Western food in Asia
Photo: Coolmanjackey, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Western food in Asia is often localised to the point of being hardly recognisable to Westerners, a situation analogous to Asian, in particular Chinese, cuisines in the West. This article aims to provide an overview of the unique variations on Western food that have developed in Asia that visitors might be interested in trying.
Most major Asian cities and nearly all the high-class hotels have Western restaurants, and many expatriates run restaurants, mainly in tourist towns or beach resort areas, with authentic Western food. Those places are listed in the relevant destination articles, but this article does not include them. Instead it focuses on local adaptations of Western food.
Many Western fast food chains have locations in Asia, and most have partly adapted their menus to local preferences. Often there are also local fast food chains with partly Western menus. Some fast food is therefore covered in the country sections below.
UnderstandContact between Asian and Western cultures has existed since antiquity, with one of the most famous ancient routes connecting Asia and Europe being the Silk Road.
EatThe generic term for Western food in Chinese is 西餐 (xīcān), which can include anything from authentic carbon copies of French or Italian dishes to locally invented Western-style dishes that cannot be found in Western…
DrinkCoffee originated in the Horn of Africa and reached Europe via the Arabs, who may also have brought it to other parts of Asia.
RespectAlthough you can usually expect that Western food will come with forks, spoons, and knives, this may not be universal. You may occasionally have to enjoy your Italian meal using chopsticks.
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Western food in Asia" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Coolmanjackey, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons