15 replies to this topic

[weave]

I am picking up a foreign exchange student in a couple of weeks at the Elmira-Corning airport.  Going to be a dinner time arrival.  I'm looking for a place for dinner in the area (or somewhere headed West from Corning/Elmira) that has good food and a diverse enough menu that a picky eater may find something they like.  Our student is coming from China and I have been unable to find out what sorts of foods he likes and what he doesn't like, so I am dealing with a dinner for a teenager with unknown food tastes.  I'm not looking for a Chinese restaurant as I don't know that our American version will be palatable to him.

Well, maybe I should be looking for a good Chinese restaurant?  Even "Americanized" it'll be closer to familiar than anything else.  How about other Asian restaurants in the Corning/Elmira area?

Needs to be easy to get to from the airport, or at least I-86/17.

[That Aud Smell]

holy shnikees is this a specific request.

also, i had no idea that elmira/corning had an airport, let alone that one might expect a foreign exchange student to arrive there.

[weave]

That Aud Smell, on 09 August 2012 - 09:25 AM, said:

holy shnikees is this a specific request.

also, i had no idea that elmira/corning had an airport, let alone that one might expect a foreign exchange student to arrive there.

Heck, right now I'll be happy to get any decent restaurant selection.  I don't know the area at all.

As for the airport, never been there but the kid isn't arriving straight from China to Elmira.  It's a commuter flight from JK in NYC.

[MattPie]

There's a few decent places along Market in Corning, which is just off Rt 352 (which is easy from I86 heading west). The brewery is OK, but not fantastic. I haven't eaten any of the other places, but they look nice enough. There's also a Wegmans right there if you want to freak him out.

[TrueBluePhD]

I'm not going to be much help with a specific restaurant, but personally I wouldn't take him to a Chinese place--just can't imagine our Americanized Chinese comparing, and if it did, that place probably doesn't exist in Elmira .  Best advice I can offer is to scan the tripadvisor results and opt for a place with good reviews:  http://www.tripadvis...s_New_York.html

[That Aud Smell]

TrueBluePhD, on 09 August 2012 - 09:36 AM, said:

Best advice I can offer is to scan the tripadvisor results and opt for a place with good reviews:  http://www.tripadvis...s_New_York.html

i too find that tripadvisor is reliable.

[dEnnis the Menace]

There's not a whole lot heading west from the airport until Corning (not too far), but if you go something like 2 exits east, there are a whole bunch of your typical chain food places (i.e. Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Outback, Wendy's, Applebees, Texas Roadhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, Friendly's (one more exit back), etc.)  They have all the same chains in Corning I believe, but I'm not certain.  I work in Elmira, and frequent the airport, so I only know what's along the way.

[ChileanSeaBass]

I've had to travel throughout the US with visiting Japanese and Chinese colleagues, and they always insist on eating Japanese/Chinese food.  It's horribly annoying.  The one time I got to pick, I took them to a taco truck on the south side of Chicago.  Win me.

[cdexchange]

ChileanSeaBass, on 09 August 2012 - 10:46 AM, said:

I've had to travel throughout the US with visiting Japanese and Chinese colleagues, and they always insist on eating Japanese/Chinese food.  It's horribly annoying.  The one time I got to pick, I took them to a taco truck on the south side of Chicago.  Win me.

How did they like it?

[That Aud Smell]

ChileanSeaBass, on 09 August 2012 - 10:46 AM, said:

I've had to travel throughout the US with visiting Japanese and Chinese colleagues, and they always insist on eating Japanese/Chinese food.  It's horribly annoying.

wait, really?

[Spndnchz]

That Aud Smell, on 09 August 2012 - 11:51 AM, said:

wait, really?

Hide your dog!

[Drunkard]

ChileanSeaBass, on 09 August 2012 - 10:46 AM, said:

I've had to travel throughout the US with visiting Japanese and Chinese colleagues, and they always insist on eating Japanese/Chinese food.  It's horribly annoying.  The one time I got to pick, I took them to a taco truck on the south side of Chicago.  Win me.

Did they demand to sing karaoke as well?

[ChileanSeaBass]

The Japanese guys always insist on eating at Japanese steakhouses/hibachi joints, and then complain about how they're not as good as back home (surprised? really?).  They asked for karaoke once, but I got out of that one.  I've even had dinner at a hibachi place in Cologne, Germany, that's how obsessed they are (which, coincidentally is the best I've been to outside of Japan).

The Chinese clients that visited here in Charlotte insisted on going to some absolutely awful dim sum place.  It was horrible.  They seemed to enjoy it, but you can never tell with them.  They didn't know what to make of the Chicago taco truck experience.  It could have been the food... or the atmosphere... or the ghetto... who knows, but best damn taco I've ever had.

[IKnowPhysics]

spndnchz, on 09 August 2012 - 11:52 AM, said:

Hide your dog!

I lol'd.

But seriously, dogs are Korean food, cats are Chinese food.

[wjag]

If he flew from China to NYC he probably has been eating a lot already. He's probably been flying for like 30 hours now and may not be hungry. A bed and shower might be a bigger priority than a meal....  I know when I do it, I feel like I'm always eating.

[weave]

Good point, wjag.  I hadn't considered that.