Do "CLEAN and Expensive" Chinese Restaurants really exist?
 

As a Canadian born Chinese, sometimes I find it embarassing as to why some Chinese restaurants can be so "cheap/ (somestimes expensive)" and "dirty", especially in North America.

The most expensive meal at a Chinese restaurant I went to costed about CAD 1,000 for 10 people (menu consisted of items such as individual abalones for each person, sharkfin, bird's nest etc), yet still, the washroom at the restaurant was very dirty (oily floor), the wine glasses had food stains on them (yuck), and tea cups were slightly cracked. A couple of Chinese restaurants in Vancouver Canada even had to be shut down because they did not pass health inspections (and the owners know nothing about "food safe".

Whenever I find a "clean" restaurant, the food served is usualy a bit too "westernized" and not as authentic. For example, in the Netherlands, I was at a Chinese restaurant, and it was very clean, expensive, and even had table settings resembling that of a higher end "western" restaurant. However, the food [there was no abalone, shark fin etc. on the menu] wasn't very authentic (even though the owners are ethnic Chinese and spoke perfect Cantonese, and even bragged about catering for the Chinese consulate).

The only Chinese restaurants where I have found BOTH the "environment" and "food" to be acceptable was in Hong Kong at places such as the Spring Moon at the Peninsula.

Is the "dirty washroom/tea cup" phenomenon just a thing for "low-mid end" Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong, and "most" Chinese restaurants in North America/other parts of the world?

Yes, there are some "clean and expensive" Chinese restaurants. By "Chinese" I assume you are refering to east asian cuisine. I know of several very good Thai restaurants. There is an outstanding Thai restaurant in the Sunshine Post Office mall in Anchorage, AK. The cleanliness and quality of food is not an ethnic thing. Just look around, wherever you find a funky little chinese restaurant........there will be numerous other establishments serving various foods.......and they will be pretty much the same. If your looking for really high end dining...........meet me at JFK and bring the platinum card.

Daniellam,

I noticed that as well!!

When I go to a Chinese restaurant, I make sure I go to the washroom before heading out.. One time I was out with friends and had to go to the loo at the restaurant before dinner, and let's say, I quickly felt ill when the meal started. I now avoid going to the washroom when going to china town..

As for good Chinese restuarants with "clean" washrooms" I can recommend Lai Wah Heen, in the Metropolitan hotel in Toronto.

Come to wonderful Singapore and try some of the top chinese restaurants. You will find them to be:

• Clean and this goes for most, even the not so upmarket restaurants
• Affordable, in USD terms you should be able to get a table for 10 and leave only USD 300 lighter

Try Hu Cui (Shanghainese) at Ngee Ann City or Lai Gardens (Cantonese) at Chimes. Furthermore, every 5* hotel in Singapore has a chinese restaurant.

Yes, they exist. We have a very nice one here IAH vicinty. It is called Ming Dynasty, and the food is excellent.

I am multi-generational Hua Qiao, as my great-grandfather was from Canton [Shunde area, hamlet of Hoh Chin on the Pearl River]. My grandmother was the last of the Putong Hua speakers in the family. That is the only bloodline that is Han in my family. The rest of me is faan kwai loh, and most of us look kwai loh now, mostly Latino. In any case the restaurants in the old Chinatown of L.A. used to be great [I grew up there]. Now because of all the recent immigration, the newer restaurants do not exhibit the same quality as before. Competition will take care of this eventually.

Z

I'm a first generation Chinese-American with parents from Hong Kong. Many good, authentic (read: not P.F. Chang's), Chinese restaurants can get away with things like water glasses with spots, smelly and filthy bathrooms, and harried and surly waiters because the majority of their clientele (native Chinese) only care about the quality of the food and price.

Please forgive me for extrapolating, but my parents, my relatives, and friends' parents who were born in China/Hong Kong don't give a fig newton about good service or sparkling clean facilities. Whenever I go out to eat with my parents at a Chinese restaurant, I'm offended that waiters treat my parents in such a rushed and rude manner. I'm also shocked that my parents would put up with it.

I took my parents to Lai Wah Heen at the Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto. I thought it was great. They thought it was a total waste of money.

My best dim sum meal has to be Jiang-Nan Chun at the Four Seasons Singapore. Exquisite and very imaginative dim sum, serene environment, and sterling service that is above and beyond the typical Four Seasons service in the United States. For US$30, I ate like a king.

I find that most chinese Restaurant in North America are generally ordinary.
As they generally cater for Kaay Lo (Westerners - Causasians)

Outside of Asia, I find the best Chinese Restaurant exist in LONDON!

Hakasan is my favourite!!

Nice Atmosphere and EXCELLENT food

LOL! That sounds like something my parents would say too :)

Everytime I go to Toronto, I make it a point to go to Lai Wah Heen. It's rare to find dim sum restaurants that don't do push-cart service in North America (the opposite is true in Asia) plus the service and the quality of the food at LWH is head and shoulders above the competition, IMO. Yank Sing in SF has clean bathrooms and awesome dim sum as well.


I also had a dreamy dim sum lunch experience at Jiang Nan Chun. The service alone was worth the price of admission :) So very elegant and so very civilized. Singapore has quite the monopoly on clean restrooms as it is probably illegal for it to be otherwise :D

I find most high-end Chinese restaurants anywhere in the world (including ones attached to hotels) to have impeccably clean restrooms (thankfully!). And I also find most mid- to low-priced Chinese restaurants anywhere in the world to have restrooms that are forbidding to the senses.

Most 5* hotels in Asia have at least one Chinese restaurant onsite but surprisingly, almost all do not in North America. I would've thought that a luxury chain like Mandarin Oriental which oozes all things Asian would have established a superior Chinese restaurant - with clean bathrooms to match! - in one of its North American establishments (Miami, NYC, SF, DC) by now. Maybe "expensive" and "Chinese restaurant" just don't compute for most Americans?

Not when you can get away with a $7.99 dinner buffet.

They do exist. I have been in some in London, Paris, Frankfurt, the best in Geneva and Zürich. I am a lover of Chinese food.

The biggest problem is more of a cultural clash. I do not want to discriminate or offend anybody, but along my travels I have noticed that hygiene and cleanliness in kitchen are not a primary concern for Chinese, the world over.
There are countries however, where the health department is much harsher than elsewhere (Switzerland, for example) and this is one of the countries where I can almost vouch that ALL chinese restaurants are spotless. From the cheapest to the most expensive.

As far as the food is concerned, economics is the main judge who'll decide what is on the menu. There are many countries where chinese food is well loved, but in a mild form of exotism. Certain dishes could never be sold in say Germany or Switzerland.

I just came back from a trip to Japan and was confronted with beans that are a delicacy over there but just triggered a violent reproval from my stomach as soon as seen....

If you order in advance, I am sure you would have the possibility of getting anything you wish, but don't expect to find everything chinese in a "European" chinese restaurant...

Of course they exist. Right at Lincoln Center in NYC, there is Shin Lee which is very pricy and of course quite clean.

How about this one?

http://www.dorchesterhotel.com/defau...n=236&page=249

This stament is kind of gross but...

I've found that the quality of food is directly proportional to the relative level of cleanliness, or lack thereof, in a Chinese restaurant. The dirtier the place, the better your food tastes. I never, ever visit the bathroom.

On another note, my girlfriend is Philipine and when we go out to a Chinese restaurant together, we get better service, and better tasting food when we're together than when I go with any non-Asian friends.

The other weekend we went for Dim Sum in Chicago's Chinatown. We were seated with all of the "ethnic" people while all the caucasians sat together in another part of the dining room. The dim sum trays come fast and furios to us, but not on the other side of the room. Just something I've observed.

"How about this one?

http://www.dorchesterhotel.com/defa...on=236&page=249"


Yep The Oriental in Dorchester is highly regarded.


I think US generally does not have the same level of cusine when compared to UK. Especially Chinese food.

I love London!

I think someone mentioned the Shun Lee Palace in NYC.

I think that is AVERAGE ( and very Kway Lo!)

And it seems clean from the face of the restaurant but I saw a RAT running out of the kitchen when I dine there last time!!!

Therefore don't be deceive from what you see on the face of things!
YOu never know what is behind the doors in the kitchen.

Flower Drum, Melbourne, Australia.
 

Has to be one of the best Chinese restaurants outside of Hong Kong.

The food is always top notch. Prices are on the high side but not unacceptably so. The place is clean, too.

Problem is that even the Sheraton conceirge can't always get me a table.

http://travel2.nytimes.com/mem/trave...ia%2fMelbourne

In London, UK there are at least 2 in the centre (Hakkasan and Yauatcha, both owned by Alan Yau of Wagamama) that meet the criteria. Extremely good, with the latter probably getting the edge and actually not being horribly expensive unless you pick the premium dishes.

In Vancouver, I went to the Kirin Mandarin and it was good, pretty much spotless and not too cheap either. I can't remember the damage, but the exchange rate made it nowhere near as bad as it could have been.

Sometimes the best places are the small, family run, less modernized places. The little Chinese shop with the dirty outside and smelly washroom sometimes has the better food in terms of authenticity than a cleaner more westernized place. It's just my own observation. Of course, I base the quality of the food on the clientèle of the restaurant. If I see a restaurant with lots of people of mixed culture, I'll be more likely to try it since I know even people of different cultures like the food and the amount of people shows a good or bad turnover in terms of food.

Of course I have seen some restaurants that are clean, expensive and have many people yet the food is of lousy quality and taste.

Unfortunately, hygiene in many Chinese restaurants seems to be lacking, but you can find some that will be acceptable.

In San Francisco, try the Harbor Village Seafood Restaurant. Excellent food, but rather pricey. It's away from Chinatown, in Embarcadero Center. We did our wedding banquet there, incidentally, and actually, for banquets, you can find pretty reasonable costs (especially if you were to price an equivalent bash in Hong Kong or Taipei).

Yank Sing serves the office workers in the financial district and their facilities tend to be fairly clean.

I tend to also note that the quality and authenticity of the food isn't necessarily connected to its decor or lack thereof (that's why hawker centers, street food is popular in Malaysia, Singapore). And my mother in law would really feel out of place in a place like PF Chang's. But there are both places that are pretty pristine and serve authentic food, as well as lousy crappy places whose food matches the decor.

Chinese restaurants in Europe (especially France) fair better than their counterparts in north America. It's "CLEAN and Expensive" in Paris to eat at Chinese restaurants.

I guess I have been spoiled living at Los Angeles. There are many excellent Chinese restaurants at San Gabriel Valley. Harbor Village has those Hong Kong style abalone. A meal for four can cost you $800.00 (US dollars, without wine). I won't call it "cheap".

Harbor Village, Shanghai 1930, Betelnut, and Yank Sing would qualify in San Francisco. The last three with particulary good food and reviews.

And there is always PF Chang.

The one near Lincoln Center is called Shun Lee West. The original Shun Lee Palace is on the east side.

The only thing top notch about Shun Lee is the price. Clean bathroom or not, there's really no great Chinese restaurant to write home about in NYC.

I second Lai Wah Heen and Yank Sing.

The Manderrin in San Francisco and Beverly Hills,Kans in San Francisco.The placce in embarcadero center-YangSing and the place in Rincon center-Harbor Village SanFrancisco.
Empress Pavillion in Los angeles.

haha that's the only that I've seen...

66?

What I've noticed is the eerie lack of stray cats and dogs in the Chinatown in my hometown. Coincidence? :p

Two in Chicago: Red Light http://www.redlight-chicago.com/home.htm (although technically, I guess they are "pan-Asian."

Ben Pao http://www.opentable.com/BenPao/

Interesting thread.......... :eek:

I once went to a Chinese Buffet chain in Toronto, it was the employees lunch time and I asked them why they would not eat from the buffet, they made a funny face and said it's only for the customers and later on one of the waites said that he would never eat from the buffet. SO just use your imagination as to what goes on in the back, when even the employees won't touch the food. :eek:

Could it be that the waiters do not eat from the buffet because the dishes at the buffet, as is the case at most Chinese buffets in the US (not that I frequent them), tend mostly to be suited for Western tastes (think Panda Express), and the waiters (of whom I assume are of Asian origination) prefer to enjoy dishes that are more "authentic?"

Ditto on pfChang and one more
 

Ditto on PF Chang. I'd even go as far as to say they're a bit overpriced, but very yummy.

Another chain on the high side with wonderful food quality is Sam Woo. Several locations in southern California including one at Metro Pointe (a small "Mall" adjacent to the world-famous South Coast Plaza. The Metro Pointe location is a hybrid, on one side it has the "take out" buffet-style ... on the other side a nice (expensive) sit down. Very tasty.

In Los Angeles, I like Yujean Kang in Pasadena. Upscale Chinese food in a pretty setting. There's also Din Tai Fung in Arcadia - the only Chinese restaurant I've ever known to have an open kitchen, so you can see how clean it is and how your food is prepared. The bathroom is spotless! ;) It's not particularly upscale or expensive, just clean and absolutely wonderful food.

PF Chang is such a "Gwai Lo" type of place and the food is so.....

IMO there are No good chinese restaurant in USA (They are all acustom to the US Western style! evident from those stupid Fortune Cookie which does NOT exist in HK)

I would assume that, generally speaking, restaurants have to adapt to western tastes in order to succeed in the U.S., but my goodness, you must eat out a lot to know that there are "no" good Chinese restaurants! How many thousands must there be? Also, I don't quite understand what a fortune cookie has to do with the quality of the food.

Have you ever been to San Francisco, Monterey Park, CA, Flushing, NY,... just to name a few? There are tons of good, authentic Chinese restaurants to be found there, not limited to only HK-Cantonese style either. And most do not give out fortune cookies at the end of a meal.

Btw, I like to crack open fortune cookies just to see what's in there. :D

And do you have to read the fortune out loud at the table and add "in bed" to whatever it says? :D

I have to add another one now
 

I found another "clean and expensive" one, mainly Mandarin-HK style but also featuring some Vietnamese delicacies such as Bao and Summer Rolls ...

Cafe Chin Chin located in the Tustin Marketplace, Tustin, CA

Food is pricy but all is made fresh to order and the taste is fabulous. One of their specialties, Orange Chicken has a much more delicate taste than most places I've tried which go over the top with sweetness. Definitely worth trying.

Seattle has quite a few great Chinese restaurants, and Vancouver has even more incredible ones. SEA's International District is also great for Thai and Vietnamese- and Malay Satay Hut, mmmm. I'm addicted to their mango curry.

This was in the LA Times yesterday, and pertains to this topic a bit. Registration may be required, but it's free.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...ck=1&cset=true

Silks at crown in Melbourne is also very nice, not as pricy as flower drum but food is absolutely delicious, some dishes even better than flower drum! Some! Toilets smell very nice, and very beautiful marble floors. The soup even smells good, and the restaurant is decorated in ancient chinese vases, overlooking the yarra river and the city. I would give it a 9/10 for food and 10/10 for environment.