> Or to put it in other way - food itself is often superb, as long as its more traditional one and not some copy of foreign one (ie dont try south/east asian stuff its rather disappointing).

Hah, I was thinking this as well while reading the parent - maybe this explains why non-European food tends to be especially bad in France. Even compared to places like the UK or the Netherlands which aren't exactly known for their food and where too most non-European food isn't great.