Chinese restaurants outside of China

[richw]

Every time I have ever been served orange slices at a Chinese restaurant, I've noticed that the oranges are sliced perpendicular to the blossom & stem end. The oranges are sliced down the equator, exposing the fruit in its multiple sections rather than in wedges that can be easily removed from the skin.

Does anyone know why it is that oranges are served this way at Chinese restaurants? I don't consider this a wrong or a right thing, I'm simply curious to know if there is some logic or superstition behind this.

Thanks,

Rich

[jhlurie]

I think its because they are juice oranges, not the types we usually peel.

[richw]

That's definitely a possibility. My gut tells me it has something to do with superstition. I'll post the my research findings.

[Jinmyo]

I don't think so. The orange slices are decorative, they don't expect you to actually eat them.

[macrosan]

I don't think so. The orange slices are decorative, they don't expect you to actually eat them.

In which case they're very disappointed in me

[gknl]

I don't think so. The orange slices are decorative, they don't expect you to actually eat them.

In which case they're very disappointed in me

Everyone knows the oranges are only for tourists.

[macrosan]

Actually, I hate Chinese food. I only go in and order the food so I get those slices of orange. Does that make me a bad person ? Am I to be pilloried as a mere tourist ? Do I not bleed ? Have I no rights ?

[Ron Johnson]

Does that make me a bad person ? Am I to be pilloried as a mere tourist ? Do I not bleed ? Have I no rights ?

You are now irrelevant.

[macrosan]

Oh no, not that, pleeeeease Anything but irrelevant.

...hmmm, wait a minut, will that mean I get a thread of my own ? "Is Macrosan irrelevant to modern society ?" .... hmmmm .... OK, irrelevant is fine with me

[GordonCooks]

The fruit stems from a old Asian custom. When dining in the chinese style, dishes are served in a family way. The chef shows his hospitality by sending food until you are full. When the oranges are served - you should be so full that you cannot eat another bite of anything. The proper way to thank the chef for his hospitality is to hurl the orange slices into the kitchen and say "Banzai!". This will make the Chef very happy.

[tommy]

all i know is that they are some of the best tasting oranges ever i had. jason perlow has some succinct thoughts on these oranges.

[yvonne johnson]

all i know is that they are some of the best tasting oranges ever i had.  jason perlow has some succinct thoughts on these oranges.

tommy, I agree, I'm not that keen on oranges, but I'm always nicely surprised when I have them in Chinese restaurants.

They don't look like juicer oranges though, as the skin is usually on the thicker side. Jason, so what's your take? Monosodium glutamate injected for that extra flavor?!

[Miss J]

Oh no, not that, pleeeeease    Anything but irrelevant.

What? Who's saying Macrosan is irrelevant?

Not with his sideline in chopped liver, he isn't!

[torakris]

The fruit stems from a old Asian custom. When dining in the chinese style,  dishes are served in a family way. The chef shows his hospitality by sending food until you are full. When the oranges are served - you should be so full that you cannot eat another bite of anything. The proper way to thank the chef for his hospitality is to hurl the orange slices into the kitchen and say "Banzai!". This will make the Chef very happy.

Funny, but since when have the Chinese been saying "Banzai"?!

[Ducky]

I took a few Chinese friends out for dinner the other night at one of my regular Richmond Chinese places. We had a fine meal and good service, and when the cheque arrived I paid with credit card and left 20% or so in cash on the little plate.

My Chinese friends were astonished, and maintained that in Chinese restaurants the server never gets the tip - that this goes straight to the owner, and that therefore they never leave more than a token tip.

So to test the proposition I left the tip on the plate, and watched, as our waitress carried this to the person behind the till and handed it to him without so much as even a glance to see how much I had left.

Can I conclude from this that my friends were correct - and that tipping practices are wildly different in the Chinese restaurant scene? I fear I have been seriosuly and pointlessly overtipping in the establishments all of these years.

I neglected to add that I am a dumb "gweilo".

I would appreciate the advice of some of the ethnic Chinese eG members on this.

[Hue]

From what I understand, each Chinese restaurants has a different system when it comes to tips, but most of the time the tip is divided evenly to all staff, so each server gets the same amount regardless of his/her service.

[Keith Talent]

So what we need is a definitive Chinese restaurant tipping protocol for Vancouver. A couple questions need to be answered. Is tipping not the norm for asians in North America? What about second generation asian/canadians? Do they change the habits of their parents and begin tipping as a custom?

Do chinese restaurants expect caucasians to tip and have no such expectations of asian customers? Are asian tips the loose change as in asia variety, or the rigourously calculated 15% variety?

Enquiring minds want to know.

[tarteausucre]

I have to admit that I rarely tip more than 10% at Chinese restaurants purely because I rarely receive what I would call "service." Invariably, the servers are surly at best and the dishes are usually flung at me. True, the kitchens are usually hyper efficient but the niceties of service are rarely present. I'm not referring to many high-end restaurants like the Kirin where I would pay at least the standard 15%.

I once had an argument with a friend about why I have to sacrifice decor and service when I go to most "authentic" Chinese restaurants. He claimed that "it's all part of the experience" and that's what he expects and enjoys at Chinese restaurants. Interesting...

[Keith Talent]

But then it's a catch 22, if the clientele doesn't tip, why not fling dishes? And for what it's worth, perhaps due to my appearance, no scratch that, reality of being a clueless caucasian, I always almost universally receive helpful service. Yeah the waiteresses at Hon's can be brusque, but I always figured that was part of the schtick.

[BCinBC]

For lunch / dim sum, I have witnessed some fairly stingy (stin-jee not sting-ee) tipping practices by Chinese people, including relatives, including relatives involved in the industry. I've always wondered why, but have never gotten a good answer. Tarteausucre, 10% is pretty normal.

I think it is just a generational thing, which may be have been due to the fact that you always used to pay at the till at the front - and therefore you'd leave a rounded-off-to-the-closest-denomination tip at the table. So if lunch was say $20, you'd probably end up leaving $2 bill. (Nowadays it would be a toonie of course.) Just a theory.

Again, this is not my tipping practice, but I have certainly witnessed this before. And it has gotten better in recent years - but still definitely not up to 20%, which would cause astonishment, whooping, gasping, flying hands, etc amongst the older gen. $4 on a $20 lunch? Waaah! $5 on a $20 lunch? Absolute straight jacket insanity.

I feel fairly safe in saying that we as in born-here kids have adopted the N.American tipping standard. Personally, because I think of cash as the monetary system used by cavemen and generally use plastic everywhere, tipping is a hybrid of the rounded-off and loose-change practices: a simple mental calc and a signature.

As for where the tips end up, at my mother's restaurant I believe the tips are pooled and split between all FOH. If the same system was in place at Ducky's restaurant, the waitron would have handed the lump sum to the hostess, who would then (presumably) make and drop the change (ie actual tip) into a jar for dividing up later.

[canucklehead]

The tipping issue is definitely a generational thing. My mother has even gone as far as saying to me - 'Don't tip so much - they won't appreciate it - in fact, they will laugh at you and think that you are stupid'

Well - I still tip as though I am in a non-Chinese restaurant and ingore my mother's advice. That being said - the tip is not the lever for getting good service in a Chinese restaurant. At a top notch restaurant - it should be a given that you will recieve good service and the entire restaurant staff is thought of as one team. The cost of good service and nice decor should be built into the price of the food.

For example - my mother and her siblings went to Fisherman's Terrace in Richmond yesterday and the crappy service left them (almost) speechless. The way to deal with it though would not be to tip less - but to either speak directly (and harshly) to the server or the manager.

[kontemporary]

On the topic of tipping, I must have to say I have been victim of "circular logic" so to speak from waiters before at many surprising restaurants. Perhaps it's in their profession but waiters will undoubtedly approximate the tip customers giev before they even begin offering services, everything from what the customer is wearing to ethnicity to age to accents and to pulling out the unexpected coupon.

What is the take on this in general, when the servers expect a low tip so poor service is given and voila - a poor tip is given! And as human beings with the mindset of always believing one is completely correct, this reinforces their stereotypes in terms of tipping and continues the circle even more.

So for as my solution, if I notice unequal service or am experiencing bad service, I tend to complain to the maitre'd or manager and try to break out of the tipping stereotype to get my point across.

But this really all goes 180 with Chinese restaurants because many of them pool tips completely. Or if they don't pool tips, they must experience poor tipping from many customers who believe so. This has an advantage because then service with then undoubtedly be indifferent, but then there is no way customers can "reward" good service with tipping - as it all goes in the same tip pool. And since the pool is so big, a large tip will only cancel out a bad tip. Waiters also lack an incentive to then give "good service."

But if the Chinese restaurants DO give waiters the tip, then no doubt will they experience better tipping from caucasian customers as opposed to their misinformed asian counterparts. And thus, there will be service irregularities.. and another need to break out of a circle logic soforth.

Who would realized there was so much discrimination in the waiter's world... but kudos to all the honest waiters out there.

[~cayenne~]

I feel fairly safe in saying that we as in born-here kids have adopted the N.American tipping standard. Personally, because I think of cash as the monetary system used by cavemen and generally use plastic everywhere, tipping is a hybrid of the rounded-off and loose-change practices: a simple mental calc and a signature.

As for where the tips end up, at my mother's restaurant I believe the tips are pooled and split between all FOH. If the same system was in place at Ducky's restaurant, the waitron would have handed the lump sum to the hostess, who would then (presumably) make and drop the change (ie actual tip) into a jar for dividing up later.

←

I find that it seems so many Asian (Chinese) restaurants have signs posted "Cash only". I'm guessing that most wouldn't consider them high end establishments such as the Kirin or Sun Sui Wah type, but more so the average dinner or dim sum place. Makes it difficult for someone who rarely carries cash. Usually when I tip, I include it on the credit card receipt, probably that makes it more difficult to dole out though?

[BCinBC]

A lot of Chinese places do have that annoying Cash Only thing, because 1. they don't want to pay Visa / Interac fees, 2. perhaps they fear they won't be in business long enough to justify said fees, or 3. there is some sort of "funny" accounting going on. These reasons are not endearing to me, any of them.

However, I will still eat at a Cash Only if the food is good enough. I will just make a side trip to an ATM - which in and of itself will tell you how much it is worth it to me.

PS: there is another thread around about tipping and tipping on credit cards. There is an extra step involved to get the dough into the waitrons' pockets, but my view is hey that's life (no disrespect to Andrew et al).

[Keith Talent]

I'd say that three quarters of my meals are eaten in cash only establishments. And right or wrong (probably wrong) I've always assumed it was a sign of "alternate tax accounting" practices at work, plus an inability to get Visa merchant status. FWIW the cash drawer usaully is left open in these places.

Totally off topic and not even vaguely related to anything food, but as we've had an endless procession of home repair people through the casa lately, it's shocking that without exception ALL have offered to accept cash in return for eliminating the GST. It's amazing how brazen these people are. The underground economy is huge. I must not give off a Revenue Canada auditor vibe.