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This is really nice of you. Gonna take this opportunity to ask: anybody know of some good things to do in San Francisco on Christmas day? I'm coming to visit a
by yashodhan 13y ago
This is really nice of you.
Gonna take this opportunity to ask: anybody know of some good things to do in San Francisco on Christmas day? I'm coming to visit and will be alone for the most part.
- te_chris 13y agoOr New Years eve, my Girlfriend and I are coming through SF from 28th till the 2nd Jan, looking for cool parties, gigs, people to hang out with etc.
- beachstartup 13y agoeat good chinese food. if you're not from LA, SF, NY there's a strong chance you've never actually had chinese food.
- indlebe 13y agoin the USA that is. I've heard that Richmond B.C. has some of the best Chinese food in North America.
- sharkweek 13y agoHang on now... Come to Seattle, we can show you some Chinese food that will blow your socks off
- beachstartup 13y agoseattle and the east side are 'okay' but nowhere near what you'd find in the sunset/richmond, san gabriel valley, or manhattan + queens for example in a single neighborhood you can find halal chinese, dim sum, szechuan, hot pot, proper roast duck, chinese bakeries, shanghai style dumplings, fresh noodles ... the bar for comparison should be beijing, shanghai, singapore, hong kong, taipei, etc.
- pmiller2 13y agoIronically, I've heard the Chinese food in Chinatown in SF is pretty lousy.
- beachstartup 13y agochinatowns are ghettoes. they are vestiges of the 1800s.
- aceperry 13y agoNot at all. There are good restaurants and there are bad restaurants. Most of the customers in the SF Chinatown restaurants are Chinese, so you know there are going to be some good restaurants.
- miles 13y agoif you're not from LA, SF, NY there's a strong chance you've never actually had chinese food. I imagine there are over a billion people in China and Taiwan who would beg to differ ;-)
- sjtgraham 13y agoExactly. Chinese friends tell me "Chinese" food one finds in Chinatowns in western cities is heavily adapted to western tastes and nothing like what is eaten in China.
- mgkimsal 13y agoLast time I was in China, no one had ever heard of General Tso. From what I gather, he was a bloodthirsty tyrant, but made an excellent chicken.
- vinceguidry 13y agoI have a hunch that the 'Tso' is actually a corruption of 'sauce', meaning instead of being named for a military general, 'general' is the name of the sauce.
- yen223 13y agoGeneral Tso's chicken, like fortune cookies and Chop Suey, come from America.
- beachstartup 13y agoLOL
- hnriot 13y agoI suspect that the "Chinese" food here is adapted to comply with US law.
- aceperry 13y agoWhat laws are these? I find it strange to hear anyone claim that US laws determine what is made and sold as Chinese food. There are some laws regarding food safety, but they apply to all foods.
- ubi 13y agoWhat is your favorite sf Chinese food spot?
- te_chris 13y agoThis is so naive. I'm from Wellington, NZ and live in Auckland. I can buy excellent chinese food without trying very hard in multiple locations. Chinese migration isn't just limited to the USA...
- contingencies 13y agoAs an AU/NZ/DE citizen who has been mostly based in China (but also a year in LA, 2 weeks SF) since 2001, I can tell you that Auckland is a best case example. Compared to SF (which has one of the oldest Chinatowns in the US... unlike LA's, which incidentally was ruthlessly bulldozed to make way for a 'required' freeway by racist local government) much of Auckland's Chinese population is recent, which is perfect. Recent mainland immigration brings real Chinese food as Chinese eat it. SF is dealing with Americanized interpetations of Chinese food that persist from the modified cuisine of multiple generations of Cantonese immigrants distilled through American popular culture. You know: (1) Paper box (2) Disposable chopsticks (3) Fujian/Guangdong style egg (yellow) noodles (4) Canto-Americanisms like 'chop suey' (Mandarin 'chao cai') and 'dim sum' (Mandarin 'dian xin') and such. (5) Total overuse of meats and a relative lack of vegetarian options (6) Total overuse of heavy sauces (oyster, sweet and sour, etc.) By contrast, despite an early presence of Chinese in New Zealand, just fifteen years ago you would be hard pressed to find any Asian food at all in central Auckland, and certainly there was no or next to no honest mainland-style Chinese cuisine available at all, anywhere in the city. (Edit: What's with the downvote? Sheesh.)
- te_chris 13y agoFWIW I upvoted you! I'd always wondered if the Chinese in Auckland was any good or not compared to China (I'd suspected yes, but good to know!). It has been crazy watching all the good asian food popup over the last 20 odd years. It all feels so natural and part of NZ culture now (e.g. there are 7 Korean, 3 Japanese, 2 Chinese and 1 French restaurants directly across from the office!).
- steven2012 13y agoChristmas Day is the exact best day to go around all of the sightseeing locations in SF without having to worry about parking or crowds. I've done this 3 times now, whenever guests come, and it's great. You can hit all of the places in SF like the Golden Gate Bridge, Chrissy Field, Coit Tower, Pier 39, etc.