Western Style Chinese Food

[true blue]

soi 5 nimman is a szchensuan Chinese restaurant,been once food nice but not a lot on your plate,got the impression they don't see many farangs eating in there.

[sandyf]

Ha! If you like Western style "Chinese" food. God! Where are your taste buds? Once you've had the the real thing - and I'm not talking about gizzards and chicken feet and shark fins - I'm talking about quality REAL Chinese food, you'd never go back to that pretend junk.

I always thought I liked Chinese food, until I went to China.

[sharktooth]

Ha! If you like Western style "Chinese" food. God! Where are your taste buds? Once you've had the the real thing - and I'm not talking about gizzards and chicken feet and shark fins - I'm talking about quality REAL Chinese food, you'd never go back to that pretend junk.

I always thought I liked Chinese food, until I went to China.

Very true. Some of the muck my Chinese colleagues used to order up was vomitisingly bad. But it's also very regional and varies hugely. I tried to order food in Cantonese in a Chinese restaurant back in the U.K once and the waitress replied in a thick Scottish accent "ah dinnae ken that language pal, ahm fae Paisley". Edited May 6, 2015 by sharktooth

[Phrafarang]

yes, it is a bit sad when we British have to teach other cultures how to cook their national dishes properly, not just the Chinese and Indians but the French and Italians too :-) :-)

[mr chow]

An American/Chinese would never make it here. reasons:

Basically only Americans know what it is!

People are too cheap here and they would compare it to the price of local Thai food. UNLESS YOUR DUKE'S. very few question his prices.

that wasn't the question. the question is does a restaurant like that exist here

daaah, no! I thought that was established by the op.

[elektrified]

Wouw what a lot of useful reply's again !!

Shang Hai Lo does a good job with European styled Chinese food.

Located on Mahidon Rd. just a few hundred meters over the bridge driving west towards the airport.

Hong Kong noodles on Chiang Mai land is not bad also.

Good luck.

Tried 'em both. Thought they were more Thai than Chinese. Anyone looking for Cantonese type food will be disappointed at both.

Shang Hai Lo...."European styled Chinese food"????

[Ulysses G.]

Tried 'em both. Thought they were more Thai than Chinese. Anyone looking for Cantonese type food will be disappointed at both.

Thanks. That is what I was afraid of.

[northernjohn]

Any one know where I can get a Chinese style Hamburger?

[sandyf]

Ha! If you like Western style "Chinese" food. God! Where are your taste buds? Once you've had the the real thing - and I'm not talking about gizzards and chicken feet and shark fins - I'm talking about quality REAL Chinese food, you'd never go back to that pretend junk.

I always thought I liked Chinese food, until I went to China.

i don't understand your post

I went to Guangzhou so things may be different in other parts of China, I was really disappointed in the food.

The first day we went to a high street restaurant that looked like a chain, a bit like a KFC. The menu had a bit of English and I opted for what was described as pork stew. I do not know what kind of pork. it was like pieces of finger bone with a film of meat around them. I do not know where you get small round bones on a pig, could have been cats legs. The sauce was quite nice and I just put that over the rock hard rice.

The next time we went to a more upmarket restaurant, tablecloths and wine glasses on the table, but no English on the menu. My wife's niece was just starting uni, that is why we were there,and had small amount of Chinese. She asked about what was on the blackboard and after some discussion came to the conclusion it was chicken. Wrong, it was pigs intestines, apparently a local delicacy. Again the rice was like quick set cement.

We were in an apartment with a small kitchen so we decided to eat in in the evening. We had lunch during the day but found somewhere we could see what we were going to get, usually something like off the street here in Thailand and tried to get noodles rather than rice.

My wife wants to go back but I am not keen on the idea. One thing now is that the niece after 18 months is a lot more fluent in Chinese. As a medical student it is part of the studies. We found out later that the word for chicken and pigs intestines is very similar.

In a nutshell, there is a vast difference between western style Chinese food and what is served up in China.

[sharktooth]

Ha! If you like Western style "Chinese" food. God! Where are your taste buds? Once you've had the the real thing - and I'm not talking about gizzards and chicken feet and shark fins - I'm talking about quality REAL Chinese food, you'd never go back to that pretend junk.

I always thought I liked Chinese food, until I went to China.

i don't understand your post

I went to Guangzhou so things may be different in other parts of China, I was really disappointed in the food.

The first day we went to a high street restaurant that looked like a chain, a bit like a KFC. The menu had a bit of English and I opted for what was described as pork stew. I do not know what kind of pork. it was like pieces of finger bone with a film of meat around them. I do not know where you get small round bones on a pig, could have been cats legs. The sauce was quite nice and I just put that over the rock hard rice.

The next time we went to a more upmarket restaurant, tablecloths and wine glasses on the table, but no English on the menu. My wife's niece was just starting uni, that is why we were there,and had small amount of Chinese. She asked about what was on the blackboard and after some discussion came to the conclusion it was chicken. Wrong, it was pigs intestines, apparently a local delicacy. Again the rice was like quick set cement.

We were in an apartment with a small kitchen so we decided to eat in in the evening. We had lunch during the day but found somewhere we could see what we were going to get, usually something like off the street here in Thailand and tried to get noodles rather than rice.

My wife wants to go back but I am not keen on the idea. One thing now is that the niece after 18 months is a lot more fluent in Chinese. As a medical student it is part of the studies. We found out later that the word for chicken and pigs intestines is very similar.

In a nutshell, there is a vast difference between western style Chinese food and what is served up in China.

When in doubt, flap your arms around shouting "cluck cluck cluck, cock a doodle doo." Trust me, they won't mistake that for pigs guts.

[sandyf]

I always thought I liked Chinese food, until I went to China.

i don't understand your post

I went to Guangzhou so things may be different in other parts of China, I was really disappointed in the food.

The first day we went to a high street restaurant that looked like a chain, a bit like a KFC. The menu had a bit of English and I opted for what was described as pork stew. I do not know what kind of pork. it was like pieces of finger bone with a film of meat around them. I do not know where you get small round bones on a pig, could have been cats legs. The sauce was quite nice and I just put that over the rock hard rice.

The next time we went to a more upmarket restaurant, tablecloths and wine glasses on the table, but no English on the menu. My wife's niece was just starting uni, that is why we were there,and had small amount of Chinese. She asked about what was on the blackboard and after some discussion came to the conclusion it was chicken. Wrong, it was pigs intestines, apparently a local delicacy. Again the rice was like quick set cement.

We were in an apartment with a small kitchen so we decided to eat in in the evening. We had lunch during the day but found somewhere we could see what we were going to get, usually something like off the street here in Thailand and tried to get noodles rather than rice.

My wife wants to go back but I am not keen on the idea. One thing now is that the niece after 18 months is a lot more fluent in Chinese. As a medical student it is part of the studies. We found out later that the word for chicken and pigs intestines is very similar.

In a nutshell, there is a vast difference between western style Chinese food and what is served up in China.

When in doubt, flap your arms around shouting "cluck cluck cluck, cock a doodle doo." Trust me, they won't mistake that for pigs guts.

Good one, that's my kind of language. Unfortunately the niece was trying to communicate with the natives.

[worgeordie]

American Chinese food,is different from British Chinese food,the Chinese restaurants

I went into in The US ,everyone seemed to be ordering sizzling fillet steaks and Kung Pow

chicken,my friend went to the Dr. complaining about constipation, the Dr advise was get

a dish from the local Chinese take away,that will loosen you up by the morning.

Curry Nights do a Chinese chicken curry,which is very good,99 THB at RimPing,

regards Worgeordie

[chingmai331]

Traditional Chinese cooking uses very little beef meat. For an authentic northern Chinese 'burger' only the donkey burger will do. And will do well, IMO. So called French Fries also unknown in old china, folks eating 'man tou' usually, other starchies. Some restaurants do offer sliver sliced potatoes stirred fried with vinegar sauce. Nice.

I have never known any cuisine so imaginative, varied and tasty as i had over 10 years in China.

[sandmonster]

To answer my own question, i just found a review of this place, Hong Kong Lucky cafe, in this months Citylife. Its trip adviser reviews say it's a great place and one reviewer thinks its as good as the Chinese food he has had in Frisco. Has anyone tried it yet and is it worth the trip?

I went once out of curiosity to see if the BBQ meat was really up to HK standards. Because nothing in CM really is. This is what I found

1. Char Sui BBQ pork and Roast Duck way better than anything a Thai chinese can do in CM, but not as good as say an average London Chinatown place, or anywhere in HK. The char sui was very nice. Decent size portion, not your usual Thai kiddy size.

2. All waitresses were mainland chinese, mandarin speakers. Spoke a bit of english and not much Thai

3. All customers when I went were mainland chinese tourists, mandarin speakers. Very loud. No locals or ferang

4. The boss looks chinese Thai

5. All chefs are young mandarin speakers ( u can see open kitchen and hear them ). I suggest not cantonese hence food is like mainland chef cooking HK cuisine.

6. The prices are 20% more than similar cafe in HK. Maybe 3x price of Thai food places but comparable to upper end Thai chinese food

7. What really put me off was seeing them use frozen ARO catering for what looked like a Har Kau prawn dumplings.

8. The egg noodles were better than the eggy thick Thai variety, not really HK very thin al dente like. The wanton were not the usual thin Thai variety. More chunky and meaty but still lacks enough prawn like a proper HK wanton.

Nice try, and I would only go again for the roasts, but tbh, I'd rather pay 33% and have the Thai chinese version. The rest of the menu I didn't try but the chefs looked slow and inexperienced and the ARO catering suggests the rest of the menu wont be worth trying.

[elektrified]

To answer my own question, i just found a review of this place, Hong Kong Lucky cafe, in this months Citylife. Its trip adviser reviews say it's a great place and one reviewer thinks its as good as the Chinese food he has had in Frisco. Has anyone tried it yet and is it worth the trip?

I went once out of curiosity to see if the BBQ meat was really up to HK standards. Because nothing in CM really is. This is what I found

2. All waitresses were mainland chinese, mandarin speakers. Spoke a bit of english and not much Thai

Can Chinese get WP's to work as waitresses here?

[sandmonster]

To answer my own question, i just found a review of this place, Hong Kong Lucky cafe, in this months Citylife. Its trip adviser reviews say it's a great place and one reviewer thinks its as good as the Chinese food he has had in Frisco. Has anyone tried it yet and is it worth the trip?

I went once out of curiosity to see if the BBQ meat was really up to HK standards. Because nothing in CM really is. This is what I found

2. All waitresses were mainland chinese, mandarin speakers. Spoke a bit of english and not much Thai

Can Chinese get WP's to work as waitresses here?

They obviousy can now and the chefs too. 100% mainland chinese with 10 words of english & Thai between them.

[LawrenceChee]

Sorry guys welcome to China Mai soon although for good HK roasts maybe worth a few work permits

[junglechef]

To answer my own question, i just found a review of this place, Hong Kong Lucky cafe, in this months Citylife. Its trip adviser reviews say it's a great place and one reviewer thinks its as good as the Chinese food he has had in Frisco. Has anyone tried it yet and is it worth the trip?

I like Hong Kong Lucky, I rec. worth a visit and I'll return for another.

Same goes for Shiang Hai'lo for certin dishes.

Wouldn't consider either American Style Western Chineses

As for Chiang Mai Foodies on Facebook, I'm the admin and welcome you to join (just pls leave the TV attitude here - I do )

[khwaibah]

Hear you go...

[Konini]

My favorite was always number 17 with chips, not rice.

What is it about chips from the Chinese? I love them.

[Guest siamjourney]

I haven't seen a restaurant in CM that serves anything close to a typical Chinese restaurant in the States. A typical menu looks like this:

http://www.chinacafeusa.com/catalog/alldishes.aspx

I finally decided to cook the dishes myself. I've made a decent General Tso's chicken and Beef Chow Fun so far. Next up I'm going to try Pork Lo Mein, Cold Sesame Noodles, and some Honey Spare Ribs.

All the recipes are available online. Some are obviously better than others so take some time to compare them. All the ingredients are easily available in CM. All the cooking techniques are virtually identical to Thai methods. The biggest hassle is prep time. If you have a restaurant that cooks these dishes all the time you've usually got most of the ingredients ready to cook in minutes. When you're doing just one dish at home you need to spend quite some time preparing minced garlic, onions and whatever. Then the cooking time is just a few minutes.

[HooHaa]

In Bkk with the FORTUNE COOKIE is what I have heard and long for as well.......just have to make do with memories I guess....or start eating chicken feet....with fish head.......

fortune cookie in bangkok is simply vile.

[sharktooth]

Despite working in China for four years, the BEST soft shell crabs I ever had were in New York. And I'm British. Work that one out.

[Jingthing]

Despite working in China for four years, the BEST soft shell crabs I ever had were in New York. And I'm British. Work that one out.

Because you got the best ones in the world fresh from Chesapeake Bay, Maryland dude.

[sandmonster]

Despite working in China for four years, the BEST soft shell crabs I ever had were in New York. And I'm British. Work that one out.

I can't work it out. Is soft shell crab a well known china thing ? Despite living in HK for 9 years in the fishing town of Sai Kung, I never noticed much soft shell crab.

I would say HK has better seafood ( fresher, more variety and better prepared ) than the rest of China though for obvious reasons.

Edited May 9, 2015 by sandmonster

[TheFishman1]

I miss the pepper steak I use to eat it 2-3 times a week in the states with the bell pepper and the sauce that's about all I miss in the states Chinese Food go fig

[sharktooth]

Despite working in China for four years, the BEST soft shell crabs I ever had were in New York. And I'm British. Work that one out.

I can't work it out. Is soft shell crab a well known china thing ? Despite living in HK for 9 years in the fishing town of Sai Kung, I never noticed much soft shell crab.

I would say HK has better seafood ( fresher, more variety and better prepared ) than the rest of China though for obvious reasons.

You could be right about how Chinese Soft Shell crab is. I only know my Chinese colleagues used to like it when it was seasonal and it was them that took me to China Town in New York specifically to get the soft shell crabs.

On a side note. I was in Palawan years ago and there was a huge shipment of cyanide fished fresh fish all destined for Hong Kong, so I don't know if I'd be too keen on that. It may look good in the restaurant aquariums when you choose it, but it's not particularly environmentally friendly.

[FolkGuitar]

Beef with black bean sauce, Shrimp with Lobster sauce (same as Lobster Cantonese but made with shrimp,) Ma Pwo Tofu, Sweet and sour Pork or chicken... all of these are fast and easy to make, and the ingredients easily available here. 20-30 minutes prep time and 3-5 minutes cooking time. Just a wok and spatula needed. Easy to get good western-style Chinese food here.

[mudscrubber]

Beef with black bean sauce, Shrimp with Lobster sauce (same as Lobster Cantonese but made with shrimp,) Ma Pwo Tofu, Sweet and sour Pork or chicken... all of these are fast and easy to make, and the ingredients easily available here. 20-30 minutes prep time and 3-5 minutes cooking time. Just a wok and spatula needed. Easy to get good western-style Chinese food here.

Where did you find the black beans? I've been looking for years here and haven't found them. And just to forestall posters who volunteer that black beans are plentiful here...these are not the whole dried black beans. These beans are what remains of the soy bean after soy sauce is made.

[mudscrubber]

Ha! If you like Western style "Chinese" food. God! Where are your taste buds? Once you've had the the real thing - and I'm not talking about gizzards and chicken feet and shark fins - I'm talking about quality REAL Chinese food, you'd never go back to that pretend junk.

My cousin, who has lived in Beijing for about 15 years now, tells me that one of the latest food crazes in China is for American style Chinese food. Real old style like chop suey. One of the great things about the Chinese is that they tend not to be food snobs. As my cousin's husband says, "I'm Chinese. I'll eat anything."

Edited May 10, 2015 by mudscrubber