Chung Hu's - Lovely plastic decor

Chinee Chinee Restaurant

In Trinidad and Tobago there are a number of Chinese restaurants that are operated by Chinese immigrates. Puzzling as it seems, the person who takes your order over the counter generally speaks with a thick tongue of English Mandarin, or in other words, in a choppy dialect of one syllable words. Hence: "Fry...Rice, Chic...ken, Chunky...Veg, Large, Thirty...Dollar" is her confirming the order. And as the chef prepares his wok, you are transformed into an exotic place like Mother...Land Chi..na in decor and style.

This is Chung Hu's restaurant in Diego Martin, the place is fairly large with tables covered with pink flower patterned vinyl sheets. Each table has a lovely vase set with an artificial rose sprinkled with dust . If you are lucky, you can sit next to the large plastic citrus tree bearing orange fruit to give an ambiance with your Chow Mein special. The walls of this restaurant are filled with prints of homeland China and a few Buddhists charms to protect the space. The mere difference between this place and other high end Chinese restaurants is that the table cloth is actually a cloth and the dinning room is located on the upper floor of the Establishment. The cost though is twice as much.

Chinese restaurants are family based, and often enough you may see young children clawing at their mother's leg as she tries to attend to you. What is more amusing is their thick Trinidadian accent. Note: Chung Hu asked the patrons kindly not to remove the soap and toilet paper from their restrooms.

Adele's comments:
At the moment we are having an insurgence of Chinese restaurants run by Chinese who are just off the boat. For most food places, no matter how exotic, many end up having to accommodate what we know as 'creole' food, a peas and rice, stew chicken and mayonnaise also known as potato salad. There is so much more to chose from today, as you can get a Capuccino, Sushi and fried Octupus if it suits your fancy. However,if you are in port-of-Spain and you pass by The Breakfast Shed, you'll be hard pressed to find a seat, as so many people love nothing better than what all regions call 'comfort food."