List of complimentary food from ethnic restaurants except 2

[Winston]

Complimentary food from various ethnic restaurants - with 2 exceptions

In my vast experience eating out, which I love to do, I find that most ethnic restaurants have a tradition of providing you with something complimentary, except for two or three.

First I will list the ones that provide you with complimentary food, and then the ones that don't.

- Chinese: In typical Chinese restaurants, you get a free complimentary pot of oolong tea with unlimited refills, which is very good, so you don't usually have to order drinks. Back in the 80's, I remember that they usually gave you free rice too, but I don't know what happened to that, or maybe I was mistaken. For dessert, you get a free fortune cookie (in the US, but not in Asia) and some slices of oranges, courtesy of the house.

- American: It depends on the place, but you often get free refills on coffee and soda. Some places give you free bread before the meal. And if you disliked your meal, a lot of places will either exchange it for free or take it off your bill.

- Italian: You usually get free bread with olive oil and vinegar. Or sometimes salad too.

- Mexcian: You get a free basket of crunchy fresh nacho chips with tasty salsa, and free refills on it too!

- Korean: You get an incredible 6 or 7 free complimentary appetizers (kim chee, sweet potatoes, radishes, spinach, fish, etc), often with unlimited refills too!

- Japanese: You get a pot of complimentary green tea. And sometimes complimentary miso soup.

Nothing complimentary:

- Filipino: You don't get anything complimentary in a Filipino restaurant unless you pay for it. But you do get free ice water if you ask for "service water". And the ketchup is free if you use it with what you order, whereas in the next example you don't.

- Russian: You not only don't get anything complimentary, but they often charge for little things like using ketchup, and don't even give you free water! In my experience, Russian mentality and culture are the stingiest of all. Though they like to CLAIM to be generous, they never DO anything generous.

- Indian: I don't think you get anything complimentary most Indian restaurants, though some of them did give you free Indian pancake tortilla style bread, that doesn't seem common anymore.

What the three cultures above that give you nothing complimentary have in common of course, is that they are poor countries. (But then again, Mexico is poor yet they give you complimentary chips and salsa) And I assume that they have this mentality that nothing should be given away for free, not even if it's good for business in the long run. What's odd though is that both Filipinos and Russians like to boast about their culture's generosity. However, action speaks louder than words, and I think that the customs of a typical restaurant of that culture is a good representation of that culture's mentality and attitude.

[KristineTheStrawberryGirl]

Complimentary food from various ethnic restaurants - with 2 exceptions

- Russian: You not only don't get anything complimentary, but they often charge for little things like using ketchup, and don't even give you free water! In my experience, Russian mentality and culture are the stingiest of all. Though they like to CLAIM to be generous, they never DO anything generous.

Some of the food at Russian places is really bad, and it is rare that the food on the menu is good all the way across the board. It seems like Russian restauranteurs have not figured out which foods from the cuisine are crowd pleasers. Russian specialties are very good, and usually are so complicated that they are only served when 2 or 3 generations of women get together to make them. Unlike the Chinese, Russians really haven't figured out a way to showcase these, nor have they figured out a time-saving efficient method to serve these specialties fast and fresh. There is also the fact that daily/everyday/typical Russian food is not so good to most other cultures. Russians are sometimes bad with expirations dates/stale food, overcooking things and are terrible about leaving food sit out too long. Stinky old pickled herring with a potato on stale bread is actually a typical Russian meal. My mother was different due to a midwestern American and Austria-Hungary influence in her kitchen. I've not been to many Russian restaurants, but there was one in Akron, Ohio called Globe Cafe, which served complimentary pretzels and dried bublichki (crunchy little bagels). It went out of business. It's too bad, because it had such a good honey Napoleon cake, nice galupki, vereniki and really good blini.

Russians are generous, but often do not have much to give ... that is changing, though, as the economy improves. The restaurants are often not so successful, because people do not go crazy over the type of Russian food that these restaurants serve. Usually it's because the food is not so fresh or cooked wrong. Russians don't even go crazy over Russian food, and often only like Russian food if it is from their own kitchen (they get used to their own bad cooking). They're stingy, because they aren't making money, and have not found a way to market their food. It's a shame really, because people always ask me where to get good Russian food, and there really isn't a place, except grandma's kitchen, and even then it is only on special occasions. I'd take some chebureki or piroshki to a potluck, but it's best fresh, and would be too complicated to make fresh for a potluck. I may take some red borsch sometime because it's comforting and tasty, but it's not quite as impressive as chebureki or piroshki.

[KristineTheStrawberryGirl]

Complimentary food from various ethnic restaurants - with 2 exceptions

- Indian: I don't think you get anything complimentary most Indian restaurants, though some of them did give you free Indian pancake tortilla style bread, that doesn't seem common anymore.

I always get the crunchy bread with chutney at Indian restaurants.

The most elaborate complimentary fare was at a Persian place and an upscale California/French place. The persian place served hot pita bread with feta, cilantro, mint, onion and radish. The California/French place served an amuse bouche (like a small shot glass) of a wild mushroom soup topped with truffle oil, plus endless fresh baked bread. I also remember a Moroccan place that served bread with a roasted vegetable spread and washed your hands for you.

There's a Lebanese place that does not offer anything complimentary, and are very "stingy." They don't even give peppermints! It's a dive of a place, and you don't even get free refills on tea. However, their food is so good that nobody even cares.

[momopi]

- Korean: You get an incredible 6 or 7 free complimentary appetizers (kim chee, sweet potatoes, radishes, spinach, fish, etc), often with unlimited refills too!

- Indian: I don't think you get anything complimentary most Indian restaurants, though some of them did give you free Indian pancake tortilla style bread, that doesn't seem common anymore.

The Korean side dishes are referred to as banchan or panchan:



In old days a typical Korean meal consists of these side dishes and rice, sometimes with a little fish or meat. The kind of Korean BBQ we eat today only became affordable to the greater population in 1980s.


The Indian bread is called naan. At Indian restaurants, if you order entree's it's assumed that naan would be provided to you at no additional cost. But if you were dining in a Malay or Singapore restaurant, the roti canai / roti prata bread isn't free. Roti canai, roti telur, roti canai, etc. are all Malay variations of the Indian naan.