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I'd like to see more Chinese restaurants offering more authentic dishes. Sure most strip mall Chinese places need to have the American Chinese food staples beca

I'd like to see more Chinese restaurants offering more authentic dishes. Sure most strip mall Chinese places need to have the American Chinese food staples because people expect it, but I think they might also have some success putting a few of the off-menu authentic Chinese dishes on the menu.

azurezyq 8y ago
Not sure where you are. But in Bay area, American Chinese cuisine and authentic Chinese cuisine are different genres. As a Chinese I never go to the former unless I have to. Better to ask your Chinese colleagues for suggestion.
- umanwizard 8y ago
  “American Chinese” food was invented primarily in the Bay Area, so it makes sense that it’s so common there. Chinese (and Chinese-descended) people lived in California in large numbers before any other part of the US - since the 19th century.
- mark-r 8y ago
  Dim Sum in Chinatown is a revelation. Have the property values in SF destroyed Chinatown yet?
  - azurezyq 8y ago
    Go to the South Bay or the east Bay, that's where the new generation of Chinese work and live. SF's China Town doesn't matter much now. Similar to LA's, where most good Chinese restaurants are outside Chinatown.
    - mark-r 8y ago
      Thanks for the hints, I'll definitely check that out next time I visit.
- learc83 8y ago
  I know where the authentic Chinese food is, but it's a bit of a drive. In the majority of the US there are no authentic Chinese restaurants, it's the restaurants in those places that I'm talking about.
- powerapple 8y ago
  I like both as a Chinese. Especially if the American Chinese dish is something invented in the US, not a bad version of a Chinese dish. If they are basically a bad copy of a Chinese dish, you would actually judge it differently than just a dish, because you would compare it to how it should taste like.
fiblye 8y ago
Strongly agreed. I once went to a sichuan restaurant with a Chinese friend and he asked for the "secret" menu. He ordered a bunch of things I'd never expected to try before, like spicy pan-fried pork intestines. It was incredible food. Literally the best I'd ever had. I made a habit of bringing American friends to this restaurant all the time, asking for the secret menu, and ordering things at random (because I couldn't read anything). Never was anybody disappointed and it became a weekly thing to go back and try new food. The food was so good that it led to me going to China just to try even more authentic Chinese food. I think there's this idea that Americans are afraid to try authentic foreign cuisine, but at least with millennials, I think it's the opposite. We grew up with TV shows about people eating "weird" food. We want to discover new things.
turtlebits 8y ago
You can, either ask for the Chinese menu or ask if they have a certain dish (the Chinese name)
- learc83 8y ago
  That's what I meant by off-menu. My point is that I think that offering more authentic dishes on the menu would go over well.
joe_the_user 8y ago
Definitely. I don't think there's anything wrong with Americanized cuisines in general (or cuisines adapted by immigrants in general). Tex-Mex, what we recognized as "Mexican Food" here is great and burritos from taco trucks can be amazing. But I would speculate that since Americanized Chinese food arrived so long ago, it took on the tastes of America from 60+ years ago; just bland, salty and fatty. So a new wave of authentic Chinese would be great. The problem with having Americanized Chinese food established is it's hard to change directions - the expectations of standard Chinese food is hard to fight. Trend-setters want a new cuisine and the fans of current "Chinese Food" want it as it is.

azurezyq 8y ago

Not sure where you are. But in Bay area, American Chinese cuisine and authentic Chinese cuisine are different genres. As a Chinese I never go to the former unless I have to. Better to ask your Chinese colleagues for suggestion.

umanwizard 8y ago
“American Chinese” food was invented primarily in the Bay Area, so it makes sense that it’s so common there. Chinese (and Chinese-descended) people lived in California in large numbers before any other part of the US - since the 19th century.
mark-r 8y ago
Dim Sum in Chinatown is a revelation. Have the property values in SF destroyed Chinatown yet?
- azurezyq 8y ago
  Go to the South Bay or the east Bay, that's where the new generation of Chinese work and live. SF's China Town doesn't matter much now. Similar to LA's, where most good Chinese restaurants are outside Chinatown.
  - mark-r 8y ago
    Thanks for the hints, I'll definitely check that out next time I visit.
learc83 8y ago
I know where the authentic Chinese food is, but it's a bit of a drive. In the majority of the US there are no authentic Chinese restaurants, it's the restaurants in those places that I'm talking about.
powerapple 8y ago
I like both as a Chinese. Especially if the American Chinese dish is something invented in the US, not a bad version of a Chinese dish. If they are basically a bad copy of a Chinese dish, you would actually judge it differently than just a dish, because you would compare it to how it should taste like.

fiblye 8y ago

Strongly agreed. I once went to a sichuan restaurant with a Chinese friend and he asked for the "secret" menu. He ordered a bunch of things I'd never expected to try before, like spicy pan-fried pork intestines. It was incredible food. Literally the best I'd ever had. I made a habit of bringing American friends to this restaurant all the time, asking for the secret menu, and ordering things at random (because I couldn't read anything). Never was anybody disappointed and it became a weekly thing to go back and try new food. The food was so good that it led to me going to China just to try even more authentic Chinese food. I think there's this idea that Americans are afraid to try authentic foreign cuisine, but at least with millennials, I think it's the opposite. We grew up with TV shows about people eating "weird" food. We want to discover new things.

turtlebits 8y ago

You can, either ask for the Chinese menu or ask if they have a certain dish (the Chinese name)

learc83 8y ago
That's what I meant by off-menu. My point is that I think that offering more authentic dishes on the menu would go over well.

joe_the_user 8y ago

Definitely. I don't think there's anything wrong with Americanized cuisines in general (or cuisines adapted by immigrants in general). Tex-Mex, what we recognized as "Mexican Food" here is great and burritos from taco trucks can be amazing. But I would speculate that since Americanized Chinese food arrived so long ago, it took on the tastes of America from 60+ years ago; just bland, salty and fatty. So a new wave of authentic Chinese would be great. The problem with having Americanized Chinese food established is it's hard to change directions - the expectations of standard Chinese food is hard to fight. Trend-setters want a new cuisine and the fans of current "Chinese Food" want it as it is.