10907 Chinese food in Italy

I just have to say that I had one of my best Chinese meals recently.
I just happened to be going south and en route got to Formia quite late and took a hotel there next to the beach. Rather than eat at the hotel decided to have a look around and found a Chinese restaurant, don't even know the name. The duck was excellent, up to the standard of Hong Kong where I used to live. The local carabinieri were all there which must say something.

Category

Food & Drink

There are several Chinese restaurants along the costal strip between Pescara and Rosetto, all are excellent value for money.

One thing we have discovered is that they serve the meal the Italian way, so if you order a noodle or rice dish, they tend to wait for you to finish it before serving the rest of your order. If you sit there waiting for the rest of the meal to go with your rice it can put a bit of a spanner in the works!

The restaurants we visit know us now and bring everything at the same time.

Some of the restaurants give you a gift when you leave and this can be anything from a cheap bangle to a beautiful, gift boxed, Chinese, tea set, with tea pot and four little drinking cups.

As you say the duck we have had has been wonderful, crisp and delicious but we have not yet found anywhere where we can get crispy aromatic duck with pancakes and plum sauce.

There's an excellent [url=http://www.2spaghi.it/ristoranti/umbria/pg/perugia/ristorante-la-grande-cina/]Chinese restuarant in Perugia[/url], where the bill always works out at about €12/head. How do they do it?! They also do a Peking Duck for 4 for about €30: you have to order in advance, but its worth it.
One thing that I've noticed is that they usually cater for Italian taste by serving the rice as a seperate course before they bring the 'secondi'. We usually make a point of asking for ours together.

Hello There,
Is it me or am I missing something.....
With all the fantastic Italian restaurants here in Italy you stop off in a town and decide on eating at a chinese restaurant rather than try sampling the local foods??
This sort of thing has come up in previous threads lets not start agian.
Its simple Italian foods are the greatest. Why else would all are best English chefs be cooking italians dishes and our national dish has become chicken tikka masala.
To me you can leave the Peking Duck in the Meking.......
Now I know I am going to get some replies to this!!!!!!!!!!!!
:laughs:

Shhh - nobody say a word. :laughs:

I think we all agree that Italian food is fantastic..........PHEW, I hope I have dodged any bullets on that one.......HOWEVER............sometimes its nice, to try other foods, we have tried a couple Chinese restaurants here, and yes they do serve each course separately, but after a few visits they get to know to serve it all at the same time.
And again HOWEVER...........I would even consider renewing my passport ( and those that know me, understand thats a huge thing LOL) to go to Wardour St in London, and have Dim Sum.........soft buns stuffed with spiced pork, dumplings,suckling pig....................Oh god Im driving myself nuts..........have to go ......ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Well all I can say is that 'staple fare' after a while (however good it is) becomes a little bit boring. So that begs the question - "What's wrong with an occasional change?"

Meat and two veg with gravy, and an occasional Yorkshire pud thrown in, [U][I]every day[/I][/U] has to get boring, so a nice lamb danzak or crispy wontons every so often is just a treat for the taste buds. It [I]doesn't[/I] mean you are a traitor to what is the 'best food in the world...Italian!' :nah:

It is a good thing to have variety, the same dishes every day end up being boring. We need to experiment with new flavours and enjoy international cooking.... even if we do enjoy Italian gastronomy.

Is it me? am I the only here that finds Italian food and the eating of Italian foods an absolute pleasure..
Boring.. How can it be boring with over 10,000 different italian reciepes many vary vastly from region to region. Fish, Meat, Veg, Fruit and Grain cooked a thousand different ways. Not only that, but its not just the food its the whole eating experaince here in Italy.
As I said before its been mentioned on other threads, your probably the type of people that like's their bisto gravy granules, marmite, custard power, baked beans,
chedder cheese and their English smoked backed bacon from Denmark!!!!!!!!
Perhaps one should look at themselves and decide whether the Italian food is actually boring or whether it's them that are really boring.......
:no:

pasta, pasta basta!!! lol

I'm one of those people who like Bisto, Marmite, Birds custard powder and Heinz baked beans - especially if they are all served on top of some decent spaghetti. :bigergrin:

[ame=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eVIOGIhb4ts&feature=related]YouTube - Gravy Advert[/ame]

R+D+M
Are you talking about the same place as me?
Probably you mean a posher place but when I dream of Chinese food it's from here.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Kei]Wong Kei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/url]

[quote=Gala Placidia;102295]It is a good thing to have variety, the same dishes every day end up being boring. We need to experiment with new flavours and enjoy international cooking.[/quote]
I agree, but my impression is that a lot of Italians find these views peculiar to the point of incomprehensibility; clearly, they think that eating the same stuff (or, at best, variations on a few narrow themes) day in, day out is wonderful.

Some Italians also seem to take it as a personal insult if you suggest that anything about Italy, Italians or Italian food is perhaps slightly less than phenomenally wonderful, a gift directly from God, the envy of the world, a credit to the human race, etc, etc.

As far as I'm concerned, they're welcome to their cosy fantasy world if that's where they want to live, but I'm unlikely to do anything more than shake my head and laugh at their blinkered views if they should pop into the real world long enough to tell me that in order to live properly in Italy, I must learn to be content with pasta and sugo every day.

By the same token, if I was living in China, I'm certain I'd now and then hanker after Italian food and I'd want to know where I could buy the ingredients to make it or where the nearest decent Italian restaurant was.

As for variety, I've owned a copy of the English translation of [I]Il cucchiaio d'argento[/I] for years and I'm fairly familiar with it's contents. I challenge anyone to find a recipe in that classic of Italian cooking which includes (to cite two seasonings that immediately come to mind) cumin or ginger, flavours that even many non-foodie cooks in the UK are familiar with. A "spicy" recipe, in the context of Italian cooking, consists of nothing more subtle than ground pepper or chillies. Next time you're in an Italian supermarket, check out the spice rack and compare it with what you're used to in Britain. All the ones I've looked at have around the same number of spaces as a UK version, but the Italian ones have several slots filled with the same seasoning, so the total range is much narrower.

There are indeed regional specialities and variations within regions, but the basic ingredients, the approaches to preparation and the palette of flavours does not vary hugely wherever you are in Italy. Which is fine, if that's what you grew up with, if that's what you find most comforting in a confusing and challenging world or if your personality is such that you think "different" and "bad" are synonymous.

However, those of us with a more cosmopolitan background have wider interests and broader tastes that aren't going to disappear just because of where we happen to be living at the moment.

[quote=Sally Donaldson;102306]pasta, pasta basta!!! lol[/quote]

I could say Chips Chips Chips... couldn't I?
Being the main stay of English foods, but that wouldn't be accurate would it really.
[SIZE="4"]Its not just Pasta.....[/SIZE] and even if it was there's a million and one thing you can do with it.
Pasta with ragu, Pasta with pawns, Pasta with cheese, Pasta with veg, Sweet pasta, dried pasta, pasta fresca, pasta al forno you could even have pasta with curry sauce if you liked it. How can say its boring???????
Maybe we should rename the site "Expats in Italy who really don't like much about it"

I had the best fish, chips 'n' mushy peas of my life in Italy - they even had pickled eggs! Whaddayamean we don't like Italy? I love Italy - but I couldn't eat a whole one. :bigergrin:

Yes Italian food is really wonderful and you're right the variety is enormous but as I was weaned on it it's nice to have the possibility of eating something else for a change. :smile:

[quote=AllanMason;102314]....

....
Al[/quote]

I believe that the spiciest and perhaps most cosmopolitan Italian cuisine is the one from Sicily. They also eat "couscous" and the fish one is superb. But I agree with you, Allan, it is hard to find a great variety of spices. I usually bring mine from Spain or France. Herbs is a different matter, though....

Humm......... pasta now where did that originate?:laughs:

[quote=Nielo;102327]Humm......... pasta now where did that originate?:laughs:[/quote]

Probably North Africa! :yes:

[quote=il cacciatore;102317]I could say Chips Chips Chips... couldn't I?
Being the main stay of English foods, but that wouldn't be accurate would it really.
[SIZE="4"]Its not just Pasta.....[/SIZE] and even if it was there's a million and one thing you can do with it.
Pasta with ragu, Pasta with pawns, Pasta with cheese, Pasta with veg, Sweet pasta, dried pasta, pasta fresca, pasta al forno you could even have pasta with curry sauce if you liked it. How can say its boring???????
Maybe we should rename the site "Expats in Italy who really don't like much about it"[/quote]

Ironically what do I eat at home??? Pasta pasta and yet more pasta the sauce more than often made with organic chopped Italian tinned tomatoes!!! lol

[quote=juliancoll;102322]I had the best fish, chips 'n' mushy peas of my life in Italy - they even had pickled eggs! Whaddayamean we don't like Italy? I love Italy - but I couldn't eat a whole one. :bigergrin:[/quote]

If you or anyone are looking for good fish and chips in Italy my town has a whole festival dedicated to the delicacy which I can recommend.
If anyone is in the area during this time drop in and I'll supply the bread and butter and a mug of tea.
Sometimes it's hard to beat. :bigergrin:

[url=http://www.barganews.com/2008/08/05/fish-and-chip-festival-2008/]Fish and Chip Festival 2008 at barganews[/url]

[quote=IRITA LIA;102311]R+D+M
Are you talking about the same place as me?
Probably you mean a posher place but when I dream of Chinese food it's from here.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Kei]Wong Kei - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/url][/quote]

Hi Iritalia
The place I'm talking about is the KKK, its on Wardour st and has a back entrance that faces the Troc, the food comes around on trolleys, so you have to sometimes eat out of sequence, if you hit the wagon train mid way round, its on 2 floors and seats about 350.On a Sunday,unless you get there before 12 noon you have to queue up as there is a line of up to 50 people..........but well worth it.

[quote=Nielo;102327]Humm......... pasta now where did that originate?:laughs:[/quote]

Interesting reading:

[url=http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/pasta/historypasta.html]Pasta History[/url]

Must admit that even though Italian food is good, there should be an allowance for many people that have either travelled extensively and prefer a variety of taste, instead of just localised dishes.
We have just completed a survey for Istat for the local Amandola Commune and I wonder what they will make of it regarding our eating habits over the last week.
We have included, Thai curry made with turkey, chicken and mushrooms stir fry with Oyster sauce, spicy Borlotti beans on toast, grilled chicken fillet coated with sweet soy and basmati rice. We also cook the Spanish dish of Prawns with a chilli and oil sauce. Last night was chicken with chinese mushrooms, green beans and rice.
Whether there are 10 000 Italian dishes out there, then just in one area there may be a few hundred and then it gets boring.
Although Italy colonised a few places, they did not really bring the cuisine back, unlike many other countries, whose dishes were influenced with spices that were found. If all Italians want to do is find an Italian restaurant in whichever country they travel to, then there is no real hope for the culture of eating to change here and become more International. The guy that I spoke to when I ordered a lot of Thai foodstuffs, said that the southern Italians do not really travel anywhere and do not eat anything that they do not know, so think that really explains it all.
We buy our meat, fish and vegetables here and we decide how we want to cook them according to our own tastes and that is the way it has always been, even in England, so there should be no reason to be critical of anyones eating habits, as variety is the spice of life....... even if you cant get many of the spices here and have to order online!!!

But what IS Italian food? Is a grilled pork chop Italian because I have eaten one in an Italian restaurant here? Are roast potatoes Italian because I have had them too? It is just silly to confine any country’s national cuisine to a few stereotypical dishes.

At the Chinese restaurant you can have roast spaghetti alla gamberi now what is that Italian or Chinese? It is Italian ingredients cooked in Italy in a Chinese style. I am sure it is not a common dish in China!

Most country’s national cuisine borrows good things from other countries and develops and changes, without the introduction of the tomato to Italy the food here would be very different indeed!

But weren't 'noodles' invented by the Chinese and bought back to Italy by Marco Polo?
So 'spaghetti con gamberi' has just got to be found in China surely? Isn't it 'chowmein'?

:veryconfused:

Very true Nielo. but there is only so far that you can go to protecting a countries identity. The only Chinese that I have ever had here, seemed to be Italian ingredients cooked in the Chinese style ........ tasted like rubbish!!!
Look what happened to Spain, that just turned into English breakfasts, roast beef etc on many of the Costas. There was nothing wrong with Spanish food, just as there isn't with Italian, just the great influx of British did not want it in Spain, I hope that never arrives here, as we ourselves prefer a wide mix of dishes. If I want to cook bacon and eggs then I just fry the Speck, which is virtually as good.The point I was making is that there should be a diversity of ingredients of different cuisines freely available to those who want it, as there is in many other european countries, who also have different ethnic groups, but cater for that, maybe in the minority. I do find here in this area especially, that there is very little choice. Maybe, its just because it has not become like Tuscany. At least there are online suppliers that you can get these alternative foods from which does give some diversity.

[quote=Carole B;102378]But weren't 'noodles' invented by the Chinese and bought back to Italy by Marco Polo?
So 'spaghetti con gamberi' has just got to be found in China surely? Isn't it 'chowmein'?

:veryconfused:[/quote]
An article from 2005 about the origins of noodles/pasta.
[url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article577909.ece]Chinese were pasta masters 2,000 years before Italians - Times Online[/url]

So when il cacciatore eats spaghetti is he really eating Italian or Chinese? So confusing!!!!

Well, they say that the Etruscans already had some kind of pasta and surely they were not in contact with the Chinese.... Apparently the Marco Polo story about introducing pasta to Italy is just that.... a story.....

The boiler engineer came...we spoke about food...he will only eat Umbrian dishes, they are the best!! Various hotels here, produce the same meals at weddings year after year, no variations because that's what the clients want...Umbrian food and nothing else. So when we gave a lunch to thank our wonderful building team, I spent 3 days shopping and cooking from The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Response was....."This English food is very very good but we wouldn't want to eat it every day".....

I haven't found any reference to the Etruscans using pasta (this page is a short description of the Etruscan ingredients - if you want a bit of fun your could click the Union Flag top right and get a googarbled transtlation!)

What the Etruscans did make, I believe, was a type of layered dish which we would likely call 'lasagne', except instead of pasta they would use pancakes. (I ate this once in a restaurant in Atri, they presented it as a regional speciality).

The Etruscans did use flour, making predominantly focacce (flat breads), and they made lots of use of cereals in soups. They also used pulses - of course they didn't have potatoes. Many Etruscan recipes (with huge amounts of almost burnt onions and garlic, plus strong flavours such as juniper berries, bay leaves, anchovies, lots of salt and bitter greens) have to be adopted for today's tastes because they are considered over flavoured!

[url=http://www.taccuinistorici.it/ita/news/antica/usi-curiosita/Alimenti-Etruschi-Storia-della-cucina.html]Alimenti Etruschi - Storia della cucina - Notizie usi - curiosita' - Taccuini Storici[/url]

After reading some of the earlier comments it raise a little thought.
Several of you have said the food here is [SIZE="4"]Boring[/SIZE] or just [SIZE="4"]Staple Fair[/SIZE] I wonder are you the ones doing the cooking or is someone doing the cooking for you?
I cook at home and have never found myself short of Italian recipes neither do I find myself yearning for other foods. In fact I'm sure that I could cook A different pasta dish every day that would taste as different as if you were eating Chinese one day and Indian the next.
I think some of you should strap on the old pinny, open those dusty Italian cook books on your shelves ( not Jamie bloody Oliver) and start cooking. Then you would never call Italian food boring.

I think we should all take your advice Cacci - we never get bored of reading your blinkered pontifications.

[quote=il cacciatore;102457]After reading some of the earlier comments it raise a little thought.
Several of you have said the food here is [SIZE="4"]Boring[/SIZE] or just [SIZE="4"]Staple Fair[/SIZE] I wonder are you the ones doing the cooking or is someone doing the cooking for you?
I cook at home and have never found myself short of Italian recipes neither do I find myself yearning for other foods. In fact I'm sure that I could cook A different pasta dish every day that would taste as different as if you were eating Chinese one day and Indian the next.
I think some of you should strap on the old pinny, open those dusty Italian cook books on your shelves ( not Jamie bloody Oliver) and start cooking. Then you would never call Italian food boring.[/quote]

I'm quite sure that you - along with many of [I][U]us[/U][/I] - could produce a 'different' pasta dish every day for maybe even a year! But that's not the point - it seems to me that the point was that to HAVE to eat the same dish everyday '[I]could[/I]' become boring... the way to allieviate that is to occcasionally sample something else. This is common practice throughout the world -and let's face it, [B]'a little of what you fancy does you good'![/B]

I wonder though if our view of what, at times, could be boring should be confined to food alone?
[IMG]http://i327.photobucket.com/albums/k468/Kuyus_is_cute/smiley/yawn.gif[/IMG]

Well I was talking about Chinese restaurants and therefore thinking of Italian restaurants.

Here in my part of Abruzzo you could easily get bored if you ate out every night because the staple fare here is;

Antipasti - cured meats, selection of cheeses and bread.
Primi – pasta of some description with sugo, ragu or mushroom sauce
Secondi - roast meats and side salad
Dolce - tiramisu or panna cota

You can go to loads and loads of restaurants and agriturismi and get the same every time, so when eating out a Chinese makes a nice change.

When I cook at home I am never bored but I cook all sorts of different things not only pasta

Occasionally in restaurants in Abruzzo you find "a help yourself" wide range of vegetarian antipasti. That with some bread, a glass of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, well for me paradise and no need for anything else.

[quote=Sally Donaldson;102490]Occasionally in in restaurants in Abruzzo you find "a help yourself" wide range of vegetarian antipasti. That with some bread, a glass of Motepulciano D'Abruzzo, well for me paradise and no need for anything else.[/quote]

Even so I’d bet you would bet bored eating the same thing day after day after day. No matter how delicious it is still nice to have a change.:bigergrin:

[quote=Nielo;102375]But what IS Italian food? Is a grilled pork chop Italian because I have eaten one in an Italian restaurant here? Are roast potatoes Italian because I have had them too? It is just silly to confine any country’s national cuisine to a few stereotypical dishes.

Most country’s national cuisine borrows good things from other countries and develops and changes, without the introduction of the tomato to Italy the food here would be very different indeed![/quote]
Firstly,i wanted to say that food in Italy varies amazingly and from region to region there are big differences.As a rule of thumb the quality of cuisine (which is not the same as the raw materials) tends to be linked (i believe) inexorably to culture.
recently i made a list of italian regions associated with their cuisine ...the areas we live in came in at 15th place!( for me)imagine for example that what is now the marche until the late nineteenth century was one of the poorest areas of the country under the heel of the papal state it's cuisine is still today largely a reflection of that epoque of poverty quite the contrary piemonte which "enjoyed" a more international vocation due to it's kingdom has indeed a very sophisticated and articulated cuisine as do the cuisine of lombard/veneto (in all one still of course finds piatti "poveri" and simple rural dishes too) if you go to milano it is easy and common to find restaurants specializing in cuisine from other regions in this part of central italy it is not.the same goes for "ethnic" restaurants of which there is an ample choice in the larger cities (especially milano)..i do disagree however about the quality of most chinese restaurants i've found .. i find the majority of a poor standard "a plate of glutamates" with some foodstuffs definitely on the risky side..the best i've been to were in fact very expensive but were totally chinese including a lot of things some people would not eat.in fact the best indian meal i ever had was in italy (not in india ,pakistan or uk) ..my best suggestion is travel for food..last saturday we went to Rimini just to eat fish..

hello
i think italian food will be delicious.
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I was almost excited to see you sell San Marzano tomatoes David - until I saw the price! :swoon:
I need a second mortgage - or a massive discount please. :laughs:

[quote=juliancoll;103591]I was almost excited to see you sell San Marzano tomatoes David - until I saw the price!

I need a second mortgage[/quote]
Oh, it's not [I]that[/I] bad. As I'm sure you noticed, the prices on the site being [B]advertised[/B] by David are in US dollars, so you just have to pick the moment when the exchange rates are good, then you can no doubt get some excellent San Marzano tomatoes shipped from the US to your home in Italy for only twenty or thirty times what you'd pay for them here.

...Or ten or twenty times what you'd pay in Britain, for that matter.

[quote=Nielo;102486]Well I was talking about Chinese restaurants and therefore thinking of Italian restaurants.

Here in my part of Abruzzo you could easily get bored if you ate out every night because the staple fare here is;

Antipasti - cured meats, selection of cheeses and bread.
Primi – pasta of some description with sugo, ragu or mushroom sauce
Secondi - roast meats and side salad
Dolce - tiramisu or panna cota

You can go to loads and loads of restaurants and agriturismo and get the same every time, so when eating out a Chinese makes a nice change.

When I cook at home I am never bored but I cook all sorts of different things not only pasta[/quote]

actually this would not be true of Abruzzo... in general ...but may be well true of where Nielo lives...

from my house within ten minutes i can arrive at restaurants that serve only fish... no hams... i can arrive at another that specialise in only arrosticini and fried cheese, another that only does pizza with fish as the speciality, another pizza place with general toppings, a restaurant that only cooks wild mushrooms and wild game, another restaurant in town Italian that does a curry, a further restaurant just up the hill that serves Yak, further restaurants that specialise in deserts, a restaurant that supplies you with ostrich... now these are the normal ones referred to by sebastiano... and would fall into the category in my mind of excellent value ...ie between 12 -20 euro per head...

if i go above this sum there are at least another thirty or so restaurants where i have been that are close to me... that would be scandalised at the thought of only three courses for a meal... and neither panna cotta or tiramisu would ever be seen on the desert list....

i guess my best advice for anyone here is to get taken out a lot by Italian natives... many of the people we know here when they go out as families have no option but to avoid the classical agriturismo cheap meals... the wives do not regard it as an evening out as they cook the same way at home and insist on restaurants and food of quality...

however when i go out by myself with italian males we always end up at agriturismo type places as we go for quantity ... of wine and food.. and plenty of meat...

as of yet i have never tired of eating out here... and have not managed to work my way through all the menus and dishes available...some of which i have not managed to work out even what they are....

i find eating here a bit like anywhere ... but to my mind the meals suggested by the quote are what i would call the Italian equivalent of staple food for either workers or city dwellers ... say from rome that arrive here for a special ,meal out...

anyway it just shows once more that it is so easy to be mistaken by the choices of where you choose to eat... or the price you are willing to pay... good food...indeed excellent food in Abruzzo is abundant and the choice is inexhaustible... Abruzzo being one of the best known regions in Italy for its chefs.. ... and its innovative cuisine...

outside of Abruzzo also eating in other regions i have pretty well found the same thing ...good value ...excellent quality food... but always limited to the same regional specialities... .as suggested in the quote... however push yourself outside of this .. you can come across some very adventurous cooking... quantity within each course being less but taste and delicacy ,subtle flavouring and adventurous combinations taking over..... and i am not talking huge amounts of euro... you can easily eat out with a much better choice for around the euro 30 a head... and of course upwards... for really special meals you need to allow i would say with good wine a bit more than this... last week we ate at a restaurant near to mosciano...on the olive road... where we ate six courses... unlike the quoted menu ... there was two pasta dishes, fish and meat. and the pudding menu ran to over a page....

just to further confuse the issue... we often eat lunch in a fish restaurant...its lunch menu is priced at either ten or fifteen euro... and is both light in taste and very often does not include pasta of any sort...let alone grilled meat...but does include wine ... its of excellent quality... and ever changing with the seasons... and whats available at the fish markets... so no need to even over spend...

i guess its a good warning to not buy a house or visit the part of abruzzo where nielo happens to go out to eat..... although i seem to have managed well enough when i have been in the area... although must say have never noticed a chinese restaurant in the area.......

however sally don't be dismayed by such despondent posts... some of us could easily show you places to eat out that you would definitely not get bored in... indeed i can remember near to you a good restaurant in Popoli when we met my in laws there where they were even impressed with the fish and loved the food ... and that's saying something for people that come from Campania.... where as everyone knows they cook the best fish in the best way...

[QUOTE=adriatica;103626]actually this would not be true of Abruzzo... in general ...but may be well true of where Nielo lives...
i guess its a good warning to not buy a house or visit the part of abruzzo where nielo happens to go out to eat.....
[QUOTE]

I presume your wife will not be selling any more houses in my area in the future then?:eerr:

As with everything here, it does depend where you live as regard to eating. Our local farmer has said that there is not a good Italian restaurant in the Amandola area as they all serve virtually the same, which goes with the reply about area tastes and does not give much choice.
With regard to Chinese food, they do tend to use too much Monosodium Glutamate as a flavour enhancer, which is not really needed. Our preference is Thai as their food has a much more natural taste. In fact tonight is a yellow Thai curry of turkey breast with Basmati rice. In week or so, Thai Red Roast Pork with sweet and sour vegetables and rice.
As most of the ingredients are available, then if you like like to vary your food intake, without the risk of a poor ethnic style restaurant, then cook at home as we do.

further to my thoughts on Abruzzo food which i do not find that boring... it strikes me that another major aspect of eating out in Italy is the fact that it is not only an eating experience it is a very social occasion too... note the noise in most places ...

the table sizes in weekend / evening eating places suggest almost that a dozen or so people at a table is the norm rather than the exception... complete extended families often taking up whole rooms of a restaurant...this does not mean that the food is any the less ...just that to cook and serve for these sorts of clients requires a basically simple menu.... in order for it all to be served together ...

i doubt it can be overstated in Italian terms the importance of these large family meals... its such an important part of the culture ... we will end up driving a round trip of 500 kms in order to go out with family in Campania for a meal... because that's what you do here... so apart from my thoughts on the choice,quality and variety of eating here the other factor that seems to be paramount in addition is the importance of maintaining close family links via the dining table... be it in restaurants or at home...

We went out to eat at a very fancy place - probably not dissimilar to some described by Adriatica above. Situated in a XVth century castle on top of a hilltown - 3 meter thick walls, suits of armour, flagstone floors and all other mod cons, including a newly elevated highly acclaimed trendy chef who had worked in every la di dah establishment this side of the moon. Everyone raved about the food - the wine list - the atmostsphere, so we booked.

Yes, it was atmospheric, yes, the suits of armour were authentic, yes, the wine list was impressive and the food was excellent - arranged like minature works of art on massive white bone china plates - but we were still hungry so we paid the bill and went for a pizza - where we had far more fun and a much more palatable bill.

Advice? Eat before you go to some of these types of fancy restaurant. :bigergrin:

I can't be doing with with all that 'Nouvelle Cuisine' when I go out to eat.
It's almost like the challenge the chef has is to see how little he can get away with putting on a plate and as you say the plates are always enormous.
OK the taste can be exquisite but if you are still feeling hungry and are skint for a month after, what is the point.

My late mother's 'take' on Nouvelle Cusine:

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Blue"]"First bite you haven't come to it. Second bite - you've gone past it!"
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[URL="http://www.cameraobscura.com/deceptio/cuisine.jpg"][B]>Dish to 'die for'!<[/B][/URL]

Can this (above) compare with these (below)?

[URL="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/21/32100913_0783314d3e.jpg?v=0"][B]>English 'dinner to die for'!"<[/B][/URL]

[URL="http://www.posiesplace.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/spicy-sausage-arrabiata-web.jpg"][B]>Italian main course -Spicy Sausage Arrabiata<[/B][/URL]

[quote=Nielo;103644][quote=adriatica;103626]actually this would not be true of Abruzzo... in general ...but may be well true of where Nielo lives...
i guess its a good warning to not buy a house or visit the part of abruzzo where nielo happens to go out to eat.....
[quote]

I presume your wife will not be selling any more houses in my area in the future then?:eerr:[/quote]

nielo you will see that i did not agree about the bereft nature of good food in your area... it was you that suggested it was of a distinct oneness

however to reply to your last line..... you would really have to ask my wife about that...

further more as she actually does not own a house ...at least to my knowledge in your area...it would be difficult for here to sell one...

she actually does not sell houses... a commonly held misconception of the role here of a person that is qualified and registered to act on behalf of a person selling a property ... ie the owner sells, the mediator... that is the role of my wife... is someone that understands property legislation and contractual law and is able to act between two parties...seller and buyer in order that they reach a legally binding agreement.... and is also capable and legally allowed to draw up the contracts regarding that agreement...

my apologies to Cardi for taking this thread so far off line... however can add that there is a chinese restaurant in Teramo city... have not used it although locals here say it isn't that good... however i have a suspicion this might be due to an opinion that any non Italian food is not up to anything... and having not tried the place would hesitate to agree with them.... with 25 % of all business in the province of teramo owned and run by chinese it would seem to me that they at least must have opened some good places to eat...

[QUOTE=adriatica;103904][quote=Nielo;103644][quote=adriatica;103626]

however to reply to your last line..... you would really have to ask my wife about that...

further more as she actually does not own a house ...at least to my knowledge in your area...it would be difficult for here to sell one...

QUOTE]
I'd vowed not to post here again .....but talk about splitting hairs.
Best you get your wife to change her web site header then.
From Google......

"Absolutely Abruzzo is a specialist estate agent selling Property in Abruzzo. Our houses for sale in Abruzzo are all well known to us and we have visted the ..."

10907 Chinese food in Italy

Sounds like hong kong fu to me....

Boring! Boring!

Pasta Pasta Basta... Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad

Just one more point about pasta....

food......

beyond just the food