Chinese food becoming unpopular?
Discussion
Do you think it is and why?
My nearest big town is Leeds and over the years we've been losing the big ones one by one. If you live anywhere near there then The Jumbo was the one to go to 70s/80s, possibly 90s before closing, Lucky Dragon nearby was then big as was Maxis.
Maxis was purpose built and huge, it seated over 200 people, yet in recent years there must have been 40 people in there on a Saturday evening, it's recently closed.
The Jumbo was probably the first big one in the area and it failed hygiene inspections quite spectacularly more than once, yet people still queued to get in!
I suppose there is much more variety these days which isn't helping.
My nearest big town is Leeds and over the years we've been losing the big ones one by one. If you live anywhere near there then The Jumbo was the one to go to 70s/80s, possibly 90s before closing, Lucky Dragon nearby was then big as was Maxis.
Maxis was purpose built and huge, it seated over 200 people, yet in recent years there must have been 40 people in there on a Saturday evening, it's recently closed.
The Jumbo was probably the first big one in the area and it failed hygiene inspections quite spectacularly more than once, yet people still queued to get in!
I suppose there is much more variety these days which isn't helping.
I think that going out in general is less popular than it used to be. Many reasons, including the cost versus wage stagnation, make it an expensive and in some cases unaffordable choice. Also the rise of companies like Just Eat, so you can now have restaurant food delivered to your home, together with things like Netflix means more people can have an "event" night without going out.
The quality of ingredients has gone down at the ones I used to frequent, last straw with my local was when they replaced the chicken balls with square processed chicken nugget type meat.
There's also more stringent ingredient laws on top of that so you get a lot less MSG in the food now which makes it less appetizing and addictive.
I'm not sure 200+ seaters are that desirable either these days, I hate going to large restaurants as the noise levels get so loud it's hard to talk to people across the table.
There's also more stringent ingredient laws on top of that so you get a lot less MSG in the food now which makes it less appetizing and addictive.
I'm not sure 200+ seaters are that desirable either these days, I hate going to large restaurants as the noise levels get so loud it's hard to talk to people across the table.
I guess it's just that there's so much more choice these days.
My town isn't that big (100,000ish) but we have a few Japanese places, a Lebanese, a Tibetan, a Mexican, some good Indians, two tapas places, Meze, Moroccan, Thai, and a few more I've probably forgotten.
I'd imagine that Chinese food (and probably the proper regional cuisines rather than the generic MSG stuffed stuff we've had previously) will be one of the next big things.
My town isn't that big (100,000ish) but we have a few Japanese places, a Lebanese, a Tibetan, a Mexican, some good Indians, two tapas places, Meze, Moroccan, Thai, and a few more I've probably forgotten.
I'd imagine that Chinese food (and probably the proper regional cuisines rather than the generic MSG stuffed stuff we've had previously) will be one of the next big things.
As other have already said I don't think its so much a case of Chinese food being less popular but simply the fact that its "market share" has diminished.
When I was a kid, 40 odd years ago, I lived in a small fishing village/town in the depths of Devon. We had one Chinese takeaway, nothing else other than a couple of fish and chip shops on the harbour.
So, exotic highlight of the week was a chicken chowmein with rice (or chips for the old man).
Since then the food world has exploded. In the same town we now have proper Italian, Nepalese, Indian, Thai, Mexican, French and a couple of half decent steak houses.
Add in a total of three "Chinese style" takeaways and yes, Chinese takeaways are now less popular, probably no less liked but in % terms less used.
When I was a kid, 40 odd years ago, I lived in a small fishing village/town in the depths of Devon. We had one Chinese takeaway, nothing else other than a couple of fish and chip shops on the harbour.
So, exotic highlight of the week was a chicken chowmein with rice (or chips for the old man).
Since then the food world has exploded. In the same town we now have proper Italian, Nepalese, Indian, Thai, Mexican, French and a couple of half decent steak houses.
Add in a total of three "Chinese style" takeaways and yes, Chinese takeaways are now less popular, probably no less liked but in % terms less used.
I remember when Chinese restaurants were a strange exotic luxuary, but as you say, Leeds has few left. I wonder if it just went out of fashion? See a lot of Thai restaurants now.
The Chinese buffets are all closing as well, which is a shame as my kids love it, but there’s only so much deep fried, salty sticky goo you can eat!
The Chinese buffets are all closing as well, which is a shame as my kids love it, but there’s only so much deep fried, salty sticky goo you can eat!
the chinese takeaways in my town are poor and haven't moved with the times. One of them is exactly the same as it was 30 years ago. Also they only accept cash.
They are now competing with kebab shops who can knock out munchy boxes much cheaper, it's a race to the bottom.
I'm not a chinese regular but I've noticed a classic dish like sweet n sour chicken is still about £5.50. It's been that price for about 15 years. I'm scared to think about the quality of 'chicken' that must be in it now.
I suppose the counter argument will be 'well that's what the locals want' but every time I drive past it's empty.
I'd like to try a good chinese, unfortunately all the places near me are as described above with their 1970's menu.
They are now competing with kebab shops who can knock out munchy boxes much cheaper, it's a race to the bottom.
I'm not a chinese regular but I've noticed a classic dish like sweet n sour chicken is still about £5.50. It's been that price for about 15 years. I'm scared to think about the quality of 'chicken' that must be in it now.
I suppose the counter argument will be 'well that's what the locals want' but every time I drive past it's empty.
I'd like to try a good chinese, unfortunately all the places near me are as described above with their 1970's menu.
Drive Blind said:
the chinese takeaways in my town are poor and haven't moved with the times. One of them is exactly the same as it was 30 years ago. Also they only accept cash.
They are now competing with kebab shops who can knock out munchy boxes much cheaper, it's a race to the bottom.
I'm not a chinese regular but I've noticed a classic dish like sweet n sour chicken is still about £5.50. It's been that price for about 15 years. I'm scared to think about the quality of 'chicken' that must be in it now.
I suppose the counter argument will be 'well that's what the locals want' but every time I drive past it's empty.
I'd like to try a good chinese, unfortunately all the places near me are as described above with their 1970's menu.
I had to look up "munchy box" but wish I hadn't.They are now competing with kebab shops who can knock out munchy boxes much cheaper, it's a race to the bottom.
I'm not a chinese regular but I've noticed a classic dish like sweet n sour chicken is still about £5.50. It's been that price for about 15 years. I'm scared to think about the quality of 'chicken' that must be in it now.
I suppose the counter argument will be 'well that's what the locals want' but every time I drive past it's empty.
I'd like to try a good chinese, unfortunately all the places near me are as described above with their 1970's menu.
I've always found the majority of Chinese restaurants to be a bit bland and boring. In the past some were really awful, but popularity of Chinese food kept them going.
Now every high street is full of differing choice and real quality food.
It does seem as if Indian restaurants have more than held their own over the years. They haven't faded out like Chinese restaurants.
Now every high street is full of differing choice and real quality food.
It does seem as if Indian restaurants have more than held their own over the years. They haven't faded out like Chinese restaurants.
Britains really come out of the culinary dark ages in my lifetime, our parents had bland food and nescafe was posh, us lot want free range organic grass fed and small batch freshly hand roasted beans, and Chinese takeaways with their somewhat low rent image have probably been one of the biggest victims. Wheras many cuisines - Indian, Thai, etc, heck even fish and chip - you see a broad range from scammy takeaway huts of dodgy bumness to nice looking highly rated restaurants, for some reason of all the Chinese places I see I hardly ever see the latter.
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