Encroachment!

[jyl]

Bad news today. I went to my usual dim sum place. Hadn't been in awhile. As it filled up, I realized that 50% of the tables were majority non-Asian groups. As you know, that is a very bad sign.

I checked Yelp, and sure nuff, the place has gotten into the top three highest ranked Portland dim sum places. There goes the neighborhood! The selection will shrink, the flavours will get blander, the quality will fall.

Time to find a new dim sum place and this time, I'll go on Yelp and bash it as much as I can. J/k on the last part. Maybe.

[ckelly78z]

Could you explain to us country folks what exactly is a "dim sum place" is ?

[look 171]

Funny, that's how my wife and I rate them also. Thankfully there are so many more selection of Dim sum places to choose from down here.

I once walked into a Mexican restaurant with my plumber (a Mexican American fellow) to hammer out some issues on a project over lunch. He said, "Lets go, this place isn't real, there isn't one Mexican eating there, but the waiters are also white." This is right in the middle of West Hollywood. We both laughed.

[Hugh R]

Before I moved to Los Angeles from Boston 35 years ago, I thought Taco Bell was Mexican food.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Before I moved to Los Angeles from Boston 35 years ago, I thought Taco Bell was Mexican food.

That is like calling a McRib BBQ.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

Could you explain to us country folks what exactly is a "dim sum place" is ?

Dim sum (/ˈdɪmˈsʌm/) refers to a style of Cantonese food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. Dim sum is also well known for the unique way it is served in some restaurants, wherein fully cooked and ready-to-serve dim sum dishes are carted around the restaurant for customers to choose their orders while seated at their tables.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dim_sum

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by jyl

Bad news today. I went to my usual dim sum place. Hadn't been in awhile. As it filled up, I realized that 50% of the tables were majority non-Asian groups. As you know, that is a very bad sign.
...

Was it infiltrated by Uyghurs? Also, Japanese or Thais would count for encroachment, or even Szechwanese.

[jyl]

Good point, non-Chinese Asians can also be a bad sign for the authenticity of a dim sum place, but realistically Portland's Japanese or Thai or Vietnamese popl'n isn't prone to flock to dim sum houses.

In some cities there are large enough ethnic popl'ns that a good Japanese place can be filled with almost all Japanese, a good Vietnamese place with almost all Vietnamese, etc. In those cities, when I walk into that Japanese restaurant, I can hear people thinking "oh no, there goes the neighborhood". But Portland is too small for that.

By the same token, when a good ethnic place here gets encroached into mediocrity, there aren't so many others to choose from. It's not like LA or the Bay Area, both have dozens of dim sum places that are better than the best one in all of Portland. Here, I'll have to hope that a new place has opened up recently and is still "unspoiled" and is convenient enough to be a semi-regular stop.

[look 171]

Growing up, we went to Japanese restaurants that were run by the Japanese. Now, 95% of them are run by Koreans. Japanese food is so hip that all the new ones are almost always high dollar date restaurants. Our Japanese restaurants are frequented by the same people that go to places like The Cheese Cake Factory (food that is ok, really).

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

Could you explain to us country folks what exactly is a "dim sum place" is ?

Dude, I'm moving to OH in a few months. Your freaking me out.

[id10t]

On the other hand, if you can order properly, ie in the proper language and correct accent, you'll find that not much changes, other than the occasional "oy, sorry what the locals have done to the place. your usual?"

[flatbutt]

We have had a couple of Thai places go the way that the OP describes. There is one in a town called .....oh...never mind. But the Mom is still in charge of the kitchen. If you order a 2 from her you better have a mango iced tea standing by. 4 is unmanageable for yours truly.

[VaSteve]

It's been two years...still haven't found a new place?
Too Many White People . . .

[72doug2,2S]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Dude, I'm moving to OH in a few months. Your freaking me out.

If you're moving to the midwest, Amazon.com is your friend.

[nostatic]

There is actually one good dim sum place on the west side at least for the time being. Tons of them in Monterey Park, Rowland Heights, and other points east. Unfortunately we have transition happening, and oddly enough, in this case the servers are changing from Chinese (mix of Cantonese and Mandarin being spoken) to Hispanic (English as the common language).

[legion]

Good thing my favorite chicken tika masala place is still safe...

[jyl]

This IS the new place, that we moved to after the encroachment sadly chronicled in that thread two years ago.

I think good unspoilt places are not lasting as long as they used to, now that the evil Yelp is around and every hipster thinks himself the next great foodie critic.

Portland is supposed to be foodie heaven, which may be true for locavore organic fair trade gourmet hipster cuisine. I'm not sure that is true for ethnic food. The stuff I really like to eat.

The state of Chinese food, I've whined about. I've given up trying to find a really good but not stupid expensive sushi place here. I think there are still some good izakaya and ramen places, though one former ramen temple is being converted to a concept seafood house. I did finally find a couple really good taco places. My fav Cuban place is still as good as ever but I have to go at odd hours as it is packed most of the time.

It's been two years...still haven't found a new place?

Too Many White People . . .

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by jyl

every hipster thinks himself the next great foodie critic.

sad but true.

[Rick Lee]

I went to Jasmine in San Diego today, which ranks pretty well online. It's a pretty big place and I got a little nervous seeing about half of the 150 or so tables full of white people. It took probably 20 min. to get any food, they had no more than two carts on the floor at a time for a packed dining room, easily 500 people. It got so bad that people started ordering the staff to go get them this or that dish off a cart. Since Mrs. Lee is a Mainlander, this is very easy for us. They are incredible ball busters and aren't shy about making sure someone notices them. I think some of the ABC and white folks were taken aback, but at least we got some food. And it was mediocre food too. Never again.

Nostatic, do you mean that place on Santa Monica or Wilshire just west of the 405? I went there for dinner last year and had dim sum. It was ok, but nothing compared to the ones in San Gabriel and Monterey Park.

[RWebb]

you need some locavore organic fair trade gourmet hipster dim sum