There are so many American Chinese restaurants in this country. I must emphasize on the ‘American Chinese’ part, because only a few of them really serve authentic Chinese cuisine. What started as a way to cater to railroad workers, in the 19th century Chinese restaurateurs developed American Chinese cuisine. They modified their food for American tastes, such as chop suey and sesame chicken.
There are so many of them, that I got jealous. If only the number of Indonesian restaurants are that many, even half of it, wouldn’t that be nice. In the Midwest, there are only a handfull of Indonesian restaurants around. I’m so lucky to have one in our little town of Ames, Iowa. Last time I checked in 2006, Chicago doesn’t even have one. I’m not sure about Minneapolis either. Madison, WI, has one (Bandung restaurant) which we visited in 2001 and is still in business!
Back to Chinese restaurants. There are approximately 9 of them in this 50,000-population college town (not to mention the HyVee ones). In my humble opinion, there’s only one that I’d consider ‘authentic’ and it’s ‘Little Taipei’. This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in town. Located in Campustown, this restaurant is never slow. Always full of customer; Asian or not. Moved recently to a nicer building, Little Taipei is always constant in providing good food. Like [most] Chinese restaurants, you shouldn’t expect too much of good service. They don’t have waiters who’d take your order, keep checking on you every 1o minutes or so, or bring you the bill.
You come in, go to the counter, and be prepare to answer these questions:
- “For here or to go?”
- “What do you want?”
- “Spicy, no spicy?”
- “What to drink?”
For question number 2, if you’re not a regular or if you happen to miss the big list of menu mounted on the wall (right after the entrance door in the alley, and again inside the restaurant), you’ll get flustered. They have so many categories; under ‘Rice’, ‘Noodles’, ‘Chicken’, ‘Beef’, etc. I usually go with the ‘Specials’ like Bulgogi Pork, Teriyaki Chicken, and Angry Catfish. The official menu on the wall is in English. The unofficialone is written in Chinese characters, and more… challenging. I don’t remember quite exactly what they called but there is one I’m particularly intrigued about: ‘Sour Stomach’. That’s right. I’m not sure if this dish will make your stomach sour (sick) after eating, or it’s an inside lining of an animal stomach (I’m guessing cow?) cooked in sour sauce. Well, that doesn’t sound very convincing either.
Anyway…
After you decided what you’d like to order, then you pay (they no longer accept checks). Then, the cashier/order-taker would -which I probably am the only one who find this interesting- yell out the order into a microphone. Now, what would be the purpose of a mic? I’m guessing it’s for the cook back in the kitchen. But why yellling? You could just talk normal into the mic, and they should be able to hear it. The kitchen is just right behind the wall. Plus, there’s a window on the wall so they could definitely hear the yelling. Plus, after the customer pays, the cashier/order-taker would put the order slip up on the ‘thingy’ on the other side of the window.
So, expect to hear a loud,”CHICKEN FRIED RICE!! TO GO!! NO SPICY!!” or “MAPO TOFU FOR HERE!! SPICY!!” every now and then while you’re eating there. On a slower time of day (around 3:00 or 4:00 pm), you’ll hear less. But this doesn’t seem to bother the patrons at all. As most of them are college students, who don’t expect to dine in a fancy restaurant and just want something good, cheap and fast. Most of the dish is $5.00 and you’ll get plenty of white steam rice.
i think the yelling and the noise of it has become a part of any chinese restaurant. the more yelling, the better. the busier the waiters and chefs are, the more excellent. it means the place has a good reputation and that people love the food, that’s why it’s so “crowded”, LOL.
Yeah, it’s their lack of English fluency combined by their own culture. Sometimes it is a shock to hear them shouting to each other and to us, but well, they don’t mean to be impolite.
I find it more difficult to order for take away, whoever answers the phone has very thick Chinese accent and I almost couldn’t understand a single thing. One day I phoned a takeaway, and everything in the menu wasn’t available, up until the point the receptionist told me that they place is changed! No wonder they have a totally different menu…
therry, that’s too funny. but for someone who is easilly scared like me, the yelling makes me jumpy. and i think ske knows it :p
anita, that explains it. i must tell you a story, when i was at this retaurant and paying for my food, i had to pay with credit card. in the same time, somebody called in for a take away. in the middle of the phone conversation, i heard the lady owner said, “sorry, call later. need phone for credit card.” and hung up. didn’t even ask if the caller was fine with it or not, he he.
I have actually been to Little Taipei. I was in Ames a few years ago, and went to that restaurant.
But anyway, the closest thing we have to an Indonesian restaurant is a Malay restaurant. You can get some dishes that are shared across cultures, albeit with a bit more of a Malay style.
Diny, you need to let me know which weekends you are free, so Vita and I can come down and visit (and maybe go eat at Little Taipei).
Dan, seriously? I bet it was when they were still on the old location, huh? When I was still a student, I used to go there almost everyday for lunch in between classes and during the winter, it’s freakin freezing! Despite the lack of the heat[er] or air con, I’m loving this place!
Come down and visit li’l ol’ Ames? Most def! But I would think Vita would like to try the Indonesian restaurant? I’ll talk to Doug and will email Vita for the dates.
im never gonna order the angry catfish, cos it’ll just kick yowass.
sour stomach would be redundant for me as i have acid reflux, my stomach is already sour.
what other options are there din?
btw, was it your birthday recently? if so, happy belated b’day girl.. im sure whatever your age is, you dont look a day over 21. 😉
First of all, let’s add my congratulations on your birthday to all others.
I’ve a present on offer as well. But you have to travel to get it. Wasn’t you looking for Indonesian Restaurants? Well, come around and I’ll invite you to a dinner in one in our small provincial (but ancient) city of Utrecht – you can choose where to go: “Selamat Makan”, “Djakarta”, “Terang”, Borobudor” – yeah, I admit the names don’t excel in originality, but the food is good.
Rima was having a birthday too!?!?!! Wheeeeeeeen?! Whaaaat?
therry: lol
not me silly, diny..! lol
mine was 4 months ago !
Ehm. I read the name wrong 😛
Happy birthday Diny! Mwacks
Armed with the new rebel Xti, keep shooting and looking forward to the exhibits..
Photo shooting here in West Africa? 😀