Why are chinese takeaways and chippers so alike?

rubadub

Pick up any chinese takeaway menu and it is an almost identical layout, food and pricing. When ringing for a takeaway I have seen people browsing through another menu knowing it is pretty much the same. I have never seen a normal chinese takeaway (i.e. not a restaurant that also does takeaway) that lets you buy just a main meal without forcing you to have chips, boiled rice or fried rice (40cent extra), the odd one has noodles in that choice. They all have chicken balls in portions of 10. All do sweet and sour chicken balls and chips as a meal but never curry sauce chicken balls and chips. All the curry sauce is almost the same taste, colour, size, container and price. The onion rings are always large rings in doughy batter in huge bags. The chips are almost always frozen chips in large portions.

Then the "italian style" chippers, chips are identical shape in most, never thin or wedges. Always in a small white bag inside a brown one with an extra scoop on top. Onion rings nothing like a chinese, you always get a small portion.

Its almost like they are all owned by one chinaman and one italian. its almost like a franchise. is there any reason? does anybody know any completely different style takeaways.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

one's a chinese... and.. one's....

..


not?

...

GuanYin

Originally posted by rubadub
does anybody know any completely different style takeaways.

like ones where they don't cook food, have menus, use containers and paper bags and sell chips, chicken balls or onion rings?

Maybe they are all the same take away?


It could be T-space........

Kobie

Yeah, it makes for pretty boring eating. I don't actually get Chinese anymore - it's just such poor quality & the fillet chicken these days is just that processed crap (i.e. skin & giblets) that they just mash up & shape in to breast shaped pieces. No thanks.

As for Italians, I don't know where they come from. I went to a chipper in Italy once & it was nothing like what they do here. They've got some of the worlds best cusine, and this is what they export.

Maybe all the crap chefs are thrown out if Italy as some sort of quality control.

seamus

I assume it has to do with the ingredients and the method of preparation. All takeaways are going to use the cheapest foods and the most economical methods, which is what gives us the grease-infested bags of crap we consume.

Plenty of reputable chinese restaurants do a takeaway collection service afaik. It'll come at a price, but it's much better food.

Gordon

Demand and Supply.

The majority of people that eat Chinese food tend to want what is on the menus. Be it curried chips or fried chicken: from a Chinese takeaway.

It's a shame but they are only providing what the public want.

pork99

Originally posted by seamus
I assume it has to do with the ingredients and the method of preparation. All takeaways are going to use the cheapest foods and the most economical methods, which is what gives us the grease-infested bags of crap we consume.

Plus they know their market.

Like the Indian takeaway in Crumlin a friend of mine was in once where every single other person there was ordering chips + curry sauce :dunno:

Kone

You're spot on Pork,

they are just giving the masses what they want,

Irish Potatoes soaked in Indian Curry Sauce sold in a Chinese Takeaway!

m4cker

they all get all their food in frozen from a supplier. there fore in a country the size of ireland there aren't exactly going yo be dozens of chinese food suppliers in ireland.

on the subject of getting curry sauce instead of getting sweet & sour sauce there is a simple solution ask for curry and they will give it to you.

also there like 200 various dishes ( well 20 dishes with 5 selections of meat/veg) so try something new

Monty - the one and only

moved

[Preacher]

Because they order the pre-made food from the same suppliers, heat it up, add their own markup, and give it to you. They are essentially mini-Mickey D's with slight variations in food quality.

Exit

Not that it's that important but my local kip do chicken balls (9) with curry sauce and chips on their menu.

whosurpaddy

what do they call a chinese in china?

seamus

Originally posted by whosurpaddy
what do they call a chinese in china?

Food

rubadub

Originally posted by whosurpaddy
what do they call a chinese in china?

On that kumars at No ? program they were taking the piss saying they were going for an "english".
a few people I know consider a "chinese" a chicken curry & fried rice, gotten into their heads that curry is actually chinese and NEVER try anything else on the menu

on the subject of getting curry sauce instead of getting sweet & sour sauce there is a simple solution ask for curry and they will give it to you.

i always do and so do most others i hear ordering but they still never put it on the menu

query

my two local chineses do - you can even choose 6 or 9 balls!

aidan_dunne

Mmmm, I fecking love chinese. And yes, I know that curry isn't chinese but I love the beef and chicken curries from my local chinese. Give me a beef curry (with no onions. Can't stand onions), boiled rice, portion of chips and prawn crackers and you've got yourself a very happy, albeit very stuffed, individual!

I don't know if this is unique to just the chinese's in Portlaoise or if they have them in other places around the country, but has anyone ever heard of "The £2 Special"? Of course, it's more than that now since the euro came in, but that's what we still refer to it here as because that's how much it cost back in the days of punts and pence. It's basically your standard foil tray consisting of a layer of fried rice, on top of which is thrown on a layer of curry chips. Mmmm, lovely tasting and cheap. You can't go wrong with it.

LoLth

Chinese in the centre of celbridge used to be lovely but they changed suppliers and now it is identical to the inferior, and cheaper, chinese down the street. I asked them about it and they said they use the oriental food suppliers out by Parkwest business park (at the main gate). Put me off chinese food for nearly a year

Chinese takeaway in kilcock is lovely and very reasonable too.

Chippers.. dont like them. Chips always taste crap if you reheat them and they are waaaay overpriced for what you get.

OT: Seeing as there is a Cod shortage these days.. what have the chippers replaced the fillet of cod with? and why do they still call it fillet of Cod?

eth0_

Originally posted by pork99
Plus they know their market.

Like the Indian takeaway in Crumlin a friend of mine was in once where every single other person there was ordering chips + curry sauce :dunno:

Most of the time I only order a three in one (rice, chips, curry sauce) from my local chinese because I don't trust the meat they use in Chinese restaurants.

the_funkyguy

pretty sure for the chinese food, all of them go to the same course in dublin, most are chinese, ask them. I mean, think about it... food in china is nothing like food in the so called 'chiniese' take away. As for the Italian, could be the same reason....

Exit

Originally posted by aidan_dunne
I don't know if this is unique to just the chinese's in Portlaoise or if they have them in other places around the country, but has anyone ever heard of "The £2 Special"? Of course, it's more than that now since the euro came in, but that's what we still refer to it here as because that's how much it cost back in the days of punts and pence. It's basically your standard foil tray consisting of a layer of fried rice, on top of which is thrown on a layer of curry chips. Mmmm, lovely tasting and cheap. You can't go wrong with it.

Yeah, I think every place has them, either called 'a special', 'a tray' or a '3 in 1'. Handy little ones to go with when you're watching the wallet.

NeoSlicerZ

I object!!! My dad owns a Chinese takeaway, i regularly eat the stuff on the menu. However i admit that everywhere else that i've tasted (except in Mallorca) chinese, it's crap. Too much MSG and crap quality. I recommend you stop by here when you're in Galway ;-) I think Mordeth's tried out my dad's cooking before while at GL

The Real B-man

you have to admit that chinese takaways are the pits cheap chicken etc at least in most chippers you can see them cook the food i think italiens who run chippers are excellent theres a brilliant chipper in greystones called pineto classico 5 star food & service you can even get milkshakes!

sceptre

Originally posted by rubadub
On that kumars at No ? program they were taking the piss saying they were going for an "english".

Goodness Gracious Me, season 1

Hilarious sketch. Did they re-do it on the Kumars?

ARKANGEL

question..how come chicken balls in every chinese in the country are the same?..size and texture are always the same wherever ive eaten..weird or wot.do they grow them on trees out the back beside the hanging greyhounds or are they bought in from a chicken ball factory?.

CodeMonkey

Originally posted by ARKANGEL
question..how come chicken balls in every chinese in the country are the same?..size and texture are always the same wherever ive eaten..weird or wot.do they grow them on trees out the back beside the hanging greyhounds or are they bought in from a chicken ball factory?.

The chicken balls are usually home made and it's a big money maker for chinese takeaways because people eat so much of that stuff. They are cheap to make and no they don't all taste the same but it shouldn't be a surprise most of them do since they're not that many different ingredients that goes into them. Oh that bit about the hanging greyhounds...ahahahah...that's original...not. Dog is just an animal, meat is meat! But most chinese people would object to eating it themselves because of this wierd western thinking. The people in india (I am reluctant to say Indians cause I think of american indians when I say that word!! ) need to infect the word with the idea of not eating beef...cause the cattle is a sacred animal.

As for chinese food in takeaways not being chinese food. It's not true for half the stuff on the menu usually. They're just a limited selection of chinese food westernised for the masses here because most people won't try proper chinese food. Those that do would not be going to a chinese takeaway in the first place...

The Real B-man

is it just me or is sweat & sour sauce differnet in every chinese it probably the only thing that is i mean there are 4 chinese's in my area and all are diferent taste colour texture etc.