20 Of The Most Terrible Cuisines Of The World As Shared By People

One of the most wonderful experiences of life itself can be trying out the various cuisines available from around the world. The flavours are so different from country to country and even the preparation styles are so distinctly subjective to each location. It’s one of life’s greatest pleasures to take that wonderful gastronomical adventure when enjoying the likes of Japanese Sushi, Italian pasta, Indian curry, and many others as a novelty experience. 

#1

Image source: 390D9_lol, Gusjer

Cambodia.

Never seen something good from there… But I’ve seen literal fried spiders…

#2

Image source: tidymaniac, Chun Yip So

I had some truly terrible food in Ukraine, particularly in the Chernobyl exclusion zone workers cafeteria, which we were kindly allowed to use when touring. The best food I had there was in Kyiv in an Indian restaurant!

#3

Image source: MarsupialNo1220, einalem

New Zealand is pretty sh**t. Everything is borrowed, and the native cuisine is just meat and vegetables cooked in the ground. We don’t seem to have a defined dish or taste.

#4

Image source: chippymanempire, bradhoc

Antarctica. Just those disgusting meat paste pouches

#5

Image source: Benglassco, Steven dosRemedios

Unfortunately: Iceland.

I can handle bland or bad food…but when I’m paying 5x normal prices for that same bland food…it just pisses me off.

Iceland was one of my favourite places I’ve ever seen. But the food situation there is brutal.

franknorth2010 added:

Iceland. Ever had fermented shark? Horrible.

Entity0027 added:

If I Recall Correctly, Iceland was the one place Anthony Bourdain couldn’t wait to leave. When a guy who made a living eating his way around the world, comes to your nation and concludes even the alcohol is disgusting, there be a lot of problems.

Iceland: Pack A Lunch

#6

Image source: Material_Joke1324, Johnstocker

Russia. It’s not even a question.

Yzzy1 added:

Never been to Russia, but had dinner at a Russian family’s apartment in Israel. They served chicken feet in a jello mold. What the f**k?

Francesca_N_Furter added::

I’ve never been to Mongolia or Iceland (the clear winners in this thread), but Russian food is the stuff of nightmares. Mystery soups seem to be big there – you will put bones out of several different species, and the flavor will give you no clue to the origin of those bones. I also saw bread that made me think of the war years….seemed to be made of sawdust and plaster.

#7

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Years ago I went to a Somalian restaurant with an African friend. They had some sort of…soup….that was basically liquid grass fat. Ugh.

#8

Image source: ifellbutitscool, Deborah

Kenya. Poor refrigeration meant that meat was often cooked until extremely chewy. I lost so much weight in the six months I lived there.

#9

Image source: Exact-Truck-5248, A Healthier Michigan

Just about everywhere I’ve been in Sub Saharan Africa had some offerings that were pretty unappetizing to me. A lot of pasty starches and stews, some of them rather funky. Perhaps acquired tastes I didn’t spend enough time acquiring

#10

Image source: bardachni, Dream79

Worst I experienced as a national cuisine – Kazakh. There are good restaurants there, but they are more Uzbek, Uighur or Dungan.

I am not a fan of boiled meat, especially if it is horse; fermented horse milk, or dried fermented milk. There are a few dishes that are ok, but the lack of strong spices or seasoning make this something I don’t enjoy much.

That said, I always eat it when we go to family events with my wife (from KZ!) – I respect the culture, but it is not something I would ever actively choose to eat!

#11

Image source:  MrLanesLament, Graham Hills

North Korea. Cold noodles and whatever the hell pine mushrooms are.

I’ve actually had soju (weak liquor) made in North Korea. It tasted like a cleaner version of the watered down vodka you can buy at gas stations where I live.

#12

Image source: AvatarTreeFiddy, Ryan McFarland

Mongolia

Given its harsh climate necessitating a largely nomadic and pastoral lifestyle, just not a lot of crops that could historically be incorporated into traditional meals. So everything is either straight up dairy or meat, with little spices of any kind to add any flavor.

Maverick1-618 added:
“Mongolian is definitely the worst cuisine I have ever had. It’s just fermented horse milk and boiled meat (like mutton and marmots). Vegetables don’t exist and they literally don’t season anything because they don’t have any spices at all.”

“I don’t like Russian cuisine (it’s pretty mid) but Russian cuisine actually helps to improve Mongolian food at some of the trendier Mongolian restaurants (which don’t serve pure traditional Mongolian food).”

“Generally, cold places with a lack of access to spices or not much agricultural history make the worst food and Mongolia checks all those boxes. Kazakhstani food is similar, but they have more ethnic diversity so you can get some decent Georgian or Korean hyphenated foods.”

#13

Image source: YsnYlmz, Daniel Mott

Surströmming, the fermented fish from Sweden, smells very bad, tastes very salty and fermented, and has a gooey texture. Surströmming might just be the ultimate disgusting food. Disgust has a very important evolutionary function, it warns us of weird foods that could be potentially dangerous or deadly.

#14

I’m Irish, I do plenty of family get-togethers centered around a big Irish table of food, I love it, I love the feeling of sentiment and history. The food is always just a wad of boiled ingredients. We eat it lovingly, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But it’s not like there’s anything *right* with it.

SnowMiser26 added:

Ireland

My grandparents emigrated to the US from Ireland in the 1940s, and holy hell the food they made was godawful. Everything was boiled and gray, there were no spices or sauces, and the only sides were root vegetables.

Maybe my experience was unique – please let me know if it is. It’s entirely possible my grandmother was just a terrible cook as an individual, apart from her heritage.

Image source: Dangercakes13

#15

Image source: Zubon102, punctuated

You have to consider that there is a difference between a country’s traditional “cuisine” and the modern food that you can get in that country.

For example, everyone is talking about how bad traditional English food is, but when you actually go to England, their modern cuisine like Chicken Tikka Masala (probably due to Colonization) is actually pretty good.

A similar example is Japan. Almost all the food that Westerners love from Japan like ramen, teriyaki, okomomiyaki, etc. are modern incarnations. Traditional Japanese food is a bowl of white rice, a few pickles, a bowl of miso soup, and a little fish if you are lucky.

Anyway, from my experience around the world, I would say that the worst food experiences I have had were in Myanmar and the Philippines.

#16

Image source: crnppscls, Rusty Clark ~ 100K Photos

Out of the countries I’ve visited, Tunisia was the worst.
It’s probably prudent to answer this question if you’ve actually tried the cuisine, which I suspect a lot of people haven’t, looking at the answers

#17

I won’t say it’s the worst but I grew up my entirely life thinking I liked Chinese food. After dating a woman from Shanghai for 3 years I can now honestly say that I do not like Chinese food. Anyone that grew up on a western diet and abruptly switched to eating authentic Chinese food on a regular basis knows exactly what I’m saying.

Image source: krayonflux

#18

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Scottish cuisine is basically based off a dare.

CharityMacklin added:

I was once gifted a Scottish cookbook and nah I’m good

#19

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There must be a reason why I’ve never seen a Finnish restaurant outside of Finland.

roygbiv-it replied:

I went out to lunch in Finland. It was a buffet. I s**t you not, everything on the buffet was a form of potato.

#20

Image source: emmiblakk, slub10saker

I’m a chef, and I’ve cooked all over the world.

This is my *opinion*, but Norway and Russia have the worst local cuisine.