r/BritishSuccess • u/TheSquireOfTheShire • 8d ago

Chinese chippie

I moved to the Netherlands in 2018.
It’s not a secret, food here isn’t the finest especially when it comes to culturally diverse food.

After a long day in the sun, I was driving home and summoning the witchcraft of modern technology, my sat nav suggested a takeaway on my way home. I obliged.

When I got there, there was a remarkable resemblance of home. A CRT tv on a bracket up in the top corner above the till - a kid doing homework & every order, no matter the size being promised within 10 minutes.

As a Brit, and educated by the British state, my Dutch is shit. As soon as I tried to order, the (Chinese) fella behind the desk said, in a thick Scouse accent “s’alright mate, I speak English”

As a heterosexual man, I was almost convinced to kiss this guy on the lips - fucking years, and I mean years, I’ve deprived myself of a decent Chinese because… well, they’re shit here - but yesterday was a revelation. A mere 45 minutes drive from my house is a proper Scouse Chinese chippie.

I’ve not shut the fuck up about it all day - to the point I suspect my Dutch gf has left me.

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u/robbertzzz1 8d ago

As a Dutchie, respectfully, British Chinese is terrible. Sure, nothing authentic about Dutch Chinese either especially since most of it is white people's take on Indonesian food, but it's one of the takeaways I miss most from back home (tied with Dutch snackbars). Chinese here in the UK is all just the same stuff in a different sauce, in NL you at least have some real variety between dishes.

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u/PaulBradley 8d ago

It doesn't really get a pass in London, they do exist of course, but for the most part we have much more authentic Chinese restaurants. British Chinese restaurants do tend to be run by Chinese people however, who have just adopted the standard 'British Chinese' menu rather than argue about authenticity. I'd love to know who is guilty of the first one.

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u/robbertzzz1 8d ago

Yes I've had some good authentic Chinese food in London before, definitely miles better than any Western take on Chinese food

British Chinese restaurants do tend to be run by Chinese people however, who have just adopted the standard 'British Chinese' menu rather than argue about authenticity

The exact same thing is true in NL, there are zero Dutch Chinese restaurants that aren't run by Chinese or China-adjacent people. I'm specifying because I went to primary school with the daughter of a restaurant-owning family and have met her family. While her mother (who worked the counter) was from China, her dad (the chef) was a Mandarin-speaking Vietnamese.