Chinese food in China; not as good as expected

[lexico]

Another great topic, Mac !
I have never taken the effort to see the big picture regarding Chinese food although I've always loved "Chinese food." I could safely say that Chinese is my favourite kind of all dishes of the world. That having been said, I am also puzzled by the fact that I could rarely find in China the kind of Chinese food I enjoyed outside China, mainly the kind of vegetable & meat dishes served in Korea, Pacific US, the UK, and Europe. I think there is some link to the history of Chinese immigration and migration. I've noticed many overseas Chinese either come from the southern or coastal China stretching from Shandong, Fuzhou, Shanghai, Guangdong and also from Chinese communities clustered in SE Asia.

I think the international envorinment and exposure to non-Chinese people posed the traditional Chinese chefs with a challenge to adapt their cooking to something more universally palatable as well as having to use material more readily available. The great taste of internaltional Chinese dishes, therefore, can be attributed at least in part to the creativity of the Chinese businesses to adapt something ethnic to people of other ethnic groups. Mainland China may not have had this kind of contact, pressure, or opportunity to play the Chinese tune to a more foreign audience. Perhaps this will change with the continuing flow of business with foreigners.

As for the price of westernised Chinese food in Beijing, I really can't say much. Perhaps they are exorbitantly expensive due to both the scarcity of internationalised Chinese cooks and the relatively high demand. Another possibility is the tradition of Chinese hospitality that dictates that an important guest be treated with extreme lavishness. Too many rich people of the past may have disrupted the pricing system of internationalised Chinese food.

Yes, I love Chinese food, but getting by in China can be a struggle indeed. I would say it helps to be flexible, creative, and open to experiment if anyone plans to stay for more than a few months in China. In general, I have found Shandong dishes highly elegant and tasteful.

[RockLee]

I'll start with the food in Beijing as that's where I visited first
In general I think Beijing food is kind of spicy, I only ate Chinese food in Belgium before and as you already might know tastes nothing unlike real Chinese food.A Chinese friend(From Hong Kong, so it's Canton food) owning a Chinese restaurant told me that the food they make here is adjusted to Western taste, that's maybe why you found it really different Maciamo ? In general Beijing food wasn't that bad because I'm more into Asian food anyways.One thing though is that you have to get used to eating spicy to really mouthburning hot food.I expected more of Peking duck, but maybe I just went to the wrong restaurant Having porriage, dumplings and that kind of food for breakfast is something I couldn't get used too to be honest.Chinese bread on the other hand was really tasty!

In Shanghai the food tasted sweeter, my favourite food actually.I only spend 3 days in Shanghai so I didn't eat that many different kinds of food.But my impression was rather good.I like sweet more than spicy, so that's good hehe

In Guanghzou I had also really good food, Canton specialities, lambmeat with thai-style rice, vietnamese style rice and small cut pork with honeysauce (the tastiest meal I ate in my whole life(also one of the most expensive ones in China).One piece of advice, keep away from those familyrestaurants ! It's more quantity than quality.Went to one in Shenzhen(it was part of a tour) and it was one of the worst experiences foodwise.Everyone packed like pigs and at least 10 people at 1 table. Not very hygenic I must say.

My gf made me Chengdu food which nearly burned away my mouth Chengdu food is one of the most spiciest kind of food in China I think.

I also ate a lot of different kinds of 'mien' or 'men'.The best kind was Yunnan speciality. My friend from Yunnan who lives in Beijing took me to a Restaurant with Yunnan food.


Overal :- Chinese food wasn't that bad, much better than the Chinese food in Belgium in my opinion.Maciamo, do you know any good restaurants with tasty Chinese food in Belgium? Might give it a try and see if you're right.
- I prefer Japanese food to Chinese food.More variaty and IMO much tastier.

[Maciamo]

A Chinese friend(From Hong Kong, so it's Canton food) owning a Chinese restaurant told me that the food they make here is adjusted to Western taste, that's maybe why you found it really different Maciamo ?

I know that it's adapted to Western taste. That's also why some dishes cannot be found in China, and other taste different. But from my limited experience in China, Westernised Chinese food tastes better than the real stuff. As Lexico said, it's maybe because overseas Chinese had to try harder and innovate to satisfy Westerners not used to Chinese food. That's especially true in culinarily demanding societies like France and Belgium.

In general Beijing food wasn't that bad because I'm more into Asian food anyways.

I also love Asian food. I found that Thai food in Thailand was as good or better than the one in Europe, and both Korean and Japanese food are much better in Korea and Japan than in Europe. That's why I was so surprised about the quality of Chinese food in China - especially that Chinese people are so proud about it.

I expected more of Peking duck, but maybe I just went to the wrong restaurant.

Me too !

Chinese bread on the other hand was really tasty!

Same here. Even stranger that bread in Japan can be pretty good (e.g. Kobeya, Vie de France...).

In Guanghzou I had also really good food, Canton specialities, lambmeat with thai-style rice, vietnamese style rice and small cut pork with honeysauce (the tastiest meal I ate in my whole life(also one of the most expensive ones in China).

The 2nd best meal I had in China was Cantonese food (in Shanghai). The best was the Imperial Chinese at Fangshan, but that was 500 RMB per person ! (never had such expensive Chinese food in Europe !)

One piece of advice, keep away from those familyrestaurants ! It's more quantity than quality.

I suppose that we went to lots of them with the tour. But it wasn't so cheap (40 to 80 RMB per dish, which is about twice the price of Chinese food in Belgium), especially by Chinese standard.

Maciamo, do you know any good restaurants with tasty Chinese food in Belgium? Might give it a try and see if you're right.

I mostly know restaurants in Wallonia. There is a famous take-away in Liege (4 branches, including one near the Opera) called MacLam. It's quite different from the other Chinese, but it's very good and the portions are huge for the price. The menu is so long that it takes 10min to decide. Another good one in Liege is on Place de la Cathedral, called Le Shanghai. In Namur they are almost all good. Try the one near the Casino, in front of the 'Pont de Jambes' (Jambes Bridge). Sorry I forgot the name.

[RockLee]

I also love Asian food. I found that Thai food in Thailand was as good or better than the one in Europe, and both Korean and Japanese food are much better in Korea and Japan than in Europe. That's why I was so surprised about the quality of Chinese food in China - especially that Chinese people are so proud about it.

True, Japanese food tastes much better in Japan than Europe.I didn't have Korean yet, because frankly I don't know what to expect.Maybe Lexico can give me some tips on what to try the first time eating Korean food?

I suppose that we went to lots of them with the tour. But it wasn't so cheap (40 to 80 RMB per dish, which is about twice the price of Chinese food in Belgium), especially by Chinese standard.

With 3 people we ate for about 100RMB in an expensive restaurant and quite a lot of different food.So 40-80RMB is indeed expensive !

I mostly know restaurants in Wallonia. There is a famous take-away in Liege (4 branches, including one near the Opera) called MacLam. It's quite different from the other Chinese, but it's very good and the portions are huge for the price. The menu is so long that it takes 10min to decide. Another good one in Liege is on Place de la Cathedral, called Le Shanghai. In Namur they are almost all good. Try the one near the Casino, in front of the 'Pont de Jambes' (Jambes Bridge). Sorry I forgot the name.

Thanks, I might give it a try when I'm in Liège the next time.

[bossel]

Can't compare much to German/European Chinese restaurants, since I only went to about 4 of them. 1 was long ago (~20 years) & was quite disappointing, some mushroom dish almost without any taste. The other 3 are quite recent (last year), for my girlfriend took me there. I told her that I wanted to taste the real deal & not some westernised fake; dishes served there tasted very well.

For the experience in China: it varied.
It is very dependent on which restaurant you go to. I was once invited for breakfast into South Sea Fishing Village & man, that was good! I don't know how much it cost (didn't dare to ask), but judging from the service (what was missing was being carried around) it must be quite expensive.

The counter experience was a little restaurant in Beijing where I had Beijing duck, which was a huge disappointment. Bad service, taste alright, but not good, bad manners by the personnel (we sat right in front of some kitchen part & one of them constantly stared at me eating).
Next day I had Beijing duck again, but in a restaurant of some chain & this was really good. Quite a number of Westerners in that restaurant (more than Chinese, which was the 1st time for me in China, else I was always the only one), it must have a name among them in Beijing.

Chinese bread on the other hand was really tasty!

Really? Well, I admit, it tastes well, but it's always the same (more like dessert [pastries?] than like bread, anyway, except when it's steamed with meat inside). Real bread (what I'd call real) doesn't look tasty (didn't buy it since I didn't have anything to put upon, only found something like cut (sausage or cheese) when we arrived in Beijing) & is as expensive as in Germany.

One piece of advice, keep away from those familyrestaurants ! It's more quantity than quality.Went to one in Shenzhen(it was part of a tour) and it was one of the worst experiences foodwise.Everyone packed like pigs and at least 10 people at 1 table. Not very hygenic I must say.

Bad advice! Some of the tastiest stuff I ate was from small restaurants or vending booths. You just have to find the right place, which should be not too hard if you have some Chinese friends. About hygiene you're right, though, but that's a topic of its own in China. One of the most tasty stuff I had, meat skewers, was prepared by a guy who had fingers, dirty beyond recognition.
Haven't seen anything like what you said about 10 people at one table, except for the cases when I was invited into backrooms of a restaurant for a family meeting. But the tables were big & round, no problem there.

I prefer Japanese food to Chinese food.More variaty and IMO much tastier.

Nah, here I definitely cannot agree. The variety of Chinese food is phenomenal (I was there for only 3 weeks & touched only the surface of this sea of food). Dim sum alone are a world of their own. Same could be said about dumplings. There are numerous varieties.

There are 2 things that bother me about Chinese food:
- bones: meat is almost always cut into small pieces, with the bones, & then you have to eat around or gnaw the bones (& put them on the table afterwards)
- prawns: they are highly estimated & when invited to lunch or dinner, you inevitably get them, 3 or 4 days in a row is just too often.

[RockLee]

The counter experience was a little restaurant in Beijing where I had Beijing duck, which was a huge disappointment. Bad service, taste alright, but not good, bad manners by the personnel (we sat right in front of some kitchen part & one of them constantly stared at me eating).

That was kind of like my experience, the food was not bad tasting, but I expected more of it. Also if some of the waitresses look at you as if they want to jump your plate and eat it's not that comfortable People stared at me every second of the time I spent in China, unlike Japan where people didn't even mind or hardly looked.

Really? Well, I admit, it tastes well, but it's always the same (more like dessert [pastries?] than like bread, anyway, except when it's steamed with meat inside). Real bread (what I'd call real) doesn't look tasty (didn't buy it since I didn't have anything to put upon, only found something like cut (sausage or cheese) when we arrived in Beijing) & is as expensive as in Germany.

I didn't buy regular bread either for the same reasons, but I had a lot of pastry goods filled with wipped cream.One time I mistook the bread for one filled with W/cream but it was filled with some reddish paté or red beans.BIG MISTAKE !

Bad advice! Some of the tastiest stuff I ate was from small restaurants or vending booths. You just have to find the right place, which should be not too hard if you have some Chinese friends. About hygiene you're right, though, but that's a topic of its own in China. One of the most tasty stuff I had, meat skewers, was prepared by a guy who had fingers, dirty beyond recognition.
Haven't seen anything like what you said about 10 people at one table, except for the cases when I was invited into backrooms of a restaurant for a family meeting. But the tables were big & round, no problem there.

Yeah that kind of thing is exactly what I mean, the round tables which can be rotated.Also this wasn't a small restaurant nor a vending booth, it was a big room filled with small tables and people packed like pigs.No privacy whatsoever That's what I mean with family restaurants, cheap and quantity above quality.

Nah, here I definitely cannot agree. The variety of Chinese food is phenomenal (I was there for only 3 weeks & touched only the surface of this sea of food). Dim sum alone are a world of their own. Same could be said about dumplings. There are numerous variaties.

Well I think every place has it's own speciality maybe, so ofcourse you have a wide range of different food and styles.But unlike Japan I didn't see that much fish in China no Sushi,Sashimi etc.
Don't you think Chinese are more of a men/mien people? Always noodles, rice is more of a sidedish.They don't even eat every grain of rice !!

[quiet sunshine]

Don't you think Chinese are more of a men/mien people? Always noodles, rice is more of a sidedish.They don't even eat every grain of rice !!

North Chinese's staple food is flour food, South Chinese's staple food is rice.

[RockLee]

North Chinese's staple food is flour food, South Chinese's staple food is rice.

That explains why in Guangzhou there were more ricedishes