I've had real shark fin soup.
In 1989, when I visited Japan, my host family took me to a Chinese restaurant where they served it. I didn't know about the issues with the soup at the time; wouldn't have accepted it if I had known. On the other hand it was very, very tasty soup.
My favorite culinary experience was in a small restaurant outside of Osaka in the middle of some rice fields - it was a layer of rice, then grilled eel, then rice, then grilled eel. I spent literal years trying to find a place that made grilled eel as good, only to find out a decade later that I'd been taken to a place that quite literally was considered the best eel restaurant in Japan.
In hindsight, I think the family I stayed with had a wee bit more money than I thought they did.
My favorite culinary experience was in a small restaurant outside of Osaka in the middle of some rice fields - it was a layer of rice, then grilled eel, then rice, then grilled eel. I spent literal years trying to find a place that made grilled eel as good, only to find out a decade later that I'd been taken to a place that quite literally was considered the best eel restaurant in Japan.
In hindsight, I think the family I stayed with had a wee bit more money than I thought they did.