Review - Jia Tong Heng Restaurant

[chuang]

I would be worry if it's Downtown Inn...

[LarryBird]

Sorry about your bad luck BenCM. I think food poisoning is more chance than anything. If people stopped eating where there was an incident of food poisoning then probably most restaurants would be closed. It happens in the cleanest of places. I've only had excellent experiences in Jia Tong Heng restaurant. I'm sure I'll eat there again some day.

What?

Where do you think food poisoning happens more, at a clean restaurant, or a dirty one? I don't think I ever had food poisoning before I came to Thailand, and I've gotten it probably 15-20 times here.

- Yes , it can happen everywhere, but it's going to happen some places A LOT more than others due to cleanliness, etc.

[richard10365]

Jia Tong Heang restaurant is one of the cleanest restaurants in Chiang Mai. Just because someone got food poisoning symptoms after eating there does not mean they got it there. Maybe they forgot to wash their hands before they ate and that is how to they got it.

Sent from my SM-P601 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[quidnunc]

Sorry about your bad luck BenCM. I think food poisoning is more chance than anything. If people stopped eating where there was an incident of food poisoning then probably most restaurants would be closed. It happens in the cleanest of places. I've only had excellent experiences in Jia Tong Heng restaurant. I'm sure I'll eat there again some day.

What?

Where do you think food poisoning happens more, at a clean restaurant, or a dirty one? I don't think I ever had food poisoning before I came to Thailand, and I've gotten it probably 15-20 times here.

- Yes , it can happen everywhere, but it's going to happen some places A LOT more than others due to cleanliness, etc.

But you haven't established that it happens a lot - or even at all - at Jia Tong Heng.

[LarryBird]

That's my point. Food poisoning happens some places more often than it happens at others. I can't comment on the statistics at Jia. It definitely strikes me as clean and well run. I've eaten there a handful of times.

[quidnunc]

That's my point. Food poisoning happens some places more often than it happens at others. I can't comment on the statistics at Jia. It definitely strikes me as clean and well run. I've eaten there a handful of times.

Sorry, I confused you with BenCM. Your point was a good mine. My point was pointless.

[philw]

We eat there regularly, it is good value and very clean.

The food is excellent and management don't make any fuss if you bring your own booze.

Over the years I have eaten there scores, if not hundreds of times.

Given that it is always pretty busy, it is obviously well regarded by Thai people.

Food poisoning can happen at any restaurant, anywhere in Asia.

Sh1t happens, get over it.

Bear in mind that your posts would be deleted if you were referring to an advertiser on this forum.........

[lawrence1366]

Hahahah I was surprised too at the cost of the fish On the menu it says like a typical chinese restauant by weight and I figured it will be in the range of 800-1500 baht for the fish alone. But when it came ja it was a grouper maybe a cheaper cousin but it is :-) Maybe thanks to the hoards of tour groups upstairs which was packed ...they got a bulk discount :-)

I prefer the one next to the Night bazaar. Have not tried the new branch though heard it's not as good but will give it a try when I'm back home next trip.

Btw, are you from Singapore? Just curious since you compared it with Singapore and Hong Kong. I'm from Singapore.

[LarryBird]

The best Chinese food in Chiangmai is now at the Shangri La.

[mallmagician]

At this place I had the worst experience in a restaurant ever.

Called ahead to get the Peking duck. Explained I wanted the meat shredded with the pancakes.

Arrived and reminded 3 different people about how we wanted it. Paid a fortune for it. And we ended up with square skin pieces, pancakes, sauce and the rest of the duck..... God knows. All we received were some fried bone bits heavily fried in garlic and basil.

Tried to sort it. And received the typical excuses and the fact that if I refused to pay it would be taken out of the waiters pack package. I said ok, not my problem how they treat the staff. Then they refused to do anything.

Never again.

Lovely place. Most dishes are lovely. But if you want duck, forget it. If you want service, forget it. Utter shit.

[sandmonster]

The best Chinese food in Chiangmai is now at the Shangri La.

I wonder what standard 'best' is in CM . Finding authentic chinese food ( any of canto, fujian, eastern, shanghai, northern, western styles ) is like a search for the Holy Grail and discovering yet another poor chinese knock off each time lol. Maybe I will give Shangri La a try. Any idea if the chef is actually an experienced chinese chef who hasn't been ordered to add Thainess to it, or a Thai chef sent to HK/China for a few months training ?.

A Thai friend of mine is a manageress at a mid range boutique hotel here. They are always packed with middle class chinese families and young professionals. She was asked by the tour company to recommend a chinese resto for a big group. She recommended Jia Tong Heng near the Lanna Hospital based on its reputation. But the poor girl was left with total loss of face and blamed by the tour company boss. The chinese diners basically said what the heck is this...its not chinese food of any region. Anyway... I did warn her I hadn't eaten anything that close to authentic chinese food in town.. well not one that would be acceptable to a chinese palate. Maybe to most falang I'm sure its decent chinese fare. All look the same right lol.. maybe taste the same too .

[Ulysses G.]

[Maybe to most falang I'm sure its decent chinese fare. All look the same right lol.. maybe taste the same too .

None of it compares to the Chinese food I've had in Singapore or San Francisco. That's all that I know.

[whatsupdoc]

At this place I had the worst experience in a restaurant ever.

Called ahead to get the Peking duck. Explained I wanted the meat shredded with the pancakes.

Arrived and reminded 3 different people about how we wanted it. Paid a fortune for it. And we ended up with square skin pieces, pancakes, sauce and the rest of the duck..... God knows. All we received were some fried bone bits heavily fried in garlic and basil.

Tried to sort it. And received the typical excuses and the fact that if I refused to pay it would be taken out of the waiters pack package. I said ok, not my problem how they treat the staff. Then they refused to do anything.

Never again.

Lovely place. Most dishes are lovely. But if you want duck, forget it. If you want service, forget it. Utter shit.

Is it me? or did you just get what you normally get when you order Peking Duck? I guess you made a very unusual request, not in line with what Peking Duck should be. A self respecting restaurant might decline such a request or they just did not understand you.

Peking Duck is one of my favorite dishes at Jia Tong Heng. I've had it many times and never any complaints. On top of that, you say you paid a fortune for it, I would think the price is very reasonable. Can you tell me any other restaurant that serves proper Peking Duck and charges less for it??

Edited February 18, 2014 by whatsupdoc

[mallmagician]

At this place I had the worst experience in a restaurant ever.

Called ahead to get the Peking duck. Explained I wanted the meat shredded with the pancakes.

Arrived and reminded 3 different people about how we wanted it. Paid a fortune for it. And we ended up with square skin pieces, pancakes, sauce and the rest of the duck..... God knows. All we received were some fried bone bits heavily fried in garlic and basil.

Tried to sort it. And received the typical excuses and the fact that if I refused to pay it would be taken out of the waiters pack package. I said ok, not my problem how they treat the staff. Then they refused to do anything.

Never again.

Lovely place. Most dishes are lovely. But if you want duck, forget it. If you want service, forget it. Utter shit.

Is it me? or did you just get what you normally get when you order Peking Duck? It sounds to me like ordering a burger and have the meat shredded with the bun.... I wouldn't expect the burger joint to comply with such a request.

Peking Duck is one of my favorite dishes at Jia Tong Heng. I've had it many times and never any complaints. On top of that, you say you paid a fortune for it, I would think the price is very reasonable. Can you tell me any other restaurant that serves proper Peking Duck and charges less for it??

I paid for a full duck. And got a pile of bones fried. No meat!!

I had specifically requested that they serve us the roasted duck meat with the pancake stuff etc. we got no meat!

I had my wife call ahead to ask them if they can do that. They said yes. (I had two weeks earlier ordered it from the menu and got the pile of bones, to which they replied that's how they usually serve it. With guests with me the second time, I really wanted the lovely duck meat to put in the pancakes with everything else. Hence the phonecall to pre order it)

We told our waiting staff that we had called ahead, and explained once again that we do not want it how they usually serve it. We want the meat from the duck, not a plate of the bones. Ok. No problem.

When they served the pancakes and skin, we once again told them not to fry off the bones. Just bring us the duck meat, thanks.

They brought the bones!!

And just in case you're confused. Check out the serving section of Wikipedia entry for Peking duck....

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_duck

It is very common to have a choice of how the meat is prepared and served. So, in answer to your question, yes, it's just you. They did not serve what I ordered.

In your burger example- if I walked into mcdonalds and asked for them to shred my burger, they indeed may not want to comply. In which case I'm sure they'd say so before serving me a regular burger. See the difference? We went out of our way to explain very clearly what we wanted. They had the opportunity on the phone and at the restaurant to say no, they don't serve it like that, but they didn't. To repeat my original comment. Sh!t service. And emotional oh the waiter will get deducted bs.

Enjoy your skin and bones, but it's not for me.

I pay for a full duck, I want the full duck. I don't want just the bones leaving them the meat that I paid for to be used by the restaurant in other meals!!!

[mallmagician]

I have just reread my post. Perhaps it's not clear the bit where I said"and the rest of the duck....god knows". Ie. we didn't receive the rest of the duck.

Incidentally this is in the branch by tepanya hospital.

[Oscar2]

i can't recommend it either. my wife is Chinese Thai and she hated the food. we went once... it was really Thai food and too expensive for Thai food.

[junglechef]

Interesting that your Wikipedia link says "mostly skin and little meat", something I didn't know and perhaps a bit like what you got. Not that I'd be happy with what you got either and I also have have been subjected to some dubious practices there such as being charged for hand towels I didn't use or ask for. Overpriced for the bad service and nothing special and not traditional fare.

[LarryBird]

Maybe it's hard to find good Chinese food because Chinese food sucks.

Why are people so hellbent on the authenticity? When I eat food, I don't care what it's called, I care how it tastes. Call it crap on a shingle, if it tastes good, I'll eat it. I'll even give it a good review on ThaiVisa.

[sandmonster]

Maybe it's hard to find good Chinese food because Chinese food sucks.

Why are people so hellbent on the authenticity? When I eat food, I don't care what it's called, I care how it tastes. Call it crap on a shingle, if it tastes good, I'll eat it. I'll even give it a good review on ThaiVisa.

Its hard to find good chinese food in CM. Its not hard to find it in HK/Singapore, London, Toronto, SF etc.

Yes, unauthentic chinese, french, Italian food might taste OK to you, but to me it sucks because thats not what I paid for.

When I want a decent pizza, the Thai version just wont do if its advertised as Italian. But I guess you are happy to pay a big price for a OK taste Thai style pizza rather than something like you would get in Bologna ?

I guess some just have a more sophisticated palate than accepting crap on shingle as Beijing Duck. Probably why you think chinese food sucks :0. lol

[Ulysses G.]

Maybe it's hard to find good Chinese food because Chinese food sucks.

Why are people so hellbent on the authenticity? When I eat food, I don't care what it's called, I care how it tastes. Call it crap on a shingle, if it tastes good, I'll eat it. I'll even give it a good review on ThaiVisa.

Some of the Japanese and Italian places here seems pretty authentic to me and a few other places are good for what they are. Foreign restaurants in Chiang Mai are leaps ahead of what they were when I first got here, but, with a few exceptions, none of them are what I would call excellent.

Beggars can't be choosers. We can't be that picky here when it come to foreign food.

[elektrified]

I would also give a thumbs down to this place. Looks nice when you walk in. But the food....extremely disappointing. Not Chinese at all.

Like has been said before, if someone where to open a really great Cantonese restaurant in C.M., with real Chinese chefs, they would make a bloody fortune.

[Loaded]

I would also give a thumbs down to this place. Looks nice when you walk in. But the food....extremely disappointing. Not Chinese at all.

Like has been said before, if someone where to open a really great Cantonese restaurant in C.M., with real Chinese chefs, they would make a bloody fortune.

Jia Tong Heng has made a 'bloody fortune' over the last 50 years. If the food was disappointing, it's strange that the place is regularly packed with Thais, Chinese and other Asians. In every location they've had, the place has been packed.

To the comments about not being 'authentic' or delicious, the evidence shows that you are wrong. Maybe the TV food 'connoisseurs' should realise they don't know what they are talking about.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Loaded

[junglechef]

Just because people spend thier money, or others like tour operators do, doesn't make it authentic nor good. Many people enjoy a meal at McDonalds, and I believe they've made a fortune, but I nor I would guess not many of the other TV connoisseurs would say it's delicious. I actually have been amazed at many times I've been served some pretty mediocre Thai food here in restaurants that are full of Thais happily tucking and I imagine having no qualms about the check-bin. Is everyone a gourmet? Of course not. What's important is that people enjoy a meal (and to the restaurants they have good business) but I wouldn't recommend a place on thier profitability nor the opinion of the masses.

[Loaded]

Just because people spend thier money, or others like tour operators do, doesn't make it authentic nor good. Many people enjoy a meal at McDonalds, and I believe they've made a fortune, but I nor I would guess not many of the other TV connoisseurs would say it's delicious. I actually have been amazed at many times I've been served some pretty mediocre Thai food here in restaurants that are full of Thais happily tucking and I imagine having no qualms about the check-bin. Is everyone a gourmet? Of course not. What's important is that people enjoy a meal (and to the restaurants they have good business) but I wouldn't recommend a place on thier profitability nor the opinion of the masses.

McDonalds is full in the West because it's cheap food made with lots of addictive additives such as salt and sugar. Many of the customers have few alternatives to that type of food. GTH is expensive and there are many alternatives.

I would recommend a place based on it's popularity over a sustained period of time (unless it's trash food such as McDs).

I'm not a TV food connoisseur, but an argument based on a comparison between McDs and GTH to prove a point is desperate.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Loaded

[Ulysses G.]

McDonald's is so successful because it tastes good and it is inexpensive. It is not because people are "addicted" to it or they would eat something just as unhealthy somewhere else. It is not like there is a shortage of junk food in most countries these days - including Thailand. Of course it is not healthy food and people should control how much they consume, but it sure tastes good from time to time.

[Loaded]

For the 'food experts' posting that the food isn't authentic:

Do the TV food connoisseurs realise that authentic Chinese food doesn't exist. Look at a map and you'll see that this massive country is comprised of many regions. These regions have their own style of cooking food that often reflects the people, history, culture and environment of that region. When you post I suggest include the regional cooking you are comparing GTH to and add some reasons why it isn't authentic. This helps win an argument. it might even convince me.

One of them posted here that his Peking Duck wasn't the same as back home from his - I guess - local Chinese restaurant and therefore wasn't 'authentic'. Then, someone else pointed out that authentic Peking Duck was what he was actually served at GTH. He also became upset at the restaurant when his description to non-English speaking staff of a version of this dish they wouldn't recognize and have never served wasn't understood.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Loaded

[LarryBird]

I'm addicted to McDonald's once a month.

[sandmonster]

For the 'food experts' posting that the food isn't authentic:

Do the TV food connoisseurs realise that authentic Chinese food doesn't exist. Look at a map and you'll see that this massive country is comprised of many regions. These regions have their own style of cooking food that often reflects the people, history, culture and environment of that region. When you post I suggest include the regional cooking you are comparing GTH to and add some reasons why it isn't authentic. This helps win an argument. it might even convince me.

I don't think you are telling anyone anything they are not already aware of. I even said in my post JTH isn't close to any of regional styles I listed :0

Apparently GTH is influenced by Teochew , but it would seem bastardised over the years to suit the Thai palate, or/and due lack of authentic or fresh ingredients. But they will also do their own version of other regional specialities which will lack authenticity due to lack of regional chef I would suggest, and further localised. Hence why so many diners, both ferang and chinese tourists cannot recognise it as any style of chinese... many justifiably saying its closer to Thai.

Noone is saying its not tasty in its own right. But to pay big bucks for a poor imitation leaves one disappointed if one much prefers the real thing and expected similar, especially as its not that hard to find good and authentic chinese food of most styles around the world where there is a chinese diaspora. This is especially true of Cantonese.

My Thai hotel manageress friend has learnt her lesson and no longer recommends CM chinese food to chinese tour groups lol. She tells them to wait till they get back home next week. Similarly I am sure taking a group of Brits to eat Fish n Chips at Rimping might illicit a poor response. Its OK I guess if you are desperate for fish&chips but surely you would be disappointed to be told its the best fish & chips in CM.

However there are authentic japanese and Italian places around.

Edited February 22, 2014 by sandmonster

[junglechef]

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Just because people spend thier money, or others like tour operators do, doesn't make it authentic nor good. Many people enjoy a meal at McDonalds, and I believe they've made a fortune, but I nor I would guess not many of the other TV connoisseurs would say it's delicious. I actually have been amazed at many times I've been served some pretty mediocre Thai food here in restaurants that are full of Thais happily tucking and I imagine having no qualms about the check-bin. Is everyone a gourmet? Of course not. What's important is that people enjoy a meal (and to the restaurants they have good business) but I wouldn't recommend a place on thier profitability nor the opinion of the masses.

McDonalds is full in the West because it's cheap food made with lots of addictive additives such as salt and sugar. Many of the customers have few alternatives to that type of food. GTH is expensive and there are many alternatives.

I would recommend a place based on it's popularity over a sustained period of time (unless it's trash food such as McDs).

I'm not a TV food connoisseur, but an argument based on a comparison between McDs and GTH to prove a point is desperate.

Sorry to use your own argument of price and popularity ("Jia Tong Heng has made a 'bloody fortune' over the last 50 years. If the food was disappointing, it's strange that the place is regularly packed with Thais, Chinese and other Asians. In every location they've had, the place has been packed."). I guess in this case what's good for the Peking drake ISN"T good for the Peking duck!

[quidnunc]

I would also give a thumbs down to this place. Looks nice when you walk in. But the food....extremely disappointing. Not Chinese at all.

Like has been said before, if someone where to open a really great Cantonese restaurant in C.M., with real Chinese chefs, they would make a bloody fortune.

Lawrence Chee, who started this thread and seems to know quite a bit about Chinese food, identified this cuisine as being from Teochew. So it may be obscure, but it's certainly Chinese. It certainly isn't Thai, except for a few dishes expressly aimed at Thai people.