I had the same challenges as above - didn't know how to respond in reconciling good vs americanized vs authentic.

There is good, tasty "chinese" food to be had nearby but you won't find most / any of the menu items in taiwan / china. And even if the menu item is the same name, it won't be prepared the same here vs there. Even potstickers here are very different than the potstickers one might order in Taipei.

Decent "chinese" is 10 minutes. Decent "semi-authentic chinese" is about 40 minutes. Decent "authentic chinese" (and specific to a style like hunan, szechaun, shanghainese, cantonese, etc) is about 3 hours.

Chinese/Korean over in Great Falls. ~250 miles.

There is a typical Fujianese restaurant 10 minutes away with all the typical Americanized options. It's good enough. Most typical American-Chinese restaurants are owned/run by people from Fujian, which is on the mainland across from Taiwan. Interestingly, the prices didn't go up that much during COVID while the fast food places went up a lot. I am told there is some level of money laundering in many Fujianese places...

The distinctions they make - Cantonese, or Mandarin, or even "Szechuan", have almost nothing to do with the actual regions in China. It is frustrating that almost everything westerners "know" about Chinese food is not really Chinese. And there are no egg rolls or fortune cookies in China.

I can get real Sichuan food about 30 minutes away. A place that had a and English menu and a Chinese language menu for Chinese people to order authentic food. But they have since translated the Chinese menu to English for Americans that know what they are doing.

My current Chinese girlfriend can make authentic Sichuan hot pot and other foods with stuff from the Asian market, so technically good Chinese food requires no drive.

It's funny here - you go to a mandarin, shanghainese, cantonese restaurant and they all have the same menu.

quote:

Originally posted by spunk639:
3 subway stops and I'm in Chinatown.

Boston has an excellent Chinatown. I stayed at the W a few years ago and enjoyed dining in Chinatown.

quote:

How far do you have to drive for good Chinese food?

How far is it from Orlando to NYC?

Back in the early 1960s I dated a EurAsian girl (until she tried to kill me, but that's a story for another time). She would take me to places in NYC ChinaTown, where I was the only Caucasian, and no English was spoken except when she translated for me. I ate some things that were quite tasty, but I have no idea what they were.

Not exclusively Chinese, but there is an Asian fusion restaurant that we really like 41 miles away. There are several other mediocre Chinese restaurants within 5-10 miles.

quote:

Originally posted by Rawny:

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
^^^^
Depends on what you mean by “good”.

In my case, the more authentic it is the less I like it. Less than a mile for chop suey.

Yes, you Gwailos don't know "Good" from "Authentic".

There is no Orange/Lemon/General Tso Chicken, and no broccoli anything.

General Tso's was invented in Taipei.

2 good Chinese joints, one sit down, one take out only, about 15 minutes from me (in opposite directions,)

best Vietnamese is about 30 minutes, depending on traffic, couple good places ,

+ this one, which is fantastic

and has the best belgian beer selection on tap

https://mekongisforbeerlovers.com/

10 minutes away in my town, a very good place. 18 miles away- my favorite, better than places in the Bay Area in my past life.

A super greasy Asian Buffet about a mile down the road. The other Asian take out scares me with dirty sheets of plastic hanging down above the counter. Good sit down Chinese is an hour away in the big city. When I lived in Calexico, CA, the Chinese restaurants across the border in Mexicali were awesome.

20 miles, one way.

quote:

Originally posted by k5blazer:
A super greasy Asian Buffet about a mile down the road. The other Asian take out scares me with dirty sheets of plastic hanging down above the counter. Good sit down Chinese is an hour away in the big city. When I lived in Calexico, CA, the Chinese restaurants across the border in Mexicali were awesome.

My wife and I like to go on Caribbean cruises. Over the years we have made friends with some of the crew and they have told us some of the best Chinese restaurants they have been to are in Mexico.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Houston has an excellent Chinatown area. So many great restaurants with choices between Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, etc.

It's about a 1hr 40 min round-trip as driving there at dinner time is about an hour, and driving home after dinner it's about 40 minutes.

About a mile give or take from my house.

I like the food but metabolically I have a problem with the food, maybe it's all the carbs in the rice and whatnot or msg but I struggle for a day or so after eating. The wife likes it so we do it once every month or two. We have a nice little hole-in-the-wall Pho place that doesn't look like much from the outside but the Pho is great, close but not directly in the above mentioned Chinatown.

Used to be less than a mile. Strip mall with great Chinese food. Then the original owners/management changed, and it went to crap. I would call in an order, and they knew me when I walked through the door. I haven't found anything of the same quality and taste around me.

Take a look at Joy Yee

1163 E Ogden Ave Ste 707, Naperville, IL 60563

It’s a little ways away, but good food imo.
I hit the one in Chinatown, good stuff.

I feel your pain!
Chi Toung used to be phenomenal! 5 minute drive.
Since we moved into the neighborhood back in ‘80-‘81.
It went from a 1 storefront, moved across the street to a larger storefront, then bought the storefront next door.
Always full with a -/+ 20 minute wait.
Their takeout window was always busy as well.

They built a stand alone restaurant 1/2 block away, and same thing-
Phenomenal food, excellent service! Which means always packed.
In the new restaurant, they expanded to Thai and Japanese food, and impossible to get a bad meal!
Built an addition for a Hibachi grill- again, Awesome food!


I guess the owner made enough money, or got sick of the business. He sold the place.
New owners, probably new cooks.
Place went to shit about 7 years ago, and hasn’t been able to get it right since.


Then there was Sesame Inn-
Another good place with awesome Chinese and Japanese food! The place got busy quickly because Chi Toung turned to shit. It was going great until a Chain Restaurant- Wu’s House moved in across the street. Sesame Inn couldn’t keep up with the competition.

Real Chinese (Chinese-American--REAL Chinese food is NASTY) food is hard to find here, the vast majority are Thai-fusion, which is not the same. It really is the "My Cousin Vinny" situation here. We have ok burgers, decent pizza, great mexican but no delis and almost no good chinafood.

As far as I know there are two decent not-Thai Chinese restaurants in town, and they are both 20 minutes away from me in opposite directions.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Houston has an excellent Chinatown area. So many great restaurants with choices between Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, etc.

It's about a 1hr 40 min round-trip as driving there at dinner time is about an hour, and driving home after dinner it's about 40 minutes.

About a mile give or take from my house.

I like the food but metabolically I have a problem with the food, maybe it's all the carbs in the rice and whatnot or msg but I struggle for a day or so after eating. The wife likes it so we do it once every month or two. We have a nice little hole-in-the-wall Pho place that doesn't look like much from the outside but the Pho is great, close but not directly in the above mentioned Chinatown.

A friend of a friend owns PappaRich on Bellaire (and one in NYC). It's Malaysian Halal Food, it's delicious, and I don't feel like the stay-puft marshmallow man the next day.

I have no idea what I'm eating as we always go as a group and eat family style. My buddy lives in Dallas (i.e. they just have Koreatown) so he's got the whole order planned well in advance as he's craving a trip to PappaRich.

Forum member PittWM owns a restaurant about 10 miles from the house. Highly recommended for order off the menu sit down dining or take out.

A decent Buffett/Mongolian Grill set up is an hour.

Is Pappa<xxx> a common prefix for places in houston? Part of a corporate family? I used to go to Pappadeaux when visiting.