Originally Posted by
iluvcruising2
I guess you are referring to Chinese restaurants in America. Chinese food is actually very varied. Even with all the variety we get in Singapore, some of the food in parts of China are quite alien to me (and I'm Singaporean Chinese).
Different dialect groups have their own type of food. I think what is more commonly served in the USA are variants of Hong-Kong style food.
One of the great things about living next to a family with a Chinese wife was her taking us to a Chinese restaurant and ordering for all of us off the "hidden menu." She actually grew up in Taiwan, but her family was from near Beijing and she had family throughout the mainland also. She then led us through the preparation of each authentic dish from a variety of regions, her own favorite being Hunan. (She acknowledged that she herself was not much of a cook!)
There's one little hole in the wall in northwest Columbus called "General Tso's" that, so far as I know, doesn't serve the dish ... but they do serve what I've been told is quite authentic true Chinese cuisine. Delicious, though some of the dishes (e.g., "Spicy beef tendon") can be a bit daunting when seen on the English menu.