A few quick points on France
Jul 1st 2002, 9:24 pm
#31
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: A few quick points on France
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Pan) wrote:
> Hi, everyone.
>
> I just came back from a 3-week trip to France last night.
>
> I don't have time to post a detailed report right now, but I want to post some
> quick things. We flew into and out of Paris and drove through Burgundy and the
> Loire Valley.
>
> (1) People were very polite and friendly everywhere, and we experienced absolutely
> no animosity against us as Americans. In short, the people were wonderful.
> No-one should be misled by any media coverage into thinking that French people
> are nasty to Americans or people with last names that they might or might not
> have recognized as Jewish. It was a complete non-issue.
>
> (2) If you have any reason to want to eat Chinese food in France (as my father did
> - long story), my advice to you is to avoid any restaurant that advertises that
> it serves Chinese cuisine _and_ any other type of cuisine (Vietnamese, Thai,
> etc.). It is likely to suck and may make you sick (as one restaurant in Tours
> did). Only one Chinese restaurant we ate in was good, and it was good enough
> that I'd frequent it if it were in New York's Chinatown: I forget its name, but
> it was right off the Place Albert I on the Boulevard Alexandre Martin in
> Orleans. Also, go to the incredible boulangerie on the east side of rue de la
> Republique (the pedestrian street) nearest to that same Place in Orleans. It
> was by far the best boulangerie I visited in France.
There is beautiful Chinese food all over Paris -- and you are right -- it is
perfectly dreadful. You can get better Chinese in nowhere Iowa than in France. I
don't know how they do it in a country with such good food.
> Hi, everyone.
>
> I just came back from a 3-week trip to France last night.
>
> I don't have time to post a detailed report right now, but I want to post some
> quick things. We flew into and out of Paris and drove through Burgundy and the
> Loire Valley.
>
> (1) People were very polite and friendly everywhere, and we experienced absolutely
> no animosity against us as Americans. In short, the people were wonderful.
> No-one should be misled by any media coverage into thinking that French people
> are nasty to Americans or people with last names that they might or might not
> have recognized as Jewish. It was a complete non-issue.
>
> (2) If you have any reason to want to eat Chinese food in France (as my father did
> - long story), my advice to you is to avoid any restaurant that advertises that
> it serves Chinese cuisine _and_ any other type of cuisine (Vietnamese, Thai,
> etc.). It is likely to suck and may make you sick (as one restaurant in Tours
> did). Only one Chinese restaurant we ate in was good, and it was good enough
> that I'd frequent it if it were in New York's Chinatown: I forget its name, but
> it was right off the Place Albert I on the Boulevard Alexandre Martin in
> Orleans. Also, go to the incredible boulangerie on the east side of rue de la
> Republique (the pedestrian street) nearest to that same Place in Orleans. It
> was by far the best boulangerie I visited in France.
There is beautiful Chinese food all over Paris -- and you are right -- it is
perfectly dreadful. You can get better Chinese in nowhere Iowa than in France. I
don't know how they do it in a country with such good food.
Jul 9th 2002, 5:20 pm
#32
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: A few quick points on France
Pan wrote:
> On Fri, 28 Jun 2002 18:23:40 GMT, "neil tupper" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Pan" <[email protected]> wrote
> >>. . . my advice to you is to avoid any restaurant that advertises that it serves
> >> Chinese cuisine _and_ any other type of cuisine (Vietnamese, Thai, etc.). It is
> >> likely to suck and may make you sick (as one restaurant in Tours did).
> >>
> >
> >That's a pretty general denunciation. I'm not a fan of Chinese cuisine and so I
> >don't dine at those restaurants, but I must tell you that I have had some of the
> >finest Vietnamese food ever in France, and particularly in Paris.
>
> Did any of those fine Vietnamese restaurants claim to _also_ serve Chinese cuisine?
> Did you read my remarks carefully?
I saw those places ("Thai--Chinois--Vietnamien") all over Paris. Don't know how they
are like, but from my experience...places that claim to do, for example, both Chinese
and Vietnamese food will have good Vietnamese food, but not so great Chinese...The
cuisines are related, but not 100% interchangeable.
Vietnamese cooking, in particular, may use a lot of fish sauce (nuoc mam); many
Westerners find it not to their taste....
> On Fri, 28 Jun 2002 18:23:40 GMT, "neil tupper" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Pan" <[email protected]> wrote
> >>. . . my advice to you is to avoid any restaurant that advertises that it serves
> >> Chinese cuisine _and_ any other type of cuisine (Vietnamese, Thai, etc.). It is
> >> likely to suck and may make you sick (as one restaurant in Tours did).
> >>
> >
> >That's a pretty general denunciation. I'm not a fan of Chinese cuisine and so I
> >don't dine at those restaurants, but I must tell you that I have had some of the
> >finest Vietnamese food ever in France, and particularly in Paris.
>
> Did any of those fine Vietnamese restaurants claim to _also_ serve Chinese cuisine?
> Did you read my remarks carefully?
I saw those places ("Thai--Chinois--Vietnamien") all over Paris. Don't know how they
are like, but from my experience...places that claim to do, for example, both Chinese
and Vietnamese food will have good Vietnamese food, but not so great Chinese...The
cuisines are related, but not 100% interchangeable.
Vietnamese cooking, in particular, may use a lot of fish sauce (nuoc mam); many
Westerners find it not to their taste....
Jul 9th 2002, 8:20 pm
#33
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: A few quick points on France
On Wed, 10 Jul 2002 03:51:45 GMT, charles hobbs <[email protected]> wrote:
>I saw those places ("Thai--Chinois--Vietnamien") all over Paris. Don't know how they
>are like, but from my experience...places that claim to do, for example, both
>Chinese and Vietnamese food will have good Vietnamese food, but not so great
>Chinese...
I'd expect that might be true if the cook(s) is (are) Vietnamese. The places we went
to clearly had Chinese cooks and were owned and run by Chinese people, except for the
place in Autun (and what a mistake _that_ was!)
>The cuisines are related, but not 100% interchangeable.
I find them quite distinct and not very closely related.
>Vietnamese cooking, in particular, may use a lot of fish sauce (nuoc mam); many
>Westerners find it not to their taste....
I love Vietnamese food, and used to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant in Nice frequently
when I was there as a student.
Michael
To reply by email, please take out the TRASH (so to speak). Personal messages
only, please!
>I saw those places ("Thai--Chinois--Vietnamien") all over Paris. Don't know how they
>are like, but from my experience...places that claim to do, for example, both
>Chinese and Vietnamese food will have good Vietnamese food, but not so great
>Chinese...
I'd expect that might be true if the cook(s) is (are) Vietnamese. The places we went
to clearly had Chinese cooks and were owned and run by Chinese people, except for the
place in Autun (and what a mistake _that_ was!)
>The cuisines are related, but not 100% interchangeable.
I find them quite distinct and not very closely related.
>Vietnamese cooking, in particular, may use a lot of fish sauce (nuoc mam); many
>Westerners find it not to their taste....
I love Vietnamese food, and used to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant in Nice frequently
when I was there as a student.
Michael
To reply by email, please take out the TRASH (so to speak). Personal messages
only, please!
