Meal out tonight, please help!!

[squishee]

Hi all,

I'm going out for a meal this evening - it's my partner's sister's birthday, and she's decided we're going to a rather nice chinese restaurant in town. (You know, the sort of place where the menu is in Chinese, the napkins are linen, and they look at you like they want you to leave when you ask for a knife and fork... :wink

Normally if I go out for dinner we end up somewhere where I can pick a salad and not eat the bread/croutons, or can have meat, veggies, and leave the chips.
But I'm a bit at a loss as to what to pick off the menu here to minimise the carbs!!! :shock:
Obviously I will avoid things like rice/noodle dishes, and things in batter (shame, I love their dumplings ), but does anyone have any good tips or pointers to help me look for the right "sort" of dishes??
Eg, a chow mein would be bad, but foo yung probs bot so bad.

I don't want to make a fuss or anything infront of the whole of my OH's family!! :lol:
Thanks in advance,
Becka xxxx

 

[sugarless sue]

Chow Mein should be fine, it works for me anyway and I am not on Insulin. Veggy dishes should be ok too. You will be able to cover with your Insulin. It's an occasion....enjoy yourself !

 

[Patch]

Foo Young would be a good one, Chop Suey might be another.

I wouldn't hesitate to ask for something specific, though. I'm sure they'll knock something up for you if you ask nicely. They'll have absolutely LOADS of lo-carb ingredients in the kitchen, maybe just ask for a variety of what you like stir fried? (Prawns/squid/beef/pork/chicken/bean sprouts/spring onion/chilli/Bok Choi/mushrooms/peppers/water chestnuts, etc...) Maybe ring up first (tell them who the reservation is for so they'll be expecting you) and tell them what you can eat - then just mention it when ordering?

I don't usually have difficulty ordering Asian food...

 

[squishee]

Thanks for the advice

Patch - I don't think I'd be happy trying to get the kitchen to make me something special! My mother worked as a chef for years, and I know what a pain it is when someone wants special treatment!! :lol:
Plus one of OH's sisters is extremely judgemental, and I don't really want to draw attention to the fact that I'm on a "weird diet" as she would see it. It would make for a lenghty and probably heated debate. Not fancying that much!!!

I think I may well go for a chop suey dish. Or something fishy. They do a lot of fishy things there.
I normally have duck & pancakes as they don't require chopsticks to eat...
Does anyone know how "bad" the pancakes are on the carb scale of things??

 

[Patch]

Ingredient wise, they are pretty bad. BUT - they're wafer thin, so there's not that much to 'em. Just don't go mad. I'd imagine I could eat 2 or 3 without worrying. Just pack 'em with duck, spring onion and cucumber! Take it easy on the plum sauce, though... :wink:

 

[squishee]

Argh, good point about the plum sauce!! I wouldn't have thought of that... lol

Thank you!

 

[cugila]

Does anyone know how "bad" the pancakes are on the carb scale of things??

Chinese Style pancakes can have as many as 54.7g carbs per 100g........all depends on the recipe and who they may have them supplied by. Don't have too many !

Source: Calorie Carbs & Fat Bible 2011

 

[noblehead]

All this talk of Chinese food is making me want one tonight! :wink:

Nigel

 

[anniep]

Watch anything in a sauce they can often incude sugar, and different places have different recipies so I found that just becasue I am ok with somehting from one chinese, I may not be from another!!

So I usually have a foo young and get away with it very well. but go easy on the rice/noodles

 

[Patch]

^^^What he said.

 

[lovinglife]

when I have a Chinese - which is what we tend to eat out most I have Yam Tam soup - but you have to like spicey stuff as its really hot but very good for you - just seafood chilli lemon grass and fish stock - very low carb

I have the crispy duck as middle course and ask for some lettuce leaves to use instead of pancakes and have chow mein - I eat around the noodles and only have a very few of them towards the end of my meal when I am full - one glass of red and a wonderful night - never have yet gone above 7 with this meal

Don't stress to much and just enjoy your night out

 

[Sid Bonkers]

The last time I had a Chinese meal I ate chicken in black bean sauce, some special chop suey and a spoonful of boiled rice.

Try not to get stressed and have a great evening

 

[squishee]

Hi all

Thanks for all the great advice yesterday
As it turns out we went to a Siganpore-type restaurant instead of the Chinese, which really restricted my menu options as I'm not fond of satay, green curries and the like.

So, I had a little nibble of the crispy duck that was shared between us to start - avoided the pancakes and plum sauce!
Then I had a gorgeous teryaki salmon fillet as my main course. I was able to swap the rice for stir-fried mixed vegetables instead
Bloods before dinner - 5.7, bloods after dinner - 6.2! Brilliant!

And now I have lots of lovely tips for eating Chinese, so I won't have to veto the suggestion next time OH wants to eat out

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Thats great squishee I'm glad you had a good time and will now feel more relaxed about eating out