Chinese food confusion [moved from General Topics]

[jacquelines]

I do not know about anyone else but when I am about to order take out I always plan on trying something different than the norm.
When I order I always end up ordering the same things: Anything w. Broccoli, Lo Mein, Sesame whatever, Any soup, Whatever with mixed Vegetables, etc, etc, the typical mainstream.
Try asking the person taking your order to describe something on the menu and that is a whole other ordeal, so what are your go to chinese take out meals when you just don't feel like cooking or going out?

[pepper_mil]

I always look for potato dishes since they are often done very imaginitively in China - it's a vegetable, not a starch. I also look for dong gua (winter melon). Try something prepared differently (steamed or clay pot) and be prepared for a few misses with your hits - I've done the menu pointing thing and ended up with a sizzling iron pan dish, which is not the best candidate for takeout. Anything 'yu xiang' makes great takeout.

[designerboy01]

I think you should keep your expectations low. You probably will not find anything exotic at these places. If they have a lot of Chinese customers there is usually another menu that may cater to more chinese taste (e.g. office areas). My favorite is Tomato and Beef...must be my upbringing in an Italian neighborhood....?!

[jumpingmonk]

I'd escew Baby Buddah in Favor of Mama Buddah, on Hudson street. Thier basil pancakes are addictive!

[jacquelines]

I live in WV and I am just talking about the neighborhood take out place (Baby Buddha or Red Bamboo) so I was just asking what everyone else will typically order or their go to Chinese food take out meal. I am not talking about a Bar Q menu or Chow bar, just the standard "Chinese" take out.

[Miss Needle]

West Village is tough in terms of Chinese restaurants. Depending on where you live, Grand Sichuan Chelsea may deliver to you. And there's also a branch in the East Village as well. You should do a search on this board if you're interested in those places. Lots of posts with lots of recs.

But to answer your original question, I would order things like:

scallion pancakes
cold noodles with sesame sauce
chicken with garlic sauce (even though it says spicy, it's really not spicy if that's a concern -- on par with something from Taco Bell)
moo shoo pork
meat in black bean sauce
singapore mei fun
chow fun
yang chow fried rice

[ESNY]

I suggest you try the new Grand Sichuan in the WV on 7th ave. The food is so much better there than at the generic chinese american take out shops. In addition to my favorite dishes that I listed above, there are plenty of other recommendations on the Manhattan board for the grand sichuan restaurants.

[Miss Needle]

I forgot they opened up one on 7th Ave. That would be perfect for the OP.

[Miss Needle]

You may want to post something on the Manhattan board with neighborhood specifics. I'm sure people can steer you to better Chinese restaurants than you've been ordering take-out from.

[ipsedixit]

What to order for Chinese take-out?

See, that's your problem right there.

You simply cannot get good, authentic Chinese grub as take-out.

Would you dare venture and ask for rabbit ragu and gnocchi for Italian take-out? Chocolate mole and shrimp and scallop ceviche for Mexican take-out? Probably not.

Find yourself a good Chinese joint, go in, sit down, order and enjoy yourself a good meal.

[mrbozo]

I agree. Take out food (of any cuisine), especially fried dishes, tends to go soggy with condensations; sauces thin out; noodles become bloated with liquid. Soups and steamed dishes fare better. Your mileage will vary depending on the distance from the restaurant to your place.

[moh]

I would tend to agree with Ipsedixit and Mrbozo that it is usually better to eat Chinese in the resto, although I often do take out too (sometimes it has to be done). You lose the wok hai (breath of the wok) when you do takeout, that elusive quality found only in freshly cooked stir-fried food prepared with high heat.

[cimui]

Look for red roast pork, ma po dofu, daikon radish cakes, sauteed asparagus, beef noodle soup, chive / pork dumplings. All are fairly common on NYC Chinese restaurant takeout menus and outside of your norm.

[scoopG]

What neighborhood do you live in?

Since you live in NYC (and I assume are not living in Chinatown) that can be problematic. In NY you are generally not going to get great Chinese food outside of Manhattan's Chinatown or in Flushing. And never from these small neighborhood take-out joints that sells for the masses - that is for the masses who think Chinese food is sweet and sour pork, beef with broccoli, fried rice (and worse) fried chicken wings and french fries. The reason you experience an ordeal upon ordering is that the person taking your order doesn't really know how adventurous you really might be and wants to push you to their tried and true staples that they know sells. Or possibly see what the Chinese employees are eating on their break and try to order that.

[ESNY]

Thats completely inaccurate as it relates to Manhattan. In Midtown East, west village, and the east village you have branches of grand sichuan, in midtown proper you have Szechuan Gourmet and Wu Liang Ye. UES there is another Wu Liang Ye.

To the OP, it depends on what you like and what kind of place you order from. Unless its a generic american chinese place you are order from, eat restaurant will specialize in different types of chinese food (szechuan, hunan, cantonese, etc). Best bet would be to go to either the Manhattan or the Outer Borough board, depending where you live, and ask where people order Chinese delivery from and what they recommend rather than getting a blanket listing of good chinese dishes.

For me, in the gramercy area, I almost exclusively order from Grand Sichuan St. Marks. My favorite dishes are Braised Beef with Chili, Cumin beef, double cooked pork, dan dan noodles, gui zhou chicken, tea smoked duck, dry and sauteed string beans.

[scoopG]

WU Liang Ye in midtown is not bad - the one on the UES is terrible. They go through a new chef and manager there about every 6 months - sometime even posting for one on their front window. Frank Bruni raved about Szechuan Gourmet last month - totally different from WLY.

[ESNY]

I've never lived on the UES so i wasn't aware of how bad it was compared to midtown branch. In midtown though, I agree with Bruni that Szechuan Gourmet is definitely the best.

[cimui]

i kind of like the chinese interpretation of fried chicken, actually!

[iluvcookies]

In order to answer... I have a question. Are you going to typical neighborhood takeout places or more traditional restaurants/home cooking places/bakeries?
There is a place in NYC Chinatown that makes roast pork omelettes, wonton mein, and cruellers that is a mainstay for me. (Big Wong's on Mott) And char siu bao (pork buns) or sticky rice from Hong Kong-style bakeries.
In takeout places, I tend to stick with the tried and true.
If you pick up one of Ken Hom's cookbooks, they have great info on all types of Chinese delicacies and "home cooking", also search the boards for posts by Brian S. as he is quite knowledgable about this cuisine.
Good luck and post back on anything new you have tried.

[Sarah]

Don't know the kinds of menus you are ordering from, but here are some things to try:
spareribs/ckn in black bean sauce; fish filets/shrimp/scallop w/chinese greens; minced beef scrambled egggs; beef/bbq pork w/chin. broc gon chow fun; westlake beef soup; s&p anything (may not travel well).