my definition of chinese diner food consists of rice plates and noodle dishes. sometimes, certain drinks. so, my typical chinese diner benchmarks are:
yang chow fried rice: your basic fried rice with shrimp, bbq pork, peas and scallions. should be yellowish, not brown, indicating it was fried with a fresh egg.
"see jiu fan", or beef and peppers in black bean sauce over rice: sliced beef, onions and green bell peppers stir fried with a black bean sauce over white rice. beef should be tender, veggies not overcooked, and the black beans not overwhelming.
won ton noodle soup: broth should be clear, and not too heavy in the msg. wontons should have a good mix of shrimp and pork. some places have a detergent-y smell, which i don't prefer.
"gnow lam sui gow mein" or beef brisket and water dumplings with noodles in soup. a lot of similar tenets to the won ton noodle soup, but the 'water dumplings' should NOT be the same as won tons. the beef brisket should be very tender, without too much tendon-y stuff.
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