Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
After spending our morning looking at the terracotta soldiers, we were off to lunch. We ate on the second floor of the Xingshen International Hotel, which also housed a small market where you could buy souvenirs and knick knacks.
Before our main dishes arrived, we were directed over to a small buffet table of cold appetizers. My favourite dish at this table was a cold buckwheat salad with snow peas and red peppers. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it but it was very refreshing and the noodles had a nice crunch to them.
The chicken was a bit dry and had a slight herbal flavour to it. I think I would have enjoyed this more if the herbal taste was stronger and it would have made the dish stand out as being very unique. But because the taste was so mild, it made me uncertain as to whether or not the herbal taste was done on purpose. 
My mom told me that these crystalized honey potatoes were a specialty of this region and that it was a favourite of both my mom and dad when they were in Xi’an a few years ago. Despite the honey, I did not find the potatoes to be overly sweet and really enjoyed the contrast of the crunchy outside with the meaty potato inside. I can really see this as a yummy snack to have if you’re at the movies or something. You had to eat this dish immediately though because it wasn’t as tasty once it cooled down.
The handmade noodles in sesame oil were eaten cold. Although it was a bit plain, it provided a nice base to eat with some of our other dishes, epseically the ones with more gravy/sauce.
The cauliflower was actually very tasty and I enjoyed the red carrots quite a bit. Does anyone know if there are red carrots available in Vancouver? The carrots are so red in the picture below that they almost look like tomatoes.
The spicy lamb dish was very tasty although on the oily side. I also felt that there should be more lamb in proportion to the onions and peppers.
Next came the celery and pork. I am normally not a big celery fan because I find the taste to be too strong…but I like the mild taste of the celery in this dish.
Our last dish of the day was a sweet and sour pork. I thought this dish looked good but it was easily the worst dish of our meal. There was way too much fried batter and it wasn’t even warm!
My favourite dishes here were the potatoes and the noodles. I’m going to have to investigate just how they make those honey potatoes…
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Posted in Xi'an, Other Cities, Asian, Chinese, Reviews | No Comments »
Sunday, April 6th, 2008
The first official city of our China/Hong Kong trip was Xi’an. Xi’an is the ancient capital city of China and is home to the terracotta warriors and the tomb of China’s first emperor. The region here is one of the agricultural centres of China and is full of rich farmland and we definitely had our fill of fresh and yummy vegetables while we were here.
To start our meal this evening, we had some Chinese beer. I’m not a big beer drinker back in Canada so I don’t have a point of comparison, but I found Chinese beer to be quite light and mild in taste.
To start our meal, we had a variety of cold dishes. The cold beef was thinly sliced and lightly seasoned.
The cold chicken was pretty standard and regular tasting…although I also found it to be a bit dry.
I enjoyed the cold lotus root quite a bit. It was lightly drizzled with sesame oil and was very crunchy.
The cold cucumber dish was also lightly drizzled with sesame oil. It was slightly salty and very crunchy. I don’t think it was cucumber season back in Vancouver so I actually hadn’t eaten any in quite a while but the cucumbers here in Xi’an were very fresh.
The soup was loaded with veggies and mushrooms…
These green gourds were slightly tangy and also very crunchy. As you can probably tell by now, I have a penchant for crunchy vegetables.
The chicken and chive dish was great with rice. The chives had a light onion/garlicky taste but was not too overwelming.
The beef and pepper dish was spicy and also very good with rice. Although it had quite a few chilli peppers in the dish, it was not too spicy.
The chicken cubes in the next dish were a bit dry but I enjoyed the cucumber and carrot chunks. Notice how red the carrots are…I suppose this is why they are called red turnips in Chinese?
My mom referred to these veggies as Chinese lettuce. It was lightly stir-fried and very fresh.
I think these noodles were one of the best dishes of the evening. The noodles were freshly made and al dente. The light soup broth perfectly complemented the noodles.
I wasn’t too impressed with these pork dumplings…they looked a bit sad all lined up on the plate like that.
For dessert, we had some steamed sweet rice cakes. These tasted almost exactly like the white steamed rice cakes available in Vancouver but I liked these more because they were a bit chewier and weren’t as watery.
All in all, I enjoyed our first meal in Xi’an. I had been warned previously that the food in the other Chinese cities I would visit were much better but maybe that was why I enjoyed the food here. The vegetables were all very fresh and what I liked the most was that the food appeared to be completely absent of MSG! The service was also very attentive and friendly.
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Posted in Xi'an, Other Cities, Asian, Chinese, Reviews | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
During our one evening in Japan, we were all determined to try some sushi. Our travel agent recommended a good place to us in the Narita city centre, but we got our directions mixed up so we ended up eating at the Japanese restaurant in our hotel instead. We were prepared for some inflated hotel prices but hoped the dinner would still be good.
Once we were seated, we were given cute little paper cranes to rest our chopsticks on.
Jenkins and I both ordered the chirashi, which cost 3400 yen (approx. $34 Cdn). Of all the items in the chirashi, I enjoyed the tamago the most. It was not too sweet and had a slightly roasted taste to it. I also liked the tuna, which was moist and had a nice red colour (different from what we’re used to in Vancouver). All the seafood had a nice fresh taste and even though it was on the small side, we still filled up.
Jenkins noted that the wasabi was tastier than the usual green stuff we are accustomed to and was much more potent. I don’t think this was real wasabi though.
All our meals also came with miso soup, which came with clams on the bottom. I liked the light clam flavour of the soup but found the clams to be somewhat overcooked.
I enjoyed our meal here but wished we had the opportunity to check out the travel agent-recommended restaurant. I’ll have to add that to my list of things to go back and do the next time I’m in the area.
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Price: $$$
Posted in Narita, Other Cities, Japanese, Asian, Reviews | 4 Comments »
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