Customer Reviews

Asian Dining Rules: Essential Strategies for Eating Out at Japanese, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Korean, and Indian Restaurants

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book the first time and came away with the feeling that I hadn't learned very much from it... at least, not in the sense that I had picked up any useful dining strategies, that is. I gave it a second read, though, and I now think I was bit unfairly dismissive the first time around. I still maintain that reading this book did not make a savvier diner at all but, interspersed between the so-called tips and strategies (often fairly intuitive to begin with), there is actually some interesting and informative general discussion about Asian food. From the entertainment point of view, at least, this book does therefore rate the three stars I gave it but I still have to say that it rather fails as a useful instructional guide Asian dining. Most people with enough interest in food to buy a book with this sort of title are likely to know most of what the author tells us and, conversely, those who might be expected to benefit from the tips and strategies are probably unlikely to open the book to begin with.

Although I did get some enjoyment from this book, I have to make a few negative comments: First, for a book that purports to be an informative guide the lack of any pictures was a surprising and glaring deficiency. Also, although the author points out that there is a good deal of inconsistency in the names and spellings of various dishes, he does not appear to have taken much trouble to acquaint himself with any actual transliteration conventions. When, for examples, he speaks of a spicy sort of won-ton as 'suan la chow show' I can only guess that he means something that, as rendered in standard pinyin (sans the tonal marks), would be 'suan la jiao zi'. I wasn't expecting a scholarly text when I bought this book, by any means, but from someone who holds themselves out as having some expertise in this area, I felt a bit more attention to accuracy was due.

Not a bad read, on the whole, but it will rarely be read by the supposed target audience and doesn't have enough to make it an abiding favorite with 'foodies'.