Chinese Food "by the scoop"?

[Booboo's Auntie]

As with any (chinese) restaurant you have to be careful, but I thought they were pretty tasty ... GREAT crab & cheese wontons. The one on Washington just south of 104th used to be a Ho-Ho's back in the day. There aren't many around anymore.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by superorb

We just moved to Thornton from North Carolina, and we were curious when we passed two Chinese joints that had signs advertising $1.25 per scoop or $1.15 per scoop. Is that just an ice cream scoop of food?

There is no such item as a standard ice cream scoop. Commercial scoops are sized and numbered by the amount of portions per quart. So, a size 8 is 8 portions per quart or 4 fluid oz. A size 12 is 12 portions per quart or 2.6 oz. Sizes vary from 2 to 60 depending on the manufacturer. Many manufacturers color code the handle to indicate size and some do not. Some portions sizes are just printed on the movable scraper.

Size gradients also apply to ladles and spoons, generally in cups, sizes depending on the manufacturer.

All utensils and glasses used in food and bar service are sized, either in standard gradients or made specific for the end user.

Many people talk about a shot of whiskey. There is no special size for a shot, as shot glasses come in different sizes. They can vary from 1 to 4 oz. They can be marked with a line to indicate the fill size or unmarked. Size difference are also available to be purchased for the pour spouts for the bottle.

One example of a bar deception is to line mark the glass where it holds 1 oz. but the glass to the rim holds 1 and 1/4 oz. The bartender is instructed to pour to the rim which is 1 1/4 oz. The customer, in seeing the line, thinks he is getting more than he should and the bartender is generous. The customer is happy and he tips more and he comes back. However, the drink is really priced at the rim portion, not the line, so the customer is getting what he should.

So, the same size deception is practiced by food by the scoop, either ice cream or Chinese food. The smart operator scoops ice cream, packs the scoop higher and the customer thinks he is getting more, but that is what the portion is priced at to sell. Also, he has many sizes of scoops. The Chinese scoop guy can use any scoop, change at will and you think that one scoop is the same as another--wrong.

I started to use that same idea when I served Federal workers, in DC., in a government cafeteria. They were always complaining that they were not getting a correct amount of soup ladled in a cup. Some wanted it to the rim (there are always some greedy people), which was difficult for the line server as the hot soup would splash out of the cup when moving it to the customer. So, I bought larger cups with a big dark line a few inches down from the top. I instructed the servers to ladle above the line but not so high to the rim, so as not to have the dangerous splashing. The federal workers thought they were getting more and were happy, but they did not know I priced the portion 1/2 inch above the line, not at the line.

This idea of what a customer perceives as a portion and how you size it, can be used in all food items, either plated food or liquids. It is not always deceptions. Some customers want to fee that they are cheating you or that they are getting more or that they are special customers. It does not matter, give the customer that which makes him feel good; but know how to make money and laugh all the way to the bank.

Livecontent

[JBPisgah]

Nothing weird, just a filling lunch for under three bucks. When I was in Taiwan I used to get lunch the same way. Some places are better than others. As livecontent says, the scoop's just a food service spoon. Two scoops is a full meal for me.

[superorb]

I love, I mean LOVE Chinese food. I don't care if they scoop it with Dixie cups. I still haven't gone in to try them yet though.

[westcoastbabe]

Originally Posted by superorb

We just moved to Thornton from North Carolina, and we were curious when we passed two Chinese joints that had signs advertising $1.25 per scoop or $1.15 per scoop. Is that just an ice cream scoop of food?

hey just curious, how are things going for you since you moved from NC.?...Do you miss it?..Currently in Charlotte and considering Denver?

[superorb]

Originally Posted by westcoastbabe

hey just curious, how are things going for you since you moved from NC.?...Do you miss it?..Currently in Charlotte and considering Denver?

The only thing I miss from NC is some food spots, and that a lot of the areas are a lot newer. The roads were a lot better too.

But we love it here. We came for the mountains and climate.

[DenverBrian]

Mr. Panda on Arapahoe Road was pretty good for a while, then declined, then changed names, then closed. I think that building was originally built as a Red Lobster.

I wonder if it's just the way the tongue wraps oddly around the word "scoop" that has some people up in arms over "by the scoop" Chinese places. Maybe it's an idea for a new Chinese place: Advertise "30 cents/oz." and maybe that changes things?

[superorb]

Originally Posted by DenverBrian

Mr. Panda on Arapahoe Road was pretty good for a while, then declined, then changed names, then closed. I think that building was originally built as a Red Lobster.

I wonder if it's just the way the tongue wraps oddly around the word "scoop" that has some people up in arms over "by the scoop" Chinese places. Maybe it's an idea for a new Chinese place: Advertise "30 cents/oz." and maybe that changes things?

Scoop is a mental thing. I was arguing with my wife about this. She said she'd never go to a by the scoop place. I asked her what those things were called that they put on her plate at the Chinese restaurants with big spoons. She mumbled something and left the room

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by DenverBrian

Mr. Panda on Arapahoe Road was pretty good for a while, then declined, then changed names, then closed. I think that building was originally built as a Red Lobster.

I wonder if it's just the way the tongue wraps oddly around the word "scoop" that has some people up in arms over "by the scoop" Chinese places. Maybe it's an idea for a new Chinese place: Advertise "30 cents/oz." and maybe that changes things?

The word "scoop" is used because in the American mind it is associated with ice cream which denotes pleasure. As I said before, scoops can be sized so to allow costs to be maintained.

In many institutional food service, military food rations, and internment centers, food is served by a approximate measure by a sized ladle or scoop. Food was prepared for specific portions and so was allocated to divide the batch accordingly.

Selling food by the oz. would have you decided, as the consumer, whether you are buying fluid oz. or dry oz. Water is cheap and can be sold for big profits to the unwary.

Of course, in "scoops", since volume is the perceived value, air is very cheap and can be a big profit when it is whipped into the food to increase volume.

You can be deceived by many ways. It is so exciting to rob and be thought as giving value--the motto of capitalism.

Well, what can I say? American must be getting much of "value" because we are are getting fatter, and water and air have no calories.

Livecontent