Looking For A Western Style Chinese Restauraunt In Cm

[richoz]

Hi There, have been in Chiang Mai for several months. Have found many great restauraunts. However, miss a good western style Chinese meals. If anyone can recommend one in Cm (if there are any), I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

Rich

[Ulysses G.]

No, and I miss chinese food desperately. Malaysian or Singapore style Chinese food is really good, but Thais tend to make Chinese taste like Thai food by adding sugar and Thai spices.

Dave of the Duke's keeps threatening to open a Chinese restaurant that Westerners would go for, but he never gets around to it.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[Crow Boy]

Hi There, have been in Chiang Mai for several months. Have found many great restauraunts. However, miss a good western style Chinese meals. If anyone can recommend one in Cm (if there are any), I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

Rich

As opposed to a Chinese style Chinese restaurant? I am not sure what you mean by your post but there are several quite good Chinese restaurants in town that serve good Chinese food.

CB

[Dustoff]

I don't quite get this one either. Is there a Western province of China that has specific food as in other provinces?

Or are we talking about 'Chinese food' as it is adapted to satisfy the tastes of Americans or Aussies or whatever in their own countries? It seems they would alll be slightly different, wouldn't they?

A friend just went last night to the Shangra La Hotel for a birthday dinner at their new Chinese restaurant but I have not gotten a report as yet.

Altho, judging from the OP's username, I suspect this is a marketing ploy and McDonalds is thinking of coming out with a McChina Burger... (leave it alone ihop)

[richoz]

I don't quite get this one either. Is there a Western province of China that has specific food as in other provinces?

Or are we talking about 'Chinese food' as it is adapted to satisfy the tastes of Americans or Aussies or whatever in their own countries? It seems they would alll be slightly different, wouldn't they?

A friend just went last night to the Shangra La Hotel for a birthday dinner at their new Chinese restaurant but I have not gotten a report as yet.

Altho, judging from the OP's username, I suspect this is a marketing ploy and McDonalds is thinking of coming out with a McChina Burger... (leave it alone ihop)

Oh, look it was a pretty self-explanatory question. If you dont know what western style chinese food is, then I can only assume you have not travelled through China or even Taiwan for that matter. Also, leave the personal attacks out huh...

[Ulysses G.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chinese_cuisine

American Chinese dishes(very simular in Europe)

Dishes that often appear on American Chinese menus include:

General Tso's Chicken— chunks of chicken that are deep-fried and seasoned with ginger, garlic, sesame oil, scallions, and hot chili peppers.

Sesame Chicken— boned, battered, and deep-fried chicken which is then dressed with a translucent but dark red, sweet, slightly sour, mildly spicy, semi-thick, Chinese soy sauce made from corn starch, vinegar, chicken broth, and sugar, and often served with steamed broccoli.

Chinese chicken salad — Salad, in the form of uncooked leafy greens, does not exist in traditional Chinese cuisine for sanitary reasons, since manure and human feces were China's primary fertilizer through most of its history.[citation needed] It usually contains crispy noodle (fried wonton skin) and sesame dressing. Some restaurants serve the salad with mandarin oranges.

Chop suey — connotes "leftovers" in Chinese. It is usually a mix of vegetables and meat in a brown sauce but can also be served in a white sauce.

Chow mein — literally means 'stir-fried noodles.' Chow mein consists of fried noodles with bits of meat and vegetables. It can come with chicken, beef, pork or shrimp.

Crab rangoon — Fried wonton skins stuffed with artificial crab meat (surimi) and cream cheese. Rangoon (now Yangon) is the former capital of Burma (now Myanmar).

Fortune cookie — Invented at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, fortune cookies have become sweetened and found their way to many American Chinese restaurants. Fortune cookies have become so popular that even some authentic Chinese restaurants serve them at the end of the meal as dessert and may feature Chinese translations of the English fortunes.

Fried rice — Pan-fried rice, usually with chunks of meat, vegetables, and often egg.

Regional American Chinese dishes:

Chow mein sandwich— Sandwich of chow mein and gravy (Southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island).

Chop suey sandwich — Sandwich of chicken chop suey on a hamburger bun (North Shore of Massachusetts — the only known remaining restaurants serving this specialty are "Genghis Salem" and "Salem Lowe." Both are located at Salem Willows Park, Salem, Massachusetts. This sandwich is traditionally wrapped in a napkin cone and eaten with a fork).

St. Paul sandwich — Egg foo young patty in plain white sandwich bread (St. Louis, Missouri).

[edit] Americanized versions of native Chinese dishes

Batter-fried meat — Meat that has been deep fried in bread or flour, such as sesame chicken, lemon chicken, orange chicken, sweet and sour pork, and General Tso's chicken, is often heavily emphasized in American-style Chinese dishes. Battered meat occasionally appears in Hunanese dishes, but it generally uses lighter sauces with less sugar and corn syrup.

Chicken ball — Uses a large amount of leavening and flour in its preparation and battering process which causes them to be more similar to doughy "hush puppies" than actual batter-fried meat.

Egg drop soup — A soup of chicken broth with scrambled egg ribbons. Often served with fried noodles.

Egg foo youngEgg foo young — A Chinese-style omelet with vegetables and meat, usually served with a brown sauce. Also known as egg foo yung or egg foo yong.

Egg roll — While native Chinese spring rolls have a thin crispy skin with mushrooms, bamboo, and other vegetables inside, the Americanized version (specifically the version found in such American Northeast metro areas as Boston and New York) uses a thick, fried skin stuffed with cabbage and usually bits of meat or seafood (usually pork or shrimp). In other areas of the US outside of the Northeast, egg rolls tend to be of the spring roll/Panda Express variety.

Fried rice — Fried rice dishes are popular offerings in American Chinese food due to the speed and ease of preparation and their appeal to American tastes. Fried rice is generally prepared with rice cooled overnight, allowing restaurants to put unserved leftover rice to good use.

Kung Pao chicken — The authentic Sichuan dish is very spicy, and the American versions tend to be less so.

Lo mein — The term means "stirred noodles"; these noodles are frequently made with eggs and flour, making them chewier than simply using water. Thick, spaghetti shaped noodles are pan fried with vegetables and meat. Sometimes this dish is referred to as "chow mein" (which literally means "fried noodles" in Cantonese).

Moo shu pork — The native Chinese version uses more typically Chinese ingredients (including wood ear fungi and daylily buds) and thin flour pancakes while the American version uses vegetables more familiar to Americans and thicker pancakes. This dish is quite popular in Chinese restaurants in the U.S., but not so popular in China.

Wonton soup — In most American Chinese restaurants, only wonton dumplings in broth are served, while native Chinese versions may come with noodles. Authentic Cantonese Wonton Soup is a full meal in itself consisting of thin egg noodles and several pork and prawn wontons in a pork or chicken soup broth or noodle broth.

Cashew chicken — see Regional variations.

Meat "with" a vegetable — Examples of common variations on this dish are pork, chicken, beef or shrimp cooked with mushrooms, snow peas, or other assorted vegetables. This dish is sometimes served with oyster sauce or with garlic sauce. These dishes are primarily variations on Cantonese-style stir-fry.

Beef with broccoliBroccoli beef — This dish exists in native Chinese form, but using gai-lan (Chinese broccoli) rather than Western broccoli. Occasionally western broccoli is also referred to as sai lan fa (in Cantonese) in order not to confuse the two styles of broccoli. Among Chinese speakers, however, it is typically understood that one is referring to the leafy vegetable unless otherwise specified. This is also the case with the words for carrot (lo bac) or (hung lo bac hung meaning red) and onion (chung). Lo bac, in Cantonese, refers to the daikon, a large, blandly flavored white radish. The orange western carrot is known in some areas of China as "foreign Daikon" (or more properly hung lo bac in Cantonese, hung meaning "red"). When the word for onion, chung, is used, it is understood that one is referring to "green onions" (otherwise known to Westerners as scallions or spring onions). The many-layered onion common to Westerners is called yeung chung. This translates as "western onion". These names make it evident that the Western broccoli, carrot, and onion are not indigenous to China and therefore are less common in the cuisines of China. Hence, if a dish contains significant amounts of any of these ingredients, it has most likely been Westernized.

Tomatoes — Since tomatoes are New World plants, they are also fairly new to China and Chinese cuisine. Tomato-based sauces can be found in some American Chinese dishes such as the popular "beef and tomato."

[edit] Traditional take-out dishes

Most American Chinese restaurants get their supplies from a few companies leading to a similarity in the menus of separate restaurants. While sit-down and buffet restaurants are more varied, most menus have the following sections:

Appetizers— usually including Chinese spare ribs, Teriyaki chicken or beef skewers, Prawn crackers, Barbecued Pork, chicken fingers and egg rolls. Typically these are dishes that are not served with soup or rice rice.

Soups— including egg drop and hot and sour.

Fried Rice, Chow Mein, Chop Suey, Lo Mein, Egg Foo Young and Mu Shu- These dishes are served with rice, typically by the pint or quart. They are normally divided into vegetable, roast pork, chicken, beef, shrimp, occasionally lobster, and 'house special' or "combination" usually the first four ingredients together.

Roast or Barbecued Pork — Usually the smallest section (due to pork being less popular than beef and chicken today), mostly "with" dishes (Roast pork with mushrooms et al.)

Chicken — Moo Goo Gai Pan, Kung Po, and most of the "with" dishes (Such as chicken with cashew nuts or water chestnuts)

Beef — Beef with Broccoli, Pepper Steak, and "with " dishes

Seafood — Basically shrimp with the occasional scallop or lobster dish.

Special Diet Plates and Vegetable and Tofu — Vegetarian and low-calorie dishes

Combination platters — More expensive than the previous dishes, these come with fried rice and usually an egg roll. Usually you'll find General Tso's and Sesame Chicken here, along with the most popular of the other dishes.

Chef's Specialties — the most expensive dishes that normally include multiple meats and vegetables.

[Tywais]

Oh, look it was a pretty self-explanatory question.

I suspect many are not familiar with the term, including myself. Just looked it up and appears to be associated with Szechuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hunan. In other words, Western China.

The most striking feature of western cooking is the stunning quantities of chillis employed.

[sylviex]

I think I understand what Mr McDonald means.

Chinese food in China uses vastly more exotic flavours and ingredients than we'd ever find in a "western" Chinese restaurant, even if ordering in Chinese from the separate Chinese menu. It tends to be quite oily and only very small pieces of meat are used, often of low quality. (Not to say it can't still be delicious).

The menu in a western Chinese restaurant will contain many standard, popular dishes that might only rarely be found in China, and certainly not all in one place (unless it's a western-style Chinese restaurant in China .)

I don't know of any such place here, but the large international hotels would be a good bet. There are some dim sum places around, too. You might also try looking at the menu choices for the Chinese restaurants on the "Meals on Wheels" delivery service website.

Edited July 6, 2008 by sylviex

[Bluelotus]

I thought I knew what he meant now I'm not so sure.....

[sylviex]

Same here, bluelotus !

Mr McD, is it food from the Western provinces of China you're looking for ?

[Tywais]

I thought I knew what he meant now I'm not so sure.....

Perhaps the title should be changed to Western China style Restaurant if this is what he is referring to? OP, let me know if you would like the title change to avoid the confusion that has occurred.

[Ulysses G.]

Chinese food as found in Chinatown in big cities in the West .

[Dustoff]

Oh, look it was a pretty self-explanatory question. If you dont know what western style chinese food is, then I can only assume you have not travelled through China or even Taiwan for that matter. Also, leave the personal attacks out huh...

Personal attacks? Tell ya what newbie, if you think gentle humor is a personal attack you had better put your armor on because these folks on ThaiVisa are gonna tear you to pieces..

Thank you for, I think, clarifying that you are looking for food of Western China. I agree that your post was explanatory to self but was otherwise ambiguous to da max.

I have indeed spent time in China and what I found was that real Chinese food was not the same as the altered versions that American restaurants serve any more than Pizza huts/palaces/et al. serve anything like real Italian pizza-style food.

American Chinese

Good luck finding your cuisine and dealing with that bit of paranoia - I mean you no harm, no harm..

[Jingthing]

I am still back in the USSA enjoying the abundance of CHINESE style Chinese food. I don't care for Americanized Chinese. The Chinese who cook it don't eat it, and that should tell you something. It is a struggle to find Chinese food in Thailand that isn't Thai-ified, but it does exist.

[sylviex]

Thank you for, I think, clarifying that you are looking for food of Western China.

The mention of Taiwan suggests the other interpretation to me.

[Ulysses G.]

I am still back in the USSA enjoying the abundance of CHINESE style Chinese food. I don't care for Americanized Chinese. The Chinese who cook it don't eat it, and that should tell you something.

Chinese restaurants in San Francisco are full of Chinese people happily chowing down. There are lots of terrible Chinese restaurants in the U.S., but big cities tend to have lots of great ones.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[Jingthing]

Well, I have noticed all kinds of regional Chinese restaurants in Bangkok, but they aren't catering to farangs or often even Thais. Sometimes its hard to tell even what region food they are doing, I would love to find good real Hunan and Sichuan restaurants in Thailand. No luck as yet.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Jingthing

[toptuan]

Post #6

...oh, how I miss it...

[sylviex]

Here's a good list for Chiang Mai : chiangmainews.com/foodguide/internationalfood.php?sub=6

[Jingthing]

I am still back in the USSA enjoying the abundance of CHINESE style Chinese food. I don't care for Americanized Chinese. The Chinese who cook it don't eat it, and that should tell you something.

Chinese restaurants in San Francisco are full of Chinese people happily chowing down. There are lots of terrible Chinese restaurants in the U.S., but big cities tend to have lots of great ones.

You don't get my meaning, I lived in San Francisco area for 25 years. Most Chinatown places have both real Chinese food and American Chinese food. The bigger ones have separate chefs in the same restaurant for the American/tourist menu. Guess what the better Chinese chefs are cooking? The better places in the Richmond district for example don't even offer Americanized Chinese food. Specifically, the classic American Chinese dishes such as sweet and sour pork, Americanized fried rice, chicken wings, egg foo yung, chicken chop suey are not eaten by any self respecting Chinese Americans unless they are so assimilated you can really forget the Chinese part of that appellation. They have books for the cooks for this which for Chinese expat chefs, they must learn from scratch. The recipes are not Chinese food. They are for Americans. Notice what the STAFF eats at such places.

That said, there are some Americanized dishes, such as beef with western broccoli that are so close in taste to authentic Chinese that a person with a Chinese palate could love that too.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

The food you are talking about is nothing like the food served in China, so I consider it to be most delicious, but not authentic Chinese food.

Chinese Americans all talk about how lousy the food is in China, but it seems to be getting better as they raid the food stocks overseas - more and more - and prices go up all over the world.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[tigerbeer]

i used to enjoy the occasional Chinese food in and around the bigger cities in USA. Huge servings as well

and to the OP, i still have no idea where you get Western style Chinese food while travelling in mainland china and taiwan. Western style chinese food would more obviously mean (to me) the kind of good you get in chinatown in western countries such as USA, Canada and perhaps parts of Europe.

[Tywais]

and to the OP, i still have no idea where you get Western style Chinese food while travelling in mainland china and taiwan.

Still hoping the OP will come back and clarify if he meant Western style Chinese or Western China style Chinese restaurants .

[sylviex]

So am I, Tywais.

Perhaps he gave up and went to McDonald's .

I fear he might have felt people were making fun of him, though that was not the intention. Either that or he just decided there was no chance of an intelligent reply here .

Please come back, Richard, and tell us what kind of Chinese restaurant you seek. There are others who'd be interested in recommendations for either kind in CM. We will do our best to help. (Makes me think of those signs you used to see in shops with a picture of an assortment of dim, incompetent looking individuals and a caption stating "Our willing and capable staff are eagerly waiting to serve you.") We may not be the sharpest chopsticks in the rack, but we will try to help.

Edited July 6, 2008 by sylviex

[Crow Boy]

Oh, look it was a pretty self-explanatory question. If you dont know what western style chinese food is, then I can only assume you have not travelled through China or even Taiwan for that matter. Also, leave the personal attacks out huh...

Often what is explanatory to self is not to others.

You are under the mistaken belief that I have not traveled through China. You are also mistaken in you think I have not eaten authentic Chinese food unlike the adulterated variation served up to people who believe they are eating the real deal. Still if it suits your taste then so be it.

Having additional information that what you are looking for is Chinese food that has been modified to suit western tastes and local ingredients makes it more understandable except for one thing, why?

CB

[slapout]

The turtle soup I was served in Wuhan was delicious. Never saw anything similiar here in Thailand or the so called western chinese resturants of the US. I am with CB on this, Why?

[earlofwindermere]

Here are my favourite Chinese places in Chiang Mai. As the OP requests, these are the most Western that I've found. However; they are not what you'd find back home...

1. The Chinese Restaurant at the Holiday Inn.

It is usually very quiet. The food tastes very similiar to what I eat back home at Chinese restaurants. Decor and utensils are what you'd find in a restaurant in China.

2. The Duangtawan Hotel.

They have a nice Chinese restaurant as well at the top of the hotel.

3. The Chinese Restaurant on the Superhighway

It's almost opposite of BUPA in a Chinese-style shopping market. The market is slightly behind a main row a buildings. The easiest way to find it is to look for a green sign that looks like Starbucks but is not. (I tried going last week and the restaurant was closed. I'm not sure if it was just for the day or permanently).

I've tried a lot of other Chinese restaurants in town but find the dishes to be pretty much the same as what I find at a regualr Thai restaurant. City Shark Fin restaurant on Sridonchai is an example of this. It looks Chinese but the food is very much Thai-style.

My version of "Western Chinese" is the familiar dishes such as beef with brocolli, etc. However; the biggest thing for me is when I order sweet and sour pork, it's pork in sweet in sour sauce. (Rather than the Thai dishes which has 3-4 pieces of pork with the rest of the plate being filled with vegetables).

Edited July 6, 2008 by earlofwindermere

[richoz]

Here are my favourite Chinese places in Chiang Mai. As the OP requests, these are the most Western that I've found. However; they are not what you'd find back home...

1. The Chinese Restaurant at the Holiday Inn.

It is usually very quiet. The food tastes very similiar to what I eat back home at Chinese restaurants. Decor and utensils are what you'd find in a restaurant in China.

2. The Duangtawan Hotel.

They have a nice Chinese restaurant as well at the top of the hotel.

3. The Chinese Restaurant on the Superhighway

It's almost opposite of BUPA in a Chinese-style shopping market. The market is slightly behind a main row a buildings. The easiest way to find it is to look for a green sign that looks like Starbucks but is not. (I tried going last week and the restaurant was closed. I'm not sure if it was just for the day or permanently).

I've tried a lot of other Chinese restaurants in town but find the dishes to be pretty much the same as what I find at a regualr Thai restaurant. City Shark Fin restaurant on Sridonchai is an example of this. It looks Chinese but the food is very much Thai-style.

My version of "Western Chinese" is the familiar dishes such as beef with brocolli, etc. However; the biggest thing for me is when I order sweet and sour pork, it's pork in sweet in sour sauce. (Rather than the Thai dishes which has 3-4 pieces of pork with the rest of the plate being filled with vegetables).

Thanks for the info. I will definately check those out - appreciate it.

Regards

RM

[cmsally]

Jeea Tong Heng - almost opposite CM Plaza Hotel & Whole Earth Restaurant

A small restaurant on the way to Chiang Mai Arcade bus station (Kaew Nawarat Rd.) on right side heading out before bus station turning - sells DimSum and supplies some of the hotels.

There used to be a Yunnanese restaurant around the back of Chiang Moi Road, but not sure if its still there. Could try asking in Kasem Store , they will know.

I think it is also a Yunnanese restaurant on Rachamankha Rd on opposite side to Chi. medicine store a bit further up heading west.

If that fails you can buy some sarapao at the shop on Charoen Muang Rd just over Nawarat bridge.

PS There are also 2 big Chinese restaurants in Chiang Mai Land where a lot of tour groups go, presumably Chinese tour groups.

[richoz]

Jeea Tong Heng - almost opposite CM Plaza Hotel & Whole Earth Restaurant

A small restaurant on the way to Chiang Mai Arcade bus station (Kaew Nawarat Rd.) on right side heading out before bus station turning - sells DimSum and supplies some of the hotels.

There used to be a Yunnanese restaurant around the back of Chiang Moi Road, but not sure if its still there. Could try asking in Kasem Store , they will know.

I think it is also a Yunnanese restaurant on Rachamankha Rd on opposite side to Chi. medicine store a bit further up heading west.

If that fails you can buy some sarapao at the shop on Charoen Muang Rd just over Nawarat bridge.

PS There are also 2 big Chinese restaurants in Chiang Mai Land where a lot of tour groups go, presumably Chinese tour groups.

Thanks to you too, appreciate the recommendation.