Have You Eaten Yet? Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan

I was expecting a quirky and nuanced exploration of the mom-and-pop Chinese restaurant around the world. To some extent this book succeeds. But too often, it reads like an extension of a documentary series. The focus strays to how a particular restaurant got chosen, the tourist attractions in town, and the author’s own place in it all. The book misses the title’s promise by a mile. The early chapter on Noisy Jim, a diner owner in Outlook, pop. 1200 in Canada’s Saskatchewan province is delightful. Most of the rest of the fare though is edible enough but not lip-smackingly delicious.