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ortizzyy's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
I enjoyed this book, but at times I was confused due to the inconsistent timelines. Some of the stories felt disjointed. I wish there were more photos and descriptions of the food!
hussavji's review
I thought this would be more focused on the food and experience of the restaurant but it is more focused on the Chinese diaspora and movement. Interesting but not my interest. Too history focused.
laurakershaw's review
3.0
I liked a lot of aspects about the book, but I was expecting more of a deep dive into the cuisines themselves and better descriptions of the dishes/food. Not a bad thing as the stories were still interesting and engaging, just a surprise for me personally. I'd give it a 3.5/5
jaanareads's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.0
I thought this book was going to focus mainly on culinary aspects of Chinese restaurants around the world, but it was more stories of Chinese immigration and diaspora from the lenses of Chinese restaurant owners. It was interesting nonetheless, just didn't match what I was expecting from the description. The writing felt a bit dry and the stories started to all blend together for me, so I ended up skimming most of the second half. Overall, not bad and I did appreciate learning about so many diasporic stories and communities.
catads1234's review
4.0
It was fascinating to learn about the Chinese Diaspora and how different world events impacted how the Chinese immigrants were able to settle in their new nations. I (probably rather ignorantly) was not aware that there were sizeable Chinese populations in many of the nations that Kwan visited in this book. Seeing certain cultural threads appear across the different people he interviewed was really interesting-their tenacity and resiliency especially.
dil's review
3.0
Very informative but I found the writing flat. I'm looking forward to watching the documentary series though.