There it is: Don't eat at cheap places.

I really wouldn't bash a country's food based on bottom tier experience. I have to agree though that it's easy to end up in a bad place and in Germany there's no limit to how disgusting it can get. Germans do seem to have a higher tolerance for this. Of course nothing beats the university cafeteria but I don't know anyone who likes that food, it's just that the typical student cannot afford to avoid it.

On the other hand there are not that many countries I can think of with high standard of living and minimum wage where food is consistently great even when comparatively cheap.

You can eat very cheaply in Germany, but if you do that, you probably can't complain about the quality.

Food prices are very low in Germany. They are extremely low, if you cook yourself and even restaurants are not that expensive in international comparison.

But indeed, if you go to extremely cheap places, you can have really bad food too - but that is independant of the food style. They make bad Italian food too :).

The low-cost food in Japan is still quite tasty and of good quality.

Edit: I’d probably add Poland to the same camp. Basic food is still quite good.

Copenhagen University canteen at its best: https://imgur.com/a/bg5XzLd

They only achieve this level of taste every couple of weeks or so (and this presentation a couple of times a year) but that's a huge improvement on the British universities I am familiar with.

I've visited one university in France, and it was a normal presentation but excellent quality, and a fairly normal day according to the locals.