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Monday, March 13, 2006 

East Coast vs. West Coast Chinese Food...

Is it me, or is the Chinese food on the East Coast, specifically New England, inferior to that which you can get on the West Coast?

I've been amazed recently at noticing how different the styles are. The cooking, and even terminology of each coast is very different. It seems that West coast has a lot more Mandarin and Cantonese dishes, while the East has more Szechuan cooking.

We went to a famous Chinese restaurant just outside Boston last week, and asked for Potstickers. The waiter had no idea what we were talking about. We did eventually find them, but they are "Peking Ravioli". He had never heard them refered to as "Potstickers". We were aghast.

Noodle dishes seem to be different as well, with the East seeming to rely more on the crunchy, dried noodles that you can get from a can in the grocery store.

One theory we talked about was that the East Coast is actually behind the West coast in terms of how long this style of food has been around. Chinese were coming to the West coast, the San Francisco area since the Gold rush of California in the 1840's. Perhaps the East just hasn't caught up as much?

I probably shouldn't put the whole East coast as a blanket statement, I know New York City has good Chinese food. But it's interesting to make the comparisons.

You're crazy!!!!!! I just googled why does chinese food taste way better on the east coast than the west coast. I grew up in New England and moved to California years ago and the chinese food in Cali sucks so bad

I grew up in NJ, now live in AZ. Miss Chinese food from back home sooooooo much...I Literally dream of chicken lo mein, with fried rice and a pork egg roll....ah heaven....can't get it here as good as back home.

AGREEEEED!!!!!

I think where you grew up and the style of Chinese food you got used to is what you will like. I moved from the west to east coast. My opinion of east coast Chinese food so far, not very good. Like sweet and sour pork. East coast is chunks of pork in heavy breading with sauce on the side. West coast is lightly fried, most likely a corn starch coating, and tossed in the sauce with green peppers and onions. The fried rice on east coast is strange. Not really fried at all. Very dark. Not much besides rice. Sad. West coast is lighter, toss fried in a very hot wok with some sesame oil - with at least bits of scrambled eggs, some peas and carrots mixed in. Egg rolls are about the same, along with dumplings, etc. In Cali we have Chinese chicken salad on most appetizer lists. East coast, nothing.

💯 I was born in Boston moved to California food is junk they only care about looks not taste

Ugh. Chinese food on the West Coast is vile and damn near inedible. You’re out of your mind.

Chinese food on the East Coast is absolute garbage! What the hell are chicken fingers? Ask for sweet and sour chicken you get " chicken fingers" with some weird greasy sweet and sour sauce. The rice is dark as hell. Has way too many sprouts. And I don't know what is going on with the chow mein... I get being prideful about where you come from, but if you were from anywhere else and you went to each coast, I would assume that you would see the distinction between the two. I might be a little biased but I'm appalled at the food from around here. Side note; I moved from the west to New England. The most disappointing part of living here is the food. Crab rangoons are always soggy. The barbecue pork is entirely different as well. It's called pork spare ribs here and it's thick and fatty. The hot mustard is very different as well. Different texture. Different flavor. I hate the food here.

Exactly.

Most Chinese food past the east coast and including the west coast is bleeechhhh

I grew up in New England and moved to San Diego. Loving Chinese food I went to a local spot and ordered Egg Foo Young. What was served was an abomination of the cuisine I grew up with and loved. I still havent found a decent spot after 10 years of living here. No Duck sauce, No spare Ribs, no Crab Rangoons, No Teriyaki sticks.. what! No Pu Pu platter. Egg rolls suck. Now I wont say its all bad, or Ive learned to like it. But there definitely is a difference.

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