# Sick of racist ethnic restaurants **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805 "2013-04-16T01:30:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/21 "2013-04-16T03:10:46Z")
Sitnam, this is in café society. The OP has me wondering if there are any Nigerian restaurants in Dublin. I’d like to give moi moi a shot, sounds right up my street. ETA: And there is. Gonna give it a shot next time I’m in the city centre. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/22 "2013-04-16T03:13:28Z")
In all my years of eating ethnic food, I’ve only a few times had a server warn me about the food I was ordering. Maybe it’s something about the area you live in. Maybe it’s something about you that suggests to servers that you seldom eat ethnic food. This doesn’t seem to be a general problem though. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/23 "2013-04-16T03:50:05Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > A Pit thread started to brag about your inflated sense of global multiculturalism. I’ve never seen that here before. > > **grude** , you are better than us. On behalf of us all, I admit it. I’m not bragging, this ain’t the 1950s, Anthony Bourdain has several TV shows so I can’t believe I’m the only non expat walking in the door. I don’t really care about multiculturalism and I’m as far from some liberal stereotype as you can get I just like trying new foods. I wouldn’t even mind if they ask once " do you know what you’re ordering?" it is the third, fourth, fifth challenges that bug me. It sounds like “go away”. I’m actually shocked sometimes, I once took my mom to a Thai place and the waitress wanted to make sure I wanted chicken satay but she wasn’t a pest. I mean they have TV dinners with chicken satay come on. Maybe it is something about me I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/24 "2013-04-16T03:53:18Z")
There’s a “Chinese” restaurant down the street from me with a cartoon “Chinaman” painted on the window, kind of like the cook character from _Blackhawk_. But, since this is Korea, I have no idea how insulting this is supposed to be in context. I’ve been in lots of restaurants where they tried to talk me out of ordering something based on previous experiences with _Miguks_. It’s part of the charm of the expatriate experience. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/25 "2013-04-16T03:59:02Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Or all the restaurants using “Thai” as a homophone of “tie.” Explain please? How would you say “Thai” so it _doesn’t_ sound like “tie”? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/26 "2013-04-16T04:12:03Z")
Whole thread kinda reminds me of [this clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdo79znnHl8) from Goodness Gracious Me. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/27 "2013-04-16T04:18:26Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Explain please? How would you say “Thai” so it _doesn’t_ sound like “tie”? Means homophonic pun, like “Thai One On.” I like to think of them as “Thai’d puns.” Thank you, I’ll see myself out. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/28 "2013-04-16T04:22:32Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Means homophonic pun, like “Thai One On.” > > I like to think of them as “Thai’d puns.” > > Thank you, I’ll see myself out. There’s a Thai restaurant in Belfast called Thai-Tanic. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/29 "2013-04-16T04:30:19Z")
I always feel at home in Asian restaurants near synagogues or Jewish Community Centers where the host greets you in Yiddish. ---
**Author:** ![OldnCrinkly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@OldnCrinkly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldnCrinkly)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/30 "2013-04-16T04:33:26Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Explain please? How would you say “Thai” so it _doesn’t_ sound like “tie”? It does sound like that. Like a place called Thai Me Up, or something. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/31 "2013-04-16T04:49:49Z")
I get it - I’m sure that 90% of the Whites/Regular Americans that eat at outback - are not interested in certain foods. That’s why every Indian place seems to have Chicken Tikka Masala - they know Americans will eat it. I don’t think of it as insulting - I think of it as charm. They have a right to be careful who they sell it to - read some reviews on Yelp - people complain about all sorts of stuff that was really their fault. If I was a cook - I wouldn’t want anyone to just order anything off the menu - if I was in a culture where 95% hadn’t eaten it. If you worked at some super spicy hot buffalo wings place - and the people came in were all Chinese - didn’t speak your language fluently - would it be rude to warn them? I love it when I go with my Friend who is married to an Asian Woman (Chinese ethnically) to a Chinese restaurant - My friend and I both get “round eye” menu while she gets the real menu… I look at it as - “cool - I wouldn’t even known about this menu if it wasn’t for her” I can understand why you might get upset having to explain it four/five times, but I can guarantee you she didn’t understand. Yes it is annoying sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/32 "2013-04-16T04:56:45Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Explain please? How would you say “Thai” so it _doesn’t_ sound like “tie”? Sorry. Yeah, what the other guys said. I thought there were more local, but the only one nearby is Thai One On. But here: [http://comedy.com/2008/10/10/the-top-20-thai-restaurant-pun-names/](http://comedy.com/2008/10/10/the-top-20-thai-restaurant-pun-names/) I think I saw some in Portland. Looks like [#1 is either there or a chain](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=thai+portland+or&hl=en&ll=45.530343,-122.643127&spn=0.043953,0.111494&sll=38.502032,-117.02306&sspn=12.560014,28.54248&hq=thai&hnear=Portland,+Multnomah,+Oregon&t=m&fll=45.532688,-122.651024&fspn=0.087902,0.222988&z=14&layer=c&cbll=45.535022,-122.645693&panoid=wA-Qz1wMSynGZGFx4574ig&cbp=12,26.47,,0,-1.18) (building looks same). There’s a Thai Noon in town, too. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/33 "2013-04-16T07:20:36Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > I love it when I go with my Friend who is married to an Asian Woman (Chinese ethnically) to a Chinese restaurant - My friend and I both get “round eye” menu while she gets the real menu… > . Would she get the “real” menu if she was a Chinese-looking Japanese person? What kind of sense would that make? It wouldn’t - it would just be racist assumptions. Not cool. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/34 "2013-04-16T09:39:26Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Oh yea there was a Pakistani place in Houston on Bissonet street that had paan, along with a bunch of arcade machines and webcafe. > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paan) > > I’m pretty sure the server thought I was a DEA agent or something from the way he got on 😃 mmmm rose petal meetha paan, I have several packets of premades in my desk drawer 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/35 "2013-04-16T09:43:42Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > There’s a Thai restaurant in Belfast called Thai-Tanic. There’s a Thai restaurant in Shirley in Birmingham (UK) called… Shirley Temple. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/36 "2013-04-16T12:39:29Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Just try getting [sugared green tea in Kyoto](http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing.html). Well…Reading that, I remember another example. There was a very small (maybe 15 seats) Japanese restaurant where I was occasionally eating. There was no waiter, only the owner. The first time I went there, I made a mistake. Since there were no knives available, I took the one I had in my pocket and began to cut whatever it was I was eating, probably a sushi. Immediately, the owner came to my table, and told me in no uncertain terms that I shouldn’t cut the sushi, that he had put effort into preparing it and so on. He wasn’t pleading, he was _stating_. So, I complied and proceeded to eat the thing whole. But that still wasn’t enough. I was told that I had first to dip the sushi in the sauce (maybe this spicy green mustard, don’t remember for sure), and he didn’t move away from the table until I had eaten the thing the proper way. Also, he didn’t serve any beverage, apart from water and tea. However, he was tolerant enough to let people bring their own. So, people would came with beer, or a bottle of wine, or whatever. Especially weird since restaurants make a significant part of their profits on beverages. But knives always were an absolute no-no. I don’t remember if he had any rule about tea and sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/37 "2013-04-16T13:19:39Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I was told that I had first to dip the sushi in the sauce (maybe this spicy green mustard, don’t remember for sure) You mean wasabi? > [@](#): > > Also, he didn’t serve any beverage, apart from water and tea. However, he was tolerant enough to let people bring their own. So, people would came with beer, or a bottle of wine, or whatever. Especially weird since restaurants make a significant part of their profits on beverages. But knives always were an absolute no-no. I don’t remember if he had any rule about tea and sugar. A lot of Indian places around here aren’t licensed to sell alcohol but allow you to BYOB. It happens. On a related note: I was at Heathrow a year or so ago, sitting at a branch of a coffee chain (not Starbucks but similar) when an angry man stormed up to the counter with a cup of espresso. “What do you call that?” he ranted? “Where’s the water? Where’s the milk?” “It’s an espresso,” the weary server told him. “It’s what you ordered. I can make you an Americano [basically, a regular coffee with milk] if you want.” “No, I’m not having this! I want my money back!” In the interest of making him going away they gave him his money, but the rest of us were a bit flabbergasted. You’d think that, in London in 2012, someone who ordered an espresso might have some idea what an espresso was. You never can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/38 "2013-04-16T13:27:07Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Immediately, the owner came to my table, and told me in no uncertain terms that I shouldn’t cut the sushi, that he had put effort into preparing it and so on. He wasn’t pleading, he was _stating_. If you have Netflix, check out the documentary _Jiro Dreams of Sushi._ It may give some insight about why the sushi chef felt the way he did when he saw you cutting into the sushi. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/39 "2013-04-16T13:51:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > If you have Netflix, check out the documentary _Jiro Dreams of Sushi._ It may give some insight about why the sushi chef felt the way he did when he saw you cutting into the sushi. I loved that movie! A very human story about an old man who’s spent his life turning himself into a robot. The family dynamics were also interesting (elder son, younger son, father and their respective roles). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805/40 "2013-04-16T14:11:47Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > If you have Netflix, check out the documentary _Jiro Dreams of Sushi._ It may give some insight about why the sushi chef felt the way he did when he saw you cutting into the sushi. Yes, it was like watching you cut his heart out with a knife. > [@Gyrate](#): > > You mean wasabi? Actually, the top sushi chefs, like Jiro, put the sauce on for you. It’s usually a little wasabi dissolved in soy sauce. At ordinary sushi places, they give you the soy sauce and a blob of wasabi paste and let you assemble it yourself. I often skip the soy sauce and the wasabi, because I want to taste the quality of the fish and the rice by itself. > [@](#): > > “It’s an espresso,” the weary server told him. “It’s what you ordered. I can make you an Americano [basically, a regular coffee with milk] if you want.” So far as I know, an Americano is an espresso diluted with hot water. If you want milk, you have to add it yourself. > [@](#): > > In the interest of making him going away they gave him his money, but the rest of us were a bit flabbergasted. You’d think that, in London in 2012, someone who ordered an espresso might have some idea what an espresso was. You never can tell. I don’t know. Terms are used somewhat inconsistently depending on where in the world you are and whom you buy your coffee drinks from. If the only macchiato you’ve ever had was at Starbucks, then you’re going to be surprised when you order a macchiato at a real espresso bar. (An espresso macchiato is a shot of espresso in a demitasse with a tiny bit of steamed milk “marking” the top. A latte macchiato is the reverse. Starbucks customers would be most familiar with the caramel macchiato, which is “Freshly steamed milk with vanilla-flavored syrup, marked with espresso and finished with caramel sauce,” basically, a vanilla- and caramel-flavored caffè latte.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-of-racist-ethnic-restaurants/655805.md?page=3)