# Restaurants that don't serve essential dishes/items **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [February 18, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451 "2025-02-18T13:21:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/161 "2025-02-20T17:44:00Z")
Awesome! I’ll have to check it out soon. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/162 "2025-02-20T17:51:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > On the flip side, I have to mention that when I first returned to the Boston area circa 1990 I would be served Italian bread… > > …at Chinese restaurants. > > Yes, instead of rice as the standard starch, they’d serve little loaves of Italian bread. It was utterly bizarre, and it was at multiple unconnected restaurants. It freaked out Pepper Mill when she came to live with me, too. And one time at an Italian restaurant in Colorado, for a side I was served a package of Cool Ranch Doritos. I wouldn’t say it was a white tablecloth establishment, but it wasn’t exactly counter service either. Seemed like a standard hole in the wall italian place. I hear that that can be common around Colorado as well (like your experience with Italian bread in Boston). ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/163 "2025-02-20T18:16:21Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It would surprise me because I don’t know when was the last time I saw individual packets of “whipped spread” or margarine as the only option in any restaurant. When I saw “no butter” mentioned here, I though it means “no packets of yellow grease” Fun fact. Even though yellow margarine has been allowed in Wisconsin since 1964 restaurants are still forbidden from offering it as an only choice. A customer has to ask for it or both butter and oleo can be served together. This the fallout after the “Oleo Wars”. Oleo was allowed to be sold after a state Senator failed to identify butter in a blind taste test! When you crossed the state lines going out of Wisconsin back then there are stores with huge signs selling oleo. People made “oleo runs” to smuggle it into Wisconsin (and were arrested if caught). > **[Wisconsin banned selling yellow margarine for 72 years, so residents smuggled...](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/special-reports/dairy-crisis/2019/08/28/protect-dairy-industry-wisconsin-tried-keep-yellow-margarine-out-oleo-run/1950671001/)** > > There are still anti-margarine laws on the books in Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/164 "2025-02-20T19:14:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > How do they differ? What you’re describing sound like Chinese spring rolls to me. The spring rolls I’ve had at Chinese places are pretty much like smaller egg rolls with a thinner exterior. (At Southeast Asian places, they are a completely different thing, made with a translucent rice paper wrapper and served cold.) > > ETA: Something like this: Yeah, pretty much that. He doesn’t speak English, so i guess i don’t know what he calls them. I took them to be small, homemade egg rolls. I didn’t recall whether my sister-in-law referred to them as egg rolls or not. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > On the flip side, I have to mention that when I first returned to the Boston area circa 1990 I would be served Italian bread… > > …at Chinese restaurants. At around the same time, i went to a Chinese restaurant in Dublin, where i was asked if i would like potatoes or rice with my food. They were surprised i asked for rice, and shocked when i asked for chopsticks, but they did have ordinary Chinese-restaurant-style plastic chopsticks. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/165 "2025-02-20T19:22:42Z")
Egg rolls - Fried Spring rolls - Steamed Right? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/166 "2025-02-20T19:25:57Z")
No, I’ve had fried spring rolls, which are still the thin papery crust, not the heavier crust of what i call an egg roll. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/167 "2025-02-20T19:39:44Z")
In various Chinese restaurants (whose clientele is almost all Chinese, so not American-Chinese) in both the USA and in mainland China, I’ve seen many varieties called spring rolls (literal translation). Some fried, some not. The fried ones have a thinner skin (and no bubbles) than the American-Chinese restaurant staple. Also much smaller. The spring roll is really a seasonal thing in China. Might vary by region. This is just my exposure. Most of my time in China has been in Beijing and Tianjin, but I’ve spent time in several other cities all over China (except Tibet and Xinjiang) Vietnamese spring rolls are an entirely different thing. In transparent rice wrapper. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/168 "2025-02-20T19:48:09Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Vietnamese spring rolls are an entirely different thing. In transparent rice wrapper. That’s what I’ve been calling a spring roll. You get them in Thai places as well. I stopped eating American Chinese food decades ago in favor of South Asian cusine. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/169 "2025-02-20T20:08:35Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I’ve seen many varieties called spring rolls (literal translation). Some fried, some not. The fried ones have a thinner skin (and no bubbles) than the American-Chinese restaurant staple. Also much smaller. Well, maybe my SIL’s father made Chinese spring rolls, then. They are more closely related to Chinese restaurant “egg rolls” than to Vietnamese restaurant “fried spring rolls”, though. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/170 "2025-02-20T20:14:05Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Egg rolls - Fried > Spring rolls - Steamed > Right ? Local to the New Orleans area, “spring rolls” at Chinese restaurants are invariably fried and are essentially as **puzzlegal** and **pulykamell** described above ([**see pic in this post**](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/139)). New Orleans has been the destination for a large portion of the 1970s Vietnamese diaspora. Accordingly, there are now many Vietnamese restaurants in the metro area. Somewhat confusingly, Vietnamese _gỏi cuốn_ ([**pictured in ParallelLines post**](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/142) upthread) are also _usually_ also called “spring rolls” around here … but very occasionally also called “summer rolls” on some menus. Needless to say, conflation between Chinese spring rolls and Vietnamese spring rolls is common. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/171 "2025-02-20T20:49:36Z")
IMO, anyplace that calls itself a steak house should serve steak au poivre, yet few of them do. Also, a high end Italian restaurant should have carbonara and cacio e pepe on the menu, but seldom do. I suppose they’re catering to local demand, but it’s frustrating. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/172 "2025-02-20T20:54:03Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **'berto’s Enchilada Sauce** > > 15 guajillo peppers, dried > 2 ancho peppers > 5 chili de arbol > 1 medium onion > 6 cloves garlic > > Stem, seed, soak, and boil everything. Blend then strain. …what’s the base? Your recipe doesn’t include any liquid. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/173 "2025-02-20T21:01:33Z")
It does say soak. So I’m assuming the dried peppers are soaked in whatever liquid you prefer (Corona or Tecate would be my choice for this dish), which means the rehydrated peppers along with the rest (especially the onion) would _probably_ be enough to get a nice thick blended sauce, especially if you add some of the remaining soaking liquid. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/174 "2025-02-20T21:01:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > IMO, anyplace that calls itself a steak house should serve steak au poivre, yet few of them do Yeah. You can get the sauce but not the bark. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/175 "2025-02-20T21:05:14Z")
Oh man I miss weird Chinese food white bread rolls. Usually served at places that brought those little fire pots to your table to warm up your Pu Pu platters. I don’t think any of my local places do that any more and the one I remember best in Wakefield closed. One of my favorite go-to things to get at Chinese restaurants is an order of pork strips. To me, that was always like a pork loin covered in an Ah So-style sauce, sliced into medallions so it was a white circle with a red, sweet circumference. I was in some other state and ordered them and I got like… strips. Darker pork, rectangular chunks. I’m sure they tasted ok for what they were, and would be really nice chopped up a little smaller in a fried rice, but not my white circles. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/176 "2025-02-20T21:06:36Z")
Yep. I usually do the soak in plain water with a little chicken stock (very little) added as necessary. The fresher the onion the more liquid you get as well. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/177 "2025-02-21T00:08:28Z")
Oddly, in my five years living in China, the only place I ever was offered spring rolls or egg rolls was the Hanoi Hilton hotel restaurant. Hanoi, as you certainly know, is not inside China. Chinese food, of course, is highly regional, and I lived in the worst food region (Jiangsu), but travelled extensively to the best food region (Chongqing), and had street food from internal migrants of the second best food region (Xinjiang). Lots of travel to Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing, some to Harbin, Xishuangbanna, etc., nary an eggroll to be found. I asked my wife where they eat egg rolls in China and she said “we don’t.” “Egg rolls aren’t Chinese?” “No!” It’s possible that she’s just touchy because I refused to eat her Anhui-style hot, wilted, cooked lettuce side dish for dinner tonight. It was really good red leaf, and would have contributed toward an excellent salad. Oh, well. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/178 "2025-02-21T01:16:11Z")
I was saying they have spring rolls in China not Chinese-American egg rolls. And they are seasonal. Are you saying you never saw these in China. Neither the finished product, nor the frozen wrappers in a supermarket? > **[Chinese Spring Rolls (春卷), Deep-Fried or Air-Fried](https://redhousespice.com/chinese-spring-rolls/)** > > A tried and tested recipe for Chinese spring rolls. You don’t need to precook the filling. Two frying methods are provided. It also includes top tips to avoid a greasy taste. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/179 "2025-02-21T02:00:06Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > It’s possible that she’s just touchy because I refused to eat her Anhui-style hot, wilted, cooked lettuce side dish for dinner tonight. It was really good red leaf, and would have contributed toward an excellent salad. Oh, well. Wilted lettuce is excellent. My wife makes Thai noodles and sometimes just adds chopped romaine lettuce as the green along what the meat (usually beef). Cooked quickly and still crunchy it is great. ---
**Author:** ![MeepersC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meepersc/32/12088_2.png) [@MeepersC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeepersC)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2025, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451/180 "2025-02-21T23:53:59Z")
Weirdly enough, it’s those sticky tables and the smell of the “maple” syrup that defines a Waffle House visit for me. Maybe it’s because I usually only eat there when it’s the only option (i.e. late night or Christmas Day) but the atmosphere actually gives me a bit of nostalgia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-dont-serve-essential-dishes-items/1014451.md?page=10)