The Off Topic Topic

[Sheilbh]

I assume you're simply ignoring London from your equation. 

Or any other British city for that matter

But yeah comparing a city with more than a million people with the bog standard British town high street, generally the big city will be have more choices

Towns are a bit more likely to have similar take aways and more chains - but generally even they'll have fancy coffee places, standard restaurants and nicer restaurants etc.

[Josquius]

I'm speaking about large British cities

London is of course its own thing and the UK norm rarely applies there in most things.

[Sheilbh]

What you've said just doesn't apply to my experience of any British city


There's definitely chains which are everywhere - and they serve a purpose (especially for families) -  and there might be an area like that. It's normally around a dying shopping centre - but you're only a short walk from, say, the equivalent of the Ropewalks in Liverpool or whatever. Not to mention areas like the Balti triangle in Birmingham.

I mean I remember being in Glasgow a couple of years ago and being really struck by the fact there were multiple Poutine/Canadian restaurants which I've never seen anywhere else in the UK (I don't know if this is just because Scotland feels a particular affinity with chips, cheese and gravy).

Also there's definitely been a huge shift in Chinese restaurants (although it may swing back with the BNOs) from Cantonese to lots of regional restaurants and styles that are popular with Mainland Chinese - especially in university towns. I'd be amazed if, at least, you couldn't get decent Sichuan food in any big-ish British city now.

[Jacob]

Yeah it's not reasonable to compare provincial towns with capital cities like that.

[CountDeMoney]

my local "chinkies"

Seriously?  "Chinkies?" 

[Josquius]

That's anglified cheapy takeaways.

What you've said just doesn't apply to my experience of any British city


There's definitely chains which are everywhere - and they serve a purpose (especially for families) -  and there might be an area like that. It's normally around a dying shopping centre - but you're only a short walk from, say, the equivalent of the Ropewalks in Liverpool or whatever. Not to mention areas like the Balti triangle in Birmingham.

I mean I remember being in Glasgow a couple of years ago and being really struck by the fact there were multiple Poutine/Canadian restaurants which I've never seen anywhere else in the UK (I don't know if this is just because Scotland feels a particular affinity with chips, cheese and gravy).

Also there's definitely been a huge shift in Chinese restaurants (although it may swing back with the BNOs) from Cantonese to lots of regional restaurants and styles that are popular with Mainland Chinese - especially in university towns. I'd be amazed if, at least, you couldn't get decent Sichuan food in any big-ish British city now.

Proper Chinese places are weird in that to outsiders they often present a fairly generic Chinese menu but also often have a Chinese menu which they don't advertise publically.
If I wanted sichuan food in Newcastle or I think Edinburgh, York and Leeds too, I'd have to ask around any Chinese people I know to find out which place has it.

And yeah. Being a capital will definitely be a key factor. But again that's a weird thing, that equally large and wealthy cities can become more cosmopolitan by being a capital

[Tamas]

my local "chinkies"

Seriously?  "Chinkies?" 

I was going to say. 

[The Larch]

If I wanted sichuan food in Newcastle or I think Edinburgh, York and Leeds too, I'd have to ask around any Chinese people I know to find out which place has it.

Or you could do as any normal person and check Tripadvisor, or some other similar site.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah - I mean from a quick search Edinburgh and Leeds both have Yelp lists of top 10 Sichuan restaurants in town. There's even a Northern mini chain (two in Manchester, one in Leeds and one in York) allegedly founded y former Chinese embassy chefs and specialising in Sichuan and Beijing food. Looks like the (really good looking) place in Newcastle closed in December so maybe there there's a shortage.

Even in cities outside of London, it's not just traditional old school Anglo-Cantonese places.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Jos has a young kid, his social life is therefore destroyed, he's even forgotten where the good restaurants are poor chap 

[Admiral Yi]

One of my tire's got slashed.  The tire guys said there has been a spate recently.

[mongers]

One of my tire's got slashed.  The tire guys said there has been a spate recently.

:-(

[mongers]

Happy Waterloo day! :brit:


If such a day exists.

[Josquius]

This made my dad late home from work yesterday.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/a1-fuel-protest-live-updates-24255548

..... I don't get it.
So you're angry petrol is expensive.
So... You waste petrol?

Like them or hate them at least the extinction rebellion lots tactics made logical sense - block roads and stop cars driving as you want no more cars.

These idiots....

[Syt]