I am discriminated against all the time in Chinese restaurants.

Or are they just being polite to the white guy?

Three examples:

I am sitting there with my Taiwanese wife, and the waiter very politely puts out a fork for me.

The other day I was meeting with a Taiwanese lady for lunch who asked if I wanted a fork. I answered after 12 years of marriage to a Taiwanese, I was OK. And yes, my wife was also there :-)

And many times in a Chinese restaurant I need to ask for chopsticks, where my wife and family get them automatically.

May be if I use some Chinese it would get me less discriminated against in restaurants? Qing gei wo kuaizi for please give me chopsticks. The other important word in Chinese restaurants I use is bing Shui (bing means ice and shui water ). Phrase to ask for water - qing gei wo yi bei shui. And Ice Cream (another great word I learned from my daughter when she was a toddler - bing chi lin.

At home my family uses both chopsticks and forks. It depends on what we are eating. For some dishes it makes more sense to use a knife and fork, for others it makes more sense to use chopsticks. And others fingers (such as chicken drum sticks).

Some related books:

• Chinese Feasts & Festivals, A Cookbook, English, 144 pages, Hardback
• Cooking with Kids - Exploring Chinese Food, Culture, and Language DVD
• Cooking with Kids - Celebrating Chinese New Year, DVD for kids!
• The Ugly Vegetables by Graced Lin
• Dim Sum For Everyone! by Grace Lin
• Fortune Cookie Chronicles - Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer Lee (for adults and is a very good read).
  

Labels: Chinese Restaurants

I set up a web site called Chinesediner.com that was a way to find Chinese Restaurants with reviews and one of my hobbies is eating at Chinese Restaurants, the headache is figuring out which ones are pretty good. I had a couple of hundred restaurants I think in Chinesediner.com, there were some headaches.

Headaches:

• What happens when a restaurant closes.
• What do you do when the person who input the information missed info.
• What happens when the information input is wrong.
• How do you deal with chains.
• How do you deal with a shopping plaza that has multiple restaurants.
  

The above if I am doing the editing can take up a bit of time. When I changed E-Commerce Providers, Chinesediner.com died since it was proprietary and hosted by my previous E-Commerce provider. I had this dream of resurrecting it, but with Yelp that has figured out how to generate a huge amount of reviews and works on my iPhone, I don't see a reason to. Is Yelp perfect - no. The coverage really seems to vary from very good in Rowland Heights to pretty lousy in other areas (like between the Denver Airport and downtown Denver). It also has the problem of dealing with restaurants that get closed. When I was in the Bay Area, the Mercury News for a while had an A+ Restaurant finder, but that seems to have died. There was also a fun site for Southern California that was useful, but died www.dailydiner.com. On my iPhone I also have loaded Urbanspoon that is based on newspaper reviews, but I use Yelp more.

I also have a pretty good collection of restaurant guides/books for the Los Angeles area, unfortunately nobody seems to be publishing them anymore, so the ones I have are getting out of date. I have one called places under $10 bucks which is good, and Jonathan's Golds book is great (but it's weak in the San Gabriel Valley). Doing google searches is another way to find restaurants.

References:

Fortune Cookie Chronicles - Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer Lee

Labels: Chinese Restaurants

Theme restaurants make dining a zany experience from Merrill Shindler.

I have been to both, the JURASSIC RESTAURANT was a one time event. People from my ex-work had gone there and said how great it was, so I took my wife there. Cute waitresses short skirts dressed up as cave women. Food was so so and music was very loud (we asked them to turn it down, which was done for a while). It's not for kids and they have a sign on the front about nobody under 21 inside, it's a good place to visit once. 15301 Gale Ave., City of Industry, (626) 336-5899.

Class 302 is in the 99 Market plaza at the corner of Gale and Nogales in Rowland Heights. Food is good, but you can get the same food other places cheaper. I have been here a couple of times with my wife and people from my former work. It's very Taiwanese and going with a Taiwanese will help you appreciate the nuances, from the chairs to what is on the blackboard, etc..

If your going for cute girls and beer, Jurassic Restaurant is the better bet, if your going for the food, Cafe 302 is best.

Labels: Chinese Restaurants

Picking the right Chinese restaurant is challenging, especially when different people like different styles of Chinese food.

The following list, tongue and cheek, is meant for real Chinese restaurants, I understand that some people love their Orange Chicken at Panda Express (I have relatives like this), and if that's you, this list is not for you.

1. Does the menu have Chinese on it?
2. Is the menu only in Chinese? Good sign!
3. Health grade is other than an A (C shows real Chinese style, B is OK, A is pretty suspicious. A friend of mine told me this one :-) The exception to this is Vegetarian restaurants that should always have an A.
4. Does the restaurant have lunch specials? Do the lunch specials include a salad? If includes salad, that cancels out the positive of having lunch specials.
5. Does the restaurant only accept cash?
6. Is the restaurant a buffet all you can eat? Usual buffet is beef and brocalli, fried rice, orange chicken, almond chicken, egg flower soup, vegetarian egg rolls (not fresh).
7. Does the restaurant charge for rice (real Chinese Restaurant don't).
8 Do they charge for hot tea? Dim Sum restaurants are an exception.
9. Do they automaticaly serve you tea?
10. Are all the waiters Chinese? There was one Chinese restaurant in Yreka (Northern California near Oregon) I went to, where the only Chinese was the owner hidden in the back.
11. Do they have strange things on the menu like pigs legs, chicken feet, blood soup, etc. The more strange things the more authentic.
12. Does it have the word American in their name? Chinese American is always suspicious.
13. Do they server Boba? Good sign if they do.
14. Are you treated a bit rudely and the staff treats you like you are lucky to be served? Good sign.
15. Are there at least 3 typos on the menu?
16. Are the bathrooms not up to the standard of McDonalds? I see this issue even at nice Chinese restaurants unfortunately.
17. Are there employee lockers in the restrooms?
18. Are there a lot of Asian people eating there? Or is it mostly non-Asian.
19. How busy is it? Per a Chinese friend of mine, only go to restaurants that are busy.
20. At your table is there a bottle of soy sauce, vinegar, and hot sauce?
21. Are the specials only in Chinese on the wall?

Great read/book about Chinese Food - Fortune Cookie Chronicles - Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer Lee For the younger Dim Sum For Everyone! by Grace Lin is a great book as is The Ugly Vegetables by Graced Lin

Labels: Chinese Food, Chinese Restaurants

Recently a lot of Chinese Restaurants in the Rowland Heights area are putting in flat screens. I am not sure what is causing this, a local importer that is trying for brand recognition (one restaurant had a sign next to the TV with the mfg. name), or a company that is supplying them for free for a cut of the advertising revenue.

Personally, I find it annoying. And I know, it's my choice and I can choose another restaurant (which I usually do). It's just becoming more and more widespread.

Labels: Chinese Restaurants

In Rowland Heights it started with Del Taco, which is now a Real Estate office. Then Burger King closed (still looking for a tenant) in Hacienda Heights. Then the local Taco Bell closed and became a Vietnamese Pho Restaurant. And then Kentucky Fried Chicken closed and is remodeling to become a Chinese Restaurant. And it all started 20 years ago or so when a Restaurant shaped like a Swiss Chalet became a Chinese Restaurant called Mr. Swiss. The only real Chinese Food in the area. Mr. Swiss since then has been remodeled adding a floor and losing the sloped roof. Interesting how the area has changed.

Labels: Chinese Food, Chinese Restaurants, Chinesediner.com