Finally got around to ordering some Hakka food.
It was Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, so I’ve had 3 days of turkey, which meant I avoided chicken tonight.
We tried the vegetable momos, Manchurian beef (dry version, $2 extra), Hakka noodles with shrimp and veggie spring rolls. It was good! I don’t have too much experience with Hakka food. I didn’t love the chili chicken at another restaurant. I like crispy ginger beef.
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There are three places near me (Houston), along the sides of a triangular shaped block, which offer Indian style Chinese food. I’ve never seen the word Hakka used to describe them, although I think they all have some dishes labeled Hakka. One, Bombay Express, offers the menu all day long. The other two, Nukkad Dabha and Hyderabadi Chai and Grill, only offer it starting at 5 pm. All three are open until at least 2 am, very unusual in this part of town. My favorite dish has been the Schezwan Fried rice. My avatar is the version from Hyderabadi Grill. Visually arresting and addictive but this version requires careful and measured intake 
The version from Bombay has almost no heat.
Re: the original topic, eating ethnically is a primary reason for going out, whether locally or on the road. I love trying new cuisines, new dishes, I always scan a menu for something new to me rather than ‘favorites’ and when I travel, I’m looking for regional or ‘foreign/ethnic’ cuisines/dishes I can’t get at home.
An article in the local paper or on one of the foodie media a few years back (pre-pandemic) asserted there were 83 different cuisines available in Houston. I reckoned I had experienced something like 65 of them. I’m sure that overall count has changed because of the pandemic.
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My nearby Mumbai street food restaurant has a number of Indo-Chinese dishes amongst its starters. No main courses though.
Interesting article here about the now very small Chinese community in the city
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My first priority traveling anywhere is to eat local, meaning a food item unique (as possible) to the locale.
For example, I made a point to try Taber corn and locally raised beef in Alberta.
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The Vietnamese food in Alberta made with Albertan beef is excellent.
Taber corn isn’t quite as good as southwestern Ontario corn, but it is good for Alberta.
I have had enough plain fresh local Ontario and Taber corn, and Alberta beef, that I eat them in more interesting ways that reflect the multicultural diversity in Canada. I have been to Caesar’s steakhouse in Calgary, as well as Hy’s (Hy’s was founded in Winnipeg but has locations in Calgary and Toronto). The upscale steakhouses in Alberta are comparable to the steakhouses in LA, Toronto , Montreal or NYC. Not where I spend my money on trips to Alberta unless I’m dining with friends and family who want an old school steakhouse experience.
Ginger Beef, is Calgary’s specialty in terms of a regional dish made with local beef that was invented in Calgary’s Chinatown at the Silver Inn in 1975.
Calgary has a very nice little Chinatown.
Your comment about eating Taber corn in Alberta is a little like saying you eat tomatoes when you visit New Jersey.
New Jersey tomatoes are fantastic, but we all know there is more to regional cuisine in New Jersey than their fantastic tomatoes. It’s not eating ethnically in NJ to eat tomatoes, and it isn’t eating ethnically in Alberta to eat local beef and Taber corn.
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I did not say I am eating ethnically while enjoying Taber corn in Alberta. I am saying what my priorities are when traveling. If it’s something I can’t get where I live, then I enjoy focusing on that, with no concern toward eating ethnically or not.
Since I was not in SW Ontario at the time, the relative deliciousness of the corn did not concern me.
If I’m living outside of my home country (the U.S.), I might opt for an imported taste of home, which generally manifested in the form of a hamburger, or pizza. However, most of the time I’ve lived in darn good food countries where delicious things were just 'round the corner, so it was an infrequent occurrence.
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