# I'm tired of people claiming ethnic restaurants use mice and cats instead of food **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 14, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724 "2005-01-14T16:07:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/41 "2005-01-15T04:16:54Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Oh, and **gobear** , there’s so much more to Indian food than dal and rice. I think I 'll make some rotis and potatoes & chick peas tomorrow, now that you mention it. Oh, I know and I love it all–rotis, puri,s rogan josh, aloo mutter, and so forth. However, when one is eating at dhabas in north India, one tends to get a lot of dal and rice. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/42 "2005-01-15T05:20:56Z")
Well I should mention that some years ago we actually did have a case of a health inspector finding a cat in a freezer of a local Chinese restaurant. Though it wasn’t being served to customers, it was for the owner’s private use for whatever, but the owner’s got in trouble because it was stored improperly. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/43 "2005-01-15T13:48:14Z")
If anybody used a few brain cells and logic, you would realize that the whole "cats in Chinese restaurant) thing is just so silly! First: -there is almost NO meat on a cat-and what there is would be stringy and tough -the meat of most carnivores is not tasty; typically it is unpleasant tasting due to the presence of butyric acid -preparing a cat would take a lot more time than chopping up some chicken breasts The situation is even more ludicrous with pigeons-do you honestly thing the average urban pigeon would yield any meat to speak of? So no, that was NOT pigeon or cat in your chow mein…carp, the whole thing is just so stupid! ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/44 "2005-01-15T14:07:09Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > A Chinese-American coworker, originally from Hong Kong, took a group of us to a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. He ordered for everyone in Cantonese. We got a bunch of great dishes, none of which bore any resemblance to the stuff on the regular menu. I’ve often wondered what you had to do to get real Chinese food if you didn’t know the secret handshake. I know that at the local Korean places, if I speak to them in Korean, or know the owner, they give me the Korean menu. I don’t know if the content differs, but the prices are a little lower. 🙂 It’s good to have the “in.” And I’ve never seen any dog-based dishes like boshingtong. For the record, while dog is still a somewhat popular (I actually just typed pupular) food, many people are grossed out by it too. My cousin had some boshingtong without knowing what it was and then threw up all over the place when he found out. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/45 "2005-01-15T15:51:16Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > If anybody used a few brain cells and logic, you would realize that the whole "cats in Chinese restaurant) thing is just so silly! First: > -there is almost NO meat on a cat-and what there is would be stringy and tough > -the meat of most carnivores is not tasty; typically it is unpleasant tasting due to the presence of butyric acid > -preparing a cat would take a lot more time than chopping up some chicken breasts > The situation is even more ludicrous with pigeons-do you honestly thing the average urban pigeon would yield any meat to speak of? > So no, that was NOT pigeon or cat in your chow mein…carp, the whole thing is just so stupid! This would all be very logical except for the fact that I’ve had dog, cat and pidgeon in China as well as pidgeon in Australia so obviously people do go to the effort of cooking it. But they tell you what it is and charge you about 50% more for it because it’s a “specialty”. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/46 "2005-01-15T16:23:46Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > A Chinese-American coworker, originally from Hong Kong, took a group of us to a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. He ordered for everyone in Cantonese. We got a bunch of great dishes, none of which bore any resemblance to the stuff on the regular menu. I’ve often wondered what you had to do to get real Chinese food if you didn’t know the secret handshake. Tell me about it. I usually wind up having to go down to Canal Street in NYC to find authentic dishes, I know that they make them at some of the better Chinese places around here, I just don’t know how to ask! I’ve tried, and the most I’ve gotten is a menu written in Chinese. I don’t know Chinese, I just know the taste I like. I haven’t quite been brave enough to point randomly at 3-4 dishes and take pot luck-I’ll eat almost anything, but I want to know exactly what it is that I’m eating. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/47 "2005-01-15T16:25:51Z")
People eat squab, which IS pigeon. So I guess they have meat on them _does veggie shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/48 "2005-01-15T18:29:50Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > People eat squab, which IS pigeon. So I guess they have meat on them > > _does veggie shudder_ Good old USA. Pigeons are flying rats, full of pestilence and icky things. Squab (pigeons with a high price tag) are gourmet items. Go figure. I used to hear the dire warnings about Chinese restaurants and cats but never paid any attention. The food was great, the price was great, the place was clean. Could be worse, maybe we can start a rumor about Italian restaurants - all Mafia owned, cooking their enemies 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/49 "2005-01-15T18:32:40Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Tell me about it. I usually wind up having to go down to Canal Street in NYC to find authentic dishes… I haven’t quite been brave enough to point randomly at 3-4 dishes and take pot luck-I’ll eat almost anything, but I want to know exactly what it is that I’m eating. I used to do just that - get the Chinese menu and point at the squggly characters. I don’t know the names of the stuff, but it was so good. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/50 "2005-01-15T22:02:12Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > -the meat of most carnivores is not tasty; typically it is unpleasant tasting due to the presence of butyric acid Humans gladly eat the meat of various omnivores and carnivores, especially those of fish. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/51 "2005-01-16T00:09:37Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Oh, I know and I love it all–rotis, puri,s rogan josh, aloo mutter, and so forth. However, when one is eating at dhabas in north India, one tends to get a lot of dal and rice. Gobear, I am quite impressed. Are you actually Indian, or are you a really well-travelled whitey? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/52 "2005-01-16T00:14:04Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Well, while I travelled in India, I was most put out that not once did anyone ever serve me chilled monkey brains a la _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom_. After eating dal and rice day after day, monkey brains and eyeball soup would have made a refreshing change. To further the hijack: I just checked out your website, and saw the picture of you at the Taj Mahal. Yup, that’s a white guy alright. I’m \*very \* impressed. Aren’t you gay? If so, I’m disappointed. Or is that **swampbear**? The Taj Mahal was one of the most moving landmarks I have ever gone to. For those who haven’t had the opportunity to go, when I went they still didn’t light it up with artificial light (they used to only let you go in the daytime) and they tell you to run your hands along the walls. You feel all these rough, jagged holes - where the British ripped out the gems and valuable stones in the walls and took them with them. It made me cry, I’ll tell you that. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/53 "2005-01-16T01:34:08Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > To further the hijack: I just checked out your website, and saw the picture of you at the Taj Mahal. Yup, that’s a white guy alright. I’m \*very \* impressed. Aren’t you gay? If so, I’m disappointed. Or is that **swampbear**? Yes, I’m gay–and in reference to your previous post, a well-traveled whitey. Um, is that bad? Why are you disappointed? > [@](#): > > The Taj Mahal was one of the most moving landmarks I have ever gone to. For those who haven’t had the opportunity to go, when I went they still didn’t light it up with artificial light (they used to only let you go in the daytime) and they tell you to run your hands along the walls. You feel all these rough, jagged holes - where the British ripped out the gems and valuable stones in the walls and took them with them. > It made me cry, I’ll tell you that. Of all the places I’ve been to in the world, the Taj Mahal is one of the very few places that lived up to its billing. Go, Moghul empire! The sad thing is that when you get up close to the building, you can see how the once-white marble is yellowing from the air pollution in Agra. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/54 "2005-01-16T01:44:41Z")
Being female, I think she was saying she’s dissapointed that you’re off the market with your being gay and all. That was my interpretation, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724/55 "2005-01-16T17:55:59Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Yes, I’m gay–and in reference to your previous post, a well-traveled whitey. Um, is that bad? Why are you disappointed? > > Of all the places I’ve been to in the world, the Taj Mahal is one of the very few places that lived up to its billing. Go, Moghul empire! The sad thing is that when you get up close to the building, you can see how the once-white marble is yellowing from the air pollution in Agra. I’m disappointed because you’re gay. I’m impressed and pleased to meet such a well-travelled whitey. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-claiming-ethnic-restaurants-use-mice-and-cats-instead-of-food/284724.md?page=2)