You'll usually find that the Italian, Chinese, Thai, or any other ethnic food you eat is nothing at all like what is actually cooked in Italy, China, or Thailand. Having lived in Japan for a number of years now, I have to laugh at what is called “Japanese” food in America or Europe. The sushi in many places is made by Vietnamese or Koreans, and not very authentic even if it is not that bad.
Ethnicity is what I like when I eat out
- Thread starter teleman1
- Start date
ma and pa are out front greeting and seating, leading and training. I'm not a literalist.
Rosi's Little Bavarian is awesome in Glenwood...
The italian underground is also good there...
as for arguing about sammiches... if the guy is passionate, he'll learn.
I’ve had spaghetti with meat sauce at practically every Italian restaurant I’ve been to, and it never compares to my Mom’s, not even close. It’s pathetic, really, because my Mom wasn’t even Italian.
Most restaurants, Mom and Pop or not, try to give you as much cheap pasta as possible, as little ground beef as possible, and as little flavor as can sate and trick the spenders into paying too much for barely acceptable food and service.
It didn’t used to be like this, but I know why. The Suck Factor is being homogenized in every nook and cranny it can find, peppering the parking lots of fertile strip malls that won’t stop devouring and ruining all the great little haunts.
Most restaurants, Mom and Pop or not, try to give you as much cheap pasta as possible, as little ground beef as possible, and as little flavor as can sate and trick the spenders into paying too much for barely acceptable food and service.
It didn’t used to be like this, but I know why. The Suck Factor is being homogenized in every nook and cranny it can find, peppering the parking lots of fertile strip malls that won’t stop devouring and ruining all the great little haunts.
I like what I like, and don't care what anyone else thinks about what I like. Example, I like Chinese food sort of. We've been going to the same place since combination dinner was about three bucks, now it's around forty-five bucks. Still go there once in a while, because I like the pork chow Mein with soft noodles (hate those pretzel things they put in some chow Mein) I want me some barbecue ribs, some pork fried rice, pineapple chicken sticks, and fried battered shrimp. I like to start off with some tea, and egg flower soup.
I don't care whether it's authentic Chinese cuisine or not, it's what I like to eat. You can keep them dead snails, and monkey heads, I'll just take what I like, and leave them octopus to you that like authentic.
Some Italian place in London. It was decent, but the window display was way more exciting than the food. 
I say likewise.
wangdaning
Tele-Holic
Because no matter what they will be cutting corners, using the cheapest materials available, and adding a bunch of chemicals to make the shelf life of their ingredients longer. The same might be true for smaller places, but it is not an absolute. With the corporate franchises it is absolute. Everything will be full of chemicals and mass produced. Think of all the huge franchises that were found to be using yoga mat chemicals in their breads.
wangdaning
Tele-Holic
While I agree, I do want to mention something, at least with regard to Chinese food. American Chinese food specifically, would be better labelled as Chinese diaspora food. It is not that it is not authentic or Chinese, it is that Chinese have been in the US for a couple hundred years and the availability of Chinese ingredients has not been a thing until relatively recently. They had to substitute ingredients, for example broccoli beef is a thing, it is just in China it is made with a different plant. Also, food evolves in any area over time, so the popular cuisine from 100-200 years ago is not what is popular today. Especially after events of the last century in mainland China, dietary habits have changed a lot.
2HBStrat
Friend of Leo's
I'll have to admit that's a new one on me.
Knows3Chords
Tele-Afflicted
There is a Pizza shop near us that has been family owned since I was a little kid. The owner comes out and says hello to every table and asks how everything is. It's crazy busy on Friday and Saturday nights, but he still makes it to every table.
aging_rocker
Poster Extraordinaire
Beware of those 'authentic ethnic isn't it' Welsh restaurants claiming to sell Laverbread (Bara Lawr) outside of the country.
This wholesome dish is essentially just seaweed on toast, but it has to be the proper type of Laver seaweed, so unless you are within an area close to the west coast of Wales (or the east coast of Ireland) then it is unlikely to be the real deal.
It is necessary to slow cook or simmer the seaweed on low heat for several hours. Once the seaweed has become a gooey dark pulp, you can season it with some olive oil and lemon juice and spread it on a thick slice of toast, and et voila - Laverbread.
Yum yum...especially when washed down with several pints of Brains.
This wholesome dish is essentially just seaweed on toast, but it has to be the proper type of Laver seaweed, so unless you are within an area close to the west coast of Wales (or the east coast of Ireland) then it is unlikely to be the real deal.
It is necessary to slow cook or simmer the seaweed on low heat for several hours. Once the seaweed has become a gooey dark pulp, you can season it with some olive oil and lemon juice and spread it on a thick slice of toast, and et voila - Laverbread.
Yum yum...especially when washed down with several pints of Brains.
JustinHartm
NEW MEMBER!
I agree completely. If I want to eat food from a specific culture, I want the authentic taste, the spices and the ingredients that are traditionally used in that country.
Nothing wrong with wanting to support small family businesses, but I'm not sure you need to bring ethnicity into it, and I'm not sure that being of an ethnic group, necessarily brings a certain sort of "culture" to the food, and I'm not sure I like all the implications that attaching ethnicity to certain "culture" might bring.
(I was wrong about that) I didn't read the 8 pages of posts that have been going on for days in this thread too.
Sure.
But, the thing is, this "kinda" Thai or Japanese or Italian or Chinese food is so often, way better than what you might get at an adjacent American style restaurant.
I think the danger is gonna be, some restaurants will dilute what essence their food has. I've been out to eat in South Louisiana a few times this past week and there's almost no local seafood to be found. Lack of good, fresh ingredients, when this happens, no amount of ethnic flavor can cover for it.
Respectfully, I think you may have misunderstood where Teleman1 was coming from. I know of quite a few of these family restaurants where the family is of mixed heritage. Some German but also some Philippine. Some French but also some Moroccan. Some Chinese but also some plain jane USA background. I think it has to do with being a genuine family, and also the extra love that goes into the food.
So many of the old New Orleans restaurants have this thing going. If the people in back have been working there for 12, 15 years average, you're going to be just fine.
I love these kinds of places. Reminds me of "Vic's" in Reynoldsburg, which could still be the best pizza I have ever tasted.
Oh, and "Vic"? He was German. :^)
at several of our family gatherings, someone will make 'key lime' pie and it is widely celebrated and cheered. I asked the 'baker' how he procured his key limes and he said, 'ass naw, I just got some limes' and the pie, while 'pretty good for a home cook who is in his 20's' was not key lime pie like i have enjoyed in florida and up the east coast where they flew in key limes.
most folks say that cooking vegetables that long eliminates the nutritional content. Authentic often offers a lot of room for discussion.
slauson slim
Poster Extraordinaire
A few years ago in Hollywood my wife wanted Persian food for dinner. With lots of Iranians in LA there are many choices.
I did some online snooping and found a place within walking distance of our hotel with many good reviews. Such as cooking as good as my mother’s, best in LA, and just like eating in the home country.
We went, it was a small non-descript family place - 15-20 seats - in a strip mall. Some Iranian families were dining, a good sign. Husband seated us and took our order, wife behind the cash register and teenage children brought the food and bussed. The dinner was very good, and inexpensive, and my wife was complimentary of the meal to the owners, the real deal.
On the way out we passed a door to the kitchen, from which emanated Mexican Banda music. We stuck our heads around the corner and said “hola!“ to the two Mexican cooks and told them in Spanish that we liked the food. They grinned and said muchas gracias.
I was at the Berghoff German restaurant in Chicago a couple of years ago and all the cooks and kitchen staff were Mexican.
I did some online snooping and found a place within walking distance of our hotel with many good reviews. Such as cooking as good as my mother’s, best in LA, and just like eating in the home country.
We went, it was a small non-descript family place - 15-20 seats - in a strip mall. Some Iranian families were dining, a good sign. Husband seated us and took our order, wife behind the cash register and teenage children brought the food and bussed. The dinner was very good, and inexpensive, and my wife was complimentary of the meal to the owners, the real deal.
On the way out we passed a door to the kitchen, from which emanated Mexican Banda music. We stuck our heads around the corner and said “hola!“ to the two Mexican cooks and told them in Spanish that we liked the food. They grinned and said muchas gracias.
I was at the Berghoff German restaurant in Chicago a couple of years ago and all the cooks and kitchen staff were Mexican.
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