I would agree 95% of the food in SLC is just ‘meh’ so say the least. However you can get fantastic mexican food there something that is lacking here in Seattle.
As for the suburbs of Seattle, you can get fantastic chinese in quite a few places, you just need to know where to look. There’s a place out by me in Redmond that does some outstanding sesame beef, garlic chicken and szchuan prawns and the place is in a stripmall. Now true there is also a lot of really bad chinese… and I would say that on avarage you’re right that most chinese is bad in the suburbs, I would just venture to say I’ve had more luck with good chinese in the suburbs of Seattle than most anywhere i’ve had it in the US.
My parents live in suburban RI, and there’s a great Chinese place near them. The Americanized menu features Polaroids of pu-pu platters and sweet and sour chicken. Then there’s the Chinese menu. No pictures, not all in English, lots of more authentic dishes. Once you get to know the staff, they stop bringing you the American menu, and they start suggesting specials that aren’t even on the Chinese menu. Yum.
I work in the suburbs of Kansas City, and there is some really good Chinese food here, though you’re usually better off going Mexican at a little family place because there are an assload of Mexican immigrants in KC.
I had a very hard time convincing some colleagues from Los Angeles that they wouldn’t die if they ate Mexican food in the midwest.
Living in a college town (Lawrence) we have many many good chinese restaurants, three great sushi restaurants, two great thai places (right across the street from each other, oddly enough) and a great Brazilian fusion place.
So… maybe you need to shop around… or maybe this is endemic to NC?
Yes! There are two fabulous dim sum places near me and one great buffet a little further down the road.
The last time I ate dim sum we had the perfect pork buns, the best crispy shrimp balls, the most amazing sticky rice, perfectly steamed beef dumplings, glorious shrimp on bell pepper in garlic sauce and wonderfully garlicky sauteed bok choy. The place has waiters who barely speak English so that may have something to do with it.
Damn. I’m hungry again. I know where I’m going to for brunch on Saturday.
