Myth - dining out in Japan is expensive

So, I just got back from a trip to Japan and one of the things that strikes me is how darn cheap and good the food is.  Americans like to believe they are #1 in everything, so they can't accept the possibility that someone out there may have it better than them.  When it comes to food, Americans are just starting to wake up and learning how to eat.  However, Americans are still stuck on this whole status thing, especially here in the Bay Area.  I've mentioned it before, but I really think that some people just aren't happy unless they spend a lot on their food.  They really don't care about the quality of the food, just the status associated with it.  I think for an American, it is more important to brag to their friends and spend a ton of money, rather than the actual value.  How else can you explain the incredibly over priced food in the San Francisco Bay Area?  It's absolutely ridiculous, but I think that dining out in San Francisco is more expensive than Tokyo, supposedly one of the most expensive cities on earth.

Here is an example:

 

There, you see a bowl of clam soup, salmon, tuna, and horse mackerel nigiri.   How much did this cost me?  About $5.  Yes, I'm not joking, just FIVE BUCKS.  Five bucks wouldn't even buy you the plate of tuna nigiri in San Francisco.  This was at a 100 yen sushi place, where every plate costs 100 yen, or about $1.  It is considered "low end" sushi, but it completely blows away what California can offer.

Here is another example:

 

You see this bowl of soba?  It's pretty basic, just noodles with tempura, egg, wakame, and garnished with some onion.  Any guess how much this costs?  About $3.50.  The cheapest soba in San Francisco Japantown is around $7, or twice as much, and that's only with plain noodles.  If you wanted to get a bowl of soba like the one in the picture, you are looking at $11 a bowl.

Ah, but I hear you saying, those are Japanese foods, of course they would be cheaper in Japan!  Well, okay, let's look at some Italian food:

That's an Italian style pizza with mushroom and ham.  It's as good as any Italian restaurant I've been to in the States and it comes out to less than $10.  You'd have to pay at least twice as much in California to get this kind of quality.

That's a pasta with shrimp and potatoes in a pesto sauce.  Totally classic Italian dish, done with finesse and panache.  It tastes great, and again comes out to less than $10.

I could go on, but before I end, I just want to point out that red drink up in the upper left hand corner.  It is a vodka cocktail and it was around $4.  That's some cheap alcohol.  You'd be lucky to find Pabst Blue Ribbon for sale in California for that amount.  Last time I checked, a cocktail in San Francisco costs more than that plate of pasta there.

When it comes to food, America has a long way to go.