Description

Most Asian restaurants are really two restaurants: one where outsiders eat, and one where insiders dine. So how can you become an insider and take full advantage of Asian cuisines?

In this indispensable guide, dining expert Steven A. Shaw proves that you don't have to be Asian to enjoy a VIP experience—you just have to eat like you are. Through entertaining and richly told anecdotes and essays, Asian Dining Rules takes you on a tour of Asian restaurants in North America, explaining the cultural and historical background of each cuisine—Japanese, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Korean, and Indian—and offering an in-depth survey of these often daunting foodways. Here are suggestions for getting the most out of a restaurant visit, including where to eat, how to interact with the staff, be treated like a regular, learn to eat outside the box, and order special off-menu dishes no matter your level of comfort or knowledge.

Steven Shaw—intrepid reporter, impeccable tastemaker, and eater extraordinaire—is the perfect dining companion to accompany you on your journey to find the best Asian dining experience, every time.

About the Author

Steven A. Shaw, aka "The Fat Guy," is the founder of the phenomenally successful eGullet website, a James Beard Award-winning food critic, and a contributor to Saveur, Crain's New York Business, and many other publications. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.

Praise For…

“Read this book before eating at an Asian restaurant…you’ll be a step ahead” — Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto

“With Shaw’s Dining Rules under your belt, you’ll be ordering like a regular.” — Martin Yan, cookbook author and host of the Yan Can Cook Show

“What impresses me about Steven Shaw is not that he’s mastered Asian decorum, but that he’s mastered almost everything in the food world. Nobody should be that gifted. I’m twice his age, and I’m constantly learning from him.” — Alan Richman

“Steven Shaw is the dining companion we all yearn for when eating unfamiliar foods in unfamiliar places: He is warm, wise, and goes out of his way to make us feel as informed (and well fed) as possible.” — James Oseland, editor-in-chief, Saveur, and author of Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore

“As you order the shrimp fried rice and General Tso’s chicken for the eight hundredth time, you eye the guests to your left. They have, apparently, seen a secret, far superior menu. Hungry reader, they read this book.” — Phoebe Damrosch, author of Service Included