# Chinese Food (esp Takeout) Can you get any good CF in most cities? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2015, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-food-esp-takeout-can-you-get-any-good-cf-in-most-cities/715477 "2015-03-20T10:28:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-food-esp-takeout-can-you-get-any-good-cf-in-most-cities/715477/21 "2015-03-24T20:17:19Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > Chinese “Take Out” food is bland everywhere, including NYC. Now real Chinese restaurants, focusing on specific regional cuisines, we have some very good ones here in Cleveland. Oh my gosh! I just can’t believe how many times recently I have read posts in this forum or heard from people irl about how great something in Cleveland is. I had always grown up to recognize Cleveland as an awful place where everythign was terrible. But in the past year or so, I have met several people or read several items from people who attest to just how wonderful something is in Cleveland. I just don’t get it. But I am coming around to the point of view that Cleveland must be a truly wonderful place. I apologize to Cleveland and all things Clevelenese for my previous negative opinions. Apparently, I was very wrong and Cleveland is a city chock full of great things. I’m sorry, Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-food-esp-takeout-can-you-get-any-good-cf-in-most-cities/715477/22 "2015-03-24T20:44:52Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Oh my gosh! I just can’t believe how many times recently I have read posts in this forum or heard from people irl about how great something in Cleveland is. I had always grown up to recognize Cleveland as an awful place where everythign was terrible. But in the past year or so, I have met several people or read several items from people who attest to just how wonderful something is in Cleveland. > > I just don’t get it. But I am coming around to the point of view that Cleveland must be a truly wonderful place. > > I apologize to Cleveland and all things Clevelenese for my previous negative opinions. Apparently, I was very wrong and Cleveland is a city chock full of great things. > > I’m sorry, Cleveland. Well, we don’t call it “The Best Location in the Nation” for nothing! But come and see for yourself sometime 😃 ---
**Author:** ![May\_20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@May\_20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/May_20)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-food-esp-takeout-can-you-get-any-good-cf-in-most-cities/715477/23 "2015-03-24T20:59:54Z")
When I lived in Austin, there was a Chinese take-out place that we absolutely loved. We ordered from there frequently. After moving to the western Chicago suburbs, we have tried so many Chinese places over the years, but none of them are as good (to us) as the place we loved in Austin. _sigh_ I’ve sort of given up on Chinese and moved to Thai as a result. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-food-esp-takeout-can-you-get-any-good-cf-in-most-cities/715477/24 "2015-03-24T21:03:53Z")
The best American-style Chinese food I’ve ever had was at a dingy old empty-except-for-me diner in Portland’s Chinatown by the incongruous name of “House of Louie”, which had delicious won ton soup, char siu to die for, kung pao chicken with actual Szechuan peppercorns, and an amazing chili paste on the side. The best Chinese-style Chinese food I’ve had was a “hot soup” restaurant in Seattle’s International District (the politically correct, pan-Asian name for what _used_ to be called “Chinatown”) which was packed to capacity with Asian diners and maybe one or two other white people, where I was served a steel bowl atop a portable gas burner, filled with a mildly spicy chicken broth, all manner of vegetables, thin-sliced pork, tofu, fishcakes, rice noodles, and a raw egg cracked into the bowl immediately before serving which gradually became poached as the burner kicked in. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-food-esp-takeout-can-you-get-any-good-cf-in-most-cities/715477/25 "2015-03-25T02:36:43Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Oh my gosh! I just can’t believe how many times recently I have read posts in this forum or heard from people irl about how great something in Cleveland is. I had always grown up to recognize Cleveland as an awful place where everythign was terrible. But in the past year or so, I have met several people or read several items from people who attest to just how wonderful something is in Cleveland. > > I just don’t get it. But I am coming around to the point of view that Cleveland must be a truly wonderful place. > > I apologize to Cleveland and all things Clevelenese for my previous negative opinions. Apparently, I was very wrong and Cleveland is a city chock full of great things. > > I’m sorry, Cleveland. Yeah, I was in Cleveland once a long time ago for a baseball game in the early 90s and remember it being a really dreary place. I even remember its moniker as “The mistake by the lake”. (No offense to anyone in/from Cleveland.) [This “tourism” video](https://youtu.be/ysmLA5TqbIY) pretty much sums it up. And just to keep this post on topic… > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I think you’ve got 2 types of CF in this country. > > Generic American-Chinese takeout - This is basically the same everywhere, though each place may be good or bad depending on the quality of the management. May also be a sit-down restaurant with or without buffet. > > Authentic Chinese Restaurant - These are restaurants specifically trying to capture some aspect of authentic Chinese cuisine, and while they may serve many American-Chinese dishes, they have a wide selection of other dishes you don’t see at takeout joints. > > You should be able to find an authentic Chinese restaurant in any town that has a vibrant restaurant scene. The trick is to not just order the Pork LoMein, you have to pick the cuisine they’re specializing in. I agree with this wholeheartedly. There’s North American style CF and then there’s authentic CF, which you can usually have in a metropolitan city, or any city with a vibrant Chinese community. Personally, I find NACF to be sweet and/or bland and don’t enjoy it, but whenever I’m in TO, NY, SF or Seattle, I make it a point to visit an authentic-style Chinese restaurant because they’re so good. There’s a place near Palais Garnier in Paris called the Mandarin Opera that serves a kind of blend of NA and authentic CF, which is really strange. The owners and chefs are Chinese of course, but I think they are limited by the kinds of ingredients they can get in France. I probably wouldn’t visit the place if it was any other city, but when you’re having cheese, foie gras, and charcuterie morning noon and night, it makes for a nice change and a way to reset the palate. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-food-esp-takeout-can-you-get-any-good-cf-in-most-cities/715477/26 "2015-03-27T02:51:12Z")
I’ve found palatable “Chinese food” in just about every town of 500+ people I’ve ever been. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-food-esp-takeout-can-you-get-any-good-cf-in-most-cities/715477.md?page=1)