During festivals or when friends and family visit, people are accustomed to dining out. Some struggle with ordering dishes, or under the waiter's guidance, order a large number of unsuitable dishes, not only overspending but also having a poor meal. In fact, there are skills to ordering dishes. Master the following tips, and you will order with ease.
1. Don't order too many dishes
When ordering, you can follow the principle of one dish per person, plus one soup at the end, based on the number of guests. Avoid ordering too many. If there are more male guests or alcohol will be served, you can appropriately add one or two more dishes. The additional dishes should be mainly meat dishes. Additionally, if there are many children, one or two dim sum dishes should be included.
2. A good mix of meat and vegetable dishes
The standard for ordering is a 50/50 mix of meat and vegetable dishes. That is, if there are 6 guests, order three meat and three vegetable dishes. If there are 8 guests, order four meat and four vegetable dishes. Meat dishes include large meat dishes and semi-meat dishes, while vegetable dishes are mainly leafy greens.
3. Order more steamed and stewed dishes, fewer smoked and fried ones
When ordering, prioritize cold-dressed, steamed, stewed, boiled, and simmered dishes. Next, choose stir-fried, quick-fried, and braised dishes. Order fewer or avoid pan-fried, deep-fried, smoked, grilled, and pickled dishes. The reasoning is simple: the less processing, the more natural ingredients are retained, and the better the nutritional value. Barbecued and pickled products contain preservatives and carcinogens, so try to order them less or not at all.
4. Order fewer dishes with repeated main ingredients
Dishes should emphasize a variety of combinations: meat and vegetables, rich and light flavors, and dry and wet textures, using various cooking methods. Try to avoid repeating main ingredients. For example, if you choose an old duck soup for the soup, the hot and cold dishes can focus on fish or vegetable-based dishes. If you order a beef hot pot, there is no need to order beef stir-fried dishes.
5. Be cautious with specialty and recommended dishes
For the restaurant's specialty dishes, ask about the flavor, accompanying ingredients, and price, and select them accordingly. Be cautious about the dishes the waiter recommends. This is because these specialty dishes might be made with ingredients that are about to die (like fish and shrimp) or are rotting (like vegetables), preventing the restaurant from "clearing inventory" by pushing recommended dishes.