Britain has the best Indian and Chinese food!!

[Mass_Liberal]

Seriously. On a par with NYC. Discuss. Tawk amongst yaselves, I'm gettin fahklempt

[AlinPA]

1. Going to London soon. Where to eat? Thanks.

[Mass_Liberal]

3. Anywhere

I dunno, I've only had chinese and indian in Birmingham. But there are tons o' places in London too, I'm sure of it.

[bif]

8. Just don't expect friendly service

I ate at tons of chinese and Indain restaurants and can't recall ever having friendly waiters.

[T_i_B]

34. There are freindly Indian resteraunts

but Chinese ones are notoriously grumpy.

[bif]

44. You must have eaten at the only friendly one in England

I never had the pleasure of experiencing it.

[Fenris]

4. Eating in London is like playing Russian roulette

Be very careful. Avoid authentic "British" cuisine.

[IronLionZion]

29. try Soho Spice

its a good restaurant but there are plenty. Even White Protestant street vendors will sell Chicken Tikka in London. You can't avoid Indian food in London.

[sushi]

2. Not the only place

Check out Singapore!!!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. i KNOW india has the best indian food

that and the house in queens where my mom lives

[Mass_Liberal]

6. hmmm

I begrudgingly admit that you may have a point there. ;) . NYC does too. I'm moving back there next year. I have missed the food sooooo much.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. YAY

i'll invite you over for dinner when you get here

[Screaming Lord Byron]

9. Funnily enough, the UK has better Indian food than India.

Indians who came to the UK have devised their own variations on Indian food that many consider superior to indigenous subcontinental food.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. umm sure....

50 years of change so superior to 5000 years of changing culture and cuisine...:eyes:

[Screaming Lord Byron]

25. Well, seeing as it's the Indian immigrants doing it,

that would make it 5050 years of culture.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

27. no it would not

the number of indians in britain are only from particular parts of india with limited access to all out herbs and spices...and a desire to please a palate that is used to boiled potatoes and warm beer :P

[T_i_B]

35. Warm beer?

Beer has adapted to the curry experience in Britain, with specialist curry beers such as Kingfisher and Cobra. these are lagers which are less gassy then normal. Kingfisher is actually a very nice pint!

And yes it is served cold.

[Spider Jerusalem]

37. Lager is served cold;

ale (which includes porter and stout) is served at cellar temperature (53 degrees Fahrenheit; NOT warm). And I for one have to say that ale is BETTER at cellar temperature; unlike lager, there is a richness and complexity to the flavour that is lost when it's drunk cold, because cold numbs the taste buds.

[democracyindanger]

31. Have to disagree

Some time back, I had to go to India on a business trip. I had a couple day layovers in London both ways, and ate Indian food in all three places.

I ate in India at a variety of places, from hotel and tourist traps in New Delhi, to non-tourist-oriented places towards the Kashmir border. And while it was all good, London won hands down. No question. Just my empirically-derived opinion. ;)

[BurtWorm]

47. Which section in Queens?

I work in Jackson Heights. I am enticed by the aroma of home-cooked curry dishes on my walk back to the subway at Roosevelt Ave. every day. I walk past the Patel Brothers grocery store every morning and get a delicious whiff of cardamom and other spices as I pass. I love this neighborhood!

[Salviati]

10. don't have any personal experiance with it but...

I've always heard that Britain had the best Indian _restaurants_ in the world, which isn't too surprising, after all who'd want to eat British food. However, the best Indian _food_ is to be found in peoples homes in India, not in the restaurants...

[bpcmxr]

11. On a par with NYC, but ...

I do agree that the Indian cuisine on offer in London is on a par with that available here in NYC. I have friends who think it's much better, for that matter, though I disagree. However - and for my own particular tastes - I have to say that Tokyo has both cities beat by a mile in this department. I can't necessarily say the same for the Chinese food there, though what I've had has been terrific. I'm just not the aficianado of Chinese that I am of Indian.

Tom

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

16. U.S. has AWESOME Chinese food, particularly NYC.

My parents (native from mainland China) feel that the good quality stuff here in the U.S. is generally better than what you can get in China. Although with the increase in capitalism and big business there things may have changed a lot since they made that assessment. Bay Area, L.A. area, and also Wash, D.C. are excellent for Chinese. I think NYC overall is the best though and reasonable price because of all the competition.

Lower East Side NYC has awesome Indian food. An Indian school chum told me about this area, particularly Kismoth restaurant. Awesome. I remember getting $3 vindaloo for lunch and getting my socks knocked off.

Don't know how old this web info is (just googled Kismoth):

http://accesswriters.com/voices/nyc.shtml

Indian: head for the "East Village," specifically 6th Street between Second and Third Avenues. When I first arrived in this neighborhood years ago I couldn't believe it -- I counted over 35 Indian restaurants on this one small block! The one with the best food is Kismoth, featuring Bangladeshi-Indian cuisine. If you order a dish with mushrooms or spinach here, for example, expect to see the real thing (not canned equivalents as in many of the other restaurants). The ambience leaves a lot to be desired, however: the tables are small, few, and crowded together; and watch out for smokers. Indian (Bangladeshi? Pakistani?) waiters tend to be very courteous, so you'll probably be able to chat even if they're busy, but please leave a large tip!
Notes I recently returned to this block and did not see Kismoth, which may now be called (Rose of India). Also, I noticed most restaurants, though on the ground floor, are inaccessible because of steep steps up or down.

Lunch is an exceptional bargain on 6th Street. Expect to pay about $3-4 for a 4-5 course meal (and it's good)!
This is not the Manhattan neighborhood known as Little India, which is several blocks futher north (around Lexington & the mid-to-high 20's). Little India restaurants cost more (because real estate prices are higher here, since the East Village was cheap back when most of the 6th Street places signed their leases). They also tend not to be accessible; many stores in this neighborhood have steps or stoops and most do not have ramps installed. Finally, service here (in places I've tried) is slow and grudging.

[bpcmxr]

21. Yes - East 6th Street is fantastic

My current favorite Indian restaurant here in NYC is Haveli, on the east side of 2nd Ave just south of 6th Street. Mmmmmmm ... Murgha Tikka Muslam!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

45. Asian food in Tokyo has really improved in the past few years

On my last trip (a month in 2002), I found some utterly fantastic Thai and Indian restaurants simply by following the spicy smells that were emanating onto the sidewalk.

[khashka]

13. Better than India

Strange but true - you can get better Indian food in Britain than in India.

And they also have the best Italian food anywhere. If I didn't have other reasons for going back to London, then the lasagna in those little Italian restaraunts would be more than worth the airfare.

Brit food has always been considered execrable - but since the late 80's London has been the food capitol of Europe. And the title is well deserved.

San Francisco is pretty good too. You can get Cajun food that puts New Orleans to shame. And there's this little place in the Mission that does the best burritos ever - but I'm not going to say where because those burritos are MINE!

Khash.

[bpcmxr]

14. My compliments on your sig!

Great taste! One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite artists.

Tom

[La Lioness Priyanka]

15. again not better than india

maybe more suited to the western palatte but still highly inferior

[Mass_Liberal]

17. what are the differences between the two?

Outta curiosity. I've only ever had european-indian food.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. indian food outside of india

is mainly punjabi food which in only one state in india...also its much creamier and heavier..and lacking in subtlety...

[HEFFA]

18. I don't know about Britain, but the absolute WORST Chinese food I ever

had was in Ireland. I mean, honestly....dis-gust-ing. :puke:

[Mass_Liberal]

20. you probably deserve it

trying to eat chinese food in Ireland. You should be ashamed of yourself. ;)

[HEFFA]

22. I know....I shoulda just got drunk instead.

:beer:

[Mass_Liberal]

23. definetly

in ireland, consume nothing but meat, bread, and beer.

[SiobhanClancy]

26. I had the best fresh salmon I've ever had in Ireland.....

so there!!;)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

46. The worst Chinese food I've ever had

was in a restaurant just a few blocks from where I live in Minneapolis. It looked promising, because the waiters were all Chinese, but I should have been warned by the customers who looked as if they were more accustomed to chow mein out of a can.

The "food" consisted of greasy UFOs (unidentified fried objects) sitting in sickly sweet duck sauce and gray, overly salted stir frys with nasty meat.

My opinion was confirmed when I talked to some people who are acting as host family for a Taiwanese student. They said that their student chatted amiably with the waiters in Chinese and even asked for recommendations but absolutely hated the food.

[The Lone Liberal]

24. They should have….

How long did they subjugate those countries to colonial rule. They took everything else, might as well have taken the culinary tricks.

[IronLionZion]

28. I doubt you've had real Indian food

What they have in restaurants here and in Britain is just a tiny sample and its been modified to Western tastes. There are thousands of dishes and dozens of styles that you've probably never even heard of. British Indian food is good but you're really missing out.

Try it in an Indian person's home. not mine because I can't cook to save my life.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

32. thank-you

i was beginning to think i was insane

[T_i_B]

38. Well I don't think you're insane

I can see where you are coming from here.

Mind you, we British are very proud of our fondness for Indian food. May we have permission to claim Chicken Tikka Masala as the national dish?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

39. claim what you want

just return our koh-i noor to us so we no longer think of your queen as a common thief

[Screaming Lord Byron]

43. You'd be pretty far back in the line, I'm afraid.

If we had to work out all the artifacts the British Empire stole (or 'liberated for civilization') over the centuries we'd be here for days. I think Greece is at the head of the line right now, something about losing their marbles.
It took the Scots 700 years to get the fake Stone of Destiny back. I guess that's bureacracy for you.

:evilgrin:

[T_i_B]

55. Not sure you'd want that actually

Prince Albert decided it would be a good idea to have the Koh-I-Noor polished and about 80 carats got taken off it as a result. It's not the diamond it once was.

[HEyHEY]

30. I've heard from many Vancouver BC is supposed to have the best

Chinese food in the world.

[IronLionZion]

33. Canada in general has good Chinese food

Toronto and Windsor definitely

[noonwitch]

51. I think chinese food is better in Canada than in the US

We used to go to a ranch in Ontario every summer and always ate at a place in Hanover, but I don't remember the restaurant name as it was a very long time ago. Also, we would eat in Toronto or Owen Sound. All the restaurants were good, and the food was much healthier (less fried) than in the US.

[JVS]

36. I must argue that China probably has the best Chinese food by default

[HEyHEY]

42. Believe it or not man, I've heard it's lousy there

;-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

49. Chinese food in China

was really pretty good, except for the slop they served on the coastal ferry from Shanghai to Wenzhou.

It was slightly different from what we eat in restaurants here, but we were guests of various schools, so we were treated to banquets, and we even got to have dinneri in private homes occasionally. On one outing, we even had an excellent and fiery tofu-veggie stir fry at the equivalent of a truck stop in rural Sichuan. (We each had a full liter of beer with it, or we never could have gotten it down.)

[Pert_UK]

40. Shanghai has the best Chinese food!

But Chinatown in London has some excellent restaurants, and Brick Lane is superb for Indian cuisine.

P.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

50. I've been told that Taipei has the best Chinese food because

so many Mainlanders came from all the provinces, so you can literally get authentic versions of any local cooking style all concentrated in one city.

[Pert_UK]

54. That may be true......Guangzhou had unbelievably good...

Cantonese food, but Shanghai had the best dumplings!

Mmmmmm.

P.

[BurtWorm]

52. I had some delicious Bengali food on Brick Lane last time I was in London

And some really, really weird Bengali "sweets." Beautifully colored curdled cheese balls. :wtf: I might have liked them better if I hadn't been expecting fluffy pastry with custard filling.

My favorite new restaurant in my neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan is a Shanghai restaurant called Pearl's. They do great dim sum.

[slackmaster]

41. Glad you added your caveat about NYC

New York City has the best food on Earth.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

48. yes almost...

calcutta has the best indian food and the best indian-chinese food...

[Snow]

53. Compared to where? Have you ever been to Penang, Malaysia?

Oh, man. The weather is hot'n'humid, but all kinds of cuisines, all really good. Including western, done better than in the west. Even the street vendor food is fine. Some hot nasi goreng or mee hoon from a chinese vendor, or a delicious curry ikan from a malay. Just don't swallow the local hype about durian & how wonderful it tastes despite the smell....it's very much like a papaya. If papaya drives you into ecstacy, ok, but there is still that smell......