Reply #31: Most "Chinese" restaurants in Tokyo aren't really Chinese [View All]

[Lydia Leftcoast]

They're Chuka Ryori, Chinese recipes adapted for Japanese tastes.

My Taiwanese friends used to laugh about Japanese-style Chinese food, because most of the chefs weren't even Chinese and came up with such things as sweet, soupy ma po dofu and egg rolls as a main dish.

Real Chinese food, referred to as Chugoku Ryori, is a lot rarer.

And I doubt that figure. I will admit that real traditional Kyo-ryori restaurants are rarer than Chuka ryori, but most Japanese restaurants specialize in one kind of food--noodles, sushi, rice dishes, yakitori, eel, whatever, and they are not Chinese.