Come on chinese restaurants, get with the program

[atyy]

Fat choy - hair vegetable? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Why? I'm thinking the only time when chopsticks are the better choice is when stabbing the thing is ineffective. But sushis clearly do not fall in that category.

If you "stab" most sushi it will likely fall apart. Most often you can eat it with your fingers but in many cultures that is not considered to be very good table manners. Chop sticks work quite well if you can use them. And really it isn't that hard if you give it a bit of practice. I learned when I was around about five years old.

edit: I actually still don't hold them properly apparently, though they work just as well anyway, I have had a lovely japanese exchange student try to show me how to hold them properly (another benefit of using chop sticks ).

 

[atyy]

I'm willing to try new things but I don't want the meal I pay for to come down to me basically throwing a dart at the menu and eating whatever it lands on. When I could easily go somewhere else and pay another establishment to give me food with an actual description that I know I'll like, I don't find it satisfying to play cuisine roulette with my money. Maybe I'm strange like that.

Most Chinese places that do this are pretty cheap, so I actually just pick at random something that sounds interesting. If it's inedible I don't come back. If it's mediocre I give it another chance. If it's still mediocre on the second try, I don't come back. Or you can do Panda Express , since you get to see what it looks like first!

 

[Pengwuino]

Chopsticks are pretty easy to use, and I think they are easier for eating Chinese food than a fork. A few times, I've gotten take-out and the person picking it up didn't get chopsticks...it was very hard to eat it with a fork. Sometimes, I even use chopsticks to eat other meals I cook for myself. Those foods that are hard to stab or scoop with a fork in any non-messy way, but aren't quite finger food are good candidates for chopsticks.

Yah the food definitely goes well with chopsticks (duh!). Of course, i'll pay $10 to see someone eat a steak with chop sticks!

If you "stab" most sushi it will likely fall apart. Most often you can eat it with your fingers but in many cultures that is not considered to be very good table manners. Chop sticks work quite well if you can use them. And really it isn't that hard if you give it a bit of practice. I learned when I was around about five years old.

I don't find it too hard to "stab" sushi :) I also just pick it up sometimes too haha!

 

[atyy]

Most things here are pretty descriptive: http://www.southseaseafoodvillage.com/images/togo-menu.pdf

 

[Huckleberry]

Portland has many great restaurants! Have you ever eaten at the Iron Butterfly? They are awesome!

Edit: Heh, I meant the Iron Horse.

I used to eat at Cuchina Cuchina's at least twice a week, but now they are gone. There was also a great ME food restaurant called Sobeys that I would frequent [not sure of the spelling anymore].

What really blew me away was when I spotted an Ethiopian restaurant down by the Rose Garden. I don't think I had ever seen one before! There was also a Guatemalan restaurant that we tried, but it was pretty much just bland Mexican food.

I haven't eaten at the Iron Horse. I'll have to check it out.

I've been here like 3 and 1/2 years and only this year have I really started to make any effort to get out and explore the city and meet people. My best friend lives in SE Portland and just last month was the first time I've been to his house to catch up and meet his 2 year old son and his newborn daughter for the first time. I've been a terrible friend to everyone recently. I think I'll invite him to the Iron Horse on your recommendation. Thanks.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Yah the food definitely goes well with chopsticks (duh!). Of course, i'll pay $10 to see someone eat a steak with chop sticks! I don't find it too hard to "stab" sushi :) I also just pick it up sometimes too haha!

15 years ago the Japanese press was lamenting the fact that young people didn't know the proper use of chopsticks. Instead of using them to pick things up as an extension of the fingers, they were bringing the ricebowl to their mouths and using them in a shovelling motion, In Japan they commonly pick up the sushi with their fingers although not all do and I do not. The rice in American Chinese restaurants, especially the cheap takeouts is normally long grain which does not stick together like the short grain rice used in China and Japan. That makes it very difficult to pick up with chopsticks. Finally, where chopsticks are used, the food is prepared with that in mind, cut into bite sized pieces. In our house, when my wife broils a steak, I cut it that way to serve. Penqwuino will be welcome to share a steak dinner with us at home and please bring 10 bucks.

 

[Born2bwire]

This is pretty much how it is in China. The food names are not very descriptive and most of the time they just translate it for the restaurants in the States (for what of it is authentic). But really, how is it any different? Look at western cuisine. "Chicken Fried Steak," "Green Bean Cassarole," "French Dip," etc. None of those convey any more meaning then "Three Cup Sauce Chicken," "Sweet and Sour Pork," or "Phoenix's Paw." You get an idea of an ingredient and maybe the preparation and that's it. We just take it forgranted that we know what it is already.

In the end, you could just ask.