In which I postulate that there are several general classes of Chinese restaurants in the New England area, of varying degrees of yumminess.
In order of my personal preference:
* Street Chinese — served with small plates and bowls, food is hot and comes out as soon as it’s off the wok, presentation is more informal and a little scary to non-Asians. But the food is the way you’d expect it to be, true to itself as much as it can be on the other side of the Pacific. Not overcooked, not inadvertently stewed or steamed, each dish with its own distinctive character. Usually you can get interesting vegetable dishes too. Sichuan Gourmet in Billerica. King Fung Garden, Taiwan Cafe in Chinatown.
Upscale Chinese — The places in Chinatown with the giant fish tanks, somewhat gaudy decorations, nicer tables with those round lazy susans on them. The kind of place you’d consider having a Chinese wedding banquet at if it’s big and fancy enough. May have a stage up front for announcements and karaoke. Food comes out fast. East Ocean City in Chinatown comes to mind.
Chinese Outpost — Far from a Chinese epicenter, small restaurants that haven’t fully let their menus be dominated by local tastes, serving up a few good dishes for their friends and “advanced” patrons. May actually have Chinese vegetables. Economically tough to sustain sometimes. South Garden in Merrimack, for example, which serves Dim-Sum in Southern New Hampshire.
Old Guard Pioneering Chinese — A cut above average, these are the places that introduced “real” Chinese food to America, away from Egg Foo Yung and Chow Mein in the 60s. Place like Joyce Chen (sadly gone) and Mary Chung’s near MIT were the leaders of a new movement in authenticity, and they cared. Although we ended up with things like Egg Rolls. Possibly places like China Pearl in Woburn, but I’m not sure how long it’s been around.
Upscale Chinese American — Conscientious use of architecture and decor, sometimes abstracted from authentic Chinese art and imagery. The waitstaff have uniforms, and food is presented somewhat artistically. However, food is in larger chunks (designed to be eaten with forks), breaded, sweetened, and foo-foo’d. American vegetables like peas and brocolli make an appearance, but the food is pleasant enough if you don’t mind everything tasting kind of the same. Bamboo is in this category. Chang Sho in Cambridge too, Lilac Blossom or Chen Yang Li in Nashua. Maybe even the chain P.F. Chang.
Chinese American — the run-of-the-mill Chinese place with a few formica tables, a standardized menu with highly Americanized dishes: General Tso’s Chicken, Sesame Beef, and a million variants thereof. Sometimes has a few good things, or a large buffet. Sugary, coated with flour, and deep fried. All created with variants of the standard “brown sauce flavors”: plum sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and chili sauce.
Polynesian Oriental — Egg Foo Yung, Chow Mein, BBQ Pork, Sweet Sour Pork, Pu Pu Platter! With a smoky bar and possibly a lounge scene, with tiny umbrellas in your drinks.
4 Comments
Nice taxonomy!
Given that your categories are a mixture of cuisine and environment, I would add another more modern category: fast food Chinese. But this might be more of an LA and Chicago phenomena. Don’t know about New England.
It comes in two varieties, both of which tend to serve your Chinese American fare on steam tables.
Mega chinese buffets are the Chinese equivalent of Old Country Buffets. Endless all you can eat steam tables! At some places you even find food bordering on Street Chinese.
And then there’s the McDonalds of Chinese Fast Food, places like Panda Express. Smaller restaurants, with more limited selections. Generally serving Chinese American, though sometimes approaching Upscale.
This might be pushing it, but there’s also the Pan Asian phenomenon. There are sub-varieties:
* The Pan Asian, or “all-you-people-look-alike-so-your-food-must-be-alike-too” restaurants. Japanese? Korean? Chinese? Thai? What’s the difference? And that attitude comes across in the food.
* And the second variation, the “If Yan can cook, I can!” restaurant, where some [pick your ethnicity] Chef decides they can serve up Asian cuisine. It has Chinese ingredients, and it sort of looks Chinese, but edibility and credibility lag behind. These are often also guilty of being Pan Asian.
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Nice post! Thanks Ben! You’re right that we have the buffets and the fast-food chinese.
For the buffet, there’s the Grand Buffet on Amherst St in Nashua…I actually go there sometimes to pick up some food by the pound of the Street Chinese variety (plus I like the crab rangoons…sue me!)
For fast food chinese, there’s the Mall. I never even think of it as actual chinese food, since it’s so horribly bad most of the time.
We have some Pan Asian restaurants too, but I chose not to include them. In Nashua, there’s the San Francisco Kitchen and the Vietnamese Noodle House. The latter isn’t Chinese really, but it’s damn good. San Francisco Kitchen I wasn’t too fond of when I visited. Up on exit 6 there’s YouYou, which I like a lot, but recently the place doesn’t quite seem as good as it used to be when it first opened.
Chinese Fusion is that second variety of Pan Asian, I think. Blue Ginger in Wellesley, for example (Ming Tsai’s restaurant). At least he’s Asian! :-)
Have you ever thought of assembling a group for a road trip & guided tour of various menu items? Most people like myself go to the Upscale Chinese American places, see some interesting dishes, but always default back to the same tired list of 3-4 regular choices.
Hey Dave,
Great Idea! That’ll be tomorrow’s post