Last week, I went about searching for an authentic Chinese restaurant where I could order some traditional Chinese food and review it and discuss my experience for some extra credit. My mom and I went to Tian Fu Chinese Bistro on 86th street, right off of Michigan road. Before I continue, I must say this has to be some of the best Chinese food I have ever had. It was absolutely fantastic and the menu had plenty of traditional dishes as well as more general Asian dishes.
Moving on to the meal. Before going to the restaurant, I did some research on what dishes where actually authentic dishes served in Chinese culture. We see a lot of different “Chinese” dishes today with restaurants such as Panda Express serving a very popular orange chicken, which actually isn’t a traditional way of preparing chicken in China. I am a big fan of chicken in Chinese dishes, and sweet and sour chicken was one of the most traditional way of preparing chicken in china from the research I found. Other popular dishes include duck and different forms of noodles such as Lo Mein and Chow Mein.
One of my favorite appetizers at any restaurant are pot stickers. It was interesting to learn, upon asking the waiter, that pot stickers are categorized as a dumpling of sort in Chinese culture and are a traditional food! So naturally I had to order some of those as well.
So for my meal, I ordered sweet and sour chicken with another dish of chicken lo mein, both of which the waiter said were authentic in Chinese culture. All of the meals came with white rice (both rice and rice noodles are traditional sides) as well. My mother ordered a different chicken dish that was cooked in a mango sauce. We asked the waiter again if this was a traditional way of preparing chicken in China and she said no as mangos were not usually used to cook with. She did note that this was becoming popular in the modernization of Chinese food though and said at some point it could be viewed as an authentic accustomed dish!
I also used my luxury of being 21 and ordered a Tsingtao which is a Chinese beer that my mom recommended to me and my dad also mentioned he drank often while in China on business. It was a very different taste to the American beers. It was very light and had a little sweetness to it, I really enjoyed it as well!
Overall, this restaurant was fantastic. My mom and I basically talked the waiters ear off with all of our questions regarding what was traditional and what wasn’t so I could make sure that I was fulfilling this extra credit to the fullest! But the food was fantastic and I learned a lot about what isn’t authentic Chinese food (which is basically all of Panda Express’ entrees with a few exceptions which I thought was very funny). It was nice to have some real authentic food and be able to learn about the different foods as well. I am posting pictures from the meal below so you guys can be jealous of how fantastic this food was! I unfortunately ate all the pot stickers before I remembered to take a picture of them but I’m sure you guys have seen them before. I hope you enjoy and you should definitely check this restaurant out!
