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What can we say about
Midtown Chinese restaurants that hasn't already been said? They're
fancy. They're packed with dudes in suits. They're overpriced. This
isn't the $4.99 lunch special kind of Chinese joint that you find
in your more residential neighborhoods. The waiters wear tuxes for
god's sake! It's just hard for us to take an upscale Chinese joint
seriously. There is something inherently good and wholesome about
low-rent Chinese food--something junky and greasy. While Wu Liang
Ye may use all white meat in its giant sweet and sour chicken chunks,
there is that missing "eek, what the hell am I eating inside this
fried, orange shell" that accompanies the usual plate of Chinese.
There is something comforting about the white container, the bad decor
and the bowl of fried things on your table that is missing in this
place. Sure, the restaurant itself is a nicely decorated, upstairs
space. Sure the waiters treat you more like a customer than a heard
of cattle they need to get into a pen. Sure, there aren't any red
Christmas lights, tin foil dragons, evident roaches, old ladies sitting
at tables destemming peas, squabbling cooks in plain sight (everyone
sounds like he or she is squabbling when speaking Chinese), or meowing
sounds emanating from the kitchen, but that's the charm of Chinese
restaurants... isn't it? [MF]
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