Every culture has its own preferred seasonings and cooking styles; for the Southeast Asians, seasonings like vinegar, pepper and curry are a must. Visitors can find these and more at the Singapore Pavilion, which features a blend of four ethnic cuisines (Malayan, Indian, Chinese and Nyonya). The food center at the Singapore Pavilion offers up over 80 dishes, including curry fish head, nasi lemak (coconut rice) and chili crab.

Curry lovers have to make a trip to the India Pavilion, where nearly every dish has some kind of curry component. In addition, snacks like ice cream and roti prata (sweet fried dough) are available here.

The cuisine at the Thailand Pavilion is hot and sour, featuring raw ingredients exported straight from Thailand. The waitresses here are polite and fluent in Chinese.

Turkey's famed kebabs are available at the Turkey Pavilion. The second floor of the pavilion features an authentic Turkish restaurant that sells kebabs and barbecued vegetables.

Japanese cuisine is well represented by both the Japan Pavilion's Yamazato Restaurant and the Japanese Industry Pavilion's Kaiseki Restaurant. These restaurants specialize in fresh sashimi and sushi. However, only those with deep pockets can afford to dine at Kaiseki: A meal of 11 dishes costs 3,000 yuan ($441) per person.

Fortunately, there's a cheap Japanese alternative: takoyaki from Osaka, Japan. Takoyaki, or octopus meatballs, can be purchased for 35 yuan ($5.1) for a box of eight. The balls come with a traditional Japanese sauce.

Recommended cuisine

Brunei: The Brunei Pavilion features food native to the country such as milk tea, Tong Katali coffee, coconut rice, Indian pancakes and fried noodles.

Pakistan: Pakistan cuisine is known for its barbequed dishes seasoned with flavorful sauce. Visitors cannot miss the Pakistan Pavilion's milk tea.