Are Chinese restaurants in P.I. inferior to ones elsewhere in Asia?

[mikejwoodnz 515]

well no matter what anyone says i like the fortune cookies and most of them tell me how smart and good looking i am 

 

I thought it was the Cutie Pies who said you were gwapa

[Canuck Joe 1,452]

well no matter what anyone says i like the fortune cookies and most of them tell me how smart and good looking i am 

I always add "in bed" at the end when I read a fortune cookie :-)

[questsea73 315]

Input so far to my post sounds like I may need to burrow deep into the Chinatowns of Cebu and Davao City to put my chopsticks to good use in decent restaurants.  I won't be in Cebu long enough for it to matter much; Davao is a different story.

 

I like both the authenic original versions and the triple-meat added/1/2 spice deleted USA versions of the Chinese dishes.

 

Hopefully posting by me on this later in the year won't originate in the food poisoning ward of the Davao City hospital.

 

Ken

[Monsoon 28,941]

Generals Chicken would be a nice find...

 

I believe PF Changs has it on the menu here. I haven't tried that dish there though. However, PF Chang's here isn't nearly as good as it is in the states. In fact it kind of sucks. Hopefully it has or will improve, I haven't been back in almost a year.

[liquido 1,558]

 

Chowking and Dimsun are god awful....Both places taste like there food entree's are frozen and then microwaved..Sure would be nice to find a ma&pa cart that boils the noodles and has a wok like the places in thailand,cambodia and vietnam.....

The Chinese fast food equivalent of Taco Bell in the USA would be Chowking in the Philippines. Although most of the food at Chowking is altered to suit common Filipino taste buds, all the meals are Chinese inspired.

 

Theres another Chinese inspired fast food chain operating in Cebu called Dimsum Break, also very similar to what Taco Bell offers in the USA, but Chinese style.

 

As for real Chinese food, there is a small Chinese restaurant right next to Sun Burst at Mango Square in the city centre. It's not a fancy place and it's not a big restaurant either,  i've only tried the noodles and soup there, so i'm not sure if I would recommend it to anyone, but you might want to try it out.

[smokey 21,911]

I always add "in bed" at the end when I read a fortune cookie :-)

WEll its always good to dream 

[rainymike 4,374]

In my first couple of trips here to Manila, I found the Chinese food rather disappointing as well. I was eating in nice restaurants.

 

Since then I've discovered more hole in the wall types of places that prepare Chinese food as I am accustomed to. That's the trick. There is no uniform Chinese cuisine in the world or in China, the recipes adapt to what is available wherever the restaurants pop up. I'm used to Hawaiian style Chinese foods. Eating at a Chinese restaurant in Virginia and even California was not up to my tastes.

 

I've been in the Phils for 4 years now. Since then I imagine my tastes have adapted a bit. I've found a few places that can prepare a handful of dishes that I like and it's fairly affordable. When I get desperate Chow King is ok but mostly for a siopao and siomai snack.

 

I have yet to find a place that can regularly serve up a good dish of peking duck though.

Edited March 13, 2013 by rainymike

[SkyMan 23,692]

 

.....remembering I had the same thought before on my short trips to PI long ago I recall the Chinese food I had in small and larger Chinese restaurants was disappointing.

Well, there justs aren't aa lot of quality cats in the RP.

[udonthani 2,027]

anybody from the United States is going to be disappointed with Chinese food and also the level of restaurant service anywhere else, it's not going to be the same and it is in fact a bit like Indian food for Brits. Provision of Chinese food very good in the United States but then it is not so bad, in most places.