Good looking shots Frank.
I hear you on the dumbing down of original recipes to match the taste in the host country. Try getting some Chinese food in the NL. Apart from some exceptions, you will always get the "Dutchified" Indonesian food. That's too bad. Even though i don't (by a long shot) eat each and every dish of the very diverse Chinese kitchen(s), there are certainly some very nice dishes which can't be had over here (NL, that is).
Sometimes, if you get to know the restaurant owners, they make some exceptions for you.