Chinese Takeaways/Restaurants

dresden8

finglashoop wrote: »

+1 on hoi wun.

Is Chris still there? Long time since I had a large tray with onions.

JupiterKid

When Chinese take aways first opened here in the late 1960s/early 70s they must have been an incredible novelty.

Basically it's suggested on this thread that the quality of the fare that Chinese eateries serve in Ireland has nosedived in recent years. I wouldn't disagree with that. But the public get what the public want...

Grandeeod

murpho999 wrote: »

Are you serious? It's not all chicken balls and chips you know.

Do you think 1.3 bn chinese are thriving by just eatinng rubbish?

Try Dumplings, Wontons, Peking Duck, Gong Bao Chicken, Spring Rolls:

To name just a few.

Also, Chinese cuisine varies from region to region. It's a massive cuisine.

Please don't insult my itelligence. I'm well aware that its not all "chicken balls and chips". The dishes you quoted are all available in Ireland in the most bog standard of takeaways. The point of the thread is to discuss the deterioation in quality and not to be all hipster about the cuisine.

ohnonotgmail

Grandeeod wrote: »

Please don't insult my itelligence. I'm well aware that its not all "chicken balls and chips". The dishes you quoted are all available in Ireland in the most bog standard of takeaways. The point of the thread is to discuss the deterioation in quality and not to be all hipster about the cuisine.

has the quality actually deteriorated or is it that our expectations are now higher?

Grandeeod

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

has the quality actually deteriorated or is it that our expectations are now higher?

From a personal point of view, I believe the quality has deteriorated across both takeaways and restaurants. For many years dating back to the early 1990s it was my takeaway or dining out preference. One paticular restaurant on Pembroke road in Dublin that I was introduced to in the mid 90s used to be top notch. On my last few visits it was a shadow of its former self. Poor quality meats and sauces, packing dishes with all kinds of veg. Terrible altogether.

Winterlong

I always thought there would be a rake of Chinese takeaways on the FSAI closure list....but seems not.

https://www.fsai.ie/news_centre/press_releases/september_enforcements_06102016.html

ohnonotgmail

Grandeeod wrote: »

From a personal point of view, I believe the quality has deteriorated across both takeaways and restaurants. For many years dating back to the early 1990s it was my takeaway or dining out preference. One paticular restaurant on Pembroke road in Dublin that I was introduced to in the mid 90s used to be top notch. On my last few visits it was a shadow of its former self. Poor quality meats and sauces, packing dishes with all kinds of veg. Terrible altogether.

I know the restaurant you are talking about and i agree it has gone downhill. It is down the ballsbridge end of pembroke road. the owner went back to malaysia and his sister took it over. I wrote a scathing tripadvisor review after my last visit. but that is only one example though. My local takeaway does a much wider range of dishes than it would have done 20 years ago. and if you want really good chinese food just go to Good World on georges street.

murpho999

Grandeeod wrote: »

Please don't insult my itelligence. I'm well aware that its not all "chicken balls and chips". The dishes you quoted are all available in Ireland in the most bog standard of takeaways. The point of the thread is to discuss the deterioation in quality and not to be all hipster about the cuisine.

Come out with intelligent statements then maybe you won't feel insulted.

The only dishes you could get here that I mentioned are spring rolls of varying quality.

The rest are famous classic Chinese dishes that are not widely available here in takeaways and that's why we're getting poor quality.

There is nothing hipster about eating good food.

B.A._Baracus

Here is a question... :pac:
At what point did Chinese takeaway owners in Ireland realise they could make more money selling curry and chips :pac:

Grandeeod

murpho999 wrote: »

Come out with intelligent statements then maybe you won't feel insulted.

The only dishes you could get here that I mentioned are spring rolls if varying quality.

The rest are famous classic Chinese dishes that are not widely available here in takeaways and that's why we're getting poor quality.

There is nothing hipster about eating good food.

I suggest you stop being so confrontational about this and making insinuations about my intelligence. All of the dishes you mentioned are available in my local takeaway and for the benefit of readers, Gong Bao Chicken is also known by the more familiar name Kung Po Chicken.

RobbieTheRobber

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

Here is a question... :pac:
At what point did Chinese takeaway owners in Ireland realise they could make more money selling curry and chips :pac:

I think the first Chinese restaurants opened in Ireland sold curry.
Dont know when chips where added to the menu though.

Although at this stage i dont know many restaurants of any type in Ireland that dont have some type of chips on the menu.

The funny thing about the Irish curry is when I have been in China the curry sauce most similar to Chinese takeaway sauce here is Japanese curry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_curry

Grandeeod

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

I know the restaurant you are talking about and i agree it has gone downhill. It is down the ballsbridge end of pembroke road. the owner went back to malaysia and his sister took it over. I wrote a scathing tripadvisor review after my last visit. but that is only one example though. My local takeaway does a much wider range of dishes than it would have done 20 years ago. and if you want really good chinese food just go to Good World on georges street.

Yep thats the one alright near Ballsbridge. It was great for many years.

RobbieTheRobber

Grandeeod wrote: »

I suggest you stop being so confrontational about this and making insinuations about my intelligence. All of the dishes you mentioned are available in my local takeaway and for the benefit of readers, Gong Bao Chicken is also known by the more familiar name Kung Po Chicken.

Kung po chicken I have had from chinese takeaways here are a poor approximation of kung po, some bear no resemblance at all.

ohnonotgmail

Grandeeod wrote: »

Yep thats the one alright near Ballsbridge. It was great for many years.

It wasn't quite the same after Leo the head waiter left. He was always good craic. Real pity what happened to him. It went completely downhill when Eddie the owner left.

Grandeeod

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

Kung po chicken I have had from chinese takeaways here are a poor approximation of kung po, some bear no resemblance at all.

But there was a time when they did.

Grandeeod

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

It wasn't quite the same after Leo the head waiter left. He was always good craic. Real pity what happened to him. It went completely downhill when Eddie the owner left.

It will always hold special memories for me. My first "official" business lunch was there in 1994. Best £50 I ever spent. Big bucks at the time and no chips anywhere on the menu!

Maximus Alexander

I agree a lot of them are poor quality. There's a decent place called Long Sin in Windy Arbour for anyone around that area, I had gone off chinese until I gave them a shot one evening.

ohnonotgmail

Grandeeod wrote: »

It will always hold special memories for me. My first "official" business lunch was there in 1994. Best £50 I ever spent. Big bucks at the time and no chips anywhere on the menu!

i didnt start going there until the late 90's but there was always chips on the menu. Or maybe they were available if you asked. Honestly cant remember now.

finglashoop

dresden8 wrote: »

Is Chris still there? Long time since I had a large tray with onions.

Yep still there. He must know everyone in finglas by now

JupiterKid

Interesting article link below that indicates the first Chinese restaurants in Dublin opened as far back as the 1950s. I always supposed the first opened in the 70s.

Link:
https://comeheretome.com/2012/07/25/dublins-first-chinese-restaurants-1956-mid-1960s/

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

Just so everyone is aware, Aromat is MSG. Mushrooms, cheese and tomato have some or the highest amounts of the natural version of it. It's pretty much why a basic pizza tastes so good to many.

As someone else said, you likely feel crap because of the general quality of the food, a reaction to the spices, or feeling bloated from too much rice / grease / food.

So as an experiment, go and buy some Aromat or the white bags, add a heap of it to a meal at home and if it makes you feel ill, then you're one of an unlucky few who legitimately can't eat it.

Lingua Franca

Boil up two tablespoons of:

Sugar
Vinegar
Tomato ketchup
Soy sauce

Add a tablespoon of cornflour mixed with water, pineapple chunks, onions and peppers if you feel the need and chilli in any form if you want the spice, and hey presto, you made restaurant quality sweet and sour sauce.

duffman13

It's a strange one as I'm a big fan of the old spice bag or a chicken curry from the Chinese but the reality of real Chinese food is hugely different. People complaining of the meat they use in chinese takeaways should see what they use in China. In every restaurant I've been to in China I've seen probably a max of 2 chicken dishes. Kung Pao chicken or chickens feet. A lot of there food is cooked with various different pieces of meat such as intestine or various animals such as mutton or donkey meat.

Dumplings, Hot Pot, Wantons, Noodles and stir fry style veggies seems to be the most common. Also huge amounts of seafood and the odd potato dish. I've yet to see anything relatively like a curry sauce. My local Chinese takeaway is actually open nearly 40 years and hes from mainland China but a lot of them are run by Vietnamese from what he says.

Chinese food is actually a lot spicier than I expected and has a lot more flavour. Still though I have a huge craving for a spice bag!

duffman13

duffman13 wrote: »

It's a strange one as I'm a big fan of the old spice bag or a chicken curry from the Chinese but the reality of real Chinese food is hugely different. People complaining of the meat they use in chinese takeaways should see what they use in China. In every restaurant I've been to in China I've seen probably a max of 2 chicken dishes. Kung Pao chicken or chickens feet. A lot of there food is cooked with various different pieces of meat such as intestine or various animals such as mutton or donkey meat.

Dumplings, Hot Pot, Wantons, Noodles and stir fry style veggies seems to be the most common. Also huge amounts of seafood and the odd potato dish. I've yet to see anything relatively like a curry sauce. My local Chinese takeaway is actually open nearly 40 years and hes from mainland China but a lot of them are run by Vietnamese from what he says.

Chinese food is actually a lot spicier than I expected and has a lot more flavour. Still though I have a huge craving for a spice bag!

Ha don't get me started on chicken feet. My gf's favourite part of the chicken by far.
It's a pity Vietnamese food isn't more popular in the west. There's tonnes of variety, especially with Hue dishes. But most people only know the boring and pho.

dwayneshintzy

PARlance wrote: »

In fairness, most of us know the sh1te served in most Chinese Takeaways isn't the real deal. But most of us also have a false idea of what real Chinese food is, we've a sanitised idea of a tiny amount of their staples.

The reality is that most Chinese food is fairly foo kin grim.

Some definitely is, but would not remotely agree that most is.

TerrorFirmer

I like Chinese takeaway but I'm just not able for it as much anymore, I literally often feel a sort of 'food hangover' the day after eating one. Usually have Kung Po chicken with boiled rice, which is fine, I think it's the starter of salt and chili chicken and the prawn crackers that screw me over. But they're so delicious, I just can't say no. These days my preferred takeaway is a good burrito...