I live in a very multi-ethnic area and have the good fortune to have access to the food/ingredients of many cultures. The ethnic restaurants in our area tend to be "either/or" as we often say: either too fancy and expensive, or dives with inexpensive great food. In either category there are always the dirty joints that we simply won't eat at, but given a choice we end up at the "dives" with the "natives".
Two recent challenges started me thinking about this question. A local Korean grocery store has a shopping/eating mall associated with it. Everything is in Korean but at the market I've always been able to find someone who can help me translate product labels and save me from buying the wrong thing. Not so at the food mall, however. Everybody speak Korean, all the signs are in Korean, and the most frequent response is a silent pointing of a finger toward the pictures. I find it intimidating, but everything I've eaten has been tasty. I'm sure I've eaten things "wrong" and looked funny to the Korean people. Nobody told me to stir up the bibimbap... how was I to know that it was considered "weird" to eat one ingredient at a time?
The experience that pushed me over the edge (my personal boundary regarding food is fairly open-minded, at least I thought it was) happened when the local Philipino food store opened a small restaurant. I looked at the food and no matter what I saw I couldn't identify it. When asked the clerk would name the major ingredient (pork, for instance) but had no additional information to share... otter than "it's good; you'll like it... well, at least we Philiinos like it". Unfortunately I chickened out. I don't think I'll be going back either. For some reason I fear Philipino food.
Am I alone in this apprehension about eating AN ENTIRE CUISINE?