Indian or Chinese?

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Food that is.

I'm saying Indian. Definately.

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:47 (twenty-one years ago)

why limit yourself to just either?

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:48 (twenty-one years ago)

TO the food court!

― Huck, Monday, 9 August 2004 13:49 (twenty-one years ago)

general tso's vindaloo

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I love how the culinary treats of two gigantic countries with many disparate ethnic groups can be distilled into, like, two words.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:50 (twenty-one years ago)

"American Cuisine"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:51 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah that's meaningless too.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:52 (twenty-one years ago)

sweet & sour palak peneer

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

er, pAneer

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

mushu pakoras

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Egg Foo Baighan Barta

― Huck, Monday, 9 August 2004 13:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Chicken Kung-Po Masala

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyway, the vast range of cuisines covered by both terms in the question are brilliant.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 9 August 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I won't eat chinese.

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Food bigot.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:01 (twenty-one years ago)

without a doubt - Indian. I was thinking about Chinese food the other day and of all takeaways I think it's my least favourite

― Porkpie (porkpie), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

It's much easier to find a good Indian restuarant than it is to find a good Chinese one, in my experience. Bad, greasy Chinese food is horrible.

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

if i lived in the u.k., i'd be prejudiced against chinese food.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Buffalo burgers are awesome, if you like burgers.

― Huck, Monday, 9 August 2004 14:03 (twenty-one years ago)

If I was in the US, it would be a tie, because I love Chinese Food. Butit's really hard to find a decent Chinese Restaurant in London. Seriously. However, the UK knows its Indian. Oh yes.

― Super-Masonic Black Hole (kate), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:05 (twenty-one years ago)

good Chinese takeaways are hard to find. the kind of food you get in an indian takeaway is easier to serve in a fast food basis.

the chinese place i worked at when i was 17 was great though.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:06 (twenty-one years ago)

but what i'd give to have a nice serving of ma-po tofu. omg.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

i really should start my own chinese food place.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:08 (twenty-one years ago)

What Kate said. It's easier to find a decent Indian than Chinese. Plus I always think I'm going to try something new when I go to a Chinese but never do.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

but i already have aspirations to take over my local indian takeaway

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

What I would give for my old Chinese takeaway in Queens right now... the bloke who ran it would only have to see me walk in the door and he would shout "stirfry beancurd with mixed veg-geh-tah-buls SPICEY!!!" at me. He was really sweet. I used to love that place.

― Super-Masonic Black Hole (kate), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I do love a bit of crispy Peking duck.

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:11 (twenty-one years ago)

there seems to be a lot less variety that you can get in indian places (like, half the menu is a combinatorial of ) but there are the other stuff but the differences are more subtle.

although the chinese takeaways have such a uniform menu too (but there are more choices it seems within the menu)

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:11 (twenty-one years ago)

ooh indian, sag paneer!! nummy!

― PinXor (Pinkpanther), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to live a block away from this:

http://www.clevelandpark.com/storegraphics/yenching.gif

YUM.

― sgs (sgs), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Chinese. Although, I haven't really had enough Indian food to give it a fair chance here.

― dleone (dleone), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Places like that where they know you and your whims = godly.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I miss that sort of thing.

My neighbourhood in Queens was great for it. I only had to walk into the Court Square Diner and my favourite waiter would bring on the coffee and ask if I wanted a "Kate Special" with my Greek Pizza.

I really miss that. Only ever once had that kind of friendly, remembering the customers and their order service in the UK, and that was at my local cafe in Hoxton.

― Super-Masonic Black Hole (kate), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I really miss that. Only ever once had that kind of friendly, remembering the customers and their order service in the UK, and that was at my local cafe in Hoxton.

if you went to "Hong Kong Chinese Food Take Away" in Furzton, Milton Keynes, we would have remembered your orders (i remembered everyone's!!)

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

(except for the people who order different things each time obv)

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Our chippie man usually asks if I want two fresh haddock putting on when I walk in now, even though we don't visit enough (mmm, I am craving this for tonight now)

― Porkpie (porkpie), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I hate to make such a definate call on something like this, but I would take Thai over both without hesitation.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish there was more random Mediterranean take-out.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I could really go for some kibbi and tabouli and baklava for lunch.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:27 (twenty-one years ago)

The thing about Thai is that they just don't have the menu variety of Chinese. I mean, you could probably go a year on Chinese and never have the same thing twice.

But I do love Thai.

― dleone (dleone), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish there was more random Mediterranean take-out.

There is in my neighborhood! A lamb wrap with hummus + baklava: $3.75. Can't beat that.

― Harold Media (kenan), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:28 (twenty-one years ago)

It's much easier to find a good Indian restuarant than it is to find a good Chinese one, in my experience. Bad, greasy Chinese food is horrible.

In San Francisco exactly the opposite is true.

Anybody for some Vietnamese?

― Michael White (Hereward), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Baklava is the best thing evah!!

― PinXor (Pinkpanther), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I fancy a turkish right now. But, in my limited knowledge, Chinese wouldn't get close to Indian. But then again, I live (as I have mentioned time and time again) next door to a Nepalese restaurant, and it's fucking brilliant. Much more Indian than Chinese in style, but with a bit of a crossover.

x-post - I'm yet to have a properly satisfying Vietnamese.

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Indian, without a doubt. Most of the Chinese food I've had lately just seems rather bland, if not a bit off-putting, in the case of a gelatinous gravy I had not too long ago. I like the spiciness of Indian, and it's way more vegetarian-friendly, too -- lots of spinach, chickpeas, eggplant, etc. (Also, I just ate yesterday at an all-vegetarian Indian fast-food joint that's mega-cheap and totally tasty, yum yum.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Vietnamese pho has been proven to be the best hangover food ever

― dleone (dleone), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I do eat Thai much more frequently than both, not because I necessarily like it better than Indian (although it often seems a bit fresher/lighter, which is nice), but because there are a million Thai storefronts in Chicago.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

PHO ME!

http://www.aklehr.com/Argyle1.jpg

― Harold Media (kenan), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I really want to try the brazilian restaurant that's opened up somewhere in London, where you are charged bby the weight of food you eat, Brazil by the pound or summat.

― Porkpie (porkpie), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Am I right in thinking indian cuisine has never really taken off in the States?

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 9 August 2004 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

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― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 4 January 2007 15:57 (nineteen years ago)

oh okay (xposts) i don't have a favourite. it's like 'brandy vs rum' or something.

― benrique (Enrique), Thursday, 4 January 2007 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

There's still WAY more chinese then Indian or Thai...especially if you count ALL the crappy ghetto chinese takeouts as well as the authentic Chinese in NY's THREE chinatowns (manhattan, sunset park in brooklyn and flushing in queens.)

How about Indian Chinese? These places, fusion-y joints based on the food Chinese immigrants made in India are getting really popular in NY. At least there's a bunch in Queens, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, Rego Park. Some of it just tastes like really good Chinese food served with basmati rice, some of it's more unique. Dishes are stuff like Manchurian Cauliflower or Baby Corn where it's vegetebles prepared like General Tsos style frying. They even serve this at NY's most upscale authentic Indian places like Amma and Desi.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:06 (nineteen years ago)

is thread specifically about new york?

― benrique (Enrique), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:08 (nineteen years ago)

6th street is basically totally shit at this point. there's banjara on the corner of 6th and 1st and brick lane curry house on 6th itself, but beyond that you're better off with one of those boil-in-a-bag things. i'm not exaggerating. there was a decent-ish southern vegetarian-style place (guru, i think) for a bit, but it's been closed for a while.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:09 (nineteen years ago)

xpost it's true in china too

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:10 (nineteen years ago)

but the thing about wackiness is kind of OTM. might as well start a thread on "THINGS THAT ARE BLUE VS THINGS THAT ARE RED"

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

Oh man, next you're going to tell me they don't have the crazy Xmas tree lights all over the windows and stuff any more. :-(

― Do Not Feed The Crush (kate), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:12 (nineteen years ago)

the four up-and-down ones on first avenue? of course they do. those restaurants are really, really awful, though, and have been for years. actually, there are only three as the one i think you mention upthread is now a sri lankan place that's supposed to be pretty good.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

I haven't been there since 2001, but I refuse to lose heart. :-(

― Do Not Feed The Crush (kate), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:21 (nineteen years ago)

might as well start a thread on "THINGS THAT ARE BLUE VS THINGS THAT ARE RED"

think Rumps did this already

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:23 (nineteen years ago)

Would it be any different if it were "Italian cooking vs. French cooking" ?

― Do Not Feed The Crush (kate), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

it would be equally silly.

― benrique (Enrique), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

xxpost but that thread is about tampons innit.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

it would be equally silly.

as silly as continuing to argue about it?

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

not that silly

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:29 (nineteen years ago)

Why, instead, you could be arguing about useful, positive, helpful things such as whether centaurs can do the backstroke!

― Do Not Feed The Crush (kate), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:30 (nineteen years ago)

i meant... oh, never mind.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:30 (nineteen years ago)

I thought I was all dim summed out until I tried the sharks fin dumpling thingy at SeeWoo on Saracen Street (G22). Now I am very much in favour of their £9.95 Dim Sum Sunday Lunch. I am in favour of it this weekend, in fact.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

Chinese takeaways taste better re-heated the next day than Indian ones, GENERALLY I FIND. I guess I would say I love Indian food the night before but Chinese the morning after.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

Vietnamese the rest of the time.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

no, sillier

xposts

― benrique (Enrique), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:33 (nineteen years ago)

can't wait to go back to hong kong in feb for dim sum heaven.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:36 (nineteen years ago)

I would like to know more, about dim sum! I've only had it once or twice, each time it was lovely apart from the obligatory mystery dish which turns out to be a custard-bun which doesn't half clash with yr lovely scallops etc etc.

Tell me about dim sum, and what you like!

― Bhumibol Adulyadej (Lucretia My Reflection), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:45 (nineteen years ago)

would like to know which places in London are thought to do particularly good dumplings and see how these compare to your standard takeaway variety, if there is really much contrast in them to be found here.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

dim sum OPO

...although i suppose it doesn't actually tell you much about what the dishes are.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

xpost - there's a huge difference between premade and indifferently prepared takeaway dumplings and really good ones. huge.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:52 (nineteen years ago)

maybe i should stay ignorant for fear of never wanting to eat takeaway dumplings again.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:54 (nineteen years ago)

Love the char sui! But it always seems to be a very obvious choice out of such a huge menu!

Hmm but now I'm pondering whether my walk home should diverge through china town so I can buy some char sui buns to take home! Making them yourself seems massive f-d. And also they might be boggin!

― Bhumibol Adulyadej (Lucretia My Reflection), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

Poor quality Indian is a lot more edible than poor quality Chinese.

This is madness. Poor-quality Indian is the worst food IN THE WORLD, particularly if it's of the 'whack as much curry powder in there and hope for the best' school. One of the reasons I rarely eat either Chinese or Indian in London is because of the sheer amount of crap there is out there.

I am all about Tayyabs in Whitechapel these days (although this is Pakistani really).

Malaysian > Vietnamese > Thai in my experience.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

my favourite dim sums, and classics..

- prawn dumplings (steamed thin-skinned dumplings with prawns inside)
- siu maai (pork wrapped by wheat flour skin with pork roe inside)
- rice noodle rolls (long smooth rice noodles wrapped over beef or prawns, served with soy sauce - it is the tastiest thing EVER)
- mini steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce
- phoenix claws (chicken feet!)
- lotus leaf rice (gluttonous rice with meat and seafood goodies steamed wrapped in a giant lotus leaf)

i'm hungry just thinking about them.

and you should only ever drink chinese tea (jasmine or something) with dim sums.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 4 January 2007 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

Pork ROE?? I thought roe = EGGS?

I have no doubt eaten chicken feet along with ALL OTHER parts of chicken from Amir's Fried Chicken...

xpost: I don't think I've had specifically Malaysian food... I think I've only had Vietnamese food *once* and then it was a takeaway at our party in Walthamstow where we had no cutlery => Pete was eating his with a corkscrew...

― Bhumibol Adulyadej (Lucretia My Reflection), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:01 (nineteen years ago)

i love the tripe stew with turnips, chunks of ginger, and star anise that one of my favorite places serves. chicken and duck feet are tasty fried/braised, but i tried to eat a steamed chicken foot a while back and gagged.

xpost - i think shiu mai are ground pork, with a little bit of shrimp thrown in.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:02 (nineteen years ago)

oh not pork roe! CRAB roe

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:03 (nineteen years ago)

and not inside.. but it sits on top in a dot in the middle.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:07 (nineteen years ago)

Cor tripe stew with ginger and turnips, sounds yum. Is this generally available or do you think it's erm, native to your favourite place?

I must admit the dim sum from the place on Charlotte Street weren't that good when we went about 6 months ago with work, really small menu and their non dim sum items were just takeaway standard grease.

xpost: pork and crab roe... together at last!! You have no idea how hungry this is making me!

― Bhumibol Adulyadej (Lucretia My Reflection), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:08 (nineteen years ago)

Indian and Vietnamese are tied for the two best cuisines on the planet as far as I'm concerned. This might stem from the fact that I love the food but don't have any restaurants nearby to over-expose me. Even my tiny-ass rural hometown had, at one point, four Americanized Chinese places. I still live an hour plus from any Vietnamese or Indian places.

Chinese can be pretty good when you go to "real" Chinese places, but even then the flavors don't excite me like Indian and Vietnamese do.

I really can't imagine any situation where I would not want to eat either cuisine.

― joygoat (joygoat), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:12 (nineteen years ago)

so far i've only had that kind of stew at my favorite spot, and i'm obsessed with it. i'm trying (unsuccessfully) to find a recipe because i think it would be worth the hassle. tripe in black bean sauce seems to be more common. also good at dim sum in black bean sauce: razor clams, littleneck clams.

xpost

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:13 (nineteen years ago)

Since this has expanded from the thread title, I'll say again that I'm nuts for Vietnamese food. I go to Pho Saigon just about every time I'm in Memphis.

That dim sum place in Seattle that I went to with Jaq, Mr. Jaq and Gravel was fantastic. That was a memorable eating weekend, with Blue Ginger the previous night.

― Joe Isuzu's Petals (Rock Hardy), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:21 (nineteen years ago)

Madchen, does SeeWoo do nice non-fishy things too - they have a sign out saying seafood specialities and I don't like seafoody things. I really should go since it's like two minutes away from my work.

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:25 (nineteen years ago)

wow the tripe stew does sound awesome.. i've only ever had the ones with blackbean sauce i think (the stuff is kind of like a brush with loads of wavy bits??)

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:38 (nineteen years ago)

i don't get this thread at all. maybe it's wacky to enjoy having a choice, but a firm judgement that one type of food is always better than another is... more wacky

who said "always"? that most individuals subjectively prefer certain cuisines to others is... reality.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 4 January 2007 17:51 (nineteen years ago)

is thread specifically about new york

I was responding to this post...

Chinese tends to gross me out unless it's very high quality, so definitely Indian. I think I remember reading a couple of years ago that Indian and Thai had both surpassed Chinese food in popularity in NYC - I'm pretty sure that was based on survey of preference though, not on actual money spent.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 4 January 2007 18:06 (nineteen years ago)

can't wait to go back to hong kong in feb for dim sum heaven.

Please 2 invite us over for visit. I love dim sum, but suspect Glasgow dim sum are only pale imitation.

― stet (stet), Friday, 5 January 2007 03:26 (nineteen years ago)

thai sauteed spicy basil > malai kofta > bibimbop > dumprings > low main > tempura

― PappaWheelie MMCMXL (PappaWheelie 2), Friday, 5 January 2007 03:31 (nineteen years ago)

I live almost across the street from a Vietnamese place and I love it. The menu has something like 180 items, so the first few times I ended up with underwhelming Chinese-ish dishes, but once I found the sweet spots on the menu, hot damn! There's a vegetable listed as "Vietnamese water spinach" (the waiter wasn't sure if it had another name in English) that they serve in garlic sauce - it has to be the tastiest leafy green I've ever had. I'm also a big fan of the "tiny rice stick" dishes (again, I wonder about the translation), wherein you take super-flavorful grilled meets and roll them in a leaf of lettuce with vinegar sauce, pickled veggies and this sticky rice-noodle stuff.

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Friday, 5 January 2007 04:28 (nineteen years ago)

lachha paratha - is there some non-obvious way to pronounce the first word here?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 5 January 2007 04:30 (nineteen years ago)

INDIAN FOOD ROCKIN MY WORLD HERE

(Chinese food is still good though)

(I'm speaking in strictly Westernized terms here)

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 5 January 2007 09:40 (nineteen years ago)

gabbneb there must be either an obvious or non-obvious way to pronounce it, and there sure as hell isn't an obvious way

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 5 January 2007 09:41 (nineteen years ago)

REVIVE!

So I went to Chinatown after lunch and bought some readymade char sui buns (cha siuew paw is something along the lines of what they were called so I no doubt have bought something entirely different)! I gather I should steam these, except, they are frozen and I don't know whether I should defrost them first! The packaging doesn't say so I'm guessing they are ok from frozen? Actually, the packing has pictures of all cooking methods known to man so I guess the world is my lobster.

I *really* had to resist the bakery though - I was in one of those really hungry states where if I started eating before I got home I'd just scoff a lot of expensive JUNK and my poor leftovers and greens at home would languish and I would feel fat and guilty. I resisted succesfully and my greens and macaroni cheese were v. nice!

― Bhumibol Adulyadej (Lucretia My Reflection), Friday, 5 January 2007 11:15 (nineteen years ago)

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