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.
Click Here
To see the price comparison of Asian restaurants in Lawrence.
Click Here
Reported by Hao Hsuan Niu in Lawrence Kansas.
