4 ms·
Generally speaking, this is a sign of a bad Chinese restaurant practicing what I call "matrix menus": you've got one array of sauces (soy, oyster sauce, teriyak
by jpatokal 9y ago
Generally speaking, this is a sign of a bad Chinese restaurant practicing what I call "matrix menus": you've got one array of sauces (soy, oyster sauce, teriyaki, sweet and sour, satay, etc) and one of proteins (chicken, beef, shrimp, salmon, tofu, etc). The menu is product of multiplying these, even when the result is completely absurd from the POV of the original culinary tradition (say, satay shrimp or teriyaki tofu) and everything is produced by grilling the chosen items on the same hot plate.
Chinese restaurants intended for Chinese people tend to specialize in a single style of dish: dumplings, hotpot, braised beef noodles, etc.
- Nullabillity 9y agoWho cares about whether it conforms to the tradition as long as it tastes OK? Should you also only be allowed to order a specific drink with each meal on the menu?
- averagewall 9y agoChinese restaurants intended for Chinese people serve food that westerners don't like or find repulsive. "For Chinese people" doesn't mean better, it means better for people who're used to that and worse for people who aren't.
- titanix2 9y agoI guess it's just bad Chinese restaurants regarless of who they target. I personnally rank Chinese food as high as French one; these people really are genious when its come to cuisine. Two of the best restaurants I ate at were in Taiwan (Kaohsiung) and almost everything was delicious. The only challenging dish for a foreigner was chicken-feet (jijiao) and century eggs (pidan). But I was warned beforehand by the people who invited me and I tried them for the fun. But hey, it was pricy for the country (25€/person) so I think the problem lies in the lack of expensive Chinese restaurant in the West. Edit: if you want to try a good Chinese restaurant and do not mind travelling a bit, this one was very good: http://www.dfy.com.tw/ http://www.dfy.com.tw/
- contingencies 9y agoYou may enjoy our foodblog of Shenzhen and surrounds @ http://gastronomicsociety.in/shenzhen/ http://gastronomicsociety.in/shenzhen/
- blorsh 9y agoThis is a good Chinese restaurant, but you hint at a way to improve the menu. The menu should be a grid, properly displaying the matrix.
- chrischen 9y agoLarge restaurants can pull off larger menus, but I agree if it is a small restaurant with a big menu some hacks are going on. That being said in general Chinese restaurants tend to be able to pull off a larger variety of items with a smaller kitchen.