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Sadly, I haven't had Chinese food in SF yet (Last time I went was w/a friend who simply isn't into Asian cuisine), but I was just in Vancouver, and was quite amazed at not only the sheer selection of all kinds of Asian restaurants, but also the quality of them.
For me personally, Vancouver is the best city I've been to for Chinese food (w/my second pick being New York), but I won't vote in the poll due to my lack of experience w/SF's options - which I imagine are in the same ballpark of awesome.
I think it should depend on the restaurant. The best Chinese food in the US or Canada could be a tiny shop in Abilene Texas, but the Chinese guy there can cook the Hell out of some chicken.
Hell he might even be a white or black guy but just knows the sauces.
I think it should depend on the restaurant. The best Chinese food in the US or Canada could be a tiny shop in Abilene Texas, but the Chinese guy there can cook the Hell out of some chicken.
Hell he might even be a white or black guy but just knows the sauces.
For some reason, this escapes people. Take off the homer glasses for one second, and ask yourself "what is the best thing I've ever eaten?" Half of the answers are "home cooked food". You think that the person who cooked your food becomes a different person once they move somewhere else? Nah? Ok then.
I think it should depend on the restaurant. The best Chinese food in the US or Canada could be a tiny shop in Abilene Texas, but the Chinese guy there can cook the Hell out of some chicken.
Hell he might even be a white or black guy but just knows the sauces.
So would you say that the best Italian food could be in Boise, Idaho? The best Mexican food in Portland, Maine? The best Thai food in Jackson, Mississippi?
Sure, it's possible, but very unlikely. What we're talking about here is both quality and quantity. The main factors are how competitive is the market for that particular cuisine, and what's the demand. Maybe by some freak occurrence Abilene has one of the best Chinese food chefs in the country, but the market for Chinese is so noncompetitive there and the demand is not very sophisticated, so the chances that one of the best Chinese restaurants in the country would exist there is slim to none. And even if it did we'd be talking about just one restaurant.
Vancouver and SF have hundreds of excellent Chinese restaurants that are all trying to outdo each other. The market is super competitive, which forces everyone to step up their game, and people in those cities have more sophisticated palettes and expectations for that type of cuisine. And of course it doesn't hurt that both cities have very high numbers of people of Chinese origin.
I think it should depend on the restaurant. The best Chinese food in the US or Canada could be a tiny shop in Abilene Texas, but the Chinese guy there can cook the Hell out of some chicken.
Hell he might even be a white or black guy but just knows the sauces.
But that would be a discussion about the best Chinese restaurant, which could be anywere in any city. But talking about a city with the best Chinese food means there are a bunch of options in a city where you can get a top notch eating experience, not just one great restaurant. But good food, different specialities and kinds of Chinese cuisines. One restaurant can’t do all that. And that's not going to be an undiscovered Chinese food scene in an undiscovered town. It’s going to be in a major city with 100K+ Chinese-American population with a hundred different types of Chinese restaurants.
The most reputable Chinese food I’ve experience is in LA, the only city in America where you can get a diverse representation of Chinese cuisine from over 20+ different regions of China, the most you can get anywhere outside of China, and much more diverse than Vancouver and SF. It’s the only scene that’s so rich, the conversation about food goes beyond Cantonese and Sichuan.
City proper wise, I doubt there's much of a difference and maybe Vancouver has a slight edge.
However, if we're factoring in the metro areas of both places, then I doubt any of the suburbs of the Bay Area can compete with Richmond and Burnaby(both more than 33% Chinese and major cities) on Chinese food.
Richmond, BC in particular is majority Chinese and has a reputation for possibly having the best Chinese food outside China.
I have yet to see Asian ethnoburbs or enclaves in the Bay like Millbrae, Fremont, Cupertino, or Oakland's Chinatown receive praise from the New York Times and Washington Post for their Chinese food scene.
Personally, I think the SGV is the strongest contender out of the 3, slightly above Vancouver.
The thing is: Chinese growth is bigger in Vancouver than SF. SF's Chinese population growth has been slowing down for quite some time, while it's Indian population has been on a steady rise. In Vancouver, literally the exact opposite is happening. More immigrants, especially high income immigrants, typically results in higher quality food from that group. Just look at the Japanese food boom in East Village in NYC from the wealthy expats there. It's hardly Honolulu but the food is pretty amazing for East Coast standards.
Also, you can't base the Chinese food off the Chinatowns in either city as both are the worst offerings you can get in either place, with some exceptions.
City proper wise, I doubt there's much of a difference and maybe Vancouver has a slight edge.
However, if we're factoring in the metro areas of both places, then I doubt any of the suburbs of the Bay Area can compete with Richmond and Burnaby(both more than 33% Chinese and major cities) on Chinese food.
Richmond, BC in particular is majority Chinese and has a reputation for possibly having the best Chinese food outside China.
I have yet to see Asian ethnoburbs or enclaves in the Bay like Millbrae, Fremont, Cupertino, or Oakland's Chinatown receive praise from the New York Times and Washington Post for their Chinese food scene.
Personally, I think the SGV is the strongest contender out of the 3, slightly above Vancouver.
The thing is: Chinese growth is bigger in Vancouver than SF. SF's Chinese population growth has been slowing down for quite some time, while it's Indian population has been on a steady rise. In Vancouver, literally the exact opposite is happening. More immigrants, especially high income immigrants, typically results in higher quality food from that group. Just look at the Japanese food boom in East Village in NYC from the wealthy expats there. It's hardly Honolulu but the food is pretty amazing for East Coast standards.
Also, you can't base the Chinese food off the Chinatowns in either city as both are the worst offerings you can get in either place, with some exceptions.
Richmond is now at 52.5 percent, and yes that makes for some great food.
I've only been to SF once and live in Vancouver, but what impresses me about Vancouver Chinese cuisine is the level of sub-provincial cuisines that are represented here; it's not just wonton noodle shops, bbq pork and Shanghai anymore, but you can likely find a restaurant for various different regions of China and their tastes. Very diverse. SF though, if I'm not mistaken is really the ultimate authority on Canton & Banquet style Chinese cuisine, and perhaps has much better modern style Chinese cooking represented.
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