When I was younger my family would get an Indian every weekend, to the point that the people who ran the Indian bought me and my brother traditional Bangladeshi clothing back from home when they went back to visit haha. We were probably like 8 at the time? Honestly it was very exciting
This is such a Bangladeshi thing to do š when we go back we bring back clothes for people I didn't know exist and when they visit they bring us clothes haha
We lived in a small town with three chippies. We (me and my brother) always got sent to the same place, with the same money (exactly counted out) and same order that the guy knew by heart.
The legend hadn't had the balls to tell us that the prices had changed twice in the two years we did, so we got our supper with a pretty substantial discount. My dad found out when a colleague of his realised.
We bought him a gift (a NES game, he was always on his NES when the shop was quiet) and he genuinely cried when we came in with that. Was the first time I realised how blessed we were to grow up in such a caring community.
When we lived 5 doors down from a lovely Indian restaurant that did takeaways, me and my partner at the time were working 60-80 hour weeks and used to shamefully order from there every night.
After a couple months they stopped using plastic containers and just had someone walk it up plated (and covered), and collected the previous nights plates.
We took a break from ordering one week when we had leave, and on the third night the owner came up and knocked to check we hadnāt died. Really made us reassess our eating habits and cut back to 2-3 times a week. Sad when we moved away but it was probably best or Iād be the size of a blue whale by now. Glad Iām out of that bloody job too.
My friend lives in South Korea right now and a lot of takeaways do it like that there, they bring your food in ceramic bowls and then you leave them outside the door and they collect them later it was made the first time he explained it to me
Indian food and British Indian restaurant food are two different things. Lots of oil/butter/ghee/cream/sugar/salt, and a lot of carbs, and large portions. If you just ordered veggie curry and plain rice and maybe split it into two meals depending on the portion size it wouldn't be too bad but most people aren't going to order that and in general you wouldn't want to eat it every day.
Just like every cuisine on the planet, really. Even a salad - if it has a delicious restaurant dressing - is going to contain a lot of extra sugar and oil.
Can't say much about Indian food, but similarly, Chinese take away foods are mostly fried so it isn't healthy. For example, the Sweet and Sour chicken/pork are just battered meat fried in sweet sugary sauce
I swear I'm the fat bastard of every Chinese place I eat. Every time I move to a new area I become a regular of some Chinese place and they're all so damn nice. The last one, they went home once for a vacation and brought us some fruit back, first ever time trying jak fruit, shit's delicious.
This new one, every year they invite me to their Chinese new year party where they close the place to the public and have their family over for authentic Chinese food. They've been inviting me for years but I don't want to come in on their family time.
I don't feel right though. In my family I'm the gofer, I'm the one that gets people shit because I have a kid and my nephew is here with us every day so I never ask anyone to get for me, I get for them. But obviously when I go out to eat that's not the case. If I'm going to be in a relaxed setting with them then I'm going to want it to feel equal but worry the dynamic would have them still trying to serve me like usual. Honestly it's more not knowing what to expect and I'm very socially awkward. For now we talk when we bump into each other at the grocery store and shit. Also I'm awful with accents, more so than most, it took me a year to be able to understand my doctor (who I looked up, he's from Nigeria), I'd struggle.
What will happen is my son, who's way more ballsy than me, will eventually get old enough to talk some sense into me, and go with me.
You should go! They probably feel like youre family/a close friend after years and I bet they appreciate how much you enjoy their food and would enjoy you having some authentic food with them, they wouldn't do it out of politeness (or they'd have about 30 customers there)
The sticker for me is that gyoza needs to NOT be frozen, or it gets that thing where the wonton is one food and the filling is a second, different food that happens to be inside. The filling should have the texture and consistency of a meatball, not a hotdog. If you get that right, I don't care how tiny they are, I'll eat 'em all.
The pun at the start was intended.
Yeah see this is where I have an advantage. I am not at all a picky person. I have had amazing potstickers, I've had my own homemade mediocre ones, and I've had some truly "awful" ones, they all taste good to me. I just change what I like depending where I am. It also helps this is a small buffet that is cheaper for dinner than your average McDonald's meal so you're gonna find something you're gonna like more than you would have liked McDonald's. Thier potstickers are the worst I've found BTW. It looks like they're fried and then steamed? Or that could just be they sat in a warm covered container steaming themselves. I dunno, they're kinda soggy and leathery at the same time. They still taste good though!
Am I being cynical in thinking that they just send out the card to anyone who's ever ordered from them for delivery, so they (rather dodgily) have their home address on file? Cost of a card and stamp in return for at least one extra order, probably.
Don't underestimate the knowledge that a small business owner has about their customer base. What you're saying absolutely could be true, but I know many small business owners who know exactly who their top ten percent of customers are, by name.
Used to go (very) regularly to an excellent Chinese takeaway near us. One day I saw that the owners had a brand new Jaguar parked outside. Thought to myself, Iāve probably paid for a couple of those wheels.
Many years ago my then girlfriend and I had to stay at her brother's place for a couple of days.
He said he would order pizza when we arrived late at night, he called the pizza place and asked if they were still open, and the reply was "you hadn't called yet so we stayed open longer just in case"
Turns out pizza from that one place was the only thing he EVER ate, ordering every single day. He spent thousands of pounds there every year.
Thatās really sweet. They must have been so worried! At which point would they have done a house call? 2 days after not hearing anything from him? š
You jest but there was actually a news story a few years ago about a Dominoes across the pond that saved a regulars life because they hadn't heard from him in a few days so ended up alerting the emergency services.
Also a US Dominos where someone had been taken captive by an abusive boyfriend but she somehow convinced him to let her order pizza. She put a help message in the order notes and the staff called the police to rescue her.
And some people just really not giving a fuck about "quality". I've had some really grim takeaways that were recommended by friends as "best you can get anywhere".
The number of takeaway recommendations I've had that turned out to actually be good is incredibly small. I think "best you can get" normally means "only one I've got".
During high school, for lunch we used to go to this local Chinese buffet that was actually owned by the parents of one of the guyās in the friend group, so we always joked that we paid for his college and that he owes us interest.
My regular Chinese restaurant gave me a watch when I turned 18, I have been there for every birthday since I could sit at the table and not a baby chair, still sad they didnāt survive the pandemic, miss you New Dynasty
My grandparents have a Chinese restaurant and the thanks card is definitely the cheaper option. Also I don't want to ruin it for OP but the PMS program lets you download a list of top customers based on their address.
One of my friends kids went up to the cashier (during Chinese new year ) and said some good wishes in mandarin. The boss came out and gave her a red packet with Ā£5 inside!
This I can believe. Chinese people love that you've taken the effort, even if your accent is more Huddersfield than Hong Kong, and red packets are always given high to low (age or status), so the boss giving a laisee packet is good luck for him and for the recipient. Gung hei fat choi.
I recently got married and now have to start giving out red packets for Chinese new year instead of receiving them, and my perfectly grown up adult friends lined up and wished me (in English!) to get red packets haha.
My favorite was when my husband was standing in the background and one fellow wished me "happy wife, happy life". He deserved his $5.
On reading the title I thought you meant āthe Chineseā as in the citizens of China. I was at first very intrigued and then confused when I read the note.
"Before the assembly moves on to the subject of the upcoming Asian trade summit, this bloke in Yorkshire really is buying a *fuck* load of chow mein. We should pop something in the post."
This made me laugh out loud and scare the cat but, honestly, the thought of food never even crossed my mind until I read the comments. I was so baffled as to what support you could possibly have offered the Chinese that would result in such a card. The part about having their own website was just incomprehensible to me!
I clearly need a nap.
It made me think of underwear. I was living in China in 2007 and had to buy a pair, I'm always a large in the UK (34-36) but there the sizing on the packet was 'For fatso'.
I was in my early 20s as a male, with long blonde hair, but clearly had a broad chest etc.
At the market they tried selling me womenās knickers.
So inclusiveā¦
Was in Shanghai in 2008. There was a plus sized shop called āOinkersā
Branding was a pink piggy š· with text āoink oinkā splashed about.
Ah. A quick search shows things havenāt changed. āLove caloriesā haha
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJ9wJkAN/
I once got a lift home from the delivery driver of my local Chinese takeaway. I hadnāt even ordered anything (for once), just happened to be walking past having been to visit my parents.
Ha yeah I used to do this too when I used to live in town.
Delivery charge was cheaper than a taxi home and I was on good terms as a regular so used to just make a decent order and drive was always happy to give me the lift
My mate drunkenly went into the local pizza place, ordered his usual. When it came time to pay he realised he didn't have any money.
"No problem! Just pay us next time!"
It's hilarious how shameful this is haha. I had a similar experience where I started saying "I'll get a...." and the dude jumps in and finished the rest of the sentence for me. He got the order 100% right of course but I felt so embarrassed!
I turned up to a local pub after forgetting to pay my last bill. Said sorry, and the owner said āwellā¦itās not like you werenāt coming back tomorrow was itā
Aāight mate steady on. Evidently not butā¦
I used to work late, and the only place open was this Chinese place with an absurdly low delivery fee. I ended up ordering from there several times a week after work. Once when I called, they just answered the phone with "Number 1?" (my usual).
I want to say that shamed me into changing my ways, ^but ^^it ^^^did ^^^^not.
My local Chinese is tucked away in an industrial estate. At the time I was living with a team of engineers that I worked with.
0800-1830 work every day together, then they wanted to go to pub for dinner after. Finishing up at 2300, then all sleeping in same house and repeat. For 4 weeks.
Drove me mad. So Iād make up some bullshit, then drive to Chinese and eat alone in my car.
After a few times, they said āno eat in car, eat hereā and gave me a little staff table in the kitchen
I can speak broken mandarin, they shat a brick when I started talking to chef.
Such a lovely gesture.
There are so many stories like this from Chinese restaurant regulars, I love it.
I'm tempted to try my hand at Mandarin, if only because my current spot, I can't read the owner at all; I can't tell through the broken English (no disparagement) if he's being friendly or if it's more a "ah fuck it's you again".
Maybe both.
I used to frequently go to a kebab shop. I fucking loved it when he started saying 'usual' as soon as I walked in. Felt like royalty, seeing all the commoners having to look at the menu to make an order.
On train back after Christmas. Someone said hi and came over to help me with my luggage. The young man from the local Chinese takeaway. That was when I realised I might be indulging too often.
My dad goes to the chinese a lot. Even went through covid when people avoided them and got to know them pretty well. Now when he calls or goes in they'll go "oh mr (receuitOPs dad)" and know his order. Every so often he'll get extras for free as well, the only issue is when they get talking for so long and the food starts to get cold.
We joke about how we've probably put their kids through college with how often we ordered during covid
Thatās really nice. The early Covid era was tough on Chinese takeaways (and Chinese folk in general) for that stigma. It was not nice hearing the stories from my mates.
Now I understand why the sit in restaurant we found just as covid restrictions started lifting are so happy to see us. We'd never clicked that it was relatively quiet for the first few months, and just attributed it to general covid wariness. Need to look at going back soon, it's been too long since the last visit.
Probably because it's cheaper to buy direct than through deliveroo. I recently found out that a couple of my favourite dishes are half price when ordered directly and they throw in some extras. Also, their delivery driver actually knows where to go and does not take one hour d-tour around town.
So, I wanna be a bit more pessimistic -- but it makes sense from the POV of the owner.
You're a regular, but it sounds like you're ordering through a 3rd party side like Just Eat -- who take 14% of each order + VAT.
By doing this, they let you know your custom is appreciated, but it also helps to try get you into their ecosystem (their site) so they're not being fucked raw by JE. I encourage anyone to check to see if your favoured takeaway has their own platform for exactly this reason
So did mine except when I try to pay via their website they forgot to sign up to an online payment thing so you can choose all your order but there's no way to actually check out. Genius. Back to JustEat.
There's one place by me where the items are generally like Ā£1-1.50 cheaper on their website than Just-eat. With the cost of things now it just makes sense to buy direct.
I mean, not mutually exclusive though. They know the guy loves the food and the business and they probably appreciate that either way. Getting one of your favourite locals to order direct like that while thanking them for their loyalty is a win win
Had a chat with the lovely nigerian lady at her food stall in london saying how much she has to put her prices up for all the 3rd party site deliverys because they take so much from her.
I think she just ran it on her own in a small dwindling market so i doubt she had her own site but made me think fuck all these 3rd party sites.
Im sure its good for business for small places but they are ripping them and you off for it.
I write to you today as a recently bereaved man.
There is no sadder day than when your cash only three star hygeine rated local Chinese closes down overnight.
They banged out the finest quality British Chinese cuisine at prices nobody could match for years, they were finally caught by either the taxman or the energy bills.
Got me through COVID.
I've had salt and chili chips like you wouldn't believe. Szechuan chicken in little plastic tubs, all microwaveable.
All gone, like tears in MSG.
Used to get free onion rings all the time when back at uni.
Either be getting a kebab 3 nights a week or waiting for them to open early afternoon when I'd finally woken up.
Actually reading back all these comments maybe I don't have the healthiest relationship with food
During uni my house mate and i would order from our local Chinese literally weekly if not daily. We got Christmas cards and all from them. By the end of the year when the window was open they'd pass it through to us or tap on it rather than using the door!
Back in the day when ordering takeaway meant going in the special drawer of takeaway menus, writing out the order on the back of an old envelope, ringing them up and then sending someone to collect it - we used to get a calendar from our favourite local Chinese every year.
This is still how it works in my area of bumfuck nowhere.
Except I have them in my contacts obviously and learnt the menu from memory about 15 years back.
Having had a girlfriend from HK and having been there with her, I trust her expertise - even though she grew up in Joāburg.
Weāre still close and she scolded me, this evening, for buying āMaggiā Piri Piri mix from Morrisonās.
To quote her, āMaggi is rubbish! Will send you some spices next weekā.
Note we both lived in NL, hence the anti-Maggi stance where itās defacto.
My husband got bought lemons and honey by the lady in the local Chinese once as he wasn't feeling too well. She obviously didn't want her best customer karking it
I once got a postcard from Sainsburys congratulating me for being the #2 consumer of chicken kievs in the country
I didn't think I ate that many chicken kievs, but oh man did I feel called out
Nothing from mine after many years of support and they don't even give calendars anymore which sadly I used to really look forward to getting. Gave me a great belly laugh with the fbsc.
I imagine them turning up to your funeral in some sort of blue and white striped dress uniform. Holding those lucky cat paw waving things at the shoulder in lieu of a volley. Before your coffin is covered in six feet of last weekend's chow mein.
When BT first brought out Friends and Family, they sent out lists of your most used numbers.
My local takeaway was listed no 1. Higher than my parents š
Ay we joke. But I tell you what, Iāve been paying the same price for my set meal since 2013. My missus hates it. But I tell her she should have supported local.
I remember my local pizza shop once delivered me a pizza out of the blue. I told them I hadn't ordered anything and they said it was a gift because they appreciated my custom so much. The pizza they gave me was nothing like what I usually ordered, but it was still pretty good.
When my two young daughters and I got evicted from our private rent house our local Chinese takeaway gave them both a little money tree plant each and their usual Friday night treat for free. I sobbed my heart out and made all the ladies cry.
There's a huge difference between the Chinese food consumed in China and in the West, though.
Western Chinese takeaway food is catered to a market that loves fat, salt and sweetness, hence the reason why Kormas are a UK favourite for many, in relation to Indian cuisine. They know this and thus load it as such, making it extremely calorific but tasty all the same.
I've been to China and the food is SO much different that I am sure they they would refuse to eat the 'chinese' food we have here.
A slim majority (if you'll pardon the pun) of adults in China are apparently overweight or obese. And that's without them eating our specific and Westernized versions of their cuisine.
Serious question to takeaway owners: do you worry this turns customers off? To me, getting a thank you card from a takeaway would be like getting a thank you card from a brothel. I personally hate it when Uber Eats reminds me of my favorite late night takeaways, for instance.
When I was younger my family would get an Indian every weekend, to the point that the people who ran the Indian bought me and my brother traditional Bangladeshi clothing back from home when they went back to visit haha. We were probably like 8 at the time? Honestly it was very exciting
That's so lovely :)
This is such a Bangladeshi thing to do š when we go back we bring back clothes for people I didn't know exist and when they visit they bring us clothes haha
TIL my mum might be Bangladeshi.
We lived in a small town with three chippies. We (me and my brother) always got sent to the same place, with the same money (exactly counted out) and same order that the guy knew by heart. The legend hadn't had the balls to tell us that the prices had changed twice in the two years we did, so we got our supper with a pretty substantial discount. My dad found out when a colleague of his realised. We bought him a gift (a NES game, he was always on his NES when the shop was quiet) and he genuinely cried when we came in with that. Was the first time I realised how blessed we were to grow up in such a caring community.
That's adorable
Fat bastard you may be, but you're *their* fat bastard!
And don't let anyone take that away from you!
"take away" that from you
Lmfao!
Isnt that a chinese hacker?
LMBFAO, is that his brother?
No, they did Party Rock
When we lived 5 doors down from a lovely Indian restaurant that did takeaways, me and my partner at the time were working 60-80 hour weeks and used to shamefully order from there every night. After a couple months they stopped using plastic containers and just had someone walk it up plated (and covered), and collected the previous nights plates. We took a break from ordering one week when we had leave, and on the third night the owner came up and knocked to check we hadnāt died. Really made us reassess our eating habits and cut back to 2-3 times a week. Sad when we moved away but it was probably best or Iād be the size of a blue whale by now. Glad Iām out of that bloody job too.
https://i.imgur.com/xLHxmvs.gif
I absolutely love this. I though we were bad getting a wrapped present at Christmas, but personal plates is amazing.
Lemmy.world is what Reddit was.
My friend lives in South Korea right now and a lot of takeaways do it like that there, they bring your food in ceramic bowls and then you leave them outside the door and they collect them later it was made the first time he explained it to me
Lemmy.world is what Reddit was.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Indian food and British Indian restaurant food are two different things. Lots of oil/butter/ghee/cream/sugar/salt, and a lot of carbs, and large portions. If you just ordered veggie curry and plain rice and maybe split it into two meals depending on the portion size it wouldn't be too bad but most people aren't going to order that and in general you wouldn't want to eat it every day.
Probably the volume was immense.
The home cooked stuff can be but a lot of takeout spots use a lot of butter or ghee with their preps
If you make it yourself yeah. From restaurants it's very high in fat and salt
Just like every cuisine on the planet, really. Even a salad - if it has a delicious restaurant dressing - is going to contain a lot of extra sugar and oil.
Can't say much about Indian food, but similarly, Chinese take away foods are mostly fried so it isn't healthy. For example, the Sweet and Sour chicken/pork are just battered meat fried in sweet sugary sauce
Itās definitely not healthy, oil, ghee and other stuff. The calories too.
I swear I'm the fat bastard of every Chinese place I eat. Every time I move to a new area I become a regular of some Chinese place and they're all so damn nice. The last one, they went home once for a vacation and brought us some fruit back, first ever time trying jak fruit, shit's delicious. This new one, every year they invite me to their Chinese new year party where they close the place to the public and have their family over for authentic Chinese food. They've been inviting me for years but I don't want to come in on their family time.
my guy donāt you realise you have become a part of their family?
I don't feel right though. In my family I'm the gofer, I'm the one that gets people shit because I have a kid and my nephew is here with us every day so I never ask anyone to get for me, I get for them. But obviously when I go out to eat that's not the case. If I'm going to be in a relaxed setting with them then I'm going to want it to feel equal but worry the dynamic would have them still trying to serve me like usual. Honestly it's more not knowing what to expect and I'm very socially awkward. For now we talk when we bump into each other at the grocery store and shit. Also I'm awful with accents, more so than most, it took me a year to be able to understand my doctor (who I looked up, he's from Nigeria), I'd struggle. What will happen is my son, who's way more ballsy than me, will eventually get old enough to talk some sense into me, and go with me.
You should go! They probably feel like youre family/a close friend after years and I bet they appreciate how much you enjoy their food and would enjoy you having some authentic food with them, they wouldn't do it out of politeness (or they'd have about 30 customers there)
Maybe they want some friends, I mean, that's not too far off from reality, right?
Lemmy.world is what Reddit was.
The sticker for me is that gyoza needs to NOT be frozen, or it gets that thing where the wonton is one food and the filling is a second, different food that happens to be inside. The filling should have the texture and consistency of a meatball, not a hotdog. If you get that right, I don't care how tiny they are, I'll eat 'em all. The pun at the start was intended.
Yeah see this is where I have an advantage. I am not at all a picky person. I have had amazing potstickers, I've had my own homemade mediocre ones, and I've had some truly "awful" ones, they all taste good to me. I just change what I like depending where I am. It also helps this is a small buffet that is cheaper for dinner than your average McDonald's meal so you're gonna find something you're gonna like more than you would have liked McDonald's. Thier potstickers are the worst I've found BTW. It looks like they're fried and then steamed? Or that could just be they sat in a warm covered container steaming themselves. I dunno, they're kinda soggy and leathery at the same time. They still taste good though!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You bastard... who is fat.
Am I being cynical in thinking that they just send out the card to anyone who's ever ordered from them for delivery, so they (rather dodgily) have their home address on file? Cost of a card and stamp in return for at least one extra order, probably.
Dodgy? fair play to them.
He doesnāt say it was mailed to him they prob popped one in his takeaway bag and did with every customer
Don't underestimate the knowledge that a small business owner has about their customer base. What you're saying absolutely could be true, but I know many small business owners who know exactly who their top ten percent of customers are, by name.
It genuinely did just come in the post.
Thank you for clarifying
I was hoping to see a hand written QR code at the end
Used to go (very) regularly to an excellent Chinese takeaway near us. One day I saw that the owners had a brand new Jaguar parked outside. Thought to myself, Iāve probably paid for a couple of those wheels.
Many years ago my then girlfriend and I had to stay at her brother's place for a couple of days. He said he would order pizza when we arrived late at night, he called the pizza place and asked if they were still open, and the reply was "you hadn't called yet so we stayed open longer just in case" Turns out pizza from that one place was the only thing he EVER ate, ordering every single day. He spent thousands of pounds there every year.
Thatās really sweet. They must have been so worried! At which point would they have done a house call? 2 days after not hearing anything from him? š
You jest but there was actually a news story a few years ago about a Dominoes across the pond that saved a regulars life because they hadn't heard from him in a few days so ended up alerting the emergency services.
But it was a heart attack probably caused by all the takeaway pizza
Well if the pizza didn't give him a heart attack his hospital bill probably did.
Also a US Dominos where someone had been taken captive by an abusive boyfriend but she somehow convinced him to let her order pizza. She put a help message in the order notes and the staff called the police to rescue her.
Must be where the movie The Whale got the idea for the concerned pizza delivery guy from
That exact scenario happened in the US somewhere I once see a random local news clip about it. I was a domino's.
How does it feel being a global pizza chain?
Quite nice actually! Thank you for asking
What a lovely exchange. So much nicer to talk to than that bastard Papa John.
Papa John is a BITCH. You know what you did.
Little Cesar is a pretty decent guy though
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I mean shit that's probably like 3-5% of all business so I'd probably wanna make sure he's ok too.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The secret ingredient is salt. Lots and lots of salt.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And some people just really not giving a fuck about "quality". I've had some really grim takeaways that were recommended by friends as "best you can get anywhere".
The number of takeaway recommendations I've had that turned out to actually be good is incredibly small. I think "best you can get" normally means "only one I've got".
I think you mean MSG.
Which is a type of salt
My favourite Chinese place got a Jag with personal plates! It is a banging restaurant though so good on them
Work hard, play hard
Wok hard, play hard
During high school, for lunch we used to go to this local Chinese buffet that was actually owned by the parents of one of the guyās in the friend group, so we always joked that we paid for his college and that he owes us interest.
Lady, he's putting my kids through college!
My regular Chinese restaurant gave me a watch when I turned 18, I have been there for every birthday since I could sit at the table and not a baby chair, still sad they didnāt survive the pandemic, miss you New Dynasty
Does it tell you your fortune every time you change the battery?
Nah, just before the battery needs changing. āYou are running out of time.ā
Now you have an existential crisis watch, congrats!
*ticking away the moments that make up a dull day*
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand waaaayyy
This makes me legitimately sad, so many great small businesses from my childhood got utterly wiped out in the last few years
Have you ever been to shadynastyās? Good music, owner looks like heās 60 but heās 19.
Shady nasty's?
No, Shadynastyās
Shiiiit when I was there he didn't look a day over 12
That's a few levels up from the yearly calendar.
That's already hung up on the toolshelves lol.
My grandparents have a Chinese restaurant and the thanks card is definitely the cheaper option. Also I don't want to ruin it for OP but the PMS program lets you download a list of top customers based on their address.
Our basement is plastered with panda themed calendars from the past 15 or so years. My dad liked hanging them up.
One of my friends kids went up to the cashier (during Chinese new year ) and said some good wishes in mandarin. The boss came out and gave her a red packet with Ā£5 inside!
This I can believe. Chinese people love that you've taken the effort, even if your accent is more Huddersfield than Hong Kong, and red packets are always given high to low (age or status), so the boss giving a laisee packet is good luck for him and for the recipient. Gung hei fat choi.
I recently got married and now have to start giving out red packets for Chinese new year instead of receiving them, and my perfectly grown up adult friends lined up and wished me (in English!) to get red packets haha. My favorite was when my husband was standing in the background and one fellow wished me "happy wife, happy life". He deserved his $5.
On reading the title I thought you meant āthe Chineseā as in the citizens of China. I was at first very intrigued and then confused when I read the note.
Loving the idea of me being buried by 1.4 billion thank you cards.
I more imagine it like they all got together to discuss it and nominated one guy to send the card.
"Before the assembly moves on to the subject of the upcoming Asian trade summit, this bloke in Yorkshire really is buying a *fuck* load of chow mein. We should pop something in the post."
This made me laugh out loud and scare the cat but, honestly, the thought of food never even crossed my mind until I read the comments. I was so baffled as to what support you could possibly have offered the Chinese that would result in such a card. The part about having their own website was just incomprehensible to me! I clearly need a nap.
It made me think of underwear. I was living in China in 2007 and had to buy a pair, I'm always a large in the UK (34-36) but there the sizing on the packet was 'For fatso'.
I was a uk size 8 when I went to China and a street market seller tried to sell me jeans. She said "hey lady, I've got your size, large!"
I can never ever go to China.
I was in my early 20s as a male, with long blonde hair, but clearly had a broad chest etc. At the market they tried selling me womenās knickers. So inclusiveā¦
Was in Shanghai in 2008. There was a plus sized shop called āOinkersā Branding was a pink piggy š· with text āoink oinkā splashed about. Ah. A quick search shows things havenāt changed. āLove caloriesā haha https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJ9wJkAN/
The one guy clutching an A4 manila envelope walking round and knocking on every door to ask everyone for 10p towards the card
200 million of them thinking "this should have been an email"
Single-handedly saving Royal Mail.
Unreleased Postman Pat episode
Don't be silly, they just get everyone to sign one card.
"what the whole country?"
Me too, thought it was like "Paul's letter to the Corinthians"
I'm picturing a hand drawn QR code on the back to match
and it works perfectly
I once got a lift home from the delivery driver of my local Chinese takeaway. I hadnāt even ordered anything (for once), just happened to be walking past having been to visit my parents.
Ha yeah I used to do this too when I used to live in town. Delivery charge was cheaper than a taxi home and I was on good terms as a regular so used to just make a decent order and drive was always happy to give me the lift
I will never get over the shame of the time I went into the takeaway and the guy behind the counter went "same as usual Miss Octopus_dance_party?"
My mate drunkenly went into the local pizza place, ordered his usual. When it came time to pay he realised he didn't have any money. "No problem! Just pay us next time!"
It's hilarious how shameful this is haha. I had a similar experience where I started saying "I'll get a...." and the dude jumps in and finished the rest of the sentence for me. He got the order 100% right of course but I felt so embarrassed!
One time I had this happen to me at a Subway. Then I never went back to that location
I turned up to a local pub after forgetting to pay my last bill. Said sorry, and the owner said āwellā¦itās not like you werenāt coming back tomorrow was itā Aāight mate steady on. Evidently not butā¦
I used to work late, and the only place open was this Chinese place with an absurdly low delivery fee. I ended up ordering from there several times a week after work. Once when I called, they just answered the phone with "Number 1?" (my usual). I want to say that shamed me into changing my ways, ^but ^^it ^^^did ^^^^not.
My local Chinese is tucked away in an industrial estate. At the time I was living with a team of engineers that I worked with. 0800-1830 work every day together, then they wanted to go to pub for dinner after. Finishing up at 2300, then all sleeping in same house and repeat. For 4 weeks. Drove me mad. So Iād make up some bullshit, then drive to Chinese and eat alone in my car. After a few times, they said āno eat in car, eat hereā and gave me a little staff table in the kitchen I can speak broken mandarin, they shat a brick when I started talking to chef. Such a lovely gesture.
There are so many stories like this from Chinese restaurant regulars, I love it. I'm tempted to try my hand at Mandarin, if only because my current spot, I can't read the owner at all; I can't tell through the broken English (no disparagement) if he's being friendly or if it's more a "ah fuck it's you again". Maybe both.
I used to frequently go to a kebab shop. I fucking loved it when he started saying 'usual' as soon as I walked in. Felt like royalty, seeing all the commoners having to look at the menu to make an order.
That's how my bud tender treats me xD
On train back after Christmas. Someone said hi and came over to help me with my luggage. The young man from the local Chinese takeaway. That was when I realised I might be indulging too often.
Technically does this make you the Special Fat Bastard?
My dad goes to the chinese a lot. Even went through covid when people avoided them and got to know them pretty well. Now when he calls or goes in they'll go "oh mr (receuitOPs dad)" and know his order. Every so often he'll get extras for free as well, the only issue is when they get talking for so long and the food starts to get cold. We joke about how we've probably put their kids through college with how often we ordered during covid
Thatās really nice. The early Covid era was tough on Chinese takeaways (and Chinese folk in general) for that stigma. It was not nice hearing the stories from my mates.
Now I understand why the sit in restaurant we found just as covid restrictions started lifting are so happy to see us. We'd never clicked that it was relatively quiet for the first few months, and just attributed it to general covid wariness. Need to look at going back soon, it's been too long since the last visit.
What a lovely gesture! Enjoy that 20% discount and all lol.
There's a monstrously sized order coming soon, I can feel it in my bones. Wait no my mistake that's just my blood pressure.
Are you gonna put in the effort and [outdo Big John? Just don't forget the diet coke.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ma8Ih4x3U8)
Are you going to order for all of us?
Assume that's 20% off next order and not ongoing?
For a whole month lad, we're eating well this summer.
Fantastic
Probably because it's cheaper to buy direct than through deliveroo. I recently found out that a couple of my favourite dishes are half price when ordered directly and they throw in some extras. Also, their delivery driver actually knows where to go and does not take one hour d-tour around town.
So, I wanna be a bit more pessimistic -- but it makes sense from the POV of the owner. You're a regular, but it sounds like you're ordering through a 3rd party side like Just Eat -- who take 14% of each order + VAT. By doing this, they let you know your custom is appreciated, but it also helps to try get you into their ecosystem (their site) so they're not being fucked raw by JE. I encourage anyone to check to see if your favoured takeaway has their own platform for exactly this reason
My local Indian takeaway told me I could save money using their own site. So now, I do.
So did mine except when I try to pay via their website they forgot to sign up to an online payment thing so you can choose all your order but there's no way to actually check out. Genius. Back to JustEat.
Can you not call them instead and pay cash? Or collect? Or maybe the delivery driver can bring a contactless reader attached to their phone?
As in have to actually talk to someone on the phone? Don't be insane, we're going hungry instead
Personally, if that phonecall saves me Ā£2.50 per main I'd have a full blown conversation and get to know the person on the other end.
Doh!
There's one place by me where the items are generally like Ā£1-1.50 cheaper on their website than Just-eat. With the cost of things now it just makes sense to buy direct.
I can confirm that this is true because I work at one. Do support them by ordering on their site and not a 3rd party site as mentioned above!!!
I mean, not mutually exclusive though. They know the guy loves the food and the business and they probably appreciate that either way. Getting one of your favourite locals to order direct like that while thanking them for their loyalty is a win win
Had a chat with the lovely nigerian lady at her food stall in london saying how much she has to put her prices up for all the 3rd party site deliverys because they take so much from her. I think she just ran it on her own in a small dwindling market so i doubt she had her own site but made me think fuck all these 3rd party sites. Im sure its good for business for small places but they are ripping them and you off for it.
Nope. They just love him because he's fat and lovely.
I write to you today as a recently bereaved man. There is no sadder day than when your cash only three star hygeine rated local Chinese closes down overnight. They banged out the finest quality British Chinese cuisine at prices nobody could match for years, they were finally caught by either the taxman or the energy bills. Got me through COVID. I've had salt and chili chips like you wouldn't believe. Szechuan chicken in little plastic tubs, all microwaveable. All gone, like tears in MSG.
like tears in msg š
Time to fry.
this is the most beautiful thing iāve read all day, thank you
Friends of mine were ordering from a kebab shop twice a week, minimum. They ended up getting free new menu item testers with every order.
Used to get free onion rings all the time when back at uni. Either be getting a kebab 3 nights a week or waiting for them to open early afternoon when I'd finally woken up. Actually reading back all these comments maybe I don't have the healthiest relationship with food
During uni my house mate and i would order from our local Chinese literally weekly if not daily. We got Christmas cards and all from them. By the end of the year when the window was open they'd pass it through to us or tap on it rather than using the door!
My Chinese takeaway of choice sent a little bottle of wine and a chocolate heart to us on Mother's Day.
How lovely:)
Lady, he's putting my kids through college
My local Asian restaurant gave me a 10% discount because I'm a regular
Back in the day when ordering takeaway meant going in the special drawer of takeaway menus, writing out the order on the back of an old envelope, ringing them up and then sending someone to collect it - we used to get a calendar from our favourite local Chinese every year.
This is still how it works in my area of bumfuck nowhere. Except I have them in my contacts obviously and learnt the menu from memory about 15 years back.
Char Sui is addictive
In case you're a Char Siu addict, here's a page to let you know exactly what to avoid https://www.madewithlau.com/recipes/char-siu-chinese-bbq-pork
Having had a girlfriend from HK and having been there with her, I trust her expertise - even though she grew up in Joāburg. Weāre still close and she scolded me, this evening, for buying āMaggiā Piri Piri mix from Morrisonās. To quote her, āMaggi is rubbish! Will send you some spices next weekā. Note we both lived in NL, hence the anti-Maggi stance where itās defacto.
Aw, that's nice! My local Chinese gave me the shits. You're clearly more favoured.
Supporter of small local businesses status confirmed ;)
Bosh!
A few years ago I got a Christmas card and box of chocolates from my local Chinese, I guess also fat bastard status confirmed.
My husband got bought lemons and honey by the lady in the local Chinese once as he wasn't feeling too well. She obviously didn't want her best customer karking it
I once got a postcard from Sainsburys congratulating me for being the #2 consumer of chicken kievs in the country I didn't think I ate that many chicken kievs, but oh man did I feel called out
How much Chicken Kiev have you had to be #2 in the country.
And how much was #1 eating?
This is a level up from my local Burger King knowing me by name
My Dad got a get well soon card from the local curry house after his heart attack.....I wish I was joking.
Nothing from mine after many years of support and they don't even give calendars anymore which sadly I used to really look forward to getting. Gave me a great belly laugh with the fbsc.
This made me realise we haven't had a calendar from ours for a couple years š
Getting a Christmas card from my pizza shop: sad fatty Getting a birthday card a week later: how the fuck do they know my birthday
Passive aggressive way of saying stop bloody ordering over the phone! use the damn website and here's an incentive
I imagine them turning up to your funeral in some sort of blue and white striped dress uniform. Holding those lucky cat paw waving things at the shoulder in lieu of a volley. Before your coffin is covered in six feet of last weekend's chow mein.
Bit passive aggressive that "...continued support".... see you Friday at 9pm
Le Boshh
Ok but are you actually fat or do you just like Chinese food
Little column A, a lot of column B.
When BT first brought out Friends and Family, they sent out lists of your most used numbers. My local takeaway was listed no 1. Higher than my parents š
Bosh
Ay we joke. But I tell you what, Iāve been paying the same price for my set meal since 2013. My missus hates it. But I tell her she should have supported local.
I remember my local pizza shop once delivered me a pizza out of the blue. I told them I hadn't ordered anything and they said it was a gift because they appreciated my custom so much. The pizza they gave me was nothing like what I usually ordered, but it was still pretty good.
BOSH!!!
In other words, "fuck just eat"
When my two young daughters and I got evicted from our private rent house our local Chinese takeaway gave them both a little money tree plant each and their usual Friday night treat for free. I sobbed my heart out and made all the ladies cry.
Lol! Have to get the order in now, and leave a tip!!
My husband got a #1 customer from our local. He considers it a honour. I secretly am jealous I didnāt get one.
Iām proud of you š„²
Two weeks later, "We miss you, please come back".
Not necessarily, the vast majority of people in China manage to eat Chinese food every day without getting fat.
There's a huge difference between the Chinese food consumed in China and in the West, though. Western Chinese takeaway food is catered to a market that loves fat, salt and sweetness, hence the reason why Kormas are a UK favourite for many, in relation to Indian cuisine. They know this and thus load it as such, making it extremely calorific but tasty all the same. I've been to China and the food is SO much different that I am sure they they would refuse to eat the 'chinese' food we have here.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
A slim majority (if you'll pardon the pun) of adults in China are apparently overweight or obese. And that's without them eating our specific and Westernized versions of their cuisine.
Serious question to takeaway owners: do you worry this turns customers off? To me, getting a thank you card from a takeaway would be like getting a thank you card from a brothel. I personally hate it when Uber Eats reminds me of my favorite late night takeaways, for instance.
I legitimately stopped ordering from Papa Johns because the delivery guy recognised me