OT: Chinese Take Out

[Duncan Idaho]

The pizza thread got me thinking that we needed a Chinese Take Out thread as well.

Wang Palace on Glastonbury is consistently excellent. Lee Po in Bristol is pretty good as well. I travel all over the state on business ( I deal in antiques and collectables) so please chime in if you have any real good recommendations.

One out of state place that absolutely kills it is Lin's Garden on route 9 in Brookfield, MA. Just flat out awesome, best Chinese I have had this side of San Francisco.

If you go to ma than maybe you can try Quincy. Good dim sum like China Pearl or Winsor. Big Chinese population in Quincy.

 

[imno1]

If you’re gonna serve me some bird please cut the head off first.

Edit: in response to jmick’s quote

 

[storrsroars]

I'm not a fan of authentic chinese food either. too many bones.

Seriously. I can sort of understand fish - and they have a way of using their tongue and teeth to collect the tiny fish bones and set them aside in their cheek while continuing to eat. But freaking chicken. In homestyle Chinese they don't strip the bones on legs or wings, they just chop through the bone to get even pieces because "it tastes better when the bone is still on". So you get these 1-inch morsels of chicken that have bones... it's hard for Westerners to adapt to eating like that as it makes no damned sense.

 

[Madmannsucks]

I miss the Chinese food in New Britain. When I moved to Colorado, I just figured Chinese food was Chinese food. Not quite.

 

[storrsroars]

If you go to ma than maybe you can try Quincy. Good dim sum like China Pearl or Winsor. Big Chinese population in Quincy.

Ever been to Chili Square? They opened after I moved away, but they're kitty corner to where I used to get my takeout (Great Chow, which was fairly ordinary). If you do go to Chili Square, I'm intrigued by the duck heads.

 

[JMick]

Seriously. I can sort of understand fish - and they have a way of using their tongue and teeth to collect the tiny fish bones and set them aside in their cheek while continuing to eat. But freaking chicken. In homestyle Chinese they don't strip the bones on legs or wings, they just chop through the bone to get even pieces because "it tastes better when the bone is still on". So you get these 1-inch morsels of chicken that have bones... it's hard for Westerners to adapt to eating like that as it makes no damned sense.

I end up eating real Chinese food a couple times per year, though not exactly by choice. Luckily I am a big fan of dumplings and that transcends traditional and americanized chinese food.

 

[WhiteDressWes]

Han Restaurant on Prospect Ave, just south of Park St, Hartford.

The first Chinese Hot Pot restaurant ever in Connecticut. My favorite.

 

[Huskybass]

Mods edit the thread to say "American Chinese food"


Because that ain't Chinese food actually.

( Signed former mott street resident in between Canal and Houston)


But to contribute to thread.


" Boneless ribs"

Is my template for the skill of an American style Chinese place.

Dear Ketchupboy,

We are talking take out local here. I don't give a Shiite if it's authentic or not, I just want food that tastes great and has no bad side effects.

BTW, the best Chinese I ever had was at the House of Nanking at 919 Kearney Street in San Francisco. Great food, rude service, seat you at tables with strangers. It's so good, I had multiple days of both lunch and dinner there. I havnt been in like 15 years, but I am salivating just thinking about the place.

 

[Chin Diesel]

You really need to separate Chinese takeout from eating at a Chinese restaurant or figuring out which part of China your food is supposed to represent.

I think a few on here hit it on the head. Does meat resemble meat? Rice isn't crunchy or isn't stuck as one giant mass. Can I go more than 45 minutes before having to take a seat?

Personally not a big fan of Chinese so I stay with the basics- General Tsao Chicken, Beef and Broccoli and Sweet and Sour.

At my work sometimes over 50% of the tupperware people use to store their lunch inside the break room fridge is Chinese takeout containers.

 

[8893]

Dear Ketchupboy,

We are talking take out local here. I don't give a Shiite if it's authentic or not, I just want food that tastes great and has no bad side effects.

BTW, the best Chinese I ever had was at the House of Nanking at 919 Kearney Street in San Francisco. Great food, rude service, seat you at tables with strangers. It's so good, I had multiple days of both lunch and dinner there. I havnt been in like 15 years, but I am salivating just thinking about the place.

Lived in San Francisco for a year in between college and law school and loved that place and ate there regularly. I also lived a block off Clement Street, which was loaded with at least a dozen great quality Chinese places from various regions, including the Mandalay, where I got turned on to Burmese food. Red Crane was also excellent for vegetarian Chinese.

 

[storrsroars]

You really need to separate Chinese takeout from eating at a Chinese restaurant or figuring out which part of China your food is supposed to represent.

Disagree. Although it's considered the most "classic" of Chinese cuisines, I want no part of Cantonese. That's where you run into the most MSG and other ick. Plus it's bland to me. If the restaurant name says Szechuan, Hunan or Yunnan, I'll check it out.

Anyway, the way I'm eating now, I'm with JMick. I'll stick mostly to dumplings and add noodles (DanDan is a fave). Less salt, sugar and other crap and the carb load isn't outrageous.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Did you realy live on Mott Street? Hats off. Wo Hop says hello.

First trip to Wo Hop was summer 1975.

I generally disqualify myself as too
ignorant to weigh in on "good Chinese," but I see & agree that American Chinese is indeed the topic.

Given the criteria listed above, I can put in a vote for Westville's House of Chao, which also works as a modest sit down site. Its greatest frustration is timing, though, as waits for the unaware can be as off-putting or comical as at Sally's Apizza in its peak days w/Flo presiding.

Call ahead and believe the time they tell you and you will be fine: tender large chicken chunks, crunchy broccoli, darker fried rice.

I can walk there, but nearly always choose Thai or pizza instead. This thread makes me reconsider.

 

[methodology]

That would merit a separate thread, although when I finally left CT in '99 there wasn't much Thai to speak of outside of Bridgeport.

Unfortunately, my fave CT Chinese take out no longer exists. Hunan Gardens in Stamford. Used to live for spring when they'd roll out their soft shell crab in garlic sauce with asparagus. That was fantastic. Never found its equal in CT.

Nice thing about NY/NJ/CT/MA is that there are actually restaurants that specialize in difference provinces. Out here in Pgh with only a couple of exceptions, it's all just "Chinese".

I'll add that I've worked in a couple of Chinese restaurant kitchens. What they eat is nothing like what you're ordering It's probably why when I was just a 20-something going to dumps on Mott or Canal and looking at other diners to see what looked interesting, the waiters would inform me, "You no want that."

A buddy of mine from China told me if I wanted authentic Chinese food go to Chinatown and point to something a patron was eating and don't ask what it is or anything and eat it.

 

[Alum86]

Ming Moon Newington.
Best take out Chinese for 15 miles.

 

[JMick]

A buddy of mine from China told me if I wanted authentic Chinese food go to Chinatown and point to something a patron was eating and don't ask what it is or anything and eat it.

You can usually get real Chinese food from American Chinese food restaurants too. I wouldn't call ahead and ask for it, especially if theyre busy, but if you're a regular and the owners or cooks are actually Chinese a lot of times they're thrilled to cook you something. My coworker is Chinese and he has a local place that will make him traditional Chinese food.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Not Chinese but my wife brought home Sakura sushi as a peace offering after vineyard hopping and shopping all day. May have been in the car for a while or something but it was gross. They usually have good hibachi though.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

A buddy of mine from China told me if I wanted authentic Chinese food go to Chinatown and point to something a patron was eating and don't ask what it is or anything and eat it.

By contrast, in 2000 I did a stint at a dot.com that made it through two rounds of funding before failing, and was located in New York on Park Ave South a block away from the many Indian restaurants on Lexington.

After lunch one day with Shreekumar Rajagopolan, I asked if what we'd just had was "good Indian food."

"Did you like it?"

"Yes..."

"Then it was good food."

It wasn't what I was looking for, but I knew it was a great answer.

 

[storrsroars]

Slightly off topic, but for those of you on a diet, PF Chang's frozen Mongolian beef is pretty danged good and only like 310 calories for half a bag. Oddly it's like 25% more calories if you order it in their restaurants.

 

[David 76]

What is good in the Guilford area?

I remember when people dined at Chinese restaurants (casual dining, anyway)
Then one day I missed the memo and I showed up and everyone was getting take out. Suddenly take out and nasty buffets were everywhere. Westville is too much of a hassle for me. Looking for something east of the Q bridge.

 

[JMick]

Slightly off topic, but for those of you on a diet, PF Chang's frozen Mongolian beef is pretty danged good and only like 310 calories for half a bag. Oddly it's like 25% more calories if you order it in their restaurants.

Steer clear of Tai Pei... the general tsos was the worst food i've ever eaten. it was 3 chicken nuggets covered in what actually appeared to be duck sauce. The Chung's egg rolls aren't terrible, though

 

[superjohn]

A buddy of mine from China told me if I wanted authentic Chinese food go to Chinatown and point to something a patron was eating and don't ask what it is or anything and eat it.

That's what I do when I go to ethnic restaurants I'm not too familiar with. I tell the waiter to order for me.

 

[storrsroars]

Steer clear of Tai Pei... the general tsos was the worst food i've ever eaten. it was 3 chicken nuggets covered in what actually appeared to be duck sauce. The Chung's egg rolls aren't terrible, though

I'm a fan of TJ's frozen scallion pancakes. Not a big Tso fan, but my wife liked TJs Tso.

 

[huskypantz]

Nice thing about NY/NJ/CT/MA is that there are actually restaurants that specialize in difference provinces.

Very true. There is a Taiwanese Dim Sum in Watertown MA. One of my vendors visited from Vancouver, he's Taiwanese and was very surprised to hear we had one in the Boston area.

 

[EROCK CONN]

Not Chinese but my wife brought home Sakura sushi as a peace offering after vineyard hopping and shopping all day. May have been in the car for a while or something but it was gross. They usually have good hibachi though.

“So are you Chinese or Japanese?”

 

[HawkHusky]

Easy. Panda Express.

 

[CAHUSKY]

the best Chinese I ever had was at the House of Nanking at 919 Kearney Street in San Francisco. Great food, rude service, seat you at tables with strangers. It's so good, I had multiple days of both lunch and dinner there. I havnt been in like 15 years, but I am salivating just thinking about the place.

I was there a few weeks ago and its still as good as it was when it opened. I was working for my uncles plumbing company at the time and ate there all the time. Hopefully you had a chance to have dim sum at Yank Sing when you lived there. that place is scrumptious.

 

[Whtdmd]

Shu in West Hartford has my far the best chinese take out in the Hartford Area.

 

[Waquoit]

Mods edit the thread to say "American Chinese food"
Because that ain't Chinese food actually.

And because you wanted to make sure that everyone knew you knew that.

I'll put up Sun-Sun in S. Windsor. The take out is consistently good. They do a nice Gen. Tso, but since the General doesn't make it home that well, I get it for lunch and have it there.

 

[8893]

What is good in the Guilford area?

I remember when people dined at Chinese restaurants (casual dining, anyway)
Then one day I missed the memo and I showed up and everyone was getting take out. Suddenly take out and nasty buffets were everywhere. Westville is too much of a hassle for me. Looking for something east of the Q bridge.

Clinton’s Taste of China is probably the best bet for Chinese in the area. Ayuthai in Guilford is very good for Thai. Som Siam used to be good but imo really dropped off the past five years or so.

In terms of “real” Chinese, my partner loves Great Wall in New Haven and it is loaded with mostly Chinese people and has a menu that is written in Chinese so I am guessing it fits the bill. I have liked my meals there but, strange as it may sound, I don’t like the smell of the place so I don’t go there much. There are a few places like that for me in various cuisines. If I don’t like the smell I usually don’t choose to frequent it.

 

[Deepster]

Hot and Spicy Chicken from Saigon Kitchen in Hartford.

Honorable mention goes to the former Szechuan Tokyo in Elmwood. Loved everything about that place.