Chinese takeaway

monkino · 22-04-2013, 18:58

I am willing to accept that it my just be my perception, but has anyone else felt that the quality of Chinese takeaways has deteriorated over the past 10-15 years?

I am not just talking about a specific restaurant, or restaurants in a specific area (I have lived all over, not just London and outside) but I have travelled across the UK and have experienced the quality reducing quite a bit.

For example, the chicken does not taste or feel much like chicken, the soups taste very synthetic, and many of the other dishes feel like poor quality, and pre-cooked elsewhere and just heated up.

Might just be, but wondered if other people felt the same?

Yeah_Jackie · 22-04-2013, 19:00

Tastes change also as you get oldr over 10 - 15 years.

I'm not a huge fan of Chinese takeaway and never have been. It has always been chock full of monosodiumwhatsits.

curvybabes · 22-04-2013, 19:07

I stick to my local takeaway.. its literally next to me and I know they cook everything in there and get their meat from the local buther and can honestly say its just as good as it was 20 years ago, I have been to a few chinese buffets and I had to leave the chicken it was horrible ( soft and squidgy eww)

monkino · 22-04-2013, 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yeah_Jackie

Tastes change also as you get oldr over 10 - 15 years.

I'm not a huge fan of Chinese takeaway and never have been. It has always been chock full of monosodiumwhatsits.

You could be right!

monkino · 22-04-2013, 19:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by curvybabes

I stick to my local takeaway.. its literally next to me and I know they cook everything in there and get their meat from the local buther and can honestly say its just as good as it was 20 years ago, I have been to a few chinese buffets and I had to leave the chicken it was horrible ( soft and squidgy eww)

I agree about the chicken I have had! Too squidgy!

indyw · 22-04-2013, 22:22

I avoid the takeaways that serve the "squeaky chicken". There are 2 local good ones who use real chicken so I'm fairly happy

Johnnys Arcade · 22-04-2013, 22:48

Someone once told me that a lot of the lower quality Chinese takeaway shops soak proper chicken in a substance known as "Lie Water" which causes the chicken meat to at least double in size because some chemical that is added to the water causes the meat to absorb a large quantity of water. Disgusting!

Mr Teacake · 22-04-2013, 22:51

Chinese food isn't filling, which is probably due to the amount of chemicals they use.

SilvioDante · 22-04-2013, 22:58

The chinese takeaways around here are dire, over-priced too. Only thing we like are the banana fritters. Indian restaurants are far better in quality from a personal point of view. As a kid, my pals and I found 5 dead Mullet, lying, washed up on the bank of a local river, took them to the nearest chinese takeaway where they paid us cash for the rotting fish. Lovely, kept us in Kensitas Club fags for a week.

curvybabes · 23-04-2013, 00:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Teacake

Chinese food isn't filling, which is probably due to the amount of chemicals they use.

I think they are really filling, ours does me (small meal) and the kids and then usually enough for a meal for me again the next day, i have ibs though so cant eat a large meal all ay once,

cbe21ok · 23-04-2013, 08:54

Chinese chips do not taste the same as they used to, nowhere near as good, not round here anyway. I hardly get Chinese now, that MSG kills me. Last one i had was Christmas eve, beef in oyster sauce, it was poor, beef was thin and rubbish quality, too much bleedin carrot as well (who wants carrot in a flippin takeaway?). I nearly took it back but couldn't be bothered.

Darcy_ · 23-04-2013, 09:06

The problem with most Chinese take aways is that they all have the same generic, bland gloopy sauce. Really vile. I haven't had a Chinese take away in years for this very reason.

doom&gloom · 23-04-2013, 09:17

The meat is never good in Chinese places, I think it's because it's boiled before it's fried, the prawns and duck are okay though.

If you get lemon chicken or pork dumplings the meat is okay though (but being battered it's less heathy).

MiSsMaLfUnKtIoN · 23-04-2013, 11:42

Most of them I have tasted seem to use that weird chicken.

walterwhite · 23-04-2013, 13:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Teacake

Chinese food isn't filling, which is probably due to the amount of chemicals they use.

The food from mine is, perhaps you should try a different one.

walterwhite · 23-04-2013, 13:07

Mine now does salt and pepper chips and chilli & garlic fried rice which are the best things ever, so no I disagree they have got worse.

SaddlerSteve · 23-04-2013, 13:31

There are a lot of Chinese takeaways that now seem to be fish and chip shops with the Chinese as a sideline. A lot do use that dodgy chicken which is just reformed meat.
All the Chinese takeaways near me in MK are pretty poor, but i have a friend who lives near Towcester and his local (Happy Garden) is very good... so good that i now happily drive 12.5 miles to it to get Chinese whenever we want it.

daisiesfan · 23-04-2013, 16:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiSsMaLfUnKtIoN

Most of them I have tasted seem to use that weird chicken.

Cat

Oliver Loxton-P · 23-04-2013, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by daisiesfan

Cat

It tends to be beef they pass that off as. The meat is quite similar.

doom&gloom · 23-04-2013, 19:18

It's rubbery whether you get chicken or beef I think, the charsiu pork is usually better I think.

c00kiemonster72 · 23-04-2013, 21:23

I used to work for a company that supplied the Chinese takeaways and Restaurants.

Not many of them used 100% chicken, most of them used 80% as it was far cheaper than the 100%, the lowest grade stuff we sold was 65% and believe me quite a few takeaways used this!

Beef, Pork, Duck and Prawns were all 100% so that was all I ever ate from them.

MSG was delivered weekly in 25KG bags

Mr Teacake · 23-04-2013, 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterwhite

The food from mine is, perhaps you should try a different one.

It seems to be a common view that chinese food isn't filling with all that MSG.

jeffiner1892 · 23-04-2013, 21:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Teacake

It seems to be a common view that chinese food isn't filling with all that MSG.

Our Chinese takeaway can feed 8 of us for £15 so I can't really agree that it's not filling.

Richard_Harmer · 23-04-2013, 21:30

I used to love a bit of roast duck from the takeaway, but now I usually only have roast chicken from the takeaway, as the roast duck for me now tastes too chewy to be of any taste to me!

Mr Teacake · 23-04-2013, 22:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffiner1892

Our Chinese takeaway can feed 8 of us for £15 so I can't really agree that it's not filling.

The acid test is whether you're hungry half an hour later, simply eating it all doesn't mean it fills you up properly.

22-04-2013, 18:58	#1
monkino Guest Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 682	Chinese takeaway I am willing to accept that it my just be my perception, but has anyone else felt that the quality of Chinese takeaways has deteriorated over the past 10-15 years? I am not just talking about a specific restaurant, or restaurants in a specific area (I have lived all over, not just London and outside) but I have travelled across the UK and have experienced the quality reducing quite a bit. For example, the chicken does not taste or feel much like chicken, the soups taste very synthetic, and many of the other dishes feel like poor quality, and pre-cooked elsewhere and just heated up. Might just be, but wondered if other people felt the same?

22-04-2013, 19:00	#2
Yeah_Jackie Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Jackie's World Posts: 15,321	Tastes change also as you get oldr over 10 - 15 years. I'm not a huge fan of Chinese takeaway and never have been. It has always been chock full of monosodiumwhatsits.

22-04-2013, 19:07	#3
curvybabes Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Scotland Posts: 11,156	I stick to my local takeaway.. its literally next to me and I know they cook everything in there and get their meat from the local buther and can honestly say its just as good as it was 20 years ago, I have been to a few chinese buffets and I had to leave the chicken it was horrible ( soft and squidgy eww)

22-04-2013, 19:18	#4
monkino Guest Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 682	Quote: Originally Posted by Yeah_Jackie Tastes change also as you get oldr over 10 - 15 years. I'm not a huge fan of Chinese takeaway and never have been. It has always been chock full of monosodiumwhatsits. You could be right!

22-04-2013, 19:19	#5
monkino Guest Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 682	Quote: Originally Posted by curvybabes I stick to my local takeaway.. its literally next to me and I know they cook everything in there and get their meat from the local buther and can honestly say its just as good as it was 20 years ago, I have been to a few chinese buffets and I had to leave the chicken it was horrible ( soft and squidgy eww) I agree about the chicken I have had! Too squidgy!

22-04-2013, 22:22	#6
indyw Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 348	I avoid the takeaways that serve the "squeaky chicken". There are 2 local good ones who use real chicken so I'm fairly happy

22-04-2013, 22:48	#7
Johnnys Arcade Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: 114 Gorgie Road Edinburgh EH11 Posts: 2,744	Someone once told me that a lot of the lower quality Chinese takeaway shops soak proper chicken in a substance known as "Lie Water" which causes the chicken meat to at least double in size because some chemical that is added to the water causes the meat to absorb a large quantity of water. Disgusting!

22-04-2013, 22:51	#8
Mr Teacake Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 3,945	Chinese food isn't filling, which is probably due to the amount of chemicals they use.

22-04-2013, 22:58	#9
SilvioDante Inactive Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: The Bada Bing Posts: 2,404	The chinese takeaways around here are dire, over-priced too. Only thing we like are the banana fritters. Indian restaurants are far better in quality from a personal point of view. As a kid, my pals and I found 5 dead Mullet, lying, washed up on the bank of a local river, took them to the nearest chinese takeaway where they paid us cash for the rotting fish. Lovely, kept us in Kensitas Club fags for a week.

23-04-2013, 00:50	#10
curvybabes Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Scotland Posts: 11,156	Quote: Originally Posted by Mr Teacake Chinese food isn't filling, which is probably due to the amount of chemicals they use. I think they are really filling, ours does me (small meal) and the kids and then usually enough for a meal for me again the next day, i have ibs though so cant eat a large meal all ay once,

23-04-2013, 08:54	#11
cbe21ok Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Close to the Toon Posts: 1,465	Chinese chips do not taste the same as they used to, nowhere near as good, not round here anyway. I hardly get Chinese now, that MSG kills me. Last one i had was Christmas eve, beef in oyster sauce, it was poor, beef was thin and rubbish quality, too much bleedin carrot as well (who wants carrot in a flippin takeaway?). I nearly took it back but couldn't be bothered.

23-04-2013, 09:06	#12
Darcy_ Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 1,859	The problem with most Chinese take aways is that they all have the same generic, bland gloopy sauce. Really vile. I haven't had a Chinese take away in years for this very reason.

23-04-2013, 09:17	#13
doom&gloom Inactive Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 8,791	The meat is never good in Chinese places, I think it's because it's boiled before it's fried, the prawns and duck are okay though. If you get lemon chicken or pork dumplings the meat is okay though (but being battered it's less heathy).

23-04-2013, 11:42	#14
MiSsMaLfUnKtIoN Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 230	Most of them I have tasted seem to use that weird chicken.

23-04-2013, 13:06	#15
walterwhite Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 21,729	Quote: Originally Posted by Mr Teacake Chinese food isn't filling, which is probably due to the amount of chemicals they use. The food from mine is, perhaps you should try a different one.

23-04-2013, 13:07	#16
walterwhite Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 21,729	Mine now does salt and pepper chips and chilli & garlic fried rice which are the best things ever, so no I disagree they have got worse.

23-04-2013, 13:31	#17
SaddlerSteve Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 4,130	There are a lot of Chinese takeaways that now seem to be fish and chip shops with the Chinese as a sideline. A lot do use that dodgy chicken which is just reformed meat. All the Chinese takeaways near me in MK are pretty poor, but i have a friend who lives near Towcester and his local (Happy Garden) is very good... so good that i now happily drive 12.5 miles to it to get Chinese whenever we want it.

23-04-2013, 16:28	#18
daisiesfan Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: UK Posts: 2,408	Quote: Originally Posted by MiSsMaLfUnKtIoN Most of them I have tasted seem to use that weird chicken. Cat

23-04-2013, 17:03	#19
Oliver Loxton-P Inactive Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 567	Quote: Originally Posted by daisiesfan Cat It tends to be beef they pass that off as. The meat is quite similar.

23-04-2013, 19:18	#20
doom&gloom Inactive Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 8,791	It's rubbery whether you get chicken or beef I think, the charsiu pork is usually better I think.

23-04-2013, 21:23	#21
c00kiemonster72 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 2,250	I used to work for a company that supplied the Chinese takeaways and Restaurants. Not many of them used 100% chicken, most of them used 80% as it was far cheaper than the 100%, the lowest grade stuff we sold was 65% and believe me quite a few takeaways used this! Beef, Pork, Duck and Prawns were all 100% so that was all I ever ate from them. MSG was delivered weekly in 25KG bags

DS Forums

Chinese takeaway

23-04-2013, 21:24	#22
Mr Teacake Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 3,945	Quote: Originally Posted by walterwhite The food from mine is, perhaps you should try a different one. It seems to be a common view that chinese food isn't filling with all that MSG.

23-04-2013, 21:27	#23
jeffiner1892 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 8,724	Quote: Originally Posted by Mr Teacake It seems to be a common view that chinese food isn't filling with all that MSG. Our Chinese takeaway can feed 8 of us for £15 so I can't really agree that it's not filling.

23-04-2013, 21:30	#24
Richard_Harmer Inactive Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 23	I used to love a bit of roast duck from the takeaway, but now I usually only have roast chicken from the takeaway, as the roast duck for me now tastes too chewy to be of any taste to me!

23-04-2013, 22:13	#25
Mr Teacake Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 3,945	Quote: Originally Posted by jeffiner1892 Our Chinese takeaway can feed 8 of us for £15 so I can't really agree that it's not filling. The acid test is whether you're hungry half an hour later, simply eating it all doesn't mean it fills you up properly.