8 Chinese Restaurant Secrets Revealed

[@MsJoaniePH]

I live in an area that has a lot of Chinese areas -- which is where I go when I want Chinese food. The first thing I look at is which restaurants have the most Chinese going into them. I do not care if the place needed redecoration 20 years ago as long as it smells clean and the ingredients are fresh and well prepared. I also look to see what the Chinese are eating and order accordingly. So far, this has gotten me some very interesting and delicious meals.

[@lisetteem588]

that's not really true. ive seen asian ppl in crappy places. remmeber there is over a billion chinese....

[@dcseain]

For years, I worked nights. I'd stop at a Chinese restaurant often for carryout. I never looked at the menu, I just walked in and asked for what I wanted. One day, a younger person greeted me and tried to take my order, but apparently what I wanted was not on the menu. I felt a bit foolish, but asked her for someone who spoke Mandarin, since I don't know the English names for the dishes. They rock.

[@leafster1337]

cool

[@StephenHutchison]

When I was a kid and my Grandmother owned a restaurant, I "got" to work there for free too. Mostly to keep me out from underfoot. They couldn't pay wages because it was illegal, but family members were allowed to work together. Such a helpful labor law that was.

[@leafster1337]

i think nowadays (in ca) children over 13(?) can work and be paid by their family business and agricultural work without work permits, but there’s a cap to daily hours and weekly hours worked. i think they ought to get rid of all these child labor laws...playing too many video games and not socializing...unfortunately i would know

[@TheSaneHatter]

I know all about the "barter" phenomenon: I worked as a cashier at a Chinese place, and I remember, once or twice, a guy from Papa John's trading a pizza for some Chinese.

[@azshaw123]

You have got to like this guy...Very honest and funny with it!!......Just subbed.

[@Xcorgi]

You are the king of all foodies. Every time I watch one of your videos I end up starving. I need to learn to eat BEFORE I watch them from now on! LOL!

[@greyeaglem]

I know. My monitor has chopstick dents all over it.

[@dwightturner3070]

Congrats on 1-million subs!!🎈

[@marshsundeen]

There is also a restaurant in Beijing that is Americanized Chinese. It is attracts westerners that miss their American Chinese Food.

[@bruisr]

I was ordering Chinese takeout once and it was kinda late so the owners were clearing the tables. These were the huge round tables you normally see and they had tablecloths underneath the round glass. Well there was a kid (maybe 13 years old) trying to lift the glass and it shatters. An older woman comes out (presumably, his grandma) and starts yelling at him, not caring that his hands were pouring blood everywhere.

[@strictlydumpling]

thorner. yea sounds about right

[@PreservationEnthusiast]

Very true to life. Chinese value money and status over anything else.

[@DarthSinistris]

+thorner. Pretty standard.

[@Leeszus]

yuuuup

[@karennisay]

+heelfan1234 not exactly its just some people not all

[@SCarboni]

Its funny because fortune cookies are served in Chinese Restaurants but were created by Japanese guy in San Francisco.

[@PreservationEnthusiast]

This is typical of USA restaurant culture. They have a special dumbed down and bastardised version to serve to the American public. The American people are so insular and lacking in knowledge of other cultures, they think that's what actually happens overseas.

[@kungfuninja55]

I understand the point about knowing the staff. At least as well as I can without being asian. My ex was Japanese and her father loved cooking and had even owned a restaurant in the past. The food he made was incredible and nothing has ever compared to it.

[@jessiebloodshot5877]

My dad got kicked out of a Chinese all you can eat buffet because the owners spouse said "you eat too much" I thought it was pretty funny.

[@michellexlin]

So true! Most of the workers at my parent's restaurant eat the buffet food for lunch though because it's more convenient but we do have the secret authentic dinner when we're about to close. This late customer once saw me with the food and she basically attacked me with questions about what it was, where we got it, and how dare we didn't serve it on the buffet but were eating it for ourselves.

[@HashNOMore]

That joke at the end tho cracked me up!😂😂

[@moshimoshiusa]

I'm Chinese and was called LauWai once in Shanghai. I was visiting relatives and my family is from HK. So we conversed in Cantonese. When the taxi driver heard me not speaking in Mandarin, he referred me as the LauWai to another local person. Yes they do talk about you right in from of your face. And yes I soeak Mandarin. But family conversation usually happens in canto.

[@reaganli1254]

Even if you speak Mandarin in Shanghai, you will be looked upon as an outsider. Since you are not speaking shanghainese, they will assume that.

[@Finalsabre]

Loved this! You should definitely upload more content like this too! :D

[@strictlydumpling]

Sim Sam yea I want to :-)

[@supyoo207]

this is restaurants in general, not chinese secrets. trading food with other establishments, cooks cooking ethnic foods for employees dinner, nicknames for all the regular customers. ect

[@LCTriad]

if you cannot get into the "after hours diner"..heres another tip to get authentic chinese food. find a NON-buffet chinese restaurant, that has a menu book. most of the time, those menus are still american-chinese dishes, not real chinese dishes. but! some are...especially in metro cities. If the menu book in a NON-buffet restaurant has some dishes on the last pages in chinese, then those are the real authentic dishes. so, just target nonbuffet chinese restaurants and youll soon find authentic dishes.

[@reaganli1254]

This is very difficult to do if you don't live in a major metropolitan area. Majority of the income from Chinese restaurants comes from non-chinese customers. Because real Chinese will cook themselves, thus the restaurants have to make up american chinese food to cater the customers.

[@greyeaglem]

Now I'm paranoid about what my nick name is. Probably "Fat Person Who Holds Their Chopsticks Funny." I had several people try to show me the right way to hold chopsticks, and they finally concluded that I just can't do it. I have my own slight variation that works fine. Took me years to figure out that part of the problem is I'm left-handed with chopsticks, right-handed with a fork.

[@GrondGrondGrondGrond]

Your nickname will probably be "Chopstick". I have 2 nicknames at the Chinese I work, they are "no-veg" because I order no veg meals a lot, and the other is "Chilli-chips" because I always have sweet-chilli sauce with my chips.

[@ObadiahtheSlim]

#5 isn't a strict rule. My mom (not Chinese) worked at a Chinese resturant owned and run by a Chinese woman and her brothers. Her job? Cashier.

[@1MissEllyLove]

You and The Food Ranger should team up! I would so watch that and I bet you guys would have fun trying to out-spice each other. I think he might love hot chili oil almost as much as you do. Heck, make it you two showing Andrew Zimmern around China and Travel Channel would have a winning show. Thanks for all the great recipes and insights! I'm so excited to know, thanks to you, that black vinegar is that flavor I love in dipping sauce so much.

[@chwoonie]

I've never been to a Chinese restaurant/buffet where they smile. They always have this "bothered" look... So, that's like everywhere; not just nyc

[@king0vitrial]

they call me pig at the local panda express. I don't mind, I work security so I come in dressed like a cop sometimes after work.

[@leafster1337]

maybe they dont know it’s a pretty bad insult

[@DiveMaiden1]

I've never flagged down a server to ask what the fortune meant. Actually, I prefer almond cookies to fortune cookies. One carry out place I ordered from when I lived on the mainland I was so addicted to their almond cookies, I would order 5 at a time. If I had a nickname, it was probably some variant of pig.

[@ruike-anders]

wow funny video! love all your food adventures! I've tried a lot of the dishes and it brings back tons of nostalgia of Beijing and Xi'an

[@strictlydumpling]

Eric Anderson Thanks :-)

[@Barnekkid]

Secret #9: if you speak the language you automatically get 15% off your bill.

[@Barnekkid]

l2noob4ul Told to me by an old pake man.

[@Cloud-db6zb]

+Barnekkid I wished it was like that

[@JustADudeWithAnUnnecessaryName]

+l2noob4ul depends the restaurant. And trust me I've actually tested this theory with a few friends (two of whom are Asian, one of who is Chinese) me and one other of my white friends went to a restaurant, ordered, aye, left. Then we got my two Asian friends to go in and order the exact same dishes and all, identical meals. Except my Chinese friend ordered speaking Mandarin. Not only was the meal cheaper, they didn't add tax to the bill.

[@reaganli1254]

@@JustADudeWithAnUnnecessaryName The tax part you can do in many restaurants if you pay in cash. Its not a Chinese thing.

[@rohankamath88]

Wow I'd complete forgotten about this video from way back when. How far you've come since then, Mikey! Super proud of you dude.

[@flowerchica01]

The trading thing is so true!! I used to work at a Starbucks and we had a Japanese restaurant next to us. We'd trade drinks and food for from Starbucks for stuff from their place all the time! And if we wanted discounts we'd just bring drinks 😂😂😂

[@demi-fiendoftime3825]

Emy XD it probably depends on the managers and what they're willing to accept

[@Triumvirate888]

This explains so... much... stuff. Also, are you as picky about authentic American food, as you are about authentic Chinese food? Like, if you go to a carnival and get a corn dog, do you get annoyed when the corn dog uses that nasty sweet yellow cornbread, rather than the white savory cornbread? Or when you go to the movies, do you order that nasty popcorn that has all the petroleum fake-butter on it? Or do you pop your own and bring it?

[@strictlydumpling]

Triumvirate888 um...I think just with Chinese food because I'm not an expert in other cuisines

[@janetseidlitz5976]

I like Chinese American food, Italian American food, and Mexican American food. "Real" American food is subjective. Like Chinese people thinking McDonalds is American food. Well they are right. It is a little part of us. I think we should celebrate some of the world's great food fusions.

[@petrfrizen6078]

The insider information on the nutritional exchange!

[@RuneChaosMarine]

i would like you to do a video in chinese and subtitles in english.

[@willrichards7654]

5:28 You still Lo Wai! Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!! Made my day!

[@IceCream1506]

HAHAHAHAH being a restaurant kid myself I can definitely agree on everything Mike said :P

[@strictlydumpling]

IceCream1506 we should start a support group :P

[@amainobi]

I'm half Filipino and was raised on a few traditional dishes, as well as...you guessed it, fried rice. I remember eating it for breakfast during a visit to the Philippines, which was odd to me as a young child since I was used to typical American breakfast foods. My restaurant nickname would probably be something like "broccoli beef girl" or "eggdrop rangoon".

[@strictlydumpling]

schadenSchell lol ...no broccoli

[@MrDoomGuy93]

#2 Is pretty true in my case. When I was a kid, my folks and I became friends with the owner of the local buffet and she shared a lot with us. She shared some mooncake with us, taught me to not bombard my hot tea with so much sugar (now I don't use any) and she taught me how to use chopsticks, though we never went to any after hours meal. God, I miss that woman.

[@aedr04]

Well, here's to giving the benefit of the doubt in hoping that whatever nickname my local Chinese spot has probably given me, has more to do with what I usually order as opposed to something racist or offensive to how I look.

[@Belmont-sw4bu]

Anyone up for some City Wok

[@jbooks888]

My nickname would be Fatso T-Bone

[@mirazchowdhury1172]

nice akon

[@Yaya-nc2eh]

Aww! 🙂

[@the-chillian]

There's nothing especially Chinese about a restaurant-owning family using their children for free labor. They all do that, regardless of ethnicity. I have a Chinese online friend living in Toronto who _hates_ his family's cooking, and actually prefers Westernized food when he can get it. They don't own a restaurant, mind you, so maybe his mom is just a lousy cook.

[@reaganli1254]

No, the kid is white washed. Just wait until he gets older, they always come back to their roots.

[@jmarylastone]

oh my gosh - I can only imagine what they call me and husband at the local Chinese restaurant - been going there for 15 years - if you go at the right time they set up a table for the workers and bring out some strange looking stuff to eat

[@sionglooi8170]

Haha having worked for my parents restaurant when i was 12-14 and then a few years later for another chinese restaurant owner for 9 yrs in Australia, most of that stuff is true (except for the fortune cookie cos we do use them here). SO true we almost never eat anything on the menu :D

[@lemcrowell6sonkayden429]

Mike you you're the coolest guy on KZbin I'm glad I came across to you and your videos

[@Hurricanelive]

Great! Great! Awesome!

[@fordhouse8b]

I have heard many times before about chinese peopke not eating the type of food served in their own restaurants because it is not "authentic." My question is always, so what? That pizza the Domino's guy is delivering isn't auhentically Italian either. If you can enjoy every other variety of Americanized food, why can't you enjoy Americanized Chinese food? Hawaiians love spam, certainly not a indigenous product. I love Hawaiian pizza, and I certainly hope every Italian out there ca enjoy it too, without feeling like they are desecrating their pizza with pineapples. I don't get your seeming prejudice against broccoli. It might not be a vegetable that is used much in China, but if I go to any well stocked modern supermarket, it will be full of a vast variety of produce that isn't traditional to that particular country or region. I even hear Taco Bell is very successful in Mexico. Oh, and I love your channel!

[@jenllyfish]

I think it's not the actual food that matters, it's its cultural link in the eye of a foreign. Many foreigners think that broccoli and fortune cookies are Chinese food, which clearly aren't, yet they are food that Chinese restaurants serve, creating this cultural confusion that real Chinese customers like Mike and myself sometimes find really annoying. But really, Chinese people do that to get more foreign customers

[@strictlydumpling]

fordhouse8b lol then you my friend prob never had authentic Chinese food...it will render "americanized" chinese food inedible

[@Kiwi_Tea]

I love broccoli

[@yukaa16]

once you go authentic you can never go back, everything else just tastes ...wrong.

[@leyingzhou]

It's honestly not about different styles of cooking, but the superiority from one to the other. When you eat authentic Chinese foods, it's like giving your tougue a nice n wet blowjob where the americanized Chinese foods is more like a slap to the face....

[@gioganeshramos8481]

I used to work at a couple Americanized Chinese restaurants so that's how I got introduced to Chinese cooking. both Americanized and authentic. my dad's gf is from China and she even further taught me the art of authentic Sichuan cooking. I don't even like the Americanized stuff anymore whenever I crave authentic Chinese food I just make it at home. but in my experience at the Chinese restaurants I worked at #1 you left out how unsanitary and disgusting the kitchens are. 2 of the restaurants I worked at had roaches. and then at the end of the day we always ate the same beef curry. it was good but I got tired of it after awhile

[@kennykwong1028]

+gio ramos My dad had three chinese restaurants. Not one roach or rat. Our meals werent the same thing over and over again. At one restaurant I worked at I remember some of teh staff or owners would buy groceries from china town or their garden specifically for the staff to eat.

[@jeremyteo1591]

Last one was hilarious, hahaha.

[@oreo1263]

I’ve been helping out my family restaurant since I was in 2nd grade and let’s just say I usually don’t finish all my school work on time because my parents always make us work and when it’s busy, we won’t even be able to get any of the work done... I’m 15 now and considered the manager of the restaurant since I know almost of the recipes and help out in the kitchen. My parents always say that school comes first then the restaurant second, but I feel like they never cared because if the restaurant starts getting busy, we drop our school work and we usually get home at around midnight and I have to wake up at 6 in the morning to prepare for high school.

[@leafster1337]

you’ll be glad to have worked so hard and learned so much. things will look easy in the future and you won’t crumble so easily. it’s cliche, but i envy what you have now and wish i could’ve had something similar

[@alvincay100]

Chinese Restaurant Secret revealed: Hispanic people are cooking your Chinese food (at least in Southern California).

[@itrthho]

In the U.S, several Chinese restaurants were sued for discrimination in the 90's because they only hired those of Chinese descent. After that, non Chinese started getting hired and that is why your Chinses food is now being cook by Mexicans.

[@giggles2302]

George McGovern Yep, this is true. In high school (80s), this girl (Hispanic) tried getting a job at a Chinese owned ice cream parlor and was told, "We only hire Oriental."

[@nanoflower1]

***** Yes, there's no reason why anyone can't make good and even authentic food so long as someone knowledgeable is watching over the new guys to make sure they do it right. I still remember a show from Anthony Bourdain that was about his own French bistro and all the cooks in the back were hispanic. Not a single French or even white guy cooking food except for Bourdain. He even made the point that it's typical for NYC restaurants to have mostly hispanic chefs.

[@ayato814]

In the Seattle area Hispanic people also make your sushi at Todai and Sushiland.

[@leafster1337]

according to my mom asians ask for too much and “start too much drama”. she also says mexicans (she doesnt really know theres more than just mexicans) work hard and are honest. she also says women and girls aren’t good to hire...so she would never hire herself, apparently

[@TheoDerBOSS]

if you think about it: how can you convince someone to eat your food if you don't even eat it yourself as a restaurant manager/ cook?!

[@jhendric98]

I'll never stop eating at the Americanized Chinese places. We call them "mall chinese food". But tbh I find the nick names idea somewhere between demeaning and racist. I'm wondering what Chinese people would feel if the Burger King or Pizza Hut employes referred to them with similar nick names? That said, I love this channel! Thanks so much for sharing your passions with us! :)

[@Mcdoublegood2g]

what do they do with left overs in buffets throw out or freeze for next day ?

[@MRanimator543]

Hey mike, sorry if you already said it in a previous video, but do u speak mandarin or Cantonese?

[@IceCream1506]

Mike speaks mandarin :)

[@strictlydumpling]

IceCream1506 you know me so well :)

[@IceCream1506]

Strictly Dumpling hahahahahaahaa :P sounds like I would be a stalker XD hahha

[@jepolch]

Cool and funny! Thanks!

[@DetroitGoldie]

I had to giggle when you said to become friends with the owners because of the authentic Chinese food. You are absolutely correct. This year I spent Chinese New Year with my Chinese boss, friends, and family. Everything I ate was so great. The entire atmosphere was so fun too. Oh and I got Lucky Money too. :-):-)

[@pencapchewdraw]

yes, printer error! I control my own destiny...

[@littleepandaa]

7 so accurate

[@PallidTrash]

I thought "Lo-Weii" is "round eye? Is it true Americans etc are called that?! Hahahaha

[@azshaw123]

That was piss funny at the end!!!!

[@bhallanger006]

Love you guys

[@cherokeeanna969]

I worked at a Chinese restaurant for 7 years, all of this is true!

[@korpiz]

Well, McDonalds and KFC arnt "authentic" Western food either, so you shouldn eat them.

[@Harkz0r]

Interesting you should mention about the staff meals. I believe a similar thing happens with British Indian restaurants and takeaways, many of which are Bangladeshi-run. The authentic food is served to the staff after closing time, which is usually cooked from scratch and quite unlike the stuff they put out on the menu.

[@Kiwi_Tea]

I love this channel ^_^

[@pshwow]

Lol so true about the kid helping out thing. My parents make me help out in their restraunt.

[@strictlydumpling]

James Lin do they pay you?

[@lc7592]

Nope. My mom owns a Chinese restaurant and she don't pay me. Also get punished if I make a mistake, for example: a customer came in and said" I want chicken and broccoli with plain fried rice, cheese wonton, chicken on a stick" I repeated the order to the customer to make sure.and they confirmed it. So I called in the order. 15 minutes later... The customer said" you made a mistake, I want chicken/broccoli with SHRIMP FRIED RICE" Then my mom yelled at me for the whole day IF I MADE A MISTAKE ON THE FRIED RICE THEN WHY DID YOU EAT THE WHOLE THING?!? YOU COULD HAVE RETURNED IT! I ALSO REPEATED THE ORDER TO YOU!!!😡

[@pshwow]

Strictly Dumpling Yes, 25 cents a customer, but if I make a mistake on something they shout at me and go like you have to come tomorrow too. They also make me go...

[@pshwow]

Ikr

[@pshwow]

Silver Panda I been through the same senerio,lol.. I order a customer, repeat order to make sure it's right...then after they order they eat whole thing snd be like "I didn't order that, I order something else, I want refund or extra something else" like come on..if u didn't order it why did u eat it...give it back to us and we will do something...

[@xxmonsterheartxx]

Yeah that's pretty much true, even though I'm not a restaurant kid, but my friend is, and I used to work there, since I've known their daughter for a long time, they trust me being behind the cash register, I'm also a waitress and work behind the kitchen. Once in awhile the chef would cook restaurant food for lunch or dinner too lol

[@DoctorWhoNow01]

Lol, my friends family owns a Chinese Resturaunt. He's always behind the counter, and him and his sister do many things there.

[@strictlydumpling]

PancakeInsomnia life of a restaurant kid

[@Diabolik771]

The food I see them eating is plan rice and like a few broccoli.

[@leafster1337]

maybe not broccoli, but some chinese/asian vegetables, but also maybe just broccoli!

[@gosnooky]

Cartwright!

[@VickyShawcooksalot]

Our favorite restaurant in Portland, OR saw us coming and they started our food. Wor Wonton noodle soup with shrimp x 2 extra large because they spoil my kids. I got the eggplant in hot garlic sauce, and I was the only customer that got the ong choy in black bean sauce. My husband got all the westernized stuff. lol

[@davidgamboa4053]

hey man thanks for all these tips... I always thought there was a far superior way of eating real authentic food from different regions of china.

[@A143NA]

2:24 LMAOOOOO

[@terryivey5374]

Lol...the nickname thing is not exclusive :) Coming from Long Island, it was required. Didn't care what name your parents chose...you got a new one. Late husband came from Brooklyn....it's always been done. And now,relocated to East Tenn...I am happy to report..nicknames are alive and well in all retail and restaurants here. I have also renamed what few neighbors I can see from the windows or deck of my home. Guessing I will do the same til the last...even if it is silently in my head lol.

[@nyayrehkyowlawi]

I still love buffet.. Because my life in the past is worse

[@adrianvasquez254]

Entertaining and interesting!

[@ghouse2492]

Lol thank you your videos are educational.🤓

[@disgustedvet]

Some years back some Korean friends owned and operated a fast food restaurant featuring typical American style Chinese foods ( even though they are Korean ) . Upon occasion we would get together for a special Korean style meal rice cake , bulgogi , squid and other dishes prepared by the owner's wife and it is wonderful ( even the stinky kimchi ) . When I asked why they do not offer Korean foods they answer because Americans like fried rice , egg rolls and the good General Tso's chicken too much.

[@toyman9642]

My late father read meters for a Toronto utility. This was "back in the days" when all meters were inside, usually in basements. He always had horror stories about Chinese eateries especially the dumps in the Spadina/Dundas area. He saw, at one time or another in the basements of these "restaurants" lice, assorted critters crawling over food crates, live and dead rats and mice, pails used as toilets by staff and once, even a dead cat. I suppose it was tomorrow's Chef's Special.

[@leafster1337]

i think theyre just doing what they did when they lived in a less developed area and dont realize what’s available to use. an extreme example is maybe some island fishing villager taken away and put into london...the trees are going and he into the rivers! he wouldn’t go through the steps to become a commercial fisherman at first, and if no one really stops him, he’ll never get to that point

[@tron3entertainment]

Laowai? Because!

[@MJ-ii3ss]

no smiles in las cruces NM. they all act like theyre annoyed ...forget using a coupon or student discount...they get pissed..

[@worldhello1234]

@0:57 Nope, that's yankee stuff. I remember sliced duck breast in sweat-sour souce or my favourite peanut sauce, with fried noodles, pickled mushrooms, soy sprouts, pork, deep fried bananas with honey etc. All of that as a flat-rate for arround 17 bucks. Value menu is about 15 bucks.

[@phlaelym]

He's right about the trading with pizza places. I used to work at a Domino's Pizza with a Chinese restaurant next door. They were always calling and asking if we wanted to trade.

[@jp8715]

Stuff about authentic Chinese dishes served for employees after-hours is so true. That stuff was delicious.

[@fukkdapublic123]

I worked at my uncles Chinese restaurant when I was 10. Lol I actually got to keep the tips. I always got tipped pretty good too!

[@scruffybob42088]

In my little town, we had one Chinese restaurant, awesome food, though Americanized. I must have been "lil beef broccoli". Little either cause I'm short or I took after my older brother eating B&B all the time. Owner knew what I wanted right when I walked in. I miss that place, old man got forced out my a local buffet chain.

[@leafster1337]

when i once worked at my state fair our pizza/corndog stand (maybe you can guess) bartered with this one nearby icecream stand. i ate this sugar and texture bomb mix-mash while watching fireworks and then went to the llama or alpaca petting zoo/auction

[@markfeltner8260]

been watching your channel a long time had no idea you owned a resteraunt.

[@jamesball1136]

My Chinese restaurant never really said my nickname loud enough for me to hear them I think they was kind of scared to say it because I don't speak Mandarin but I understand quite a few more than most people around here know. Because one day they say something rude about me and I confronted them about they turned white as ghost because they didn't think I understand them

[@leafster1337]

lol

[@Sakja]

Years ago, when I knew nothing about Chinese cooking, a neighbor of ours used to visit Chinatown every Saturday. He would always bring my mom a marinated tofu dish. I can't remember the exact ingredients, but it had green onions, and was so flavorful. It wasn't enough to feed the four of us, so we would each get a couple of spoonfuls. I never found out the name of the restaurant, to my everlasting regret, because years later I worked in Manhattan.

[@Miku543211]

Mostly everything that is said is true , I’m working in a western Chinese restaurant and being a waitress at the restaurant sucks because you get yelled at almost every time no matter if it’s your fault or not but you get blamed for everything for being so young. And I think in most Chinese restaurant you don’t get paid monthly or your being taken advantage of, they use you for labor and prob don’t give you your tips, I’ve been working at a Chinese restaurant for 3 weeks and haven’t gotten paid and for the tips we have to put them in the tip jar , not really sure if that system works but I haven’t gotten paid for my hrs and plus the tips. Low key owners may be talking crap about their customers and there’s a lot of yelling going on in the restaurant between the staffs and the owners of the restaurant. If I were you I would not recommend eating at those kind of restaurants because they aren’t actual Chinese food. It is true that the cooks don’t eat the food they serve to Americans. I’d laugh if anyone says the food that the restaurant I work at is the best Chinese food that they have ever eaten in the entire lives, Bc it’s not actual Chinese food, I’d respond “you must be blind and have no taste for food” Bc those aren’t real Chinese food. And most that will say it’s the best Chinese food ever are the non-Asians or not a food critic

[@stevenshiraishi2057]

What dishes should we ask for besides "American Chinese" dishes? Especially those places run by Chinese but serve American Chinese out of necessity?

[@MsCherade9]

Steven Shiraishi It's well worth looking up online the names of more traditional Chinese dishes and go to a restaurant which focuses on food from that area. My best friend as a kid was born in Yorkshire where we lived, but her parents were both from Beijing so they cooked food that was Pekingese, Canton and Shandong style. Their home cooking reflected the home-cookong from the areas they'd grown up in. They spoke Mandarin at home but I never learned to speak enough except when it came to ordering food! They were the only Chinese family in 30 miles back in the early 80's so I was extremely lucky to try their traditional foods after school once a week for several years. We had a lot of dumplings, noodles (their dad made handmade noodles but only at home, not for the business), soups and stir-fry dishes. They used quite a lot of soybean products such as beancurd skins, tofu (which they again didn't sell in the business), soy milk desserts and a dry soybean thing which was quite creamy when cooked as a filling. The girls both liked quite rich, salty, umami flavours, so we'd have a lot of bean paste sauces and even aromatic braised pork belly with caramel which to this day takes me back to cold winters days when I was 7 and 8 years old!

[@ayato814]

Try scallion pancakes, delicious fried flat bread loaded with chopped scallions. try Peking duck, a roasted duck dish which is famous for its succulent meat and flavorful, crispy skin. Pair it with some scallions, cucumbers, and hoisin sauce, and wrap it in a pancake for the traditional Peking duck dining experience. try Yu Xiang Rou Si, a dish of shredded pork in hot garlic sauce. order la zi ji, an incredibly spicy Sichuan dish that consists of fried chunks of chicken breast with peppercorn, toasted sesame and chili. Zha jiang mian is a much more flavorful, authentic Chinese noodle dish topped with delicious stir-fried pork and zhajiang (fermented soybean paste). Instead of crab rangoon, order Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings)Oranges are considered fortuitous in Chinese culture, and most Chinese people end their meals with a slice of orange - not fortune cookies, which aren't even Chinese. Also Steamed baby bok choy, frog legs, steamed fish, and try dim sum.

[@ayato814]

Try Hot Pot. Eggplant and Garlic Sauce, Chinese broccoli Gai-lan with oyster sauce. If in Chinatown, Look for hole-in-the-walls cafes crowded with only Chinese speaking people for authentic Chinese food. Also can ask for the other authentic Chinese menu (hopefully not all in Chinese or you have to bring Chinese friend that can read Chinese)

[@ayakokuro9454]

Try Dim Sum at a place where only Chinese speakers eat for a variety of authentic Chinese dishes, ie: chicken feet, PEA Vine STIR-FRIED WITH GARLIC RECIPE (QING CHAO DOU MIAO), Shrimp dumpling (蝦餃; hāo gow): Steamed dumpling with shrimp filling, Rice noodle roll (腸粉; chángfěn; chéungfán): Steamed rice noodles, rolled and filled with shrimp, beef or bbq pork, Turnip cake (蘿蔔糕; luóbo gāo; lòh baahk gōu): puddings made from shredded white radish, mixed with bits of dried shrimp, Chinese sausage and mushroom. They are steamed, then cut into slices and pan-fried. Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf (Lo Mai Gai). Taro cake (芋頭糕; yùtou gāo; wuh táu gōu): puddings made of taro.

[@SirChubbyBunny]

People actually do #6? That's so messed up.

[@annainspain5176]

Now I wonder what my nickname is at the local Asian supermarket (aka my second home). I'm so identified there that they gave me a huge can of jasmine tea at New Year. From what you say I must have a nickname...wonder what it is?

[@ozzypresident]

i was a restaurant baby i this brings back crazy memory

[@tinatan5636]

You are funny ~ now everyone gets know more about it ~haha

[@lschoenrank]

My husband and I regularly frequent a Szechuan restaurant in my city. We ALWAYS order Mandarin Pork, 8 Treasure Chicken, Moo Shu Pork (or duck) and then we usually pick one more dish that we haven't had before. The lady in there knows this and always writes down those first two items. Now I'm just dying to know what our nickname there is.

[@WoundedEgo]

My brother got a fortune cookie without a fortune in it. The next day he died. (Not really).

[@anaramirez4354]

Wounded Ego I actually got an empty one recently and a few hours later I had a blow out... and on my side of the vehicle xD just a wierd coincidence.

[@ROGERWDARCY]

Are your conversation with Chine chef recorded anywhere!

[@linjas123]

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE WERE TRUE!! My parents own a Chinese restaurant haha!

[@strictlydumpling]

linjas123 #restaurantkidclub

[@terrycao]

Me to and everything that you said was true (T_T)

[@williamtsang1096]

The Fried rice is rice with yellow food coloring, left in a separate bin. When a customer request a fried rice item, the "re-fried" rice is used. If you want Chinese fried rice ask for Yuen Chow Fried Rice. Fried Rice fried with WHITE rice...