But I think you're right, and you do have a point.

For instance, many of us in San Francisco think that the Peking duck in SF is actually better than the Peking duck in Beijing. I just went to Beijing last June, and it was, quite honestly, just mediocre. It was not very flavorful, kind of bland, and just okay. The USA version of Peking duck was simply superior. And I have heard this opinion from non-USA citizens from Asia who have stated this.

Another example. I just got back from Rome, where we had great Italian food daily. It was quite delicious. However, I also just got back from Babbo in New York City, where the pasta there clearly blew away the pasta in Rome. We had many meals there in Rome, and both my wife and I agreed that the pasta in Babbo was way better than any pasta we had in Italy.

Sushi. I had sushi in Tokyo and Osaka. Expecting to be blown away by the freshness of the fish and the delicate subtle taste of the fish, I was quite unimpressed. It was very similar to the sushi here in SF. Absolutely nothing to write home about. It was basically the same thing. It was not bad in Japan, but I thought that we could get just as good in USA.

French. I have eaten at Cordelian Bages, Le Cinq, Taillevent, Bernard Loiseau (before he killed himself after losing the 3rd Michelin star), and Chantecler just to name a few Michelin starred French restaurants. These were fantastic French meals, no question. But, having eaten at Daniel, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Aureole, Joel Robuchon Vegas, French Laundry, Gary Danko, Michael Mina, Charlie Trotter, and other great American places, they were easily just as good as their French counterparts. Not only were they just as good, they were so much cheaper. They were the true bargain compared to the French places! Were the French places more authentic and more delicious in certain dishes? Maybe a few dishes here and there. But were the French places clearly superior to many of the American high-end places? No way. They were pretty much comprable, overall.

So I would say that the USA has a terrific selection of international cuisines, no question. Certainly, the high-end stuff here is comparable to high-end stuff in many parts of the world. But not only does it have the depth of good cuisine, it also had the breadth. Great, authentic Chinese in Flushing, phenomenal Korean food in L.A., fantastic French in New York an S.F., great Italian in the Bronx, and of course, everything you could ask for in Las Vegas. So I think your original post is valid. The USA has a great breadth and depth of international cuisine that is really hard to beat.