Chinese food is vastly underrated and under appreciated. Maybe it needs a new name like Tex-mex different from Mexican.
It depends where you are in America, if the reataraunt is good ( even in good areas their are at least 3/10 4/10 crappy Chinese) and where the family originated from.
Much like pizza, America. Chinese food is especially good in nyc/nj. If you want to be a real stickler north Nj is much better than south. I’ve tried at least 5chinese places almost every county just inadvertently over the years in north jersey and I gotta say it’s on average much better than south.
Pork fried rice and chicken wing, boneless spare ribs, general tso chicken , shrimp and broccoli or chicken and broccoli are all the gold standard for chinese. You know it’s good when they have fried plantain too!
A lot of people say the quality isn’t any good but it just depends where you are. This one places used a salamander for the boneless spare ribs and comes out with a fantastic char flavor. The pork, char siu styleish, they used for pork fried rice is cooked under that salamander too and taste very fresh. Bright green onions and plenty of bean sprouts and the pork fried rice taste pretty fresh.
Shrimp in lobster sauce done well is a sign of a highly good Chinese place. A good dollop of soy sauce and your favorite fermented chili oil and it’s elevated.
I have crown fried chicken and local good black fried chicken establishments and while their amazing, good Chinese food places do the BEST hands down fried chicken. Crispier than korean.
I don’t eat it much anymore and would only eat it if it’s good. It’s a shame it’s looked down upon when gyros, crappy pizza, and other low level foods are seen as more fresh.