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Based on a Back Room conversation about ordering at Chinese restaurants.

It's slop.

Depends. If the food is served at the center of the table, meant to be shared, I share. If it is served as a single plate per customer, I don't share. Everything else would be strange.

Of course.

Yes. I am not gay.

Some Chinese places will do a "combo plate", with 3 different dishes on your plate.  That of course is eaten individually.

But other than that - of course it's family style.

Depends. Sometimes yes and sometimes no.

Have never eaten Chinese food - in a restaurant or as take-out - family style. Not something anyone I know does.

Quote from: garbon on January 04, 2013, 12:12:00 PM
Depends. Sometimes yes and sometimes no.

Is that the Jaron option? :unsure:

Quote from: Barrister on January 04, 2013, 12:11:30 PM
Some Chinese places will do a "combo plate", with 3 different dishes on your plate.  That of course is eaten individually.

But other than that - of course it's family style.

To be clear, I'm not asking about places at the mall food court.  I'm talking about sit down restaurants with a waiter.

Never knew it was an option. But then I don't think I've eaten in a chinese restaurant that wasn't a buffet.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 04, 2013, 12:30:20 PM

Quote from: Barrister on January 04, 2013, 12:11:30 PM
Some Chinese places will do a "combo plate", with 3 different dishes on your plate.  That of course is eaten individually.

But other than that - of course it's family style.

To be clear, I'm not asking about places at the mall food court.  I'm talking about sit down restaurants with a waiter.

I'm talking about sit-down joints too.

But mind you the places with "combo plates" I'm thinking of are all shitty northern-Canadian restaurants.

Yes of course.

Depends on where I go, what is ordered (and whether it comes on a plate or in a serving dish with plates extra), and with who I'm there.

Though with a larger group we might order platters (at any restaurant, not just Asian) plus some extra dishes for everyone to mix and match.

I always assumed "family style" was how it was eaten. Everyone I know generally eats it that way. In Chinese restaurants, you get a serving dish and seperate plates.

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 12:44:08 PM
I always assumed "family style" was how it was eaten. Everyone I know generally eats it that way. In Chinese restaurants, you get a serving dish and seperate plates.

You get that here, too, (unless you order a lunch menu, which comes prepared on a single plate), but still many people will only eat what they themselves ordered.

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 12:44:08 PM
I always assumed "family style" was how it was eaten. Everyone I know generally eats it that way. In Chinese restaurants, you get a serving dish and seperate plates.

Nah, family style describes what you just wrote Chinese restaurants do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_restaurant#Family_style

Quote from: garbon on January 04, 2013, 12:57:35 PM

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 12:44:08 PM
I always assumed "family style" was how it was eaten. Everyone I know generally eats it that way. In Chinese restaurants, you get a serving dish and seperate plates.

Nah, family style describes what you just wrote Chinese restaurants do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_restaurant#Family_style

I'm confused. What point are you making?

Quote from: Syt on January 04, 2013, 12:50:53 PM

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 12:44:08 PM
I always assumed "family style" was how it was eaten. Everyone I know generally eats it that way. In Chinese restaurants, you get a serving dish and seperate plates.

You get that here, too, (unless you order a lunch menu, which comes prepared on a single plate), but still many people will only eat what they themselves ordered.

Ah.

In Toronto at least, it seems to be the common style is to *not* eat seperate dishes - again with the exception of lunch specials, buffets and the like.

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 01:00:42 PMI'm confused. What point are you making?

He thinks you're arguing about the definition of "family style" whereas you were saying that you thought "family style" is default, and are mildly surprised that people eat it in other ways.

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 01:02:35 PM

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 01:00:42 PMI'm confused. What point are you making?

He thinks you're arguing about the definition of "family style" whereas you were saying that you thought "family style" is default, and are mildly surprised that people eat it in other ways.

Thanks!

I'm guessing that family-style is the default in Toronto in part because Toronto has a very high population of Chinese immigrants.

Is it the default style in Vancouver as well?

For sit down, in none-buffet, I don't know but for take out we always share.

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 01:04:18 PMThanks!

I'm guessing that family-style is the default in Toronto in part because Toronto has a very high population of Chinese immigrants.

Is it the default style in Vancouver as well?

Absolutely, at least at any of the places I frequent. I tend to react to buffet or individual serving Chinese food with garbonesque disdain.

Ah gotcha, thanks Jake. :) Yeah no I would say in general where I've lived family style has not been the standard.

It's the dour north western european peasant tradition of putting a serving on one plate that is abnormal and barbaric.

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 01:17:25 PM

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 01:04:18 PMThanks!

I'm guessing that family-style is the default in Toronto in part because Toronto has a very high population of Chinese immigrants.

Is it the default style in Vancouver as well?

Absolutely, at least at any of the places I frequent. I tend to react to buffet or individual serving Chinese food with garbonesque disdain.

Man around here those Chinese food buffets are usually full of Chinese people.

Mostly share, but depends on restaurant and foods ordered. For example, if I decide to tempt fate by ordering spicy hot stuff, the rest of the family stays away from it (one of the reasons I do it that :) ).

Maybe not in a restaurant if everyone gets an individual meal. But even then sometimes share, to get a taste of other stuff ordered. Obviously platters and appetizers are shared.

Thought this was a good thread to post this Globe & Mail article...

Do the Vancouverites & Torontonians know of the establishments he likes in those cities?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/food-trends/how-to-find-a-good-chinese-restaurant-from-a-man-whos-eaten-in-more-than-6000/article4491589/

Quote
How to find a good Chinese restaurant – from a man who's eaten in more than 6,000

David R. Chan, a 64-year-old accountant and tax lawyer based in Los Angeles, travels on his stomach – he's eaten in more than 6,000 Chinese restaurants across the U.S. and Canada. Mr. Chan, a third-generation American (his grandfather came over from Taishan, China in 1900), recently made headlines when he detailed his nearly lifelong quest to a reporter. (He documents each meal on an Excel spreadsheet.) When he's on the road he often eats at four or five different restaurants daily.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Mr. Chan's findings is his opinion of Canada's Chinese restaurants: They're far better than anything in the U.S., he says. We reached him in his office last week.

You wrote in an article recently that if you were to rank the 10 top Chinese restaurants in North America, every last one would be north of the border. What makes the Chinese food in Canada so good?

From 1882 to 1943 it was pretty much illegal for anybody of Chinese descent to immigrate to the U.S. The only Chinese food you had in the U.S. until the mid-'60s when they changed the immigration laws was this old-style Taishanese, rural Cantonese food, from the early waves of immigrants. In Canada, you had Hong Kong influence coming over earlier than in the U.S.

My first visit to Canada in 1970 was to Vancouver, and even though by today's standards the Chinese food in Vancouver then would be considered primitive, it still was clearly better. The panic about the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese in 1997 created a panic there, and anybody who could leave Hong Kong did so. On my next visit to Vancouver in 1993, the food was so good that when I came back, I told people that the average food in a Vancouver food court was clearly superior than the best Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles.

In Vancouver, I love Sun Sui Wah – I think everybody knows that place. There's a place my wife's relatives took us called Landmark Hot Pot House. It was probably the most fabulous meal I've had. In Toronto, Casa-Imperial, Casa-Victoria, Lai Wah Heen. And there was a café place I really liked in Richmond Hill called Judy Cuisine. It was really good, stuff I'd never seen before.

Do Chinatowns ever have good food?

There are very few good Chinese restaurants located in core Chinatowns in the U.S. or Canada. That's clearly the case in Toronto and Vancouver, and it's clearly the case in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Their function is, number one, tourists. I hate to say this, but you have to dumb the food down a little bit. And secondly, the Chinese who still maintain ties with Chinatowns tend to be the Taishanese – us older folk.

Are there any sure-fire indicators that a Chinese place is going to be good?

There's the old saying that if you see a Chinese restaurant that's full of Chinese people it's got to be good. That was my operating rule until my first trip to New York. We walk into this place in New York Chinatown and it's jammed full of Chinese people, and the food's not very good. The reason why it's so busy is that it was cheap and the portions were gigantic. If you see a lot of Chinese people in a Chinese restaurant, that's a good sign but it's not conclusive. If a Chinese restaurant serves dim sum, it's probably quite good, because in all my travels I have only found one dim sum restaurant anywhere that was not catering to Chinese diners looking for authentic Chinese food.

The best thing to do is once you find a good Chinese restaurant, most of them have throwaway Chinese newspapers. If you see who advertises in them, well you know these places are trying to attract Chinese people looking for authentic Chinese food. Even though I don't speak Chinese or read Chinese, the ads have a name and address and that's good enough for me.

I read that you can't use chopsticks. This had to be an error, right?

It's true. They say you're supposed to hold chopsticks the way you hold a pencil? And when I was a kid I picked up the pencil the wrong way, and by the time my teachers spotted it, it was too late – they were unable to get me to write properly. And because of that, it hurts me to write, and I cannot maneuver a pair of chopsticks. I've only been to China or Hong Kong four times, but when I travel I bring my own fork just in case.

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 01:37:02 PMMan around here those Chinese food buffets are usually full of Chinese people.

I don't doubt it :)

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 02:46:31 PM

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 01:37:02 PMMan around here those Chinese food buffets are usually full of Chinese people.

I don't doubt it :)

Ah ok for some reason I got the impression that was not the Chinese way or something.

If it's served family style then obviously I'm going to have to go along with that.  But I much prefer individual portions.  Voted the second option.

Quote from: derspiess on January 04, 2013, 03:12:00 PM
If it's served family style then obviously I'm going to have to go along with that.  But I much prefer individual portions.  Voted the second option.

Yeah, I think that's the big difference. Around here, it's served as individual portions, not family style. Your order is placed next to your plate along with your rice.

My favorite Chinese restaurant has the rotating platform in the middle of the table so people can spin it and get to everything. They serve the food dishes on it. Makes it easy to share.

I don't do that every time though.

Incidentally, I agree that the Chinatown tourist places are usually not that good. Chinese food has to be the easiest type of food to do badly and get away with it. It's like there's a rule that if they deliver, it will be awful. It's tough to find good Chinese food, actually. The bad stuff has just been spammed everywhere.

Look for Chinese places that have two menus, then order from the Chinese one. Best options.

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 02:53:06 PMAh ok for some reason I got the impression that was not the Chinese way or something.

Well it is an adaptation of a Western custom, I'm pretty sure. So while I don't think it's "the Chinese way", I'm sure there are plenty of Chinese who enjoy buffets.

Quote from: PRC on January 04, 2013, 02:37:05 PM
Thought this was a good thread to post this Globe & Mail article...

Do the Vancouverites & Torontonians know of the establishments he likes in those cities?

Yeah. Sun Sui Wah has a couple of locations, one of which is quite close to my house (and in the same building as my local nerd store). It's not my favourite dim sum in Vancouver, but it's definitely solid.

Landmark Hotpot... well... my wife is from a place that's fiercely proud of their hotpot (and we eat it at home with some frequency), so I am maritally obligated to state that there's no acceptable hotpot in Vancouver. That said, I expect the hotpot at Landmark is fine if you're not from Sichuan or other hotpot hotspots.

Quote from: HVC on January 04, 2013, 04:16:31 PM
Look for Chinese places that have two menus, then order from the Chinese one. Best options.

Ah, only do this if you read Chinese.  :lol:

Reminds me of a (possibly apochryphal, urban-legend style) story my aunt told me - how a friend of hers, who did not read Chinese, saw some particularly beautiful caligraphy hand-written in the margin of a Chinese menu in Chinatown, carefully copied it down, and then incorporated it into the chest of a sweater she was knitting for herself. She proudly wore it around town, not noticing the funny looks from Chinese folks ... until her friend translated it for her: "This dish is good, but cheap".  :lol:

Quote from: HVC on January 04, 2013, 04:16:31 PM
Look for Chinese places that have two menus, then order from the Chinese one. Best options.

I get both menues. I know enough kanji to read the chinese menu, especially when I have the english one as well. I just make sure to pay the prices on the chinese menu.

Quote from: MadImmortalMan on January 04, 2013, 03:55:14 PM
Incidentally, I agree that the Chinatown tourist places are usually not that good. Chinese food has to be the easiest type of food to do badly and get away with it. It's like there's a rule that if they deliver, it will be awful. It's tough to find good Chinese food, actually. The bad stuff has just been spammed everywhere.

I'd agree that Chinatown is usually not that good. :D

The vast majority of Chinese restaurants here are adjusted to westernized tastes and are usually for eating a lot for cheap (esp. buffets). Still, there's some authentic ones as well.

Quote from: Syt on January 04, 2013, 05:17:52 PM
The vast majority of Chinese restaurants here are adjusted to westernized tastes and are usually for eating a lot for cheap (esp. buffets). Still, there's some authentic ones as well.

Well as I state before these supposedly westernized Chinese Restaurants are pretty popular among the Chinese.  Heck they are all Chinese owned so far as I can tell as well.  So I find it bizarre they are so different from what one would find in China.  I mean it would be weird to have restaurants owned by Italian immigrants with large numbers of Italian immigrant clients that were some sort of bastardized Italian food.

I guess I should be taking comfort in the fact this is evidence of integration :P

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 05:24:18 PM
  I mean it would be weird to have restaurants owned by Italian immigrants with large numbers of Italian immigrant clients that were some sort of bastardized Italian food.

Doesn't this exist? American Pizza and the like?

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 05:24:18 PM

Quote from: Syt on January 04, 2013, 05:17:52 PM
The vast majority of Chinese restaurants here are adjusted to westernized tastes and are usually for eating a lot for cheap (esp. buffets). Still, there's some authentic ones as well.

Well as I state before these supposedly westernized Chinese Restaurants are pretty popular among the Chinese.  Heck they are all Chinese owned so far as I can tell as well.  So I find it bizarre they are so different from what one would find in China.  I mean it would be weird to have restaurants owned by Italian immigrants with large numbers of Italian immigrant clients that were some sort of bastardized Italian food.

Not sure if it plays any role, but anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that many "westernized" Chinese restaurants here are run by Chinese from Indonesia, and that the "authentic" ones are much more likely to be run by Chinese from Taiwan or the mainland.

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 05:24:18 PM

Quote from: Syt on January 04, 2013, 05:17:52 PM
The vast majority of Chinese restaurants here are adjusted to westernized tastes and are usually for eating a lot for cheap (esp. buffets). Still, there's some authentic ones as well.

Well as I state before these supposedly westernized Chinese Restaurants are pretty popular among the Chinese.  Heck they are all Chinese owned so far as I can tell as well.  So I find it bizarre they are so different from what one would find in China.  I mean it would be weird to have restaurants owned by Italian immigrants with large numbers of Italian immigrant clients that were some sort of bastardized Italian food.

I guess I should be taking comfort in the fact this is evidence of integration :P

A few years ago I watched an hour-long special on Chinese food that explained how all the dishes we know were invented in the 1800s and early 1900s by Chinese cooks and restauranteurs trying to do what they could with mostly scrap ingredients.

But I'm still a little confused myself.  I'm not sure if I've ever had real Chinese food-- I know I've been to Chinese places that serve the authentic stuff.  Oh well, I'd probably like the "fake" stuff better anyway.  Kind of along the lines of how I like Tex-Mex much more than authentic Mexican.

Quote from: derspiess on January 04, 2013, 05:47:58 PM

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 05:24:18 PM

Quote from: Syt on January 04, 2013, 05:17:52 PM
The vast majority of Chinese restaurants here are adjusted to westernized tastes and are usually for eating a lot for cheap (esp. buffets). Still, there's some authentic ones as well.

Well as I state before these supposedly westernized Chinese Restaurants are pretty popular among the Chinese.  Heck they are all Chinese owned so far as I can tell as well.  So I find it bizarre they are so different from what one would find in China.  I mean it would be weird to have restaurants owned by Italian immigrants with large numbers of Italian immigrant clients that were some sort of bastardized Italian food.

I guess I should be taking comfort in the fact this is evidence of integration :P

A few years ago I watched an hour-long special on Chinese food that explained how all the dishes we know were invented in the 1800s and early 1900s by Chinese cooks and restauranteurs trying to do what they could with mostly scrap ingredients.

But I'm still a little confused myself.  I'm not sure if I've ever had real Chinese food-- I know I've been to Chinese places that serve the authentic stuff.  Oh well, I'd probably like the "fake" stuff better anyway.  Kind of along the lines of how I like Tex-Mex much more than authentic Mexican.

Some foods in Westernized restaurants are indeed better than the "authentic" - because the "authentic" is characterized by poverty, leading to lack of really good ingredients. Though it should be noted that this can be very regional.

To give an example, I found the food in the the Issan province of Thailand to be, well, horrible. In each restaurant, the dishes all involved fish guts and cow udders and stuff like that (where did the rest of the fish and cow go?). I'd have infinitely prefered westernized Thai food. 

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 05:28:45 PM
Doesn't this exist? American Pizza and the like?

Um of course it does.

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 05:56:16 PM

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 05:28:45 PM
Doesn't this exist? American Pizza and the like?

Um of course it does.

Ah. My sarcasm-o-meter needs resetting today.  :D

Quote from: derspiess on January 04, 2013, 05:47:58 PMA few years ago I watched an hour-long special on Chinese food that explained how all the dishes we know were invented in the 1800s and early 1900s by Chinese cooks and restauranteurs trying to do what they could with mostly scrap ingredients.

But I'm still a little confused myself.  I'm not sure if I've ever had real Chinese food-- I know I've been to Chinese places that serve the authentic stuff.  Oh well, I'd probably like the "fake" stuff better anyway.  Kind of along the lines of how I like Tex-Mex much more than authentic Mexican.

Yeah, most of the stuff that's being served in North America as Chinese food - especially the take out and delivery stuff - bears little resemblance to Chinese food in China. That doesn't make it bad or wrong, but it's definitely a different evolution of Chinese cooking - much like Tex-Mex and Mexicali food compares to Mexican food, the evolution of the pizza in the US etc.

Now, I'd argue that a whole lot of North American Chinese food is pretty poor because it uses crappy ingredients and is cooked with little care and so on, but that's no different than preferring a proper BBQ to BBQ flavoured processed meat from some fast food joint.

In fact, thinking about it I think there's definitely room in the foodie world for someone to do high quality versions of North American Chinese dishes at some point.

Quote from: Syt on January 04, 2013, 05:46:57 PMNot sure if it plays any role, but anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that many "westernized" Chinese restaurants here are run by Chinese from Indonesia, and that the "authentic" ones are much more likely to be run by Chinese from Taiwan or the mainland.

I think that kind of thing is pretty standard. Here in Vancouver we have a lot of Chinese operated sushi places and they tend to be much lower quality than the Japanese operated one, for example.

Anyhow, if any of all y'all have reason to come to Vancouver I'll take you to what passes for good Chinese food here :)

I don't think this is a particular feature of Asian restaurants but how the food is served, no?

Personally, I'm fine with having family-style apettisers but prefer individual meals for the main course.

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 05:55:32 PM

Quote from: derspiess on January 04, 2013, 05:47:58 PM

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 05:24:18 PM

Quote from: Syt on January 04, 2013, 05:17:52 PM
The vast majority of Chinese restaurants here are adjusted to westernized tastes and are usually for eating a lot for cheap (esp. buffets). Still, there's some authentic ones as well.

Well as I state before these supposedly westernized Chinese Restaurants are pretty popular among the Chinese.  Heck they are all Chinese owned so far as I can tell as well.  So I find it bizarre they are so different from what one would find in China.  I mean it would be weird to have restaurants owned by Italian immigrants with large numbers of Italian immigrant clients that were some sort of bastardized Italian food.

I guess I should be taking comfort in the fact this is evidence of integration :P

A few years ago I watched an hour-long special on Chinese food that explained how all the dishes we know were invented in the 1800s and early 1900s by Chinese cooks and restauranteurs trying to do what they could with mostly scrap ingredients.

But I'm still a little confused myself.  I'm not sure if I've ever had real Chinese food-- I know I've been to Chinese places that serve the authentic stuff.  Oh well, I'd probably like the "fake" stuff better anyway.  Kind of along the lines of how I like Tex-Mex much more than authentic Mexican.

Some foods in Westernized restaurants are indeed better than the "authentic" - because the "authentic" is characterized by poverty, leading to lack of really good ingredients. Though it should be noted that this can be very regional.

To give an example, I found the food in the the Issan province of Thailand to be, well, horrible. In each restaurant, the dishes all involved fish guts and cow udders and stuff like that (where did the rest of the fish and cow go?). I'd have infinitely prefered westernized Thai food.

I don't think this is as much poor ingredients vs good imgredients as stuff you are used to vs stuff you are not used to.

For example, I've met people who thought caviar is disgusting and refused to eat it.

Quote from: Martinus on January 04, 2013, 06:19:14 PM
I don't think this is a particular feature of Asian restaurants but how the food is served, no?

Personally, I'm fine with having family-style apettisers but prefer individual meals for the main course.

It is a particular feature of Chinese restaurants that the food is served family style as it's apparently called. There are exceptions, of course, but the standard is family style.

My impression is that family style - or you could call it tapas style as well - is fairly common for Japanese and Korean restaurants, but that it's more varied.

Quote from: Martinus on January 04, 2013, 06:22:22 PM
I don't think this is as much poor ingredients vs good imgredients as stuff you are used to vs stuff you are not used to.

Perhaps.

It's worth noting though that Issan is the Thai province most associated with high levels of rural poverty/exploitation. It would make a certain amount of sense that the locals would have to make do with the less attractive sources of protien.

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 06:29:49 PM

Quote from: Martinus on January 04, 2013, 06:19:14 PM
I don't think this is a particular feature of Asian restaurants but how the food is served, no?

Personally, I'm fine with having family-style apettisers but prefer individual meals for the main course.

It is a particular feature of Chinese restaurants that the food is served family style as it's apparently called. There are exceptions, of course, but the standard is family style.

My impression is that family style - or you could call it tapas style as well - is fairly common for Japanese and Korean restaurants, but that it's more varied.

But you yourself use the word "tapas" which is obviously a feature of Spanish cuisine - which is my point in that a lot of ethnic restaurants serve food this way and not just Asian. I have been eating food that style in Lebanese, Spanish, Italian, Indian etc. restaurants. And at the same time I have been to Asian restaurants that did not have this (at least not as a default feature).

Quote from: Martinus on January 04, 2013, 06:35:56 PM
But you yourself use the word "tapas" which is obviously a feature of Spanish cuisine - which is my point in that a lot of ethnic restaurants serve food this way and not just Asian. I have been eating food that style in Lebanese, Spanish, Italian, Indian etc. restaurants. And at the same time I have been to Asian restaurants that did not have this (at least not as a default feature).

It certainly is not unique to Chinese food. It is just a style that is very often associated with Chinese food. At least, it is here in Canada.

Quote from: Martinus on January 04, 2013, 06:35:56 PMBut you yourself use the word "tapas" which is obviously a feature of Spanish cuisine - which is my point in that a lot of ethnic restaurants serve food this way and not just Asian. I have been eating food that style in Lebanese, Spanish, Italian, Indian etc. restaurants. And at the same time I have been to Asian restaurants that did not have this (at least not as a default feature).

Like I said, there are exceptions. However, the bulk of restaurants in China serve their food that way - from hole-in-the-wall eateries with plastic chairs and sloppy floors to high end restaurants in fancy places. I figure that sets the standard.

Similarly, while there are places where it's done differently, the standard for French restaurants is individual servings.

I have no opinion on what the standard is for Asian restaurants as that's much too nebulous a category IMO.

Quote from: Malthus on January 04, 2013, 06:39:41 PMIt certainly is not unique to Chinese food. It is just a style that is very often associated with Chinese food. At least, it is here in Canada.

... and in China.

most of them in Britain don't work that way no.

I never had Chinese before coming to Korea, don't know how Chinese restaurants are set up back in RI.

Unless I'm at one for lunch and just order a plate of fired rice, then of course. Nothing else comes in serving size for one, so you have to go with at least one other person and share.

Never had Chinese before that?? Figured that was a universal experience in the US.

Not many Asians in RI.

Had some terriaki chicken on a stick at a Chinese restaurant and bar we'd drink at on Saturday nights, but I never actually ate there.

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 04, 2013, 07:55:10 PM
Not many Asians in RI.

Had some terriaki chicken on a stick at a Chinese restaurant and bar we'd drink at on Saturday nights, but I never actually ate there.

If you didn't eat it, then what do you mean by "Had some terriaki chicken on a stick" :unsure:

Timmy, as long as you're in Korea you should try the quintessential Korean-Chinese dish: jajangmyun.  I personally can't stand the stuff but the rest of my family swears by it.  Noodles with some kind of funky black sauce on top.

I suspect it's a regional North Chinese or Manchurian dish.

Really he should eat one of those yellow dogs.

Quote from: HVC on January 04, 2013, 04:16:31 PM
Look for Chinese places that have two menus, then order from the Chinese one. Best options.

Agreed, a place right off base here has the dual menus, and is quite good.  Also, many items on the authentic menu require order 1-2 days in advance. Though the chef is from Hong Kong, and most of the choices are quite spicy.

Though for the western crap, their crab rangoon is damn frickin' good.

Quote from: Razgovory on January 04, 2013, 08:08:52 PM

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 04, 2013, 07:55:10 PM
Not many Asians in RI.

Had some terriaki chicken on a stick at a Chinese restaurant and bar we'd drink at on Saturday nights, but I never actually ate there.

If you didn't eat it, then what do you mean by "Had some terriaki chicken on a stick" :unsure:

As in ate a meal, an appetizer is not a meal.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 04, 2013, 08:14:06 PM
Timmy, as long as you're in Korea you should try the quintessential Korean-Chinese dish: jajangmyun.  I personally can't stand the stuff but the rest of my family swears by it.  Noodles with some kind of funky black sauce on top.

I suspect it's a regional North Chinese or Manchurian dish.

They put the black sauce on fried rice as well, I like it.

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 04, 2013, 07:55:10 PM
Not many Asians in RI.

Had some terriaki chicken on a stick at a Chinese restaurant and bar we'd drink at on Saturday nights, but I never actually ate there.

Sorry but that's not a real explanation - the lack of asians front - especially since you were at a Chinese restaurant.

We demand an audit of your last 20 years of resturant visits tim.

 :lol:

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 06:15:59 PM
Anyhow, if any of all y'all have reason to come to Vancouver I'll take you to what passes for good Chinese food here :)

<_<

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 04, 2013, 07:43:05 PM
I never had Chinese before coming to Korea, don't know how Chinese restaurants are set up back in RI.

Unless I'm at one for lunch and just order a plate of fired rice, then of course. Nothing else comes in serving size for one, so you have to go with at least one other person and share.

What in the Fuck.

Quote from: katmai on January 04, 2013, 09:48:46 PM

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 06:15:59 PM
Anyhow, if any of all y'all have reason to come to Vancouver I'll take you to what passes for good Chinese food here :)

<_<

What? The offer is good for you too.

When are you planning on coming through next time?

He'll just be hungry an hour later.

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 09:53:26 PM

Quote from: katmai on January 04, 2013, 09:48:46 PM

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 06:15:59 PM
Anyhow, if any of all y'all have reason to come to Vancouver I'll take you to what passes for good Chinese food here :)

<_<

What? The offer is good for you too.

When are you planning on coming through next time?

The glare is that offer wasn't standing last time i was there!
:P

I share all the time.
But then, these are Chinese restaurants in China, so it's expected.  :P

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 06:08:22 PM
Yeah, most of the stuff that's being served in North America as Chinese food - especially the take out and delivery stuff - bears little resemblance to Chinese food in China. That doesn't make it bad or wrong, but it's definitely a different evolution of Chinese cooking - much like Tex-Mex and Mexicali food compares to Mexican food, the evolution of the pizza in the US etc.

Ok but this is completely different.  We do not have Mexicans from the Mexican interior moving here and opening Tex-Mex places, those are run by, you know, Texans and Tejanos considering it is our food.  We do not have Italians immigrating over here to open Papa Johns joints where most of their clientele are other Italian Immigrants.

I still just do not understand why all these Chinese Immigrants come here and inexplicably open restaurants serving weird food that is dramatically different from the food they know and claim it is theirs.  Then they all go eat at these weird restaurants pretending to be their food.  It just makes no sense.  And for reasons that are mysterious they do not do this in Canada.

I can't really comment on all the recent Chinese immigrants to Texas opening American style Chinese buffet restaurants patronized by other recent Chinese immigrants, as I have no experience with the phenomenon.

I agree with you, however, that it sounds bizarre.

Quote from: katmai on January 04, 2013, 09:55:18 PMThe glare is that offer wasn't standing last time i was there!
:P

That's a long time ago. You'll just have to come back.

we met up one time at sushi joint iirc.

Quote from: garbon on January 04, 2013, 09:19:20 PM

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 04, 2013, 07:55:10 PM
Not many Asians in RI.

Had some terriaki chicken on a stick at a Chinese restaurant and bar we'd drink at on Saturday nights, but I never actually ate there.

Sorry but that's not a real explanation - the lack of asians front - especially since you were at a Chinese restaurant.

No shit.  I'd bet WV has fewer Asians than RI and we had at least 6 or 7 Chinese places in town that I knew of.  And I'd hope he would have ventured out of RI on occasion, though I guess it would explain a lot if he hadn't.

My town of 30k has two that I know of.  Never went to them. Of course I've been out of RI, been all over New England. Went to college in upstate NY for 3 semesters, worked in the Carolinas for two summers. Been to Pennsylvania and Florida on vacations. I've been to Nashville a couple of times.

Ate at a Japanese place last year while I was back. It was individually served.

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 06:41:18 PMLike I said, there are exceptions. However, the bulk of restaurants in China serve their food that way - from hole-in-the-wall eateries with plastic chairs and sloppy floors to high end restaurants in fancy places. I figure that sets the standard.

I wouldn't say that a standard for "restaurants in China" and "Chinese restaurants" (especially in the context meant by Yi's poll) is necessarily the same though.

I haven't been to a Chinese restaurant where I can personally pick a dog or a cat from a cage to eat either.

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 05, 2013, 12:55:27 AM
My town of 30k has two that I know of.  Never went to them. Of course I've been out of RI, been all over New England. Went to college in upstate NY for 3 semesters, worked in the Carolinas for two summers. Been to Pennsylvania and Florida on vacations. I've been to Nashville a couple of times.

Ate at a Japanese place last year while I was back. It was individually served.

Every Chinese restaurant I have been to had dishes served individually by default. There were however dishes that could serve more people and you could always ask for some dishes/appetisers to be served on a plate for people to share.

The same is true for most non-Chinese restaurants I have be to, too. I believe this is a standard for pretty much every restaurant in the Western world.

That's why I am challenging Jacob's "I-have-been-to-the-tiger-penis-and-dog-eating-third-world-and-know-how-their-shit-food-should-be-eaten-you-philistines" position in this thread.

Incidentally, there are not many things more disgusting than seeing someone eating Chinese food the "traditional" (?) way of lifting a bowl of food under his or her chin and then shoveling it swiftly into their mouth with chopsticks.  :yucky:

It's a position that the overwhelming majority of the respondents to this poll have agreed with.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 05, 2013, 03:14:55 AM
It's a position that the overwhelming majority of the respondents to this poll have agreed with.

The group is not statistically representative. We have too many Asians and pretentious pony-tailed fake Canadians here.

I always eat Chinese food family style.

Our normal technique is half-and-half; so we share dishes but take a larger portion of the particular dishes that an individual selected for Chinese food. For Indian food we take our own main course but share the side dishes.

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 11:12:55 PM

Ok but this is completely different.  We do not have Mexicans from the Mexican interior moving here and opening Tex-Mex places, those are run by, you know, Texans and Tejanos considering it is our food.  We do not have Italians immigrating over here to open Papa Johns joints where most of their clientele are other Italian Immigrants.

I still just do not understand why all these Chinese Immigrants come here and inexplicably open restaurants serving weird food that is dramatically different from the food they know and claim it is theirs.  Then they all go eat at these weird restaurants pretending to be their food.  It just makes no sense.  And for reasons that are mysterious they do not do this in Canada.

I don't know about the Chinese but Japanese people often did find it weird that I liked certain very typically Japanese dishes. They think foreigners are far more alien than we are.
Maybe it's the sand with the Chinese? It is just known amongst them that foreigners don't like proper Chinese food so they have to make the foreign version.
Though it is odd given the amount of Chinese around that there aren't many authentic places....

I guess one point is the makeup of Chinese immigrants. not many of them are actually chefs. they're just guys who open a Chinese takeaway because that's the tried and tested done thing for skilless Chinese immigrants.



xxising foreign food is odd.
Long ago I went to an Indian restaurant with some foreign friends. They all thought it was  the best thing ever, just like what they ate back in the US. I thought it was terrible. The taste was....wrong. it seemed so artificial.  There's another Indian place meanwhile that tastes a little bit like British Indian.The Americans find it rather meh, the Brits though rate it highly.

I've always shared, even when it's just me and my girlfriend- it was actually pretty common for us to go get late night Chinese after a long night in the studio and end up just sharing a plate of mei fun and a pot of tea.

Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on January 05, 2013, 05:14:29 AM
Our normal technique is half-and-half; so we share dishes but take a larger portion of the particular dishes that an individual selected for Chinese food.

This is my experience too, unless there is either very cohesive group decisionmaking or a benevolent dictatorship of someone who really knows the cuisine.

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 04, 2013, 07:55:10 PM
Not many Asians in RI.

238 million Asians in Republik Indonesia

Quote from: Valmy on January 04, 2013, 11:12:55 PM

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 06:08:22 PM
Yeah, most of the stuff that's being served in North America as Chinese food - especially the take out and delivery stuff - bears little resemblance to Chinese food in China. That doesn't make it bad or wrong, but it's definitely a different evolution of Chinese cooking - much like Tex-Mex and Mexicali food compares to Mexican food, the evolution of the pizza in the US etc.

Ok but this is completely different.  We do not have Mexicans from the Mexican interior moving here and opening Tex-Mex places, those are run by, you know, Texans and Tejanos considering it is our food.  We do not have Italians immigrating over here to open Papa Johns joints where most of their clientele are other Italian Immigrants.

I still just do not understand why all these Chinese Immigrants come here and inexplicably open restaurants serving weird food that is dramatically different from the food they know and claim it is theirs.  Then they all go eat at these weird restaurants pretending to be their food.  It just makes no sense.  And for reasons that are mysterious they do not do this in Canada.

Sit back one and all, and be wowed as Otto reveals his knowledge on an arcane, useless, less-than-interesting topic. Through my real estate shenanigans I've gotten to know a lot of the business owners in Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg is home to a lot of what I'd call the "buffet-style" Chinese restaurants. Buffet-style restaurants come in basically two flavors that I've seen around here:

1. You can come in to eat the buffet, or during off hours order from the menu. (Usually off-hours actually the food is better as it is cooked more on demand than buffet hours, but the restaurants do not do nearly as much business during these hours.) You can also call in a take out order at most of these places.

2. You can come in to eat the buffet, but they also deliver most of the day, and heavily advertise their delivery business. (Take-out is obviously an option too.) These restaurants differ from the non-delivery places in that usually their buffet has a more restricted time period (like say, only two hours around lunch time) whereas the places where you're expected to come in and eat the buffet usually runs until around dinner time when it stops.

In general, the best food will come from the primarily walk-in business places during off-buffet hours, as the buffet is the lowest quality offered at these places.

Now, I know the owners of a lot of these places, they basically come in three types.

One is the generational family restaurant. There are a few I could name that are second or third generation, even one I believe that was opened in the late 1920s. These restaurants are ran by real Chinese Americans who may presently not even speak Chinese and who are massively Americanized. Many of them with Anglo names and etc. However, these have the best food usually because as Americans who mostly grew up middle class or better (most of these people drive very nice cars, live in the best neighborhood) households they expect a certain quality. Basically this means the chicken isn't so stringy/poor quality, the beef is better quality, the pork is better quality etc. The kitchen is usually staffed by a mixture of family members and Mexicans. Very few if any first generation Chinese immigrants will work for these restaurants, as these families are so heavily Americanized they have no real connections in the Chinese immigrant community. The owners of these places, I've directly seen driving what I call the "Mexican van." Basically, some of these places the owner drives out in the morning with a big empty van, later he shows up at the back of his restaurant with a van full of Mexicans who go in to work in the kitchen. Where they come from, nobody knows, maybe ask Jaron or Katmai. The waitstaff and host in these places will 99.99% be girls from the owner's family, daughters/granddaughters etc, usually working part time when not in school.

Two is the recent immigrant restaurant. These are owned by genuine Chinese immigrants who may speak little to no English and have moved to America with intentions of setting up this restaurant. The wait staff and the kitchen staff will be heavily tilted towards the same. Subsequently the wait staff will speak little to no English and the kitchen staff you can hear barking out orders in Chinese (I don't know enough to tell if it's Cantonese or Mandarin.) Most of the owners of these places, if they've been open awhile, are semi-prosperous, but usually live above their means. These immigrants want to be like the first guys I mentioned, but aren't American enough yet and don't have enough money yet. They will buy a Lexus though and wear lots of gold to show that they are doing well. Most of these guys, when they first came to America it is specifically because a cousin or some other relative somewhere else had a similar restaurant. They'll come over and work with that cousin for awhile and then move to another town and open up their own place. I've talked to some of these guys but there are still details I'm not 100% clear on. One of the details I'm not clear on is this, a lot of these guys employ teeenage girls as waitresses, but none of them are enrolled in the local school district, and none of the waitresses seem to stay very long. Their staff also often appears to sleep in rooms above the restaurant or in very cheap rental units living many people to a room above local ordinance limits. I'm not sure if this is an indication of some illegality or what, or just poverty. (I'll admit it's hard to judge the age of young Asian women, maybe they aren't actually teenagers and that is why none are enrolled in school.)

Third is the non-Chinese owned restaurant. These are abundant as well, and you have all types. Some owned by normal white Americans, some owned by other types of immigrants (Korean/Vietnamese are big into that around here.) They can vary in how they're run. The oddest one I'm aware of is owned by a Mexican who also owns a Mexican restaurant, managed by a white guy and with a white hostess, waitstaff all are Vietnamese girls, and kitchen staff are all Mexicans. Not sure how the owner rounded up that motley crew.

Okay, so to get to why they make the food they do. Primarily because they want to make money off of "ordinary white Americans." From the multi-generational, traditional "American Chinese restaurant" to the place recently opened by a bonafide Chinese immigrant, they all basically believe that "American chinese" is what their customers want. Mind none of these peoples were chefs in China. If they were accomplished Chefs in China they would not be coming to America, or if they were they wouldn't be opening restaurants like this. Most of them were very poor in China, and knew someone already in America that was a family member who could assist in their immigration. This family member will probably have already been involved in the Chinese restaurant business. The new immigrant will learn the American Chinese restaurant business from whoever helped bring them over. Often by the time they can set up their own restaurant they've been collecting resources for many years.

They will attract some other Chinese into these restaurants, but their primary money is coming from white Americans, and they seem to believe they need to prepare "American Chinese food" to be successful. I wouldn't doubt them, many of these restaurants have survived for many years (and restaurants are a bitch to keep running and profitable.) A lot of these restaurants are very popular with other Asian immigrant groups like Vietnamese as well. I have some Vietnamese friends who love these places, the reason? They love a value. I've noticed this with several of my Asian friends (all upper middle class) they love value for money and eat up places like thrift stores and buffets, even though they could spend more. They aren't there for authentic Chinese cuisine, but lots of plates of food for $8.95.

I think this is typical of a mid-sized American town. I go into the D.C. area every day for work, and there the situation is different. You can find many much higher quality Chinese restaurants there, and the ownership models don't fit the above mold at all. In the D.C. area, all the nicer Chinese restaurants serve food family style. All the ones in Fredericksburg serve food individually or are buffet-style.

What's the name of that massive dim sum place right off 270?  I think it's past Seven Locks.
Fuck, can't remember the name of it.  Big place, like cafeteria big.

Maybe New Fortune? I have a coworker that has a hard on for that place, I've been to it a few times (not in the last 2-3 years though.)

Time on target, Otto.  Looking at the map, I'm pretty sure that's the one.  Bad ass pushcart dim sum, IIRC.

Yeah Otto, that makes complete sense. I think that's a pretty common pattern - its similar to how every Canadian small town usually has a Chinese-Canadian restaurant offering fried rice, chow men and burgers; or how every town in Denmark has (or used to have). "China Grill" serving those same Chinese dishes and roasted chicken.

There is a whole lot of Chinese food adjusted to local sensibilities, including how it's served.

All food should have to be authentic.

I had three Chinese colleagues in Singapore who invited me for lunch or dinner occasionally and they always ordered from the local menu. Two of them had a pretty good idea what Europeans like, the other one was the only one who was really from China and not a native Singaporean. Let's just say some of the stuff he ordered was interesting. So give me the European-adjusted food any day. ;)

Sometimes. Usually I do because they bring a big ass plate and someone else will want to try what I ordered, and I will want to try what someone else has!

It took a bit of getting used to when I first moved here since I had rarely done it before, but now eating "family style" is pretty much second nature for me.

Quote from: Jacob on January 04, 2013, 06:08:22 PM
In fact, thinking about it I think there's definitely room in the foodie world for someone to do high quality versions of North American Chinese dishes at some point.

I can think of one interesting example, Fuchsia Dunlop and General Tso's Chicken:
http://www.fuchsiadunlop.com/tag/general-tsos-chicken/
Her book 'Revolutionary Chinese Cooking' gives a big bit about it and she gives a Hunan and a Taiwan version of the recipe - the latter is the 'American' one.

British Chinese restaurants were traditionally Anglo-Cantonese I think, but the big trend now is regional restaurants. I know of at least few very good Sichuanese, Hunanese and Xinjiang restaurants. I think it's probably partly because we're getting more visitors and immigrants from Mainland China, and our own taste is evolving.

Among my friends and family we always share Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern food - it's relatively normal now, most other people in the restaurants seem to do it. But I think in most of those restaurants the waiters will say you're order and see if you want it individually or 'all in the middle'.

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 04, 2013, 07:55:10 PM
Not many Asians in RI.

Had some terriaki chicken on a stick at a Chinese restaurant and bar we'd drink at on Saturday nights, but I never actually ate there.

Wait, wait. I'm late to this thread. But if I can find a Chinese restaurant in every shitty, hick, country-ass town in Arkansas filled with fresh off the boat Asians, then I know Rhode Island has a few Chinese restaurants. Saying you've never had Chinese food until you moved to Korea is like.. fuck, I don't know, saying that you've never eaten a hamburger until recently.

This is a pretty good book about the evolution of Chinese food in America, by the way: http://www.amazon.com/The-Fortune-Cookie-Chronicles-Adventures/dp/B005UWEVJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357445687&sr=8-1&keywords=the+fortune+cookie+chronicles

Quote from: Jacob on January 05, 2013, 12:40:06 PM
Yeah Otto, that makes complete sense. I think that's a pretty common pattern - its similar to how every Canadian small town usually has a Chinese-Canadian restaurant offering fried rice, chow men and burgers; or how every town in Denmark has (or used to have). "China Grill" serving those same Chinese dishes and roasted chicken.

There is a whole lot of Chinese food adjusted to local sensibilities, including how it's served.

Yes, one of my hobbies when I used to travel a lot more often was to visit a "typical" Chinese restaurant when abroad, to investigate how the menu had been adjusted for the local market. I can no longer recall all the details, but each country had differences and concessions to local tastes.

In my experience, Chinese places serve you differently depending on whether or not you seem to be Chinese.  So typically when I go to a Chinese restaurant now we get served American-style.  When I was in college I had a Chinese-American roommate and we would often go to Chinese places with another one of our friends from Hong Kong.  I guess because the majority of people in the group were Chinese/Chinese-American, we got served 'family-style' even though they would give me an English menu and them Chinese menus.

The exception to the above these days is of course when I get dim sum, but that's pretty unusual--I only know of one Chinese restaurant in Louisville that offers it.

Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on January 06, 2013, 03:49:55 AM
Yes, one of my hobbies when I used to travel a lot more often was to visit a "typical" Chinese restaurant when abroad, to investigate how the menu had been adjusted for the local market. I can no longer recall all the details, but each country had differences and concessions to local tastes.

I've heard that Chinese-Indian food is a very interesting blend of those two cuisines... would love to try it sometime.

Just take some Chinese food and then smear dirt in it.

Quote from: Caliga on January 06, 2013, 08:31:32 AM
In my experience, Chinese places serve you differently depending on whether or not you seem to be Chinese. 

Nope, definitely haven't had that experience. I tend to think it is more on how the place typically operates. I know the fancy Chinese place I went to in Cambridge wasn't thinking I was Chinese.

I think what restaurants often do as a nod to Western sensibilities is ask who ordered such and such a dish when they bring it to the table, thus giving the customers the option of deciding if each dish should line up right in front of its "owner," or if it doesn't matter.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 06, 2013, 06:03:24 PM
I think what restaurants often do as a nod to Western sensibilities is ask who ordered such and such a dish when they bring it to the table, thus giving the customers the option of deciding if each dish should line up right in front of its "owner," or if it doesn't matter.

Hmm. Doesn't seem like that's what they're doing. It seems like they're doing what every other restaurant is doing: giving the food to the person that ordered it.

Quote from: merithyn on January 06, 2013, 06:17:55 PM
Hmm. Doesn't seem like that's what they're doing. It seems like they're doing what every other restaurant is doing: giving the food to the person that ordered it.

I don't understand your post.  Do you mean in your experience with Chinese restaurants they just put the food in front of the person who ordered it, or do you mean that what I'm describing is no different than the standard Western practice?

I always thought people who ordered individual meals at Chinese restaurants were kind of weird.

In my experience, they put an empty dish in front of you and put the food in the middle of the table, with each dish closest to the person who ordered it.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 06, 2013, 06:35:11 PM
I don't understand your post.  Do you mean in your experience with Chinese restaurants they just put the food in front of the person who ordered it, or do you mean that what I'm describing is no different than the standard Western practice?

Your post seems to indicate that the Chinese restaurants could or would go either way (family style or individual serving) based on what the customers indicate. I'm saying that in my experience, it seems more like the Chinese restaurants that I've gone to aren't expecting to serve the food family style at all, and instead, just put the food next to whomever ordered it as the default.

There's no hesitation, no question of where to put the food, etc. It is exactly the same as when I go to Olive Garden.

Quote from: merithyn on January 06, 2013, 07:12:38 PM

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 06, 2013, 06:35:11 PM
I don't understand your post.  Do you mean in your experience with Chinese restaurants they just put the food in front of the person who ordered it, or do you mean that what I'm describing is no different than the standard Western practice?

There's no hesitation, no question of where to put the food, etc. It is exactly the same as when I go to Olive Garden.

When you're there, are you family...

And then you stuff your pockets with breadsticks.

Quote from: Ed Anger on January 06, 2013, 07:32:50 PM
And then you stuff your pockets with breadsticks.

We used to have to watch my Mom's father at restaurants;  he'd try to snake tips off the tables on the way out.  Crazy ass Kraut.

Quote from: Jaron on January 06, 2013, 07:17:36 PM

Quote from: merithyn on January 06, 2013, 07:12:38 PM

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 06, 2013, 06:35:11 PM
I don't understand your post.  Do you mean in your experience with Chinese restaurants they just put the food in front of the person who ordered it, or do you mean that what I'm describing is no different than the standard Western practice?

There's no hesitation, no question of where to put the food, etc. It is exactly the same as when I go to Olive Garden.

When you're there, are you family...

I don't know. I don't have many meals cooked by family that are as shitty as their food.

I'm curious Meri, where does the waiter put your lemon chicken to make it clear that it's yours?

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 06, 2013, 08:11:29 PM
I'm curious Meri, where does the waiter put your lemon chicken to make it clear that it's yours?

One assumes right in front of her.

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 06, 2013, 09:31:53 PM

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 06, 2013, 08:11:29 PM
I'm curious Meri, where does the waiter put your lemon chicken to make it clear that it's yours?

One assumes right in front of her.

:yes:

At the top of my plate, right next to where they put my rice.

But I don't get lemon chicken. I get mu shu pork. :)

Quote from: The Brain on January 05, 2013, 01:08:01 PM
All food should have to be authentic.

:lol:

Quote from: sbr on January 06, 2013, 06:36:32 PM
I always thought people who ordered individual meals at Chinese restaurants were kind of weird.

Sharing food is barbaric. Plus, depending on personal manners of the people you are with, it may be stomach-churning (e.g. people who put food on their plate with their own fork or spoon  :yucky:).

My former father in law had a brief stint reviewing Chinese restaurants for Time Out. By all accounts he ate some outstanding meals. Then he invited us along to a review of a Kosher Chinese in Golders Green, where all the other diners were groups of male Orthodox Jews.

Worst. Chinese. Ever.

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 06, 2013, 09:31:53 PM
One assumes right in front of her.

One assumes (correctly) that that position is already filled by her eating plate.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 07, 2013, 07:45:39 AM

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 06, 2013, 09:31:53 PM
One assumes right in front of her.

One assumes (correctly) that that position is already filled by her eating plate.

Does the "eating plate" stay there for the entire dinner or is it being replaced after each dish/course?

Quote from: Martinus on January 07, 2013, 08:38:33 AM

Quote from: Admiral Yi on January 07, 2013, 07:45:39 AM

Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 06, 2013, 09:31:53 PM
One assumes right in front of her.

One assumes (correctly) that that position is already filled by her eating plate.

Does the "eating plate" stay there for the entire dinner or is it being replaced after each dish/course?

:rolleyes:

Quote from: Martinus on January 07, 2013, 08:38:33 AM
Does the "eating plate" stay there for the entire dinner or is it being replaced after each dish/course?

Some places will bring separate plates for appetizers and for the main course.

Quote from: Martinus on January 07, 2013, 05:15:41 AM

Quote from: sbr on January 06, 2013, 06:36:32 PM
I always thought people who ordered individual meals at Chinese restaurants were kind of weird.

Sharing food is barbaric. Plus, depending on personal manners of the people you are with, it may be stomach-churning (e.g. people who put food on their plate with their own fork or spoon  :yucky:).

So how dry is your skin?

Quote from: Grey Fox on January 07, 2013, 09:37:28 AM

Quote from: Martinus on January 07, 2013, 05:15:41 AM

Quote from: sbr on January 06, 2013, 06:36:32 PM
I always thought people who ordered individual meals at Chinese restaurants were kind of weird.

Sharing food is barbaric. Plus, depending on personal manners of the people you are with, it may be stomach-churning (e.g. people who put food on their plate with their own fork or spoon  :yucky:).

So how dry is your skin?

I didn't get the reference.

Quote from: Martinus on January 07, 2013, 09:42:57 AM

Quote from: Grey Fox on January 07, 2013, 09:37:28 AM

Quote from: Martinus on January 07, 2013, 05:15:41 AM

Quote from: sbr on January 06, 2013, 06:36:32 PM
I always thought people who ordered individual meals at Chinese restaurants were kind of weird.

Sharing food is barbaric. Plus, depending on personal manners of the people you are with, it may be stomach-churning (e.g. people who put food on their plate with their own fork or spoon  :yucky:).

So how dry is your skin?

I didn't get the reference.

You're a clean freak, you shower too often therefor your skin might be dry. I'm asking how much?

Quote from: Martinus on January 07, 2013, 05:15:41 AM

Quote from: sbr on January 06, 2013, 06:36:32 PM
I always thought people who ordered individual meals at Chinese restaurants were kind of weird.

Sharing food is barbaric. Plus, depending on personal manners of the people you are with, it may be stomach-churning (e.g. people who put food on their plate with their own fork or spoon  :yucky:).

:yes:

OvB's post matches with a book I read on Chinatowns from ~10-15 years ago.  It describes them as entry points for new, poor immigrants.  If they or (more frequently) their kids achieve some measure of success they leave for other parts of the US and start businesses (amongst them Ameri-Chinese restaurants).  At that point they are pretty well Americanized.

If I remember right the book described this as the old pattern, and that fewer immigrants were sticking to the Chinatowns as long (or at all).