I wish ethnic restaurants would offer some ethnic food

[ScottySatan]

I do like me some korma and general tso, but...

Indian places, the healthier south Indian dishes will sell in the West today.

Chinese places, we want to see some of your authentic stuff on the English menu.

Stop thinking we can't handle spice and make it spicy when we ask for it.

You are running your shops based on our tastes in the 1970's. We travel more now. We are more interested in international foods now.

 

[Corthos]

Hmmm... Depends where you live, I guess. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a great selection of ethnic restaurants (especially Asian, since it's one of America's gateways to the East). I notice the more landlocked an area gets, the more likely ethnic foods suffer for it (though that isn't always true). =)

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Hmmm... Depends where you live, I guess. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a great selection of ethnic restaurants (especially Asian, since it's one of America's gateways to the East). I notice the more landlocked an area gets, the more likely ethnic foods suffer for it (though that isn't always true). =)

It helps for an area to have a fairly substantial population of the particular ethnic type, too. Then, if you're interested, look for where people of that ethnicity go to eat. Try to get on the good side of the owner/manager/cook, and then if you're really nice they might eventually allow you to eat some of the "back home" real stuff. And man is it worth it.

 

[ScottySatan]

I'm saying that they should do it in small cities too. Especially college towns.

 

[Corthos]

I'm saying that they should do it in small cities too. Especially college towns.

I 100% agree. That said, not all Americanization is inferior, I feel. Americanized sushi is great to have along side traditional, I feel. Then again, having it made by authentic sushi chefs makes a huge difference, too. XD

 

[Father Heathen]

I do like me some korma and general tso, but...

Indian places, the healthier south Indian dishes will sell in the West today.

Chinese places, we want to see some of your authentic stuff on the English menu.

Stop thinking we can't handle spice and make it spicy when we ask for it.

You are running your shops based on our tastes in the 1970's. We travel more now. We are more interested in international foods now.

My favorite local thai place isn't shy with the spices.

 

[Revoltingest]

Finding the authentic stuff is possible, even for us yang guizi (foreign devils).

 

[DawudTalut]

I do like me some korma and general tso, but...

Indian places, the healthier south Indian dishes will sell in the West today.

Chinese places, we want to see some of your authentic stuff on the English menu.

Stop thinking we can't handle spice and make it spicy when we ask for it.

You are running your shops based on our tastes in the 1970's. We travel more now. We are more interested in international foods now.

In some places immigrants have started private kitchens and food supply, maybe they supply to other states....

 

[Twilight Hue]

I'm saying that they should do it in small cities too. Especially college towns.

I don't disagree but it's really up to community tastes. They had a wonderful old country Italian restaurant heavy on garlic and centrally shared at the table from huge plates.

Lasted only several years leaving me heartbroken with only Olive Garden to go to which from the old country, it ain't. Claimed lack of business. Guess people in my area are not privy to garlic.

I'm lucky though as there are Indian and Asian, and Mexican establishments galore all run by families that moved into the area.

Hopefully smaller towns and cities will see culturally themes establishments more in the future.

 

[ScottySatan]

Hopefully smaller towns and cities will see culturally themes establishments more in the future.

Once in a very small town we got tofu at the Chinese place and the owner had to come around and meet us. He said no one had ever ordered it before.

 

[rocala]

I can sympathise with the OP. Once my girlfriend and I along with a couple of friends went to the Netherlands. We came across an Indonesian restaurant and were keen to try something new. It was a bit of a let down. The menu was identical to the one in our local Hong Kong restaurant back in London. It even looked like they used the same printer.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I can sympathise with the OP. Once my girlfriend and I along with a couple of friends went to the Netherlands. We came across an Indonesian restaurant and were keen to try something new. It was a bit of a let down. The menu was identical to the one in our local Hong Kong restaurant back in London. It even looked like they used the same printer.

You've never notice that many Chinese (not to mention Italian, for example) restaurants separated by thousands of miles often have virtually identical furnishings and decorations as others of their kind? Or serve the same kind of fortune cookies? There are wholesale suppliers that ship all over, and today the the internet...

 

[crossfire]

Hmmm... Depends where you live, I guess. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a great selection of ethnic restaurants (especially Asian, since it's one of America's gateways to the East). I notice the more landlocked an area gets, the more likely ethnic foods suffer for it (though that isn't always true). =)

I'm from the Pacific Northwest, as well. When I would go to visit family in the Midwest, I couldn't even get some of the most basic Asian cooking ingredients (like rice sticks or fish sauce) to cook my own Pad Thai.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I'm from the Pacific Northwest, as well. When I would go to visit family in the Midwest, I couldn't even get some of the most basic Asian cooking ingredients (like rice sticks or fish sauce) to cook my own Pad Thai.

Yeah, Downtown Chicago, maybe, or some other bigger cities. Large university towns....maybe...We've got a couple of small international stores in the nearest town (150,000), and I've heard of quite a few in Indianapolis, but haven't hunted them down...

 

[Corthos]

I'm from the Pacific Northwest, as well. When I would go to visit family in the Midwest, I couldn't even get some of the most basic Asian cooking ingredients (like rice sticks or fish sauce) to cook my own Pad Thai.

Yup! It's a crying shame, I know! To be fair, landlocked states can have some AMAZING home/american style food, but I would go nuts without variety in my diet. =)

 

[Nietzsche]

I do like me some korma and general tso, but...

Indian places, the healthier south Indian dishes will sell in the West today.

Chinese places, we want to see some of your authentic stuff on the English menu.

Stop thinking we can't handle spice and make it spicy when we ask for it.

You are running your shops based on our tastes in the 1970's. We travel more now. We are more interested in international foods now.

It's about availability of ingredients. Genuine Italian dishes for instance rarely contain much in the way of tomatoes. There's much more seafood and butter sauces. When the first immigrants moved to America, they had to work with what they had on hand. This evolved into what you see today. The same thing happened with East Asian, Indian & such foods.

And in regards to Asia(Japan, China, Vietnam etc) there is a massive difference in how we perceive tastes. What we & they consider to be savoury or sweet are often very, very different.