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Old 07-31-2012, 05:59 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,248,320 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom55116 View Post
Do you get equally
offended by the term Tex-Mex?
Tex-Mex is a legitimate regional variation of Mexican cuisine. Polynesian is not a recognized regional variation of Chinese. Now if you want to talk about SE Asian "Straits Chinese" that's another story.
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Old 07-31-2012, 06:16 AM
 
Location: Virginia
18,717 posts, read 31,080,646 times
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Not sure if these is exactly what you had in mind, but when I googled Hawaiian food I got the following.

Hawaiian food truck in DC - Hula Girl

Filipino restaurant in Falls Church called Karaoke Idol. The top floor of the building (street level) is a restaurant and the basement level is a karaoke bar.

Mahalo Cove, the Hawaiian themed place in Cascades Marketplace, Sterling (They have things like mahi mahi tacos, but I think this is more of a sports bar with a theme. I'm not sure how much of the food is all that Hawaiian--I'd call first.)

Island Delica-Seas in Fredericksburg

also, check out Hula Cafe in Falls Church (I think that's the name, it's next to the State Theater),
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:10 PM
 
429 posts, read 1,162,342 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
Tex-Mex is a legitimate regional variation of Mexican cuisine. Polynesian is not a recognized regional variation of Chinese. Now if you want to talk about SE Asian "Straits Chinese" that's another story.
Who decides what's a "legitimate" or "recognized" regional variation of a cuisine? This sounds a little like Calvin Ball to me...
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:23 PM
 
Location: Fairfax County
1,534 posts, read 3,724,890 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom55116 View Post
In New England there is a unique style of Chinese Food called "Polynesian Chinese".
Anyone who has lived in Mass has heard of this style of food.. It's crazy good..

Is there any place in Nova, DC, or within the Maryland Beltway that serves "Polynesian Chinese"?
I've been here since 1994 and haven't found one.

I knew of some in Massachusetts, though!

When headed to Tanglewood -- Luau Hale.
When in Sturbridge -- Kahula.
When headed along Route 3 in New Hampshire -- China Dragon.

Ahhh -- the memories!
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Old 07-31-2012, 11:14 PM
 
1,403 posts, read 2,150,468 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
Tex-Mex is a legitimate regional variation of Mexican cuisine. Polynesian is not a recognized regional variation of Chinese. Now if you want to talk about SE Asian "Straits Chinese" that's another story.
Although I would almost always prefer Straits Chinese food (Chinese recipes, Malay ingredients, common in Singapore and Malaysia, esp. around Penang) to Polynesian-Chinese or Hawaiian-Chinese food, the latter -- which is an outgrowth of early "Cantonese-American" food with a stop in Hawaii -- is as "legitimate" as any other type of fusion or invented cuisine.

I don't personally care for that type of food, but that doesn't make it any less "legitimate" than food served by Korean taco trucks so popular in SoCal now. Yes, CAVA1990, there is such a beast as Korean-Mexican food, a unique American invention.



Welcome to the melting pot, literally.

Speakin' of which, when is there going to be a Malaysian restaurant in NoVA? Now that I don't work on K Street, it's such a hassle to go to Malaysia Kopitiam that I stopped going altogether (besides, MK never served black pepper crab). Gosh, I'd almost kill for that now.

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Old 08-01-2012, 01:24 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,248,320 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta View Post
Speakin' of which, when is there going to be a Malaysian restaurant in NoVA? Now that I don't work on K Street, it's such a hassle to go to Malaysia Kopitiam that I stopped going altogether (besides, MK never served black pepper crab). Gosh, I'd almost kill for that now.
We've got Indonesian (Satay Sarinah) and Burmese (Myanmar) at dedicated spots but Malaysian seems to be just a part of larger menus at a couple of places in Alexandria (South China Restaurant on Mount Vernon Ave. and Asian Bistro on King St.).
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Old 08-01-2012, 01:36 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RamblingMan View Post
Who decides what's a "legitimate" or "recognized" regional variation of a cuisine? This sounds a little like Calvin Ball to me...
CAVA decides. The criterion I use for a legitimate regional varaiation is the food actually has to be local to one of the places referenced in the name. For example Tex Mex is actually eaten in Texas, Cal Mex in California, and Straits Chinese along the Strait of Malacca. Anything else like ILD's Korea Mex or Polynesian Chinese is just fusion food, which is a different culinary animal.
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Old 08-01-2012, 01:52 AM
 
1,403 posts, read 2,150,468 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
CAVA decides. The criterion I use for a legitimate regional varaiation is the food actually has to be local to one of the places referenced in the name. For example Tex Mex is actually eaten in Texas, Cal Mex in California, and Straits Chinese along the Strait of Malacca. Anything else like ILD's Korea Mex or Polynesian Chinese is just fusion food, which is a different culinary animal.
I hate to burst your bubbles, but all food is "fusion" food.

As someone else pointed out earlier, do you think South Asians were eating lamb vindaloo before the Portuguese traders showed up with capsicum (mirchi)? Can you imagine Korean Kimchi without it? Yet these cuisines in their earlier "authentic" forms looked nothing like what they do now.

There is no such thing as "legitimate" or "illegitimate" food. There is only food that is tasty to you or not.

Korean taco is a type of a food that is authentically American, particularly Southern Californian, something that represents the unique blend of demographic culinary conditions that exist in that area. Polynesian-Chinese is no different. It is a creature of its time and place.

Look, I generally hold my nose at what's often advertised as "fusion" food and look for more "authentic" offerings, but that's not because I am some sort of a food pedant. I just find that my palate runs more toward the spicy than sugary, and "fusion" stuff tends to run on the sugary side.
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Old 08-01-2012, 02:04 AM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,248,320 times
Reputation: 6920
Quote:
Originally Posted by IndiaLimaDelta View Post
I hate to burst your bubbles, but all food is "fusion" food.

As someone else pointed out earlier, do you think South Asians were eating lamb vindaloo before the Portuguese traders showed up with capsicum (mirchi)? Can you imagine Korean Kimchi without it? Yet these cuisines in their earlier "authentic" forms looked nothing like what they do now.

There is no such thing as "legitimate" or "illegitimate" food. There is only food that is tasty to you or not..
I didn't say it wasn't legitimate food. I said it wasn't a legitimate regional variation, unless you can show me that this New England Polynesian Chinese cuisine is local to Polynesia or China. This is more like someone in Polynesia putting wonton in clam chowder and calling it New England Chinese.
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Old 08-01-2012, 02:28 AM
 
1,403 posts, read 2,150,468 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990 View Post
I didn't say it wasn't legitimate food. I said it wasn't a legitimate regional variation, unless you can show me that this New England Polynesian Chinese cuisine is local to Polynesia or China. This is more like someone in Polynesia putting wonton in clam chowder and calling it New England Chinese.
I'd say 99% of what passes for "Chinese" food in the U.S. is not "local" to China. For that matter, I'd say 99% of what passes for "Chinese" food anywhere in the world is not "local" to China. Chinese food is renowned for its adaptation to local palates. I've had "Chinese" food in 50+ countries and they all taste different. Yet they are all cooked by the Chinese diaspora as was (at least initially) Polynesian-Chinese food.

I happen to love Indo-Chinese food (no, not Indochinese, as in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia -- although I love that type of food too) -- which is "Chinese" food Indians prepare and eat. It's not local to China either, but it exists and is an interesting variation of both Chinese and Indian culinary traditions.
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