Pen's Nest

My FIL lived in Australia (Tasmania) for a while, and would visit the local Chinese buffet quite happily. It was definitely coloniser-version Chinese food!

When we managed to lure him to Sydney for a long weekend, he came with strict instructions from a friend to have an authentic Chinese meal. We found a place which was thronging with Chinese faces, and had trolleys of food baskets circulating. We had no idea what we were doing but we ate there anyway, and it was *completely* different from what he was expecting. Nothing whatever on the menu that he recognised (except 'rice', probably). He didn't like it. (We had another meal at a teppan yaki (??) restaurant where, unfortunately, we were the first customers of the evening, so the chef concentrated on us. What he needed was a cheerful, extrovert crowd who enjoyed catching their own eggs in their own dishes and their own omelettes in their own mouths... he got us: Me, and two Robinson males. Ahaha.)

I suppose it's probable that most of the UK's Chinese immigrants came via Hong Kong? I don't know if that would make a difference to the resulting food or not, but I expect there are plenty of regional variations in China. And we've had a strong tradition of loving our curries here, obviously due to a long, hm, association with India. I'd guess that the different ethnic compositions of the USA and UK might make a difference in what the customers would like to eat. Wonder if anyone's studied that?

I don't recognise General Tso's Chicken or orange chicken, and I don't *think* I recognise moo goo gai pan (though it has been mentioned in enough fanfics that I recognise the name), so there do seem to be variations on the theme. If I do see it on a menu here I will have to order it.

When I was a child, if my family ordered Chinese food, we all shared all the dishes. When I stayed with a couple in Germany and we went out for a Chinese meal, I was rather disappointed that everyone ordered their own dish and we didn't share. What do you do?