Where to get Chinese food in Irvine?

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acpme said:
ipo likes to beat up chinese people so the kitchen needs to be alerted not to fudge with his order.
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He does not need to. He just signals by raising his pinky and Kung Fu Panda will beat the living daylight out of the Sam Woo Chef who does not know a thing about Satay beef.
 
bkshopr said:
acpme said:
there's no guarantee that service and quality will be better at the seafood side either. the last time i was there we ordered satay beef. normally this dish is prepared with sliced beef, satay sauce, and onions. very simple. the waiter brought out the wrong dish which turned out to be sweet and sour beef. a few minutes later he returned with satay beef. except it was strange satay beef -- lightly-fried, mixed with green and red peppers... and pineapple??

in other words, it was sweet and sour beef with satay sauce thrown on top.

we told that little bald-headed mgr those are the things you pull on the gwai lo but if they want to try that nonsense with a chinese family they should change the sign to PF Changs. we have not been back.
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Sam Woo is definitely catering to the Caucasian patrons. They should indicate on the order slip with 3 check boxes: Caucasian, Chinese or Ipo so the chef is alert in preparing the right dish and garnishes.
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gwai lo???? =caucasian?
 
BMP 309 said:
bkshopr said:
acpme said:
there's no guarantee that service and quality will be better at the seafood side either. the last time i was there we ordered satay beef. normally this dish is prepared with sliced beef, satay sauce, and onions. very simple. the waiter brought out the wrong dish which turned out to be sweet and sour beef. a few minutes later he returned with satay beef. except it was strange satay beef -- lightly-fried, mixed with green and red peppers... and pineapple??

in other words, it was sweet and sour beef with satay sauce thrown on top.

we told that little bald-headed mgr those are the things you pull on the gwai lo but if they want to try that nonsense with a chinese family they should change the sign to PF Changs. we have not been back.
Click to expand...

Sam Woo is definitely catering to the Caucasian patrons. They should indicate on the order slip with 3 check boxes: Caucasian, Chinese or Ipo so the chef is alert in preparing the right dish and garnishes.
Click to expand...

gwai lo???? =caucasian?
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Gwai (devil) lo (dude)
 
gwai = ghost lo = guy...so slang is white guy

there's going to be a new chinese resturant in the diamond jamboree called new capital. If it's anything like the new capitals like Monterey Park(same owner), then it'll be the best chinese food in Irvine.
 
My predictions:

New Capital will be fantastic for the first few yrs and then slowly trend downwards in quality. then the place will either get burnt down mysteriously, then rebuilt and reopened under a new name like New City, Quality Capital, or NC Seafood.

yes, chinese restauranteurs are that shady...
 
Did someone say my name?

An acquaintance told me about a new restaurant called Royal Kitchen Seafood on Culver in the Heritage plaza. They serve BBQ, Dim sum, and have seafood. Has anyone been there? I havent been there yet but plan to try it out.
 
Most racial slangs in Chinese have lost its offensive meaning from age/time & over-use. But political correctness is not in fashion yet. So if you're Chinese, you can still be sino-centric and call other people "foreigners", even in their own country. :D

I've never heard of Royal Kitchen Seafood, will have to go have a look...
 
Astute Observer said:
Gwai is "ghost," not devil. There are various type of ghosts in Chinese legends. Some gwais are nice like Casper, some are bad. The Cantoneses call each others gwai of various types. Wives often address their husband as "sho gwai" (bad ghost) amorously. Wives also refer to their husband as "lo gwai" (old ghost) or "sai gwai" (dead ghost) when talking to others. Gwai in Cantonese is more like "dude" in American English.
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Excellent clarification. fictions written by Chinese and American authors with extensive experience abroad often translated the term as "foreign devil". This term has been used many times by different authors and can you shed some light on its origin. I read novels that have the term "Bak Gwai" and the translation in the books referred to was White devil. and the term White Ghost was never used. Another term was "Fan Gwai Lo" described by the authors as "Foreign Devil" and not "Foreign Ghost". Another term is "Lo Fan" often referred by the literary authors as "Foreign Buddy". My wife was offended when she was called "Gwai Lo" when we went to Chinese restaurants and after 7 years of research and reading she came to the conclusion that the derogatory term demeaning in its written form is actually accepted as an everyday slang.

Could the translation differs in the various dialects of the Chinese linguistics such as Mandarin (formal) vs Cantonese (slang). As a student of Chinese culture I found that this culture entrenched into thousand years of tradition and most Chinese culture around the world still share exact similarities.
 
Well, according to my native Mandarin speaking wife (from Taiwan), Gwai lo is not exactly a term of endearment. I played dumb last night and asked her what it meant --- and she got really fired up: "Did somebody call you that??!! That's not a good word!!" was her response. To have a little fun, I said that I thought I heard her mother say it last weekend. That got her really riled up.

Of course, before she started a war with her mother I told her the truth --- that it was just one more facinating tidbit I have learned on the IHB. It amazing the useful (and useless) junk you can learn out here....
 
Went to Sam Woo when all the chinese cooks were outside having lunch. Bad mistake. Who the hell was cooking? Food was horrible.
 
Nobody from Taiwan say gwai lo lah, we say "lao why" for whites, "lao hey" for blacks, and "lao moi" for Mexcians.

I haven't heard anyone use adogah or dabize in years so it's probably fallen out of favor.
 
wow what a long in depth discussion about gwai lo.

My screen name means white man, unless of course, my GF's mom is calling me gwai lo then it probably means white devil followed by some cum say lei ;)
 
cantonese in general is just chinese slang. gwai lo i guess could be taken offensively, but i've never heard of another way to describe a white guy except bat gwai. It all depends on context and delivery. I've heard great friends often refer to each other as poke guy or even ham ga chan.

anyways Jade off Culver and Irvine blvd isn't half bad. They actually make the most authentic deep fried squid in Irvine.
 
ndiddy said:
cantonese in general is just chinese slang. gwai lo i guess could be taken offensively, but i've never heard of another way to describe a white guy except bat gwai. It all depends on context and delivery. I've heard great friends often refer to each other as poke guy or even ham ga chan.

anyways Jade off Culver and Irvine blvd isn't half bad. They actually make the most authentic deep fried squid in Irvine.
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May be Ham Ga Chan was Charlie Chan's real chinese name before he came to Hollywood.
 
Thanks all for the Chinese 101 lession. I was a good student and took notes.

A white peson can be referred to as Gwailo, Fan Gwai, Bak Gwai, Bak Yan, Lo Fan, Fan Gwai Lo, Sai Yoo Yan and finally Sai Yoo Gwai in Cantonese. In Mandarin, simply Lao Why.

Since this is a thread for "Where to get Chinese food in Irvine," let me add that "Pick-Up-Stick" is Chinese food for Gwailo.

Hope I don't offend any fellow Gwailo IHBers. ;-P
 
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