To think the standard of Chinese takeaways has dropped significantly?!

[Orangelight23]

So after a very very long day we got the kids to bed, opened a bottle of wine and eagerly awaited our Chinese takeaway.

It was woeful! £40 that we could have just thrown away, we should have learnt our lesson last month when we had an equally awful one from somewhere else. Is it just out area or has the standard dropped?

Prices up, standards down. My local Chinese used to do a takeaway buffet box for £7 and it's now £15, and extra for seafood

Agreed. It all tastes the same - salty yet sweet and sickly. Only thing that differentiates the dishes is which shade of neon it is.

Waste of calories as well as cash ☹️

They bear no relation at all to actual Chinese food but even besides that, as a thing in themselves, I agree. I always feel bad after eating Chinese takeaway, sort of slightly scuzzy. I think it's the MSG.

All the ones in our area are shocking too. There’s no meat in any of the “crispy” dishes I swear it’s just batter

I prefer the supermarket version to be honest as so much Chinese takeaway food is what looks to be mass produced then deep fried. Salt and pepper chips are great though!

YANBU. There’s 1 in my local area which is excellent and the rest are crap.

make it yourself, easy these days
just buy the prawn crackers ready

Our local ones have really gone downhill. We think they are maybe using the oil for longer to save costs? We end up unsatisfied, disappointed and still hungry so have given up. And I LOVED a Chinese takeaway.

Yes

My fave Chinese, and also the only one that made curry sauce without coconut, has changed ownership

The new owner is some young non Chinese guy 🙄🙄 - he said he cut down the menu size from over 100 items to 50 and was charging stupid money

It's just an uber eats cash grab now

YANBU. So sweet and sickly, the ‘crispy’ dishes just taste like batter with nothing in the middle. So expensive and very poor quality.

Learn to make crispy shredded beef. Game changer

I hardly ever get one and they're my favourite! Maybe get two or three a year max. Last one I was so excited for...it was such a disappointment. No free prawn crackers like usual and the chow mein had a horrible taste of tomato puree. Really horrible. I've watched loads of cooking videos about how to make similar dishes and I'd rather make my own .

Agree, would happily spend the money on an Indian takeaway or fish and chips - but there are no good Chinese takeaways where we are

Yes I make this a lot...it's so nice

Ooooo have you got a link to a recipe please? It's my fave.

Yep I agree with this. We only ever have either Indian or Chinese (maybe about once every 6 weeks or so) but I'm done with Chinese now. So gloomy and greasy.. I prefer my DH's stir fries! Don't think I'll ever bother again.

I also do my own sweet and sour chicken and chicken and cashew nuts.

I even bought some msg which I add to my noodles when I make them.

The extras like prawn toast and prawn crackers, I buy in the supermarket

The only thing I can eat from there is the breaded prawns, prawn balls and Singapore noodles. But they've been awful recently. Or maybe it's the same but I just wasn't drunk enough last time.
The meat from the Chinese is always so suspect. It makes me so thirsty and bloated.
I much prefer Vietnamese or Thai food. Luckily there's a couple good ones near me but they're pretty expensive. Like £18 for a curry and rice.

Yep. We normally get crispy chilli chicken, decided tonight to get beef instead to see what it's like. I couldn't tell the difference and didn't actually detect any beef, just all batter.

My favourite one has changed so much over the years I stopped ordering. The dish I ordered which was my favourite (king prawns in Cantonese style sauce) used to contain lots of peppers, onions, and chopped fresh chilli's. But the peppers disappeared then the chilli's got less and less, and last time I ordered, the onions were really sparce, and they added lentils! It was horrible.

The last Chinese I had I ordered the salt and chilli chips. They were just oven chips (cheap dry ones) with a few chilli's, a little salt and pepper, and no taste whatsoever! I remember said chips used to be really coated in salt and pepper with lots of chillis/onions.

Totally agree, I never bother anymore. The only excellent one near us is the Good Earth but the prices are extortionate.

I don’t order anymore, it’s pretty expensive for what is essentially gloop.

They're all foul imo.

Takeaway food is a business usually run by 1st generation immigrants. They work all hours so that their kids can have a better life.

All those Hong Kong Chinese people who came over in the 1960s and 1970s have retired. Their kids probably went to university and wouldn't work in a takeaway unless their lives depended upon it.

Same difficulty finding a decent Greek restaurant nowadays.

Spring rolls also contain no filling except some very sparce carrot!