What is the cheapest Asian food in Lawrence?

Chicken fried rice with fresh green peas, carrots, white onions, sliced chicken breast, eggs and brown rice costs $3.75 at Jade Garden Chinese restaurant. General chicken with broccolis, sweet sauce, salad, crab rangoon, fried rice and one soft drink costs $5.80 at Tryyaki Chinese restaurant.

“Sometimes I like to order delivery from Jade Garden at night,” Alex Chen, University of Kansas senior said. “It is fast and cheap for a great late night snack.” 

Issue

            Chinese Buffet is not the only chose for people who want to go out to eat and save some money. It is not truth that Chinese food is the cheapest Asian food people can get in town.

Steve Lam’s father owns Fortune Star Chinese restaurant in Overland Park, Kan. Steve Lam complains that the price for some Chinese restaurants is too low.

“People call us and asked why our food is one dollar more expensive than other restaurants,” Lam said. “One entrée served with white rice, egg roll and crab rangoon is a lot of food for only $6.45.” 

Price of compare

After research and done calculate I find that Vietnamese food has the lowest price of entrée, and Japanese food is the most expensive Asian food in Lawrence. Take all of the different types of Asian restaurants in town and calculate the average entrée prices for each restaurant. Vietnamese food at Little Saigon Cafe and The Orient Vietnames has the lowest average price of $7.95. Chinese food from Hibachi Grill Supreme Buffet, Panda & Plum Garden, Tryyaki, Jade Garden, 8 Flavors, Encore Cafe, Oriental Bistro & Grill and King Buffet followed with the average price of $8.

Japanese food cost people more then twice as much then the Vietnamese food.  India food from India Palace has average of $11. Thai food from Thai House and Zen Zero has the average price of $11.10. Korean food from Yokohama Sushi’s Korean menu and O Café has the average price of $12.25. The highest average price is Japanese food which from Kokoro Japanese Sushi & Steakhouse, Don Don,Wa and Yokohama Sushi at $17.

             “Some of the food in Japanese restaurants are far more over priced,” Chen said. “I only go occasionally for special events because I don’t want to spend $30 a meal everyday.”

    

             Reaction from local restaurants  

             The Chinese restaurant Panda &Plum Garden will not change any of its entree and buffet prices. Raymond Peng the manger of the restaurant think the price for their food is very fair for their customers.  

“There are only few customers that complain some of our dishes’ prices,” Peng said.“ I think the prices are right for the quality food you get from our restaurants.”

Customers know what quality of food they would get from each restaurant before they actually go to the restaurant or see the prices on the menu.

“You get what you pay for it.” Chen said. “I think sometimes you can not ask much and have high expectation from three dollar fried rice.”

Yunhi Cho Ediger, the head chef of Korean restaurant O Café says every ingredient has become more expensive, and restaurants need to make some money. Right now they just don’t get the same quantity of food they use to pay for. After comparing other Asian restaurants in Lawrence, the O Café decided to raise some of their entree prices starting next month.

“I like to see my customers come to the restaurant happy and enjoy our food,” Ediger said. “I also hate to see people think Korean food is cheap.”

Wrong about Chinese food 

Steve Lam says that American Chinese restaurants in most people’s mind are all typically the same. Also, people think that Chinese food is unhealthy for people to eat. He dislikes those assumptions and wishes that people would think differently about Chinese food.

“It’s just bad association in people’s mind to think about Chinese food that way,” Lam said. “There is no reason why Chinese food should have such low value compared to everything else.”       

Lam hopes people can understand Chinese food requires many ingredients to prepare and takes much time and effort to cook. It is not just like making a sandwich at home.

“I just hope one day people will not be able to get fried rice, a dish, crab rangoon, egg roll and a soup included for $3.99.” Lam said.


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To see the price comparison of Asian restaurants in Lawrence.

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To watch the interview video for Steve Lam think why the Chinese food price is low. 



Reported by Hao Hsuan Niu in Lawrence Kansas.