Is chinatown place to avoid generally? (Boston, Cambridge: restaurants, price, garden)

[liberal8]

Went to Jumbo Seafood place in chinatown recently and was shocked by low quality food and horrible service there. Granted I was a single white guy over there I never got "hello" or "welcome" from the personnel, got tasteless tea, weird plate with chunks of meat instead of ordered lobster sauce shrimp and eventually got sick stomach soon after leaving the place. The personnel has been walking around me all the time with long faces.
Is Chinatown is generally place to avoid for white folks in Boston?

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by liberal8

Is Chinatown is generally place to avoid for white folks in Boston?

No not at all; I love Chinatown!

When I'm in that area I like to go to the Chinatown Café on Harrison Ave. It's usually pretty crowded, and its fried rice is both good and copious by my standards. Granted I've never paid attention to whether or not I got a "hello" or a "welcome", and it isn't the type of place that has waiters, but I've always thought the employees were friendly enough.

Friends have also recommended Empire Garden as being a good place for Dim Sum, but I haven't tried it yet.

[and I'm European-American, by the way]

[bjimmy24]

I like Gourmet Dumpling House.

[millerm277]

No. There's quite a lot of good food in Chinatown. Most of the better places are the more foreign/authentic places....which also means they're fairly difficult to eat at unless you bring a friend who speaks the language, because odds are that most of the staff and customers will not speak English well.

I'm fond of Hei La Moon for cheap cart-service Dim Sum. BIG place with hundreds of people in it on weekends, good food, and it never seems to be more than $10 per person. However, they generally don't speak English, even your bill (except for the total) will be in Chinese, and there is no menu. So if you don't speak Chinese, you're going to have no idea what you're picking besides what it looks like.

[sharencare]

I think you just ordered the wrong food. Or maybe you got the wrong dish? I personally like Jumbo Seafood but I only order their best dishes, which are softshell crab, clams, abalone, ginger and scallion lobster, green beans, etc. I'm Chinese-Vietnamee, and these are the delicacies and treats from my childhood. If you order General Gao's Chicken or something with "lobster sauce" (which doesn't even have lobster), it's like ordering pizza at a Chinese restaurant. That stuff is not real Chinese food, but is only on the menu for squeamish Americans. I don't think you can even find those items in Asia. Seriously, my Chinese mother would never deign to eat it because she knows it's fake food that would give her indigestion. (Like why order fried rice from Panda Express? The rice is too brown because they dosed it with soy sauce and oil. Any real Chinese household that eats like that will suffer massive indigestion too. Fried rice to a Chinese family is a leftovers treat that should be a light color and not particularly salty.) Anyway, it's ok to order that food for takeout, but if you have Asian friends that bring you to an "authentic" Chinese restaurant, don't order General Gao's or the fake food. It's polite to defer to their recommendations. I say kudos to you for even trying to venture out on your own, but if you go again, I say try the list above.

As for the service, it's not surprising. The hosts upfront are better. But the waiters don't get tipped well nor do they know English well, so they won't suck up to you whether you are Asian or white. They act like that to everyone regardless of race.

[EdLincoln86]

No, not at all. I've had lots of great experiences there and I'm a squeamish white guy. My favorite restaurant is in Chinatown (Penang). Chinatown has a whole lot of tiny, inexpensive restaurants, many very "authentic" so I'm sure not all are good. However, there are plenty of good restaurants there, and plenty that cater to a more mainstream audience. '

Yes, there are a few places where the staff are wildly racist, and I would strongly recommend you *NOT* ask a first generation Asian for advice on where to eat in Chinatown. (There tastes are sometimes very different.) Look at the Zagat guide and ask your hipster or foodie friends.

I'd suggest Penag, Eldo Cake House, and China Pearl.

[sharencare]

Originally Posted by EdLincoln86

Yes, there are a few places where the staff are wildly racist, and I would strongly recommend you *NOT* ask a first generation Asian for advice on where to eat in Chinatown. (There tastes are sometimes very different.) Look at the Zagat guide and ask your hipster or foodie friends.

Haha. Yeah, as in "different" tastes as they know what's fresh, tasty, and authentic. No hipster is going to know Chinese cuisine better than an actual native of China. I treat the Zagat guide with skepticism. They list P.F. Chang's which is overpriced, over-salted, and uber greasy. Mary Chung's in Cambridge is also on the Zagat list, and even if you forgive it for it's American Chinese menu, they still produce subpar food. I would trust Yelp more if you are going the foodie rec route. Szechuan Gourmet in Framingham though is very good and very authentic with great service.

[Cantabridgienne]

I had a terrific meal at Taiwan Cafe last night.

Food poisening doesn't set in that fast, so it's extremely unlikely you got sick from your meal, it was probably something you ate earlier.

[Cantabridgienne]

Originally Posted by sharencare

If you order General Gao's Chicken or something with "lobster sauce" (which doesn't even have lobster), it's like ordering pizza at a Chinese restaurant. That stuff is not real Chinese food, but is only on the menu for squeamish Americans. .

Excellent advice.

[3cents]

I would also recommend Chilli's Garden at Medford.

On Dim Sum, does anyone know where to get 'Crispy Dough'? ... the longish fluffy oil-fried dough that comes in pairs.