Pan

Thanks, kayswv. It now seems like the trip's time will be reduced to about 2 weeks and center around Beijing and Changchun, because we aren't sure my parents will be strong enough to deal with a longer and more strenuous trip. I may have to go back on my own or with a significant other some time to see the southern part of China.

I'm sorry to disappoint some of you, but I'm pretty much of a goody two-shoes on this. I don't take samples unless the store is clearly offering some (and then, I take them with caution, knowing that others are likely to have put their paws all over them). And I give change back to the cashier in the rare event I'm overpaid. But I don't correct inputting errors that are in my favor, because I think that's bad for the cashier. The reason I think so is because of one experience I had at a Gristedes store on 100 St. in Manhattan. When I pointed out to a cashier that she had undercharged me for an item, she was nonplussed, but her manager clarified it to her. I had gotten her in trouble, and I felt lousy about it.

Thanks, Richard. That was pretty interesting! I would have never thought of looking for an article about Mexican food on Saudi Aramco World. How did you chance to come across this article?

It was nice hanging out with you, and I enjoyed the pictures! Did you manage to avoid getting drenched?

Oddly, I meant it as a rhetorical question, but to give you the opportunity to add your more substantive answer, I have reposted. Thanks a lot, dccd. I'm very tired and have to go to sleep ASAP, but I want to try to address this now, lest I should forget. I'm a little torn in how to answer, but I'll dig as deeply as possible into my psyche. In my role as a diner, I think that the things I care most about in a restaurant review are: (1) That I get an accurate sense of what the cuisine is like, including some dishes the reviewer finds interesting (which doesn't mean I won't choose dishes s/he doesn't mention or suggests not getting, should I go) (2) That I get an accurate sense of how the service, decor, and ambiance are - better yet, what kind of experience I can expect (but I don't trust that I'll have an experience similar to the reviewer's in terms of good service, so I discount reviewers' reports of good service somewhat) (3) That prices are reported accurately (but I have no reason to consider that they aren't) In my role as a reader, the things I care most about are: (1) That the review be clearly-written (2) That it be fun to read (3) That it be clear on what basis the reviewer passed judgment on the establishment Now, if I'm already personally familiar with the restaurant and like it, I'll take umbrage at a bad review. Etc. But if I haven't dined there, I don't know whether the review is accurate or not. The sad (?) fact is that there is no way I'll dine at even a large fraction of the restaurants the Times will review in any given year, so the only way I'd be likely to know if Bruni is describing restaurants' cuisines inaccurately is if there is such an accumulation of posts like yours, in which you explain in detail how he "got it wrong," that a preponderance of evidence against him starts to become conclusive.

Wow. That’s a first. I grew up in Miami and I’ve never heard “pretty” and “palmetto bugs” in the same sentence…ever. I’m curious. Do you think opossums are cute? I can't picture an opossum offhand. I'll clarify: I think the coloring and spot on the back of palmetto bugs is pretty, but my appreciation for that feature of their appearance is mixed with loathing and fear that they may choose to walk up my legs. I looked at them with wary interest - when they were outside, near the palm trees. When I saw one or two in my dorm room in a music festival in South Florida, I was very unhappy, to say the least, and wasn't satisfied until I had smashed them. Even remembering those flying roaches gives me the willies! To Beans' suggestion that roaches don't eat human food, I can offer the following anecdote: After I played an open jam in a bar on a very hot summer night, two fellow musicians and I got a late meal at a felafel place where we sat outside. We observed that there were two or three very large waterbugs living in a hole in the sidewalk. My fellow musicians, suffering from the mind-warping effects of intoxication, decided to throw a slice of tomato in the direction of the waterbugs, who proceeded to eat it voraciously.

Helen is in Japan, His Nibs.

I've probably mentioned this somewhere before, but it bears repeating in this thread: Restaurants that serve me delicious food and treat me well as a single diner get selected by me for visits with friends and for banquets, and get repeatedly recommended by me to others, setting off a chain of word of mouth that helps these establishments. I can understand why a busy restaurant might seat me at the bar and, in fairly extreme cases, even refuse to give me a table. And I don't object to being seated at a not-very-desirable table if the restaurant is jammed. Note two things, though: (1) I'm a man and, thus, less likely to be unpleasantly hit upon at the bar; (2) I'm talking about very busy restaurants. If they have plenty of tables and won't give me one, as far as I'm concerned, they can go to Hell, and I'll do my best to help them get there faster by letting everyone know what happened. I haven't been to super-high-end restaurants by myself, however.

I always thought it was acceptable to speak the truth that in many instances, a good tomato-based sauce for pasta and good stews (pot roast, boeuf a la flamande, etc.) are better on the 2nd day. If someone thinks it's better to lie, that's their lookout.

Yeah, why, and why don't you go back? But I guess that's a topic for your bio thread...

I have a well-justified fear of scorpions: They can make people very sick. Palmetto bugs are pretty - as long as they're outside. Inside, they're just big, flying roaches with spots on their backs; get 'em OUTATHERE!!!!!!

My parents and brother seem to have decided not to spend more than a morning in Guilin, because of the horror story they read on the previously-linked page and such-like. Keeping in mind that none of us speaks much Mandarin and none of us can read much Chinese, is it very likely for us to be able to avoid having a very unpleasant time in Guilin? My brother, especially, is very down on Guilin, based on all he's read about sharp business practices there.

I don't know the restaurant, but it read to me like a 1-star review of a place that he wished he could have given 2 stars to but didn't think he could. Robyn, the reason I don't want to discuss New York Times art criticism is that it brings in another area of controversy that will take us off-topic. However, discussing the relevance and limitations of analogies between conceptual art and conceptual food, etc., is on-topic; it would just need another thread. Please feel free to start one if you like, and I'll probably have something to say there. (Though I'm sure we've had other threads that dealt with that, I don't feel like doing the thankless job of trying to search for one, especially as I think one was on the defunct Symposium.)

Do you have any idea why they're the only FOH staff to earn at least minimum wage?

I admit to being somewhat phobic about roaches since my experience in 1975 of being in Bangkok during flash floods at the beginning of their monsoon season and having waterbugs crawling up my legs to try to save themselves from drowning in knee-deep water that flooded the holes in the streets where they were living. That didn't make me too phobic to live with roaches for most of the following two years in a traditional Malay village house, whose space between floorboards made it part of the environment, with waterbugs, big spiders, and big, disoriented sticky-footed beetles part of the indoor/outdoor fauna (those unfortunate beetles, called kabur in Malay, didn't understand electric light and committed suicide every night by crashing into the light fixtures, but I digress). Nevertheless, undoubtedly, phobias play a part in my reactions and the reactions of many people to these kinds of food contamination.

A post by jeunefilleparis in this thread inspired me to ask the following question: If you see a roach crawling on the wall of a restaurant whose cuisine you really like, but you've never seen any contamination in the food, will you boycott the restaurant forever? I can think of a couple of instances in which I haven't. On one of my visits to DiFara's in Brooklyn (some time ago, not a recent visit), I saw at least one roach on the wall and, in fact, had to smash it when it was walking toward our pizza. That didn't stop me from coming back. Also, at one time (again, not recently), I saw roaches walking on the wall near the dessert display at the 97th St. and Amsterdam, Manhattan, branch of El Malecon. So I didn't order dessert there for some time but did not stop coming, and haven't seen any roaches there for a few years. On the other hand, years ago, there were a number of roaches on the counter where I was eating at Benny's Burritos on 6th and A in the East Village, and when I mentioned it to the waitress, she was unsurprised and unapologetic - very matter-of-fact. More than one came toward my food, and I had to smash them. I was not happy and never returned. I have a different reaction to visible insect contamination in food. My father got a large black fly boiled in his soup at La Rosita, a good Dominican restaurant on 108 St. and Broadway, in 1992, and I have yet to return, despite the fact that it was 12 years ago and doubtless, a fluke occurrence. A few years ago, seeing a small roach boiled in my tea and getting an empty roach egg sac in my spicy cabbage respectively caused me to permanently stop going to the Malaysian-Indonesian restaurant on Doyers and a Shanghainese restaurant on Mott that I forget the exact name of (both in Manhattan's Chinatown). Since I'm editing this for writing style and such-like anyway, I'll add that I'm remembering a Far Eastern Economic Review article I read recently (I would have provided a link to the article online except that that would have required me to pay a fee for a yearly subscription), in which a columnist said that his English wife became "truly Asian" when, instead of having a fit when she saw a fly in her soup in Bangkok, simply pushed it to the side and continued eating the delicious soup. Insects are essentially just extra protein, after all, and if the dish they've contaminated is properly cooked, I don't see how they can really hurt us. Am I and some of the rest of us overreacting to the unexpected presence of insects in our food?

Thanks, kayswv, that's news I can use! What were the prices like, or were they included in a tour package?

Herb, have you been to one of those big eating halls in Manhattan like Jing Fong where you are asked whether you want "Shrimp Dumpling Soup"? Well, probably not, as I guess they ask you in Chinese. But take my word for it. Yes, the "shrimp dumplings" are boiled.

I'd never get paid in salary what I earn in tips. I left the legal eagle world, corporate law department, environmental/toxic tort section wherein I had some serious responsibilities. Years ago, when I first started as a server, in three months, I earned more than I did in almost a whole year of the 9 to 5 stuff. Do you figure you earn more than professional waitstaff in similar European establishments? That would be interesting to know.

I was only joking, but if you're serious, please PM me to let me know where this would take place.

Authentic Malay cooking in rural Terengganu in the 1970s certainly used MSG. I wouldn't know what's true of other Asian households' traditions.

Thanks for that useful information, Gary!

food will actually be the last thing on my mind once I get ready to board the 12 hour flight with a four hour layover and another 2 hour flight with 3 small children, all alone..... Hmmm...won't they want decent food, too? May you have a good flight!

I remember a Midori ad in which they talked about the quality of "karakuchi." Just guessing: Is that mouth feel or something?