Differences between Eastern & Western restaurants

[Fat Guy]

There has been much allusion to this subject here and there around the site, so I thought it might make sense to hash this out all in one place.

What are the salient non-food differences, if any, between Eastern and Western restaurants. As an example with which I have the most familiarity, how would we compare and contrast Chinese restaurants and American restaurants in a large city like New York?

Are issues such as preferential treatment of customers more pronounced in Chinese restaurants? This certainly seems to be the popular perception.

Is there a Chinese-restaurant code of behavior that needs to be learned?

What else?

[Nippy_Sweetie]

The most striking difference in Chinese restaurants in Glasgow, Scotland is the way they refill your wine glass after every sip. Some Chinese restaurant owner worked out that Scottish people drink a lot (not that hard a thing to realise) and if you just keep pouring, they just keep drinking. The money you can make on wine is really good, and people always end up ordering another bottle as they've unexpectedly finished the first one. The only way to stop this is to be firm and repeatedly tell the waiting staff not to do this This never happens as it ventures into being rude and possibly creating a scene, and noone in Scotland is going to that over being given more alcohol! I order my wine by the glass or ask for Chinese tea which is NEVER refilled without me asking.

Other restaurants only refill your glass if it's empty.

[cabrales]

Wine might not traditionally be considered essential to the enjoyment of a Chinese meal (although I disagree with that assessment). Many Chinatown restaurants do not have sommeliers, and may have BYO with no corkage.

Many dinners in Chinatown by Chinese people tend to begin slightly earlier than at other restaurants. For example, leaving aside the banquet situation, dinner would tend to begin before 8 pm, which would be the very earliest I would begin dinner in France and which would tend to be my desired reservations time for non-Chinese NY restaurants on weekends.

The decor at Chinese restaraunts tends to be over-the-top and cheesy to me. The materials utilized tend to be less expensive. The chairs tend to be less comfortable. The decor from one restaurant to the next tends to be more uniform for Chinese restaurants (i.e., less distinctiveness). The washrooms tend to have no design attention.

The lighting at Chinese restaurants tends, very generally, to be too stark.

[Bux]

Fat Guy, you don't have a politically correct bone in your body do you?

[Jaymes]

Most of the Chinese/Asian restaurants I've been to in the States have at least two constants:

The big fish tank, mirror by the front door, etc., and other obvious symbols of various beliefs.

And, there ain't no paying at the table. You take your check to the cash register, which is located up by the front door to keep you from running out, and which is also never manned by the staff, but always closely guarded by people who are clearly either the owner or wife or immediate family.

Oh - And no checks, either.

Edited January 18, 2003 by Jaymes (log)

[Jinmyo]

Red and gold. Red walls with golden good fortune and longevity symbols or dragons and phoenixes. One rarely finds these at restaurants that do not serve Chinese cuisine.

[tissue]

Chinese people very rarely split the check.

[cabrales]

There is a greater chance of receiving hot towels, or at least a towel of some sort, at the table.

There is no pressure to buy bottled water. Soft drinks taken with a meal are not frowned upon necessarily at Chinese restaurants in the US.

[Tonyfinch]

Chinese restaurants in the UK, with one or two rare exceptions, do not appear to be aspirational. They appear happy to occupy the niche they carved out for themselves thirty years ago. Most serve the same dishes they did then. Those that do serve more unusual dishes often do not translate them into English on the menu, working on the assumption that non Chinese clientele will not be interested in them. They do not seem interested in developing the cuisine or encouraging customers to try new things.

Chinese restaurants do not appear to see it as their place to advise customers regarding what to order-the combination of dishes, the balance of the meal etc. They are left way behind by Japanese/Korean and some Thai restaurants in this respect.

Possibly Chinese restaurateurs have become jaded by the demands of the sweet and sour pork brigade, but Indian restaurants are beginning to push frontiers forward and Indian chefs are beginning to make names for themselves by offering more individualised takes on regional cuisine. This is not yet happening with Chinese chefs.

Many Chinese restaurants persist in using large quantities of MSG which, whatever the rights and wrongs of it, is deeply unpopular with discerning Western diners.

Maybe the Michelin star gained by Hakkasan will herald an era when Chinese restaurants begin to see new possibilities. If not they are in danger of becoming little more than Oriental junk food restaurants over the next ten years.

[Fat Guy]

Chinese people very rarely split the check.

You haven't lived until you've seen a big Chinese group get into a really good check-fight in a Chinese restaurant. A few weeks ago we saw a prolonged classic match that involved chasing, wrestling, screaming, and martial arts. And just to be clear, this was to pay the check -- not to avoid it.

[snowangel]

At the best Chinese restaurants I've eaten at in SFO and Mpls., the cash register has been manned by grandma/mom; surly as all get out to the employees -- if her guests aren't satisfied, she's not going to make money. In fact, I remember, growing up in Bangkok, the "old wives' tale" that if the cashier wasn't old and crabby, it wasn't a great Chinese restaurant.

At our last really great dim sum experience, in San Francisco (sorry, the name of the restaurant escapes me), we (a party of 14) walked in. The hostess assured us that we could be seated immediately. The joint was packed. We walked up a few flights of stairs, through several dining rooms, to a large table occupied by two older gents sitting at the table with their bottles of VSOP (it was 11:00 am). The hostess barked some things at them, they grabbed their check and bottles of VSOP), wobbled to the cash register, and we sat down. Food arrived immediately.

Same sort of story at my favorite Chinese restaurant in the Twin Cities, Sueng Cheng. Food is outstanding, atmosphere zippo, service somewhat surly.

Not an Aquavit or Goodfellow's experience, but far more charming.

Edited January 20, 2003 by snowangel (log)

[mamster]

Chinese people very rarely split the check.

FG, I've been in one of those check brawls with a big group of Chinese and Chinese-Americans. The newspaper was supposed to be paying, so I grabbed the check, setting off a prolonged argument in Chinese, English, and several pidgins that we invented over the course of the battle. Eventually I was allowed to pay on the condition that other people at the table were allowed to stuff twenties into Laurie's coat pocket and we would pretend not to notice.

I've never been to China, but when we took friends to Thailand we quickly adopted the custom of fighting over the bill. It's fun, and the bill was never more than $25.

[rozrapp]

Re: our experiences with Chinese restaurants in our area of NJ

We never hear, “Hi, my name is ____________, and I’ll be your waiter for this evening.”

When we request water, we are never asked, “Bottled or tap?” It’s tap all the way.

We never have to put up with a waiter standing tableside and reeling off an encyclopedia of specials without prices. Any specials are listed on a blackboard and/or on a sheet inserted into the menu and always includes prices.

Once our food has been served, the waiter does not come by the table and, when our mouths are full of food, ask, “So, how is everything?”

In our favorite Chinese restaurant, the person “guarding” the register is a young woman who is very pretty and sweet.

And, while some American restaurants may do take-out, every Chinese restaurant around here does.

[tissue]

Chinese people very rarely split the check.

You haven't lived until you've seen a big Chinese group get into a really good check-fight in a Chinese restaurant. A few weeks ago we saw a prolonged classic match that involved chasing, wrestling, screaming, and martial arts. And just to be clear, this was to pay the check -- not to avoid it.

I see it all the time.

[yummee]

* The most obvious one is the eating style. In almost every Western restaurant, every individual orders his own entrees and eat it individually, while in most Eatern restaurants they are shared among the individuals.

* Most Northern (East) Asian meals in the restaurants can be easily accompanied by tea, while in most Western restaurants, you hardly see anyone eat their meals with tea.

* People from South East Asia tend to eat their desserts along with their meals, not after the meal. But they do sometimes order other form or similar desserts again after the meals. You don't see Westerners do this in South East Asian restaurants.

* Tea and Coffee are the post-dessert compliment after dinner in Western restaurants, but not in Eastern restaurants.

* Most Chinese restaurants and Chinese customers love to pay with cash more then with credit cards

* In most Chinese restaurants (excluding those upscale Americanized ones), they don't come up to you during your meals and ask you if everything is okay. You have to call them. In Western restaurants, they come up to you and ask if everything is okay. The Westerners tend to think that the service is bad but actually this is a good service according to the Asian way, you don't go there and interrupt someone while their chewing their food or engage in private conversation.

* Most Eastern restaurants don't charge for tea, while in Western restaurant they would charge you something outrageous for a cup of tea

* In Eastern restaurants, you often need to share tables with others, while this almost never happened in Western restaurants.

* You can always ask for extra sauce, ketchup, chilly sauce, etc in most Eastern restaurants, while in Western restaurants, such as French or Italian, such requests would be viewed as insults to the Chefs

Edited March 18, 2003 by yummee (log)

[rozrapp]

* In Eastern restaurants, you often need to share tables with others, while this almost never happened in Western restaurants.

Do you mean Eastern restaurants in Asia? All the Asian restaurants that I know of have only "private" seating.

As for communal tables, if you go to the Pennsylvania Dutch area, the restaurants there serve meals communal style. Also, many years ago, we stopped at a place in Reno which served Basque cuisine. (We had read about it in Jane and Michael Stern's Road Food.) All the tables were communal. Finally, the concept of communal tables has been adopted by some restaurants in NYC, in addition to private seating. Le Pain Quotidien springs to mind.