles biases to really judge.

You're so right. I'm from Italy, and I had some of the best pizzas ever in Japan.

That might be down to preference. French croissants tend to be crispier, saltier, less sweet, and more sour (from the cultured butter) than Japanese croissants. But you can get French style croissants in Tokyo, Maison Landemaine [0] in Roppongi even has two types, the French using imported ingredients. It really tastes like the best ones I had in Paris. I think it’s the different butter that makes the difference, I don’t think my taste is developed enough to tell the difference in flour. Both are very good.

[0] Maison Landemaine 03-5797-7387 https://goo.gl/maps/KsWoBvWk6dcyUfkq8

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