I love me some Singapore Mei Fun, but the flavor can be heavily influenced by the container that it's served in.

Chinese take out comes in a ton of packaging these days. If I get my take-out from Wegmans, the container is usually one of those traditional paper fold-ups with the little wire handle. These are ok for taste, since they're coated on the inside, but you can't microwave them because of the handle.

Of course, if you really want to find something offensive to your microwave, try the aluminum containers that Nice (that's the name of the restaurant, yes) uses. They have those containers like they use to heat paste at the pizza place. It's like an aluminum pie pan with a see-through plastic lid. The aluminum is bent to hold on the lid.

The worst part about the aluminum containers is that you can taste the aluminum on the food. Regardless of whether you eat it out of the container or you put it on a plate, there is always a hint of metal to the food flavor. Yuck.

When I order lunch from Mister Wok (formerly Master Wok, but sued into changing a letter) they put my Mei Fun in a styrofoam container and staple it shut. The styrofoam doesn't do much to the flavor of the food, but the nater of the staple is such that the container is both difficult to open and prone to spillage. Not a good combination.

The best containers out there are the solid plastic ones. They have black bottoms and clear tops so you can see what's in them. They're a step up from Gladware and a step down from Rubbermaid. You can stack them safely on top of one another, and they hold heat pretty well. They also don't taint the flavor of the food, and you can microwave them without worry.

I'm not sure why I put so much thought into my Chinese food containers, but darn it, I appreciate a good wrapper on my food, in much the same way I appreciate service with a smile and free oil changes with state inspections.