Chinese Restaurant Experience

[Toliver]

Daniel,

Write down their names and if any of them ever want to "do chinese" again, take them to a freakin' chinese buffet. They don't deserve the true chinese restaurant experience.

[sanrensho]

Silliest thing I've ever heard. Never seen it here in Vancouver and I'm surprised that it would happen in NY.

The practice deserves to be mocked in the severest way. If one particular diner is only able to eat a particular item off the menu, then that person should just order their dish separately and let everyone else eat family-style.

Edited May 8, 2006 by sanrensho (log)

[eJulia]

Can I be the lone crank here? I really don't like sharing, except in the very limited situation of being at a good (authentic) Chinese restaurant with a group of like minded friends.

But in most situations, I hate sharing. Why? Well, for one, I like choosing what I want to eat. I don't want to eat other people's choices. When I approach a menu, I usually give a lot of thought to what I want to eat, and in what order. Also, I am a slow eater. I hate, absolutely hate it when I have ordered something really yummy, and only get a small bit of it because all the other people at the table have devoured it.

←

I hate to be another "outlaw", but as someone who followed a vegan diet for some time, my order of spicy eggplant or tofu-fried veggie plate was the only thing I could enjoy... Keep your damn hands off!

If the table decided to order all sharing dishes, agreed to in advance, then cool. If not, then eat what you ordered or ask politely for a taste!

julia

[Fresser]

Nobody I know does this unless you are going with a table of absolute non-foodies. Or if ALL of them are Gentiles.

←

[ddueck]

My Dad still tells about a date he had with my mom. The year was probably about 1960 and my dad was propably about 20 years old. For both of their families, going to a restaurant was a very rare and special thing. My Dad picked up my mom and drove to the big city of Langley to go to the Rickshaw Restaurant (still there). It was their first time in a Chinese restaurant. Dad ordered the Sweet and Sour Pork and was rather surprised to simply receive a large platte of meat without any starch or veggies. He and mom were too shy to share with each other or ask about the situation. But, even then, they learned their lesson. The next time back, they shared.

[sheetz]

Wouldn't it be funny if people didn't share at a Chinese banquet? Who would get the Shark's Fin Soup? Or the Beijing Duck? Or the whole steamed fish?

[Pan]

it's the same thing here in the netherlands too. as if the fact that chinese restaurants here all sell babi panggang (indonesian roast beef or something)[...]

←

Roast pork. In Indonesian and Malay, babi=pig and panggang=roast.

[yunnermeier]

*hits head*. Pan is right, it is roast pork. I dont know how I put beef! I'm Malaysian! 0_0

[I_call_the_duck]

Wouldn't it be funny if people didn't share at a Chinese banquet? Who would get the Shark's Fin Soup? Or the Beijing Duck? Or the whole steamed fish?

←

I call the duck!! I went to a lot of wedding banquets when I was growing up. There were six of us in my family, and a few times, we were the only ones at the table. Which meant more duck for me!!

[nessa]

I wonder if its not partially how you grew up eating? My family shares *everything* at all restaurants. Now, perhaps not as much sharing goes on when the portions are smaller, etc, but everyone is always offered at least a bite of whatever... often more. Imagine my SO's surprise <he's an only child with.... food issues> when we all went out to eat at the East Side Cafe in Austin. Ma putting her food on Sister's plate, Da's on mine, me asking him for a taste of his... He was in complete shock. It never occured to me that was not the way everyone ate! We discussed it later and were both enlightened. He admitted that he wanted to guard his perimiter with his fork. He's has relaxed a lot over the years. He just knows now, that when he eats with my folk... you share. I'm so proud of him that he doesn't go into apoplectic shock anymore!

Bless his heart.

[Shalmanese]

Not only do we share asian foods, when the family goes out to eat at a western restaurant, everyone gets at least a few bites of every dish.

[Carlovski]

I've seen this in the uk - usually when there are one or two 'fussy' eaters.

I have probably inadvertantly caused it too - I order something unusual or spicy, no one else will eat it which means I end up with it to myself - then feel guilty digging into everything else. Or if everyone else orders things in gloopy 'sweet and sour' sauces - or does that make me the fussy eater

[weinoo]

When we're dining in a Chinese restaurant with a group, it's always shared food. What's nice about it is that I'm (often) the one who does the ordering for the table - after finding out people's likes and dislikes, I try to order different dishes, whether by cooking style (soup, steamed, fried, braised, roasted, stir-fried), spiciness, main ingredient (fish dish, chicken, pork, lamb, beef, tofu, shellfish, vegetable) etc. Obviously, the larger the crowd, the greater the chance that everyone will be able to eat plenty of food that they like - a problem when dealing with a small group of 4 or even 6.

Seems to work out pretty well every time...most everyone has plenty to eat - I almost treat it like a game - ordering the right amount of food and no complaints about what I've ordered, as well as very little leftover food means a job well done!

[SuzySushi]

This thread begs the story of the BEST Chinese shared meal I ever had.

Going back 15+ years, to a (shall be nameless because I forgot the name) hole-in-the-wall Sichuan-style Chinese restaurant in NYC, on 2nd Avenue near the U.N.

The diners: a group of about 15 women related by our interest in Japan. One of the women had also spent several years working in mainland China and spoke fluent Chinese. She took it upon herself (or maybe the people seated closest to her appointed her) to do the ordering for the entire group.

And the food and the conversation flowed. I don't know exactly what came out of the kitchen, an endless procession of dishes that got passed around the table. The chefs were entranced to have an appreciative audience. I've never been able to replicate the meal since.

[Kim Shook]

My families (current and 'of origin') are sharers. Chinese, French, Greek - doesn't matter. We share it all. We almost never order the same dish, because then sharing would be pointless. If someone at the table doesn't share, we don't say anything to them, of course. We just mock them mercilessly later when they are gone.