For North American diners, service in Chinese restaurants can often seem like it lacks a personal touch says Matt Reichel, one of the co-founders of Chopstick Fest.
Reichel has lived in China for extended periods, calling it is his second home when he’s not in Vancouver. Until recently, he says dining out was largely reserved for businesspeople. Only in the last 20 years or so has it become much more mainstream. As a result, he says servers are trained to understand they are not to interrupt a meal — that diners will initiate contact if something is needed (which accounts for why service may seem inattentive or lacking at times).
Another gripe North American diners often have when eating at Chinese restaurants is that service can seem perfunctory or matter-of-fact, without much warmth. Reichel says this is because servers are almost singularly focused on getting your dishes to you, piping hot, so they arrive at the table as quickly as possible. That means servers tend to forgo the pleasantries, as they’re simply trying to get your dishes to you, and the dishes to the next table, and so on…
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