Westerners do not know how to eat properly in China, or in Chinese restaurants. Given how prevailing Chinese foods are (Panda Express in every food court). This must be the top 10 “best unnoticed” for the century.

Before you get dressed for dinner, first identify which of the main 8 cuisine families the restaurant is. At least, you need to know is it southern or northern, coastal or in-land. Would you go out for a nice dinner without knowing even if the restaurant is about French food or Italian?

Order the characteristic dish for that cuisine family. Every self-respecting chef trained hard and long for them. Every Chinese foodie understands the key trade-offs in preparing those dishes. When you order the right dishes, the waiter understands this is now the miniature Iron-chef contest, only carried out endlessly around the world in every Chinese restaurant.

When those dishes arrive, you must now loudly compare them with the same cuisine family restaurants you have sampled before – the ingredients, the seasonings, the cooking processing, etc. Never, never, worry about the presentation. We Chinese are not into how the food looks, only its taste.

Unlike western foods, the key is in comparison to other restaurants, not just how this particular dish was prepared. It is not enough to say, “This is a very well made SiChaun prawn.” You must say, “This is spicier than the usual style, particularly compared to . But I like this much better. Now let me tell you how my best friend’s wife does this one….”

Yes, it is a bit work learning the cuisine families and their representing dishes. But if you can memorize all those wine grapes, surely it is a matter of determination, but not mental capacity.