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I 100% agree. It puzzles me how one can lump Thai or Cambodian or Korean in with Chinese. If one is seeking the best Italian food, would you go recommend an Irish pub simply because they have Chicken Parm on the menu?
Don't be puzzled, you're probably right. I'm not a foodie & haven't been in a Chinese-only restaurant or had Chinese food in 40 years myself. So I went another direction to relate. Just relaying hearsay from others I've dined with - who ordered Chinese food - at Apsara & 4 Seasons restaurants. However, I recommend the Cambodian Nime Chow with peanut sauce at both places.
My frame of reference for Chinese in North America is west coast US, Vancouver, and Toronto. You get regional Chinese cuisine rather than New England strip mall General Gao's, Orange Beef, etc. Dim sum lunch with the carts. Taiwanese places. There are 8 main regional Chinese cuisines. In a city with a large Chinese population, you go to a Sichuan place or a Shandong place or a Fujian place.
I'm OK with strip mall Chinese occasionally but it's about as authentic as Olive Garden is representative of regional Italian cuisine.
My frame of reference for Chinese in North America is west coast US, Vancouver, and Toronto. You get regional Chinese cuisine rather than New England strip mall General Gao's, Orange Beef, etc. Dim sum lunch with the carts. Taiwanese places. There are 8 main regional Chinese cuisines. In a city with a large Chinese population, you go to a Sichuan place or a Shandong place or a Fujian place.
I'm OK with strip mall Chinese occasionally but it's about as authentic as Olive Garden is representative of regional Italian cuisine.
Funny cartoon, but even "Chinese" should be broken down into regional cuisines to be accurate (like Cheng Du Taste in Pawtucket for Szechuan).
Apsara isn't pan-Asian, though; it's Cambodian. If you get "Chinese" food there, it's Cambodian style Chinese food and is different. From another perspective, I had a Laotian coworker once describe the now-closed Dragon 2000 as bad because "it's Chinese Chinese, not Laotian Chinese."
There was a documentary on Netflix called The Search for General Tso (not sure if it's on Netflix anymore) where the filmmakers try to find the origin of General Tso's chicken. They went into the history of Chinese food in America and how it evolved. I found it pretty interesting.
Funny cartoon, but even "Chinese" should be broken down into regional cuisines to be accurate (like Cheng Du Taste in Pawtucket for Szechuan).
Apsara isn't pan-Asian, though; it's Cambodian. If you get "Chinese" food there, it's Cambodian style Chinese food and is different. From another perspective, I had a Laotian coworker once describe the now-closed Dragon 2000 as bad because "it's Chinese Chinese, not Laotian Chinese."
What is Laotian Chinese anyway? From what I know many of the storefront Chinese joints in RI are Laotian owned, could that be why it's butchered so bad? Not pointing fingers here, just trying to get to the bottom of it.
Oh and btw. when I say RI has some of the worst, I am also talking SE Mass. Same twist.
I'm afraid it applies to all of New England...even Boston's Chinatown is a bit lacking.
At least you can get adequate Dim Sum lunch with carts. I hear that the building housing Hei La Moon outside the gate is getting knocked down to erect the next tower. It will be brutal getting into China Pearl.
Northeast RI has some good ones. Asia Grille in Lincoln and Fortune House in Cumberland.
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