Chinese Take Out and the S2000
07-16-2018, 05:29 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Chinese Take Out and the S2000
Chinese take out and the S2000
I know, I know, you’re thinking what could anyone possibly say about Chinese take out food and the S2000, but we actually have a serious problem.
As you already know, Tuesday night is take out night. Liz works in the library from 5:00 pm until 9:00 pm and if I try to cook we end up going to bed hungry. No matter how I try, the food comes out inedible. Even if Liz prepares it in advance I still find a way to ruin it. I have mastered boiling water, but that’s about as far as it goes.
So, in order for us to eat dinner I end up bringing in take out food. Here in Randolph, NJ there aren’t too many choices. There are a few good Italian Restaurants and Pizza Shops. They are about 3 ½ miles from here. There are a few Chinese Restaurants, but the only really good one is about 8 miles from here. It’s not that we’re picky eaters (actually I am) but having lived near Chinatown, NYC and being married to a Chinese woman is the reason I have to go that distance for better Chinese food.
Pizza really isn’t a problem. It comes in a flat box. Even though the box doesn’t fit in the trunk, it does sit almost flat in the passenger seat. Not a problem at all. If you don’t go too fast, brake too hard and take turns a little more slowly, the Pizza gets home safely.
Italian take out works well too. Generally we get Veal or Chicken Parmesan dinners, Baked Ziti or something similar. They generally come in round aluminum containers with covers. The owner of the restaurant knows me so he puts the containers in a cut down box, side by side. The cut down box is perfect. It sits flat on the floor and can’t fall. I can even fit it in the trunk. It always gets home safely.
Chinese food is the problem. The restaurant uses round plastic containers with plastic covers. They generally put them in a paper shopping bag with handles piled one on top of the other. The fried rice is generally on the bottom, with the MooShu Pork next and the beef with mixed vegetables on top. At the very top is my Hot and Sour soup. The problem is how do you get this from tipping over on the drive home? Generally I put the bag on the floor on the passenger side next to the transmission tunnel. This way, I can hold the handles on the bag with one hand while I hold the steering wheel with the other hand. But what about when I have to shift gears? I have to let go of the bag and shift. Predictably, as soon as I let go of the bag to shift, the bag topples over. So far the container holding the soup has stayed closed, but I’m worried that one of these days the containers will open and I’ll have dinner all over the floor of my S2000. As much as I hate automatic transmissions on Tuesday nights I sometimes am tempted to change my mind.
So that’s the problem. How do you secure your Chinese take out in and S2000 for the drive home? I’ve though about going to Walmart and buying one of those plastic crates, but it won’t fit in the S2000. I’ve thought about using bungie cords, but there’s no where in the S2000 to secure them. I don’t know. I bet if I could think of a way to bring Chinese take out home safely I could probably make a million dollars overnight.
See, I told you we really have a serious problem. Have you got any ideas?
I know, I know, you’re thinking what could anyone possibly say about Chinese take out food and the S2000, but we actually have a serious problem.
As you already know, Tuesday night is take out night. Liz works in the library from 5:00 pm until 9:00 pm and if I try to cook we end up going to bed hungry. No matter how I try, the food comes out inedible. Even if Liz prepares it in advance I still find a way to ruin it. I have mastered boiling water, but that’s about as far as it goes.
So, in order for us to eat dinner I end up bringing in take out food. Here in Randolph, NJ there aren’t too many choices. There are a few good Italian Restaurants and Pizza Shops. They are about 3 ½ miles from here. There are a few Chinese Restaurants, but the only really good one is about 8 miles from here. It’s not that we’re picky eaters (actually I am) but having lived near Chinatown, NYC and being married to a Chinese woman is the reason I have to go that distance for better Chinese food.
Pizza really isn’t a problem. It comes in a flat box. Even though the box doesn’t fit in the trunk, it does sit almost flat in the passenger seat. Not a problem at all. If you don’t go too fast, brake too hard and take turns a little more slowly, the Pizza gets home safely.
Italian take out works well too. Generally we get Veal or Chicken Parmesan dinners, Baked Ziti or something similar. They generally come in round aluminum containers with covers. The owner of the restaurant knows me so he puts the containers in a cut down box, side by side. The cut down box is perfect. It sits flat on the floor and can’t fall. I can even fit it in the trunk. It always gets home safely.
Chinese food is the problem. The restaurant uses round plastic containers with plastic covers. They generally put them in a paper shopping bag with handles piled one on top of the other. The fried rice is generally on the bottom, with the MooShu Pork next and the beef with mixed vegetables on top. At the very top is my Hot and Sour soup. The problem is how do you get this from tipping over on the drive home? Generally I put the bag on the floor on the passenger side next to the transmission tunnel. This way, I can hold the handles on the bag with one hand while I hold the steering wheel with the other hand. But what about when I have to shift gears? I have to let go of the bag and shift. Predictably, as soon as I let go of the bag to shift, the bag topples over. So far the container holding the soup has stayed closed, but I’m worried that one of these days the containers will open and I’ll have dinner all over the floor of my S2000. As much as I hate automatic transmissions on Tuesday nights I sometimes am tempted to change my mind.
So that’s the problem. How do you secure your Chinese take out in and S2000 for the drive home? I’ve though about going to Walmart and buying one of those plastic crates, but it won’t fit in the S2000. I’ve thought about using bungie cords, but there’s no where in the S2000 to secure them. I don’t know. I bet if I could think of a way to bring Chinese take out home safely I could probably make a million dollars overnight.
See, I told you we really have a serious problem. Have you got any ideas?
Last edited by ralper; 07-16-2018 at 06:48 PM.
07-16-2018, 05:53 PM
#2
I'll see if my Chinese husband, who was raised in San Francisco on authentic Chinese food, and who likes to drive an S2000, has any ideas on how to solve your serious dilemma.
07-16-2018, 06:21 PM
#3
excuse me engineer here....
I will operate under the assumption that buying chinese food is not a surprise pickup while on the way home from somewhere else.
Bring a small cooler on the passenger seat restrained by the seatbelt.
Place the food in the cooler. drive home.
upon arriving home, take time to safely park the vehicle, remove the food from the cooler and go into your residence and consume.
of course you are faced with a decision you can remove the food bag from the cooler or you can bring in the cooler with the bag still inside.
Either solution is workable. side benefit is your food stays warmer.
I will operate under the assumption that buying chinese food is not a surprise pickup while on the way home from somewhere else.
Bring a small cooler on the passenger seat restrained by the seatbelt.
Place the food in the cooler. drive home.
upon arriving home, take time to safely park the vehicle, remove the food from the cooler and go into your residence and consume.
of course you are faced with a decision you can remove the food bag from the cooler or you can bring in the cooler with the bag still inside.
Either solution is workable. side benefit is your food stays warmer.
07-16-2018, 07:09 PM
#4
Or just keep a blanket in the trunk. You can fold it and lean it against whatever you get to-go. Bonus...If you get pizza, you can wrap the box in a blanket and it will be hotter when you get it home.
I heard an interesting podcast about Chinese food. Seems Chinese restaurants are more common in more countries than any other regional food. But Chinese is a little different in every country. So Chinese in Germany is way different than Chinese in Argentina or in Mexico or in the U.S. And it is all quite different than what you might find in a good urban restaurant in China. I would love to check out authentic Chinese food in S.F. some time.
I heard an interesting podcast about Chinese food. Seems Chinese restaurants are more common in more countries than any other regional food. But Chinese is a little different in every country. So Chinese in Germany is way different than Chinese in Argentina or in Mexico or in the U.S. And it is all quite different than what you might find in a good urban restaurant in China. I would love to check out authentic Chinese food in S.F. some time.
07-17-2018, 02:10 AM
#5
I was in SF years ago and had lunch in Chinatown. It was a very interesting part of the city. Is it still as big an area? Unfortunately, DC's Chinatown has dwindled to a shadow of its former self. Businesses driven out by higher rents and redevelopment, mostly. We do still have the arch, which is lovely.
07-17-2018, 05:20 AM
#6
We don't have this issue as we rarely do take out. It's just seems like it's never warm enough and attempts to re-heat don't cut it. When we do make the occasional exception , it's for pizza, and on occasion (very rare) Chinese food. I would just put the bag/package of food on the seat/floor. We don't buy take out soup....that could get messy. 
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07-17-2018, 05:50 AM
#8
Rob,
I don't cook either, and buy take out weekly. I bought a large fabric covered insulated bag (shopping bag) from Costco. Sam's Club and Walmart also sell them. It has a zipper on top and is deep. I use it for hot and cold food. Using it allows me to put the food on the seat or floor of the S, and it does keep hot take out food hot. If it leaks, whatever leaked stays in the bag. This works for me. Good luck!
Fred
I don't cook either, and buy take out weekly. I bought a large fabric covered insulated bag (shopping bag) from Costco. Sam's Club and Walmart also sell them. It has a zipper on top and is deep. I use it for hot and cold food. Using it allows me to put the food on the seat or floor of the S, and it does keep hot take out food hot. If it leaks, whatever leaked stays in the bag. This works for me. Good luck!
Fred
07-17-2018, 05:52 AM
#9
Rob I too occasionally get Chinese take out and pick it up in my s. They put it in a cut down box for me and what I do is place it on the passenger side floor in front of the little ridge on the floor so that it can’t slide under the seat and generally everything is placed together in the box so as not to to tip over as long as I don’t drive too aggressively.
I like the cooler idea that was mentioned if you get a decent sized cooler or even just some kind of portable container that should work also.
I like the cooler idea that was mentioned if you get a decent sized cooler or even just some kind of portable container that should work also.
07-17-2018, 07:25 AM
#10
Rob,
I don't cook either, and buy take out weekly. I bought a large fabric covered insulated bag (shopping bag) from Costco. Sam's Club and Walmart also sell them. It has a zipper on top and is deep. I use it for hot and cold food. Using it allows me to put the food on the seat or floor of the S, and it does keep hot take out food hot. If it leaks, whatever leaked stays in the bag. This works for me. Good luck!
Fred
I don't cook either, and buy take out weekly. I bought a large fabric covered insulated bag (shopping bag) from Costco. Sam's Club and Walmart also sell them. It has a zipper on top and is deep. I use it for hot and cold food. Using it allows me to put the food on the seat or floor of the S, and it does keep hot take out food hot. If it leaks, whatever leaked stays in the bag. This works for me. Good luck!
Fred
Levi