Western Style Chinese Restaurants

[HansBlinkers]

I there any western style Chinese restaurants in town? I know there's a nice Cantonese place down Nimmanhaemin way, but it's a bit expensive.

[gotlost]

Unfortunately no.

[SadieMBeagle]

I'm confused. What is a western-style Chinese restaurant? And how is it different than the Chinese restaurants here? I ask because Chinese food, by its definition, is not western at all. (This is not a troll or a flame, just an honest question from a confused person.)

[Beetlejuice]

I'm confused. What is a western-style Chinese restaurant? And how is it different than the Chinese restaurants here? I ask because Chinese food, by its definition, is not western at all. (This is not a troll or a flame, just an honest question from a confused person.)

The OP means Europeanised Chinese type restaurants.

I have never found any, the same also applies for Indian restaurants.

I`ve tried a few in the town and honestly speaking they were awful. 2 years ago I ate in an Indian restaurant, will not mention the name, and ended up with guts ache for the following 3 days.

I wouldn`t recommend eating at any of them.

[uptheos]

I'm confused. What is a western-style Chinese restaurant? And how is it different than the Chinese restaurants here? I ask because Chinese food, by its definition, is not western at all. (This is not a troll or a flame, just an honest question from a confused person.)

I think the OP refers to the Chinese restaurants and takeaways that we have (UK), where they order stuff like Sweet and Sour Prawn Balls, Beef Chop Suey, Chicken Chow Mein, Egg Fried Rice and some Spring Rolls. Its pseudo Chinese food.....and a steal at 45 quid for a takeaway!!

[meadish_sweetball]

I don't know what is meant exactly, but I assume 'adapted to Western tastes', the same as most Thai restaurants abroad adapt to their respective clientele, mostly for the worse, but with exceptions in larger Western cities. I haven't had Chinese in any other countries than Sweden, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia (and too few times outside of Thailand and Sweden to really have a fact-based opinion on those).

The Chinese food I've had here in Thailand tends to be tastier than that of your average Chinese restaurant in Sweden. The only thing that leaves something to be desired is the atmosphere.  If the run-of-the-mill Chinese restaurants in Sweden are anything to go by, the OP means rather mild food, and no fried insects, intestines or organs, etc. as you would otherwise find. There are a couple of upscale Chinese places in Sweden though, I used to frequent one in Malmö when I could afford it, and it was nothing short of amazing in terms of both taste and presentation.

[Thailand]

Western style is probably Chinese food adulterated to match some of the western palates.

Some years ago we went to the UK,my wife is Chinese, and some relatives took us to what they considered to be a good Chinese restaurant. The food by any standards was b-- awful and the price outrageous. Undeterred we later tried a takeaway from another shop, unfortunately worse. That was the last attempt at western Chinese food.

Our favourite in CH is the Holiday Inn Saturday Chinese buffet.Wide choice,generally good, and a reasonable price.

[uptheos]

I'm confused. What is a western-style Chinese restaurant? And how is it different than the Chinese restaurants here? I ask because Chinese food, by its definition, is not western at all. (This is not a troll or a flame, just an honest question from a confused person.)

The OP means Europeanised Chinese type restaurants.

I have never found any, the same also applies for Indian restaurants.

I`ve tried a few in the town and honestly speaking they were awful. 2 years ago I ate in an Indian restaurant, will not mention the name, and ended up with guts ache for the following 3 days.

I wouldn`t recommend eating at any of them.

There are NO good Indian restaurants in Chiang Mai and this is indisputable, cos I said so and I'm an authority.

There are Indian restaurants, but certainly no good ones!

[Jingthing]

No! Chinese are all over the world and they have adapted their cuisines based on both local tastes and ingredients. In that sense, American style Chinese food is as valid a "type" of Chinese food as Thai Chinese food (which of course is quite distinctive) or Hunan, Sechuan, Hakka, Cantonese, Mexican Chinese, Indian Chinese, Chinese Muslim, etc. etc. There is nothing "faux" about these different variations of a Chinese theme.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Jingthing

[HansBlinkers]

I'm confused. What is a western-style Chinese restaurant? And how is it different than the Chinese restaurants here? I ask because Chinese food, by its definition, is not western at all. (This is not a troll or a flame, just an honest question from a confused person.)

Chinese Restaurant/Take aways we get in the west are not authentic chinese food, it's Chinese Food made for the western palate. e.g Chicken Chow Main, Chop Sueys ect ect. The same goes for Thai restaurant in the west, if you think about it how many Thai's do you see eating Thai Green Curry?

[Thaihog]

There are a number of Chinese restaurants on Chang Klan Road in the vicinity of Chiang Mai Land.

Let us know if you find a UK style one

Cheers

[Ulysses G.]

There are plenty of good, authentic Chinese places in San Francisco with a few adapted dishes that have become Western favorites mixed in. They are usually filled with Chinese people, but other people like to eat there as well.

A lot of the Chinese food in Singapore is very similar - excluding a few dishes like General Pao's Chicken and such. My guess is that the OP is talking about this kind of Chinese food which many Westerners seem to miss.

[elektrified]

I've not found any good Chinese food in C.M. I've tried most of them and most have a kind of a Thai spin on Chinese cooking. Some are way over-priced.

I too wish there was a place where you could order Chicken Chow Main Cantonese style and other dishes like that, just like the Chinese in the USA and some European countries offer in their restaurants -- and most are quite cheap. I also miss the square containers that they pack the food in to go - usually filled to the brim and packed tight.

[SadieMBeagle]

Chinese Restaurant/Take aways we get in the west are not authentic chinese food, it's Chinese Food made for the western palate. e.g Chicken Chow Main, Chop Sueys ect ect. The same goes for Thai restaurant in the west, if you think about it how many Thai's do you see eating Thai Green Curry?

I have never heard anyone say that green curry is not a "real" Thai dish and, admittedly, I have no idea how many Thais are eating green curry when I see them eating. But it's on the menu at every restaurant I go to, along with fried rice and phad thai, which I always thought were "fake" Thai dishes, created by Thai restaurants in the west. Imagine my surprise when, not only are they on the menus here, they're also frequently eaten by Thais!

[el jefe]

No! Chinese are all over the world and they have adapted their cuisines based on both local tastes and ingredients. In that sense, American style Chinese food is as valid a "type" of Chinese food as Thai Chinese food (which of course is quite distinctive) or Hunan, Sechuan, Hakka, Cantonese, Mexican Chinese, Indian Chinese, Chinese Muslim, etc. etc. There is nothing "faux" about these different variations of a Chinese theme.

Sichuan, Cantonese, Dongbei, etc are all regional Chinese cuisines, as found in those parts of China. If a person of Chinese descent opens a restaurant in America and creates a dish like "Chop Suey" or "General Cho's Chicken", many people may like it, but it's not Chinese.

Gia Thong Heng at the eastern end of Sridonchoi Road does very good Cantonese dishes at reasonable prices. If you're looking for westernized Chinese food you may be disappointed. Take-away comes in plastic bags, not square cardboard containers.

[Jingthing]

The issue of whether Chinese variations developed by overseas Chinese are really Chinese food and deserve respect as regional Chinese cuisines is actually a visible issue in the foodie world. I am in the yes camp. You don't have to prefer Peruvian Chinese or Thai Chinese to Sechuan Chinese or Hakka Chinese (I don't either) to realize the outside Chinese border variations are indeed types of Chinese food.

Overseas Chinese by country wiki

海外華人/海外华人 or 外籍華人

Total population

40,000,000 (estimates)

Regions with significant populations

Majority population

Singapore 3,610,400 [7]

Christmas Island

Minority populations

Indonesia 7,776,000 [8]

Thailand 7,053,240 [9]

Malaysia 6,324,000 [10]

United States 3,858,000 [11]

Canada 1,318,000 [12]

Vietnam 1,309,000 [13]

Peru 1,300,000 [14]

Philippines 1,170,000 [15]

Myanmar 1,121,000 [16]

Australia 669,896 [17]

Japan 655,377 [18]

Russia 500,000 [19]

United Kingdom 400,000 [20]

Cambodia 355,000 [21]

France 233,000 [22]

India 196,000 [23]

Laos 190,000 [24]

United Arab Emirates 180,000 [25]

Brazil 156,000 [26]

New Zealand 147,570 [27]

Italy 144,885 [28]

Panama 135,000 [29]

Spain 134,022 [30]

Cuba 114,242 [31]

Netherlands 110,000 [32]

Germany 109,000 [33]

South Africa 108,000 [34]

Angola 100,000 [35]

Edited January 26, 2011 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

To answer the OP,one of Chiang Mai's most respected restaurant owners has been seriously considering opening a restaurant like this in Chiang Mai and there are several scattered around Thailand that have done well.

[mic6ard]

I wish that there are some here. Saw a prog on History channel on Chinese take aways. Make me want some. Really miss those paper boxes and fortune cookies!!!!! Finally found a place that has crab rangoon (you know those wontons with cream cheese and crab stick fiillings?), but it's a japanese place!!! So still searching...

[wjmark]

Menu like this?

Love them chicken balls, and dry breaded veal.

Dry beef chop suey. Sweet and sour ribs.

(I didn't know chickens had balls)

[uptheos]

Menu like this?

Love them chicken balls, and dry breaded veal.

Dry beef chop suey. Sweet and sour ribs.

(I didn't know chickens had balls)

Look at the price of just 'Plain Fried Rice' 6-75...is that dollars or pounds?

If dollars 205 Baht...if pounds 325 Baht! The price of a good Sunday roast, plus dessert at the Red Mango and 325 if you have a couple of drinks on top.

Edited January 27, 2011 by uptheos

[isanbirder]

The Chinese are canny people, and adapt their cuisine(s) to the taste of whichever country they happen to live in. If Americans think Chop Suey and Fortune Cookies are Chinese, very well... the Chinese will give it to them. That doesn't make American adaptations into Chinese food.

Indeed, as soon a someone starts talking about Chinese food, it either means they or their interlocutor do not know what it means. There are many different Chinese cuisines: Cantonese, which is fairly light and elegant; Fukien, which tends to be greasy; Pekinese, which is heavy on dumplings and wheat-based foods, Szechuan, which is hot, hot, hot etc. (excuse my old-fashioned nomenclature)

If you want Chinese food, so-called, which fits your national tastes, by all means have it, but don't pretend it's Chinese. The most genuine Chinese food I can remember in Chiangmai (and I had a Cantonese partner) was in a few unprepossessing restaurants opposite Kasem's, near Gad Luang.

[wjmark]

Look at the price of just 'Plain Fried Rice' 6-75...is that dollars or pounds?

dollars - 205 Baht

Edited January 27, 2011 by wjmark

[Jingthing]

American Chinese is as Chinese as Thai Chinese is. That's my point. Someone looking for Hakka cuisine for example, won't find it at a Thai Chinese or an American Chinese style food restaurant. They may indeed find it at an authentic Hakka food restaurant in Paris though. Some people in Thailand may enjoy finding American style Chinese in Thailand. What's the problem?

Edited January 27, 2011 by Jingthing

[WinnieTheKhwai]

When I go to Chinese restaurants, typically at weddings, the food is at least somewhat similar to Western Chinese food in the sense that 2 flavours that are common in Thai food are completely absent (spicy and soury), and that the food tends to be on the oily side.

To answer the OP's question, I'd give Mei Jian on Chiang Mai Land a try. It has a more diverse menu than Western Chinese places, but not the huge range you find at up-market Chinese restaurants. The suggestion of the Holiday Inn buffet was also solid I think.

Chinese Restaurant/Take aways we get in the west are not authentic chinese food, it's Chinese Food made for the western palate. e.g Chicken Chow Main, Chop Sueys ect ect. The same goes for Thai restaurant in the west, if you think about it how many Thai's do you see eating Thai Green Curry?

Of course Thais eat green curry. Almost every Khanom Jin stall has it (10 baht!), as does any bigger restaurant. It's also common buffets of all types. And there are heaps of green curry paste at every fresh market and supermarket. Surely all of that stuff must go somewhere, Mr. Blinkers.

But it's on the menu at every restaurant I go to, along with fried rice and phad thai, which I always thought were "fake" Thai dishes, created by Thai restaurants in the west. Imagine my surprise when, not only are they on the menus here, they're also frequently eaten by Thais!

But do you still consider American Fried Rice a fake? That's also quite common and popular with Thais, especially kids.

American Fried Rice is awesome! Especially for breakfast; it's like the 'American Breakfast' re-imagined in rice.

[el jefe]

The issue of whether Chinese variations developed by overseas Chinese are really Chinese food and deserve respect as regional Chinese cuisines is actually a visible issue in the foodie world. I am in the yes camp. You don't have to prefer Peruvian Chinese or Thai Chinese to Sechuan Chinese or Hakka Chinese (I don't either) to realize the outside Chinese border variations are indeed types of Chinese food.

By that logic, Pizza Company is an Italian restaurant.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The issue of whether Chinese variations developed by overseas Chinese are really Chinese food and deserve respect as regional Chinese cuisines is actually a visible issue in the foodie world. I am in the yes camp. You don't have to prefer Peruvian Chinese or Thai Chinese to Sechuan Chinese or Hakka Chinese (I don't either) to realize the outside Chinese border variations are indeed types of Chinese food.

By that logic, Pizza Company is an Italian restaurant.

Or American; Pizza these days is as much American as it is Italian. Especially the Pizza Company variety. So that's actually an interesting topic as well: How Thai restaurants (and fast food chains) adapt international cuisine to local Thai tastes. So that's how you end up with a Shrimp Tom Yam pizza.. But also other examples, of proper Italian restaurants (run by an Italian) still putting something on the menu like a spicy seafood pasta that's considerably spicier than you'd normally find in a pasta dish. Or German pork knuckle that comes with more Thai style dips, and other sour veg replacements for Sauerkraut.. Or Thai Suki type restaurants that don't have too much to do with the original.

It's only natural to adapt food, and kind of interesting too.

[isanbirder]

If it suits your taste, eat it. But that doesn't help OP to find what he wants.

[PlanetX]

youtube has a series called Cooking with Kai

I have made a few of the Western Chinese favorites (General Tso, Orange Chicken, etc) and they have turned out quite nice and I am by no means an accomplished chef

[isanbirder]

Most Western-adapted Chinese food is basically derived from Cantonese, as the more delicate tastes suit Western palates.

[Jingthing]

That isn't even true. An Americanized (and yes hot and spicy) version of Kung Pao chicken is a standard dish at Americanized Chinese restaurants. Not to mention hot and sour soup, ma po tofu, General Tso chicken, Mongolian beef, spicy Chinese chicken salad w/ peanut butter sauce, etc., all American Chinese classics. Some of those are much more Hunan/Sechuan derived than Cantonese. Piquant Americanized versions of black bean sauce dishes are also popular at Americanized Chinese restaurants; not sure of the specific Chinese provincial origin of that, can someone say?

There is one thing Americanized Chinese restauranteurs will tell you that American tastes require with their Chinese food, at that is LOTS OF SAUCE. Not that authentic provincial Chinese dishes don't sometimes have lots of sauce, but I think there is truth to that stereotype about American tastes.

At this stage in culinary evolution, the US is a hot and spicy food loving country and that applies to adapted Chinese food as well. Perhaps not at Thai or Mexican levels, but it ain't Sweden either.

British style Chinese food is likely somewhat different. Not all "Westernized" Chinese is the same in different western countries.

Kung Pao chicken, yes it's good ... yes it's spicy ... yes it's Americanized

Edited January 29, 2011 by Jingthing