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Standard dishes for testing the quality of a restaurant
Joshua Johnson, a loyal MR (and TCEDG) reader, asks:
If you are going to a new ethnic restaurant, what staple items do you order that for you, let you know if the restaurant is worth coming back to and trying more of their offerings? It would be nice if you could make some sort of list for Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, Turkish, etc.
Here goes:
Japanese: One bite of the tempura tells all.
Chinese: Ma Po Tofu, or for some kinds of Chinese places Hainan Chicken with Rice.
Thai: Almost any dish shows the true colors of a Thai restaurant immediately.
Turkish: Doner Kebab, taking special care to ponder the tanginess of the yogurt and how it interacts with the meat.
Vietnamese: Anything with lemon grass, which is hard to use well.
Ethiopian: Kitfo or barring that lamb tibs.
Peruvian: Lomo saltado, taking special care to check for the right amount of cilantro in the sauce and the correct sogginess of the french fries.
Bolivian: Silpancho, and check the liquidity and consistency of the egg on top.
Afghan: Kadu (pumpkin) and is it too sweet?
Korean: Seafood pancake and in general the quality of their kimchees.
Indian: Most dishes will do (see "Thai"), although avoid the Butter Chicken as a metric of quality. Lamb with spinach is my do-or-die default judgment dish for an Indian restaurant, if only because you get to taste both the lamb (less likely to be tender than the chicken) and the spinach.
Restaurant, general: How's their chili crab? If it's not outstanding, or not on the menu, press eject immediately and get yourself to a different country.
Can you think of others?
Posted by Tyler Cowen on May 11, 2009 at 07:14 AM in Food and Drink | Permalink
Comments
The obvious miss is Italian - more than the quality of the sauces, I believe the type of pasta they buy/make and the way they treat it tells the whole story. You can immediately tell the difference between a soggy, limp noodle and one that has both the al dente bite and holds its sauce appropriate to its shape (i.e., there should be no pool of tomato water on the plate).
I'd also argue that chicken and veal parm are easy things to half-ass in a restaurant kitchen, so getting a properly breaded juicy cutlet, as opposed to something no better than a food service patty, is another sign.
Also, for pizza it's the crust. Toppings are easy.
Posted by: BG at May 11, 2009 7:28:01 AM
It is generally a bad idea to judge a place by a single dish. You are then basically judging how good a place is compared to standard dishes. Many places can make very good vegetarian dishes but their meat dishes are not that great. There are plenty of Thai places that are good for just the standard Pad Thai, but the rest of their dishes are mediocre. The easiest test of a place, and most people probably know this, "are people from that ethnic origin eating there?" (This is easy to apply in cities like Chicago or Washington, D.C., but maybe more difficult in smaller towns...)
Posted by: JP at May 11, 2009 7:30:04 AM
I think JP has the right idea - if you go to an ethnic restaurant, and no one of that ethnicity eats there, it should clue you in that it's not really authentic. Better yet, go with friends who can advise you what to order based on authenticity.
Posted by: almitchell at May 11, 2009 7:47:29 AM
Chili crab? WTF?
Posted by: IWantCookieNow at May 11, 2009 7:51:03 AM
A similar measure is what cooking school instructors use to test their students. In France the famous example is a simple omelette, because it is a universally known dish, but tells a lot about the chef's technique.
I also had a Chinese cooking instructor who had taught for 10 years at the top cooking school in Szechuan in China. He said that the instructors there used Kung Pao chicken for a very similar test (yes it really is an authentic dish). In this case they were looking for the chef's ability to balance the flavors and heat, as well as the textures of the ingredients.
Posted by: Bruce at May 11, 2009 8:21:25 AM
This post with with links on TCEDG. (Also see "Trying new food".)
Chili crab? WTF?
It's a joke son, a joke....
Posted by: chug at May 11, 2009 8:24:15 AM
A deli needs to be able to make a proper brisket on rye. The tenderness, flavor, fattiness and bread quality invariably tell you what you need to know about the rest of the deli.
Posted by: Jonathan Falk at May 11, 2009 8:42:15 AM
For brunch, eggs Benedict.
Posted by: jonm at May 11, 2009 8:45:19 AM
I don't care so much about "authenticity". Why would that be important? I certainly don't have the same tastes as someone from culture X, so why use them as a benchmark?
I do like to order "standard" foods when trying new restaurants though, as it makes it easier to compare. I don't think the *specific* food choices are so important; it's more that you are consistent.
Posted by: Andy at May 11, 2009 8:48:57 AM
At a breakfast place any dish with Hollandaise will quickly tell you what you need to know.
Posted by: Spencer at May 11, 2009 9:04:39 AM
Meaning they know how to make blender hollandaise?
Posted by: jonathan at May 11, 2009 9:16:28 AM
> Thai: Almost any dish shows the true colors of a Thai restaurant immediately.
> Indian: Most dishes will do
This could only be true if the restaurants in that class are crappy.
Thai I would go with green mango salad (calibrate the hot / sour / salty / sweet balance). If it isn't on the menu then you know enough already.
Indian I generally don't eat much, not because I don't like it, but because I don't like any of the Indian restaurants in NY. That's a shame because I love the food and cook it myself well enough. If I go out with friends who require Indian food, I'll try to pick something that looks like the least bad.
Posted by: babar at May 11, 2009 9:16:53 AM
Greek: Moussaka. It takes a long time to make well. If they use potato as a filler, send it back.
Posted by: George at May 11, 2009 9:35:41 AM
Mexican: chile relleno or chilaquiles
Posted by: Gabriel Rossman at May 11, 2009 9:54:31 AM
Dim Sum: Har Gau
American diner: Hamburger
French/Belgian Bistro: The mayonaise that comes with the fries for Moules Frites. Did they care enough to flavour it thoughtfully?
British pub: Fish and chips (texture/crispness of the batter and oily without being greasy)
High-end a la mode Michelin-star type place: I usually know with the amuse-bouche whether the rest of the meal will be any good.
Korean: I would have said the Bulgogi. Really, who cares if the other stuff is good?
Italian: Osso Bucco is the hardest "standard" to make well, in my opinion
Indian: Mater Paneer is also a good test case as it brings a few different flavours and textures at the same time
Greek: I know with the salad, frankly - especially how much and how they serve the feta (look for a big, fresh chunk drizzled in olive oil), and how fresh the vegetables are
Posted by: Andrew Edwards at May 11, 2009 10:08:44 AM
Mexican: tamal
Finnish: rye bread (ok, it's not a dish, but there really is nothing extraordinary about Finnish cuisine, but there are some regional dishes like Karelian pie, lortsy (sp) and a fish bread from Kuopio (which is, how should I phrase it, an acquired taste)).
Posted by: Allan at May 11, 2009 10:13:02 AM
For a North Indian restaurant, I find the best way to judge quality is to order the biryani. However, for a South Indian restaurant, the quality of the chutney and sambar really say it all.
That said, a lot of Indian restaurants in this country will serve you some really crappy biryani.
Posted by: Lee at May 11, 2009 10:30:57 AM
Italian: "pasta they buy" You have to be kidding. Really good Italian
restaurants make their own.
German: sauterbraten
Hungarian: gulyas (goulash)
Russian or Polish: pirogi
For that matter with either Chinese or Japanese, the dumplings are also
generally a clear marker, atlhough I agree with the kung pao chicken one
for Chinese, and tempura is not bad for Japanese.
Posted by: Barkley Rosser at May 11, 2009 10:50:33 AM
In a typical Peruvian Lomo Saltado cilantro is used for garnish not as a sauce.
My guess is that your are talking about Seco de Res which is another signature dish of Peruvian cuisine. It just requires a stomach well prepared to resist it.
Posted by: Martin at May 11, 2009 10:53:20 AM
Another quick test for Italian restaurants is whether the sauce is mixed in with the pasta or just ladled on top.
Posted by: Peter at May 11, 2009 10:56:52 AM
Kitfo! I can't do it. Raw beef scare me too much. Tibs or Shiro for Ethiopian food, and, of course, the quality of the injera that comes with it is critical.
Posted by: Patrick at May 11, 2009 10:59:10 AM
I would probably agree with dumplings for Chinese. Judging a Cantonese or Taiwanese restaurant by the quality of the Ma Po Tofu (a Szechuanese specialty) is just insane, sort of akin to judging a Cajun restaurant by the quality of its baked cod.
Tempura is not actually a big part of the normal Japanese diet in my experience, and hence a poor indicator of quality - the quality of the rice is how you tell a real Japanese restaurant.
Posted by: vanya at May 11, 2009 11:15:16 AM
My 'baseline' Italian restaurant test is linguine with clam sauce. You might think it's hard to mess up-- but you'd be wrong.
Posted by: MattF at May 11, 2009 11:44:02 AM
German: (Hessian) Ribchen mit Sauerkraut, (Swabian) Spaetzle, (Bavarian) Weisswurst at Breakfast, otherwise Schaeufele
Hungarian: Csirke Paprikas, or for Jewish-Hungarian, Solet
Ethiopian: how light is the Injera? (It must be made of teff!)
Mexican: Southern - Tamal, Central - Mole, Northern - Chili Verde
Thai: Larb
South Indian: Sambar, Dosai
North Indian: lamb or goat
Nepali: Momos, Dal Bhat
Posted by: djw at May 11, 2009 12:07:47 PM
i wouldn't judge a mexican restaurant by the tamal.
they are made off-line often by different people than those who make the on-time food and then stored for hours. they are quite sensitive to how they are stored as well.
it makes about as much sense to judge a mexican restaurant by the quality of the tortilla.
Posted by: babar at May 11, 2009 12:21:04 PM
