restaurant?

by Justine (Feb 14, 2006)

After the broadcast of a French television program, « Envoyé Spécial », frequenting Asian restaurants decreased considerably. Indeed, half of the inspected restaurants served at least one dish that did not comply with hygiene rules. Here are some criteria to trust a Chinese restaurant :

1. Prefer the country : Chinese cooking is a country cooking. If the restaurant indicates where the cooking comes from, it’s a good point. There are 4 different Chinese country cooking styles : Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Canton.

2. Chinese cooking is based on 5 flavors : sour, sweet, salty, bitter, and spicy. Every meal must be composed of fan ( rice, noodles, bread, wheat), and cai ( fish, meat)

3. Keep away from multi-menus : Chinese cooking is sufficiently varied. It’s doesn’t need to be completed by other Asian specialties. A restaurant which specifies « Thai-Chinese-Indian Restaurant » isn’t a good address.

4. Trust the appearances. Prefer restaurants where there are more Chinese than Western customers.

5. Choose untidiness. The concept « starter- main course - desert » doesn’t exist in China. All dishes are served at the same time on a round rolling tray which is in the middle of a long table. Chinese customers are not used to eating in tête-à-tête .

6. Drink before or after your meal. Black or green tea is drunk at the beginning of the meal, in order to wash the palate. Then, you don’t drink till the digestives.

7. Dare go out of the menu. Don’t hesitate to order « special dishes ». Some specialties aren’t on the menu, like duck tong , or you yuk young laat jin ( stuffed pepper with fish). Besides, restaurant owners basically are very proud to present those kinds of dishes.

8. Keep away from fixed menus.They are very worrying. They mean that this restaurant used frozen food, probably bought several months ago, and dishes might not be made on the spot. Prefer the « day menu ».

9. Keep your attention on your watch. Chinese cooking needs meticulous preparations. If your disum ( steam Raviolis ) are served just one minute after your order, just smell it!

10. Asian Quality Label. In France, some restaurants got this Label after the broadcast of the television program. It certifies that the restaurant respects hygiene criteria, but it doesn’t assess the gustative quality.

Enjoy your meal !

If you wish to react to this article, write to the editor.