How about crema then?
Ethnicity is what I like when I eat out
- Thread starter teleman1
- Start date
How about crema then?
Are they the same ones that flock to McDonald's at 6:45 AM?
There's a 6:45 in the morning?!
food is like amplifiers and guitars... with amps and guitars, we often hear with our eyes, with food, we often taste with our eyes too...
We've seen so many faux Cajun places, since Justin Wilson and Paul Prudhomme. My favorite "miss" was a sandwich shop in Glenwood Springs, CO. The guy insisted that po-boys don't have pickle on them, when they're dressed as usual. He went to considerable lengths to talk about his visits to South Louisiana, and went to dozens of places and etc. I think he spent all the money down on Iberville Street or maybe Dauphine, getting accustomed to the workers in gold sequins. I thought about trying harder, to set him straight, but he was getting so worked up about it! :^)
omahaaudio
Friend of Leo's
I'd say that you are REALLY overthinking it.
I liked it that way, when we could pick from 6 items, all $ 2.99 each at lunch and decent sized portions as well.
This kind of "Chinese" loses its luster these days, when the entree is $ 18.99. I delegate most Asian food choices to my Asian origin family members. They order in Mandarin or Cantonese, and huge amounts of food arrive at the table and somehow, the bill is smaller than it would be if I attempted the same. Wonderful, off the menu items - for once I can just relax and let someone else do the navigating.
When I eat Chinese food it’s authentic. Of course it helps that my wife grew up in Shanghai and learned how to cook from her mother. She knows all of the local Chinese restaurants so when we go out it’s always good
Today, this is true in a lot of places.
But I would say, growing up in the Great Lakes and New England states, and Ontario (CN) and its suburbs were the worst, you were lucky if you could find an Italian, Greek or Polish place. Otherwise you were seriously ruined. My ethnic background ( England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Normandy and so on ) when people fled from there to North America I guess, they brought nothing worth knowing with them and through the 1960s at least, acquired no useful knowledge about great food. Food, for them, was about sustaining the body. So you could work hard and study hard and all that. Places like Columbus, Ohio or Guelph, Ontario, my goodness the food was sad.
The transformation is getting there.
2HBStrat
Friend of Leo's
How is it a "ma and pa type place" if ma and pa aren't in the kitchen?
Which is it, guys? Lots of cars, or lots of people, means good, or lots of cars means bad? What about lots of cars in Olive Garden or Red Lobster parking lots...good, or bad?
When I was in southern Texas I had a roommate who was Mexican. He told me that if you want good Mexican food watch where the Mexicans go to eat. Made sense to me
Ma and Pa made the decisions as to what equipment to have, what ingredients to use (and what to turn away), what to put on the menu, what individuals to hire, and how to train them. They can instill their accumulated knowledge - I've seen a lot of it in New Orleans area eating places.
You have to lose all of that, to get down to Olive Garden. Baseball players don't hit a home run every at bat (or every game) and so all we're talking about here is averages. Even on a miserable night, the hand me down Ma and Pa place is gonna way surpass the Red Lobster on the opposite corner. Or, that's what I tend to find.
Dadzmad
Tele-Meister
I enjoy the midwestern small town Greek run restaurants. An orthodox icon or calendar behind the register usually gives this away. There will be a small offering of Greek style food somewhere on the menu - but the rest is what the locals want to eat along the lines of pork roast / mashed potatoes / gravy / green beans etc, and is always very well prepared. I am in CA now but can remember being in one of these places in WI a year or so ago - long afternoon shadows and 5 below outside - she brings you a big steaming plate of ham and scalloped potatoes that's to die for. I try to avoid ethnic generalizations, but the Greeks seem to know the restaurant business.
I'd say the folks at Red Lobster & Olive Garden are easily pleased. In other words, it doesn't take much to make them happy.
I'm okay with just about anything except for some types of meats- eel, raw fish, brains, snails, pigs' balls, tongues, etc. Much of that is mental. That said, I love hot dogs.
The best Mexican, Spanish, Caribbean, and Mediterranean foods I've ever eaten were in NOLA. I love most authentic and most Americanized. I love food.
The best Mexican, Spanish, Caribbean, and Mediterranean foods I've ever eaten were in NOLA. I love most authentic and most Americanized. I love food.
fjblair
Tele-Afflicted
There is a Mexican joint near me that has a sort of secret menu that only Mexicans know about. I didn't know about it until a Mexican friend told me about it.
I went from 125 pounds, to 155 the first 12 months I lived in New Orleans. Age 17. I just could not believe how much care and attention went into meals at simple lunch spots and po-boy places. And the seafood was ridiculously good and depending on the place, not expensive at all.
But I am worried about the quality of seafood that the restaurants can buy, down there. What with the hurricanes and oil spills (and the chemicals they spewed everywhere to contain the crude oil), our seafood is all messed up.
For now, you can find all the hotel employees and restaurant workers and everything relating to hospitality - the place is just swimming with people with the right skills and mindset. Now if by contrast you're looking for an engineer or an expert in animal husbandry or irrigation (or 100 other things) we don't have hardly any of those. So, the question is, how long can NOLA hang on if the seafood is just not there like it should be?
stephent2
Poster Extraordinaire
Yes, when I go out I want something I can't make (better) at home. Ethic food or local owned.
I can't make a Popeyes Fried Chicken sandwiches at home so every couple months that's my fast food fix.
I can't make a Popeyes Fried Chicken sandwiches at home so every couple months that's my fast food fix.
I divide Chinese food: take-away and the good stuff.
Take-away is classic Chinese-Canadian items. Our standard order from our local take-away is hot and sour soup, mushroom foo young and a tofu and veggie stir fry. Bought on a Friday night when we're too tired to cook.
When we're down in Vancouver, we will splurge and go to a nice Chinese restaurant, like a hot-pot place. Send fresh noods!
Take-away is classic Chinese-Canadian items. Our standard order from our local take-away is hot and sour soup, mushroom foo young and a tofu and veggie stir fry. Bought on a Friday night when we're too tired to cook.
When we're down in Vancouver, we will splurge and go to a nice Chinese restaurant, like a hot-pot place. Send fresh noods!
