9 Things To Look For To Make Sure A Chinese Restaurant Is Legit

[TBoneTX 46,602]

9 Things To Look For To Make Sure A Chinese Restaurant Is Legit

 

Nothing beats great Chinese food, but how can you tell if the restaurant you just walked into is legit?  Here are nine things to look for:  [...]

https://babylonbee.com/news/9-things-to-look-for-to-make-sure-a-chinese-food-restaurant-is-legit

[Neonred 3,770]

If I need to know I'll just ask @TBoneTX.

[PGA 279]

Well, our local Chinese cuisine joints meet all of those except for #9 .... "Your order of six combo plates and four sides of pot stickers came to $2.99." I have no idea where that place is.

[TBoneTX 46,602]

10 hours ago, PGA said:

Well, our local Chinese cuisine joints meet all of those except for #9 .... "Your order of six combo plates and four sides of pot stickers came to $2.99." I have no idea where that place is.

In China?

Pretty good prices can be found in some big-U.S.-city Chinatowns, but not that low any longer.

[Dashinka 25,161]

Not really a big fan of American style Chinese food, but this could be written almost the same for many Thai restaurants.  Now food in China is really good and I like the Lazy Susan approach to many restaurants there.

[Crazy Cat 42,913]

3 hours ago, Dashinka said:

Not really a big fan of American style Chinese food, but this could be written almost the same for many Thai restaurants.  Now food in China is really good and I like the Lazy Susan approach to many restaurants there.

My wife calls most Chinese food in the US, "so called Chinese".  She won't eat it.

[yuna628 9,769]

It's hard to find a good Chinese place these days. There were a few in Baltimore that had legendary status. On our travels back to the UK (imo also difficult to find good Chinese food there too) I had heard rumors of this place in a small market stand that sold real Chrysanthemum tea and bao. The food was so good I nearly cried.. all run by a little grandma and her family. She made everything by hand with love.

 

[TBoneTX 46,602]

4 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

My wife calls most Chinese food in the US, "so called Chinese".  She won't eat it.

What does she say is wrong with it?

[TBoneTX 46,602]

True story:  When I lived in northern Virginia, I'd sometimes drive into D.C. to eat at a particular hole-in-the-wall Chinese place in a bad 'hood.  They had ratty old stained menus.  They finally redid them in laminated plastic.  The very first menu item was "Wanton Soup."  I immediately exclaimed, "I'll have three bowls!"    

[TBoneTX 46,602]

More seriously, I think that with enough effort, someone reasonably proficient in English could make a career out of editing all menus that are found in all Chinese (and Vietnamese, et al.) restaurants.

 

Some really funny examples are in Baba-Mail and Reddit.

 

A favorite is "steam crab."  I see that and think, "Quit commanding me!  It's YOUR job to steam the crab, not mine."

When it's correctly "steamed crab," I think, "They should calm the crabs down before killing and serving them."

Probably my top favorite is "Noodle" -- if we're allowed just one noodle, I want the longest one!

[Dashinka 25,161]

47 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

What does she say is wrong with it?

Not trying to speak for @Crazy Cat's wife, but I have talked with quite a few Chinese, and Korean colleagues living in the US, and the number one complaint is the taste is different as the source of the ingredients is different.  I have noticed a similar difference in my travels for instance kimchi in Korea is so much better tasting than kimchi one can get here (tolerable, but less tasty, and also much less variety).

[TBoneTX 46,602]

2 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

I have talked with quite a few Chinese, and Korean colleagues living in the US

Very revealing, with multiple sources of input.

This raises the new question of how challenging it would be to obtain "authentic" ingredients at tolerable cost.

[Crazy Cat 42,913]

1 hour ago, TBoneTX said:

What does she say is wrong with it?

She says cooking technique is different and some ingredients are different.  I can testify that the taste is different.  We have a place in Plano we go to a lot. 

[TBoneTX 46,602]

3 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

We have a place in Plano we go to a lot

It's good that you found somewhere palatable (pun intended).  Maybe next time, have Mrs. CC ask how they swing it, and report back here.

[yuna628 9,769]

I've had a hard time finding a Japanese place that is cooking actual authentic food too.

 

1 hour ago, TBoneTX said:

Very revealing, with multiple sources of input.

This raises the new question of how challenging it would be to obtain "authentic" ingredients at tolerable cost.

Next state over there is basically the Walmart for Asian food called Hung Vuong. Whatever you want you can find there and some of the produce is better than I can find in the regular grocery store.