People complain about Asian food being "expensive" at $16.50 for a large bowl of pho or $18 for a plate of high quality seafood fried rice that can feed 2 people, but they praise the burger place down the street that charges $20 for a burger.
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People complain about Asian food being "expensive" at $16.50 for a large bowl of pho or $18 for a plate of high quality seafood fried rice that can feed 2 people, but they praise the burger place down the street that charges $20 for a burger.
Can we talk about why so many people see Asian food as needing to be cheap?
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May Likes Torontoreplied to May Likes Toronto last edited by
They pay the same rent, hire the same number of staff, but one can raise prices so much more than the other, because Asian food is supposed to be cheap.
None of the great non-classy Chinese restaurants I know are profitable. They break even at best, and they stay running so that their community has jobs and can pay rent.
It's hard to keep this up in 2024 when so much of your revenue is going to rent.
Without commercial rent control, we'll lose our food scene.
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Inken Paperreplied to May Likes Toronto last edited by
proportion is not considered. it's not "expensive" if it'll feed you for two or three days. sounds like the same people who complain that "groceries are expensive" but they'll eat KFC five days a week. like, yeah, you pay a lot of money at the check-out for groceries, but then you have food to last you for a fucken WEEK. it shouldn't be that expensive, but it's hella less expensive than take-out every day.
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Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸replied to May Likes Toronto last edited by
@MayInToronto I was listening to CBC Victoria yesterday and they were talking to the head of Restaurants BC about a couple of popular restaurants closing in Victoria due to high rent. The CBC guy was like:
“Should there perhaps be some controls on commercial rent increases to at least try to keep the increases sustainable for these businesses”and the Restaurant Guy went full free market capitalist hand waving:
“Oh no, interfering in the free market will have all kinds of other unintended consequences”.
So essentially.. if members of his own industry fail because of Free Market, that's OK. Survival of the Fittest!
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May Likes Torontoreplied to Inken Paper last edited by
@crashglasshouses Agreed. I also didn't touch the class connotations of historical Asian exploitation in Canada. It's not even just proportions. It's historical classism.
One of my fav restaurants in Toronto is a super high end Chinese place (DaiLo). I've had people say to me: "I'm not paying $100 for Chinese food unless it's a seafood feast."
I mean, your loss, but really?!
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Adrianna Tanreplied to May Likes Toronto last edited by
@MayInToronto @crashglasshouses I also hate how those people pretend that Chinese fine dining doesn’t exist. And only true mom and pop shops can be ‘authentic’, according to them. In spite of how Chinese families have cultural touchstones (weddings and birthdays and celebrations) at high end Chinese restaurants.
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@skinnylatte @MayInToronto @crashglasshouses
I'd say that Portlanders are ready for a high-end Chinese restaurant. We've already filled dining rooms for Thai, Mexican, Korean, Haitian, and Fillipino haute cuisine. Someone needs to open one.
To date, the top Chinese chefs here have stuck to "fusion" food where I think the expectations less well defined.
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Adrianna Tanreplied to Berkubernetus last edited by [email protected]
@fuzzychef @MayInToronto @crashglasshouses you need huge Chinese families AND Chinese business people for the economics to work! That’s why they exist in Toronto and London and HK, but not really in SF but increasingly more in LA.
I don’t think the economics works on ‘just great food’, it’s got to be a ‘third space’ for people. SF is only just starting to see some of these places.. many of them make money primarily from big Chinese weddings