I love Chinese food! I could eat it everyday and never tire of it though I have quickly discovered that what I have always considered to be Chinese food is actually an Americanized version pretending to be Chinese.
The dish on the left is REAL Chinese food. It's what I ordered today at the food court at the Taipei Central Station. I know it's authentic because I have no clue what it is. It looks like succulent shrimp in chicken broth and noodles with some bok-choy added for good measure. In reality it is octopus along with other assorted seafood and vegetables that are unfamiliar. It was actually pretty good although the octopus tentacles were very chewy.
In Taiwan it is common to display a plastic version of the food that is offered. Buyer beware! It is difficult for a novice to have any way of knowing whether the dish contains seafood, pork, or chicken, whether it is spicy or bland, or whether it will have eyeballs or tentacles in it. I would suggest ordering fried rice or McDonald's unless you are adventurous or not very hungry.
Actually, that soup noodle dish is not "REAL Chinese food", but instead Japanese udon. The utensils (cup & spoon) are Japanese style as well.
ReplyDeleteThe various dishes offered by the store appear distinctly modern Japanese, & are also presented in the Japanese fashion. In general, Chinese food is not so neat-looking or compartmentalized.
In addition, on the side wall of the store front, you can see a pair of Maneki-neko (aka Japanese Fortune/ Welcoming Cats) waving their paws. And the "gallery" of fake food is a classic Japanese (culinary) artform, albeit adopted by some Chinese-operated eateries nowadays.
The only Chinese feature of this eatery are its words: the characters are definitely Chinese (ie. the traditional script used in Taiwan & Hongkong).