Sunday, May 11th, 2008
On our last evening in Beijing, we went to a restaurant right across the street from a military hospital. I didn’t see too many people in uniform eating here though. 
Instead of the regular tea we were accustomed to in most restaurants, we were served some chrysanthemum tea. It was very flavourful, probably due to the generous serving of chrysanthemum flower buds in the pot.
The first dish were the ubiquitous chinese gourds with pork. :) As usual, the gourds were fresh and crunchy. I liked hos the gourds were julienned or shredded, which made for an almost salad-like texture.
The stir-fried veggies were simply cooked but very tasty. They almost tasted like stir-fried lettuce.
And what meal is complete without sweet and sour pork? :) This dish wasn’t too bad…I liked it because it was light on the batter.
We also had chicken with cucumbers. I liked the cucumbers and even though the chicken looked a bit dry, it was actually quite juicy.
It took me a while to figure out what the next dish was my mom figured out that it was stir-fried jicama. I’ve only had jicama fresh and uncooked so this was quite an interesting taste sensation. :) It was very crunchy yet creamy at the same time. That probably sounds a bit odd but I enjoyed this dish.
The steamed tofu with veggies and mushrooms was very filling and went well with rice. My dad and brother liked this dish quite a bit.
The clear soup was refreshing and had a light flavour.
For dessert, we had some deep fried cake (I think?) with taro inside and dusted with sesame. Although it was a bit on the oily side, I liked the taste of this. It was crispy and the sesame made it nice and toasty. I also liked the light sweetness of the taro.
My favourite items at this restaurant were actually the tea and the dessert. In fact, they actually went quite well together because the tea helped to cut through some of the oil in the dessert and made it easier for me to eat a couple of pieces of the dessert.
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Posted in Beijing, Other Cities, Asian, Chinese, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Thursday, May 1st, 2008
Before I went to China, my hair stylist recommended that I check out a chain of restaurants called “Dong Bei Ren”. Translated literally, this meant “North East People”. My hair stylist said he ate at this place every day when he went to China and its food was very different from what was available here in Vancouver. When I told my tour guide that I was interested in trying Dong Bei Ren, he recommended this other place that was closer to some of the sites we were visiting. It was a small family restaurant but was very busy and I would argue the best restaurant we visited while we were in China (or at least one of the top 3!).
First came some stir-fried “wood ear” fungus, which is a famous dish in the north eastern region of China. It had a slightly tangy taste and a light crunch.
Next came some lamb skewers. These were extremely good. :) The skewers had a mild lamb flavour and did I mention they were really good? The lamb was very juicy and had some very spicy curry seasonings. Jenkins is not a huge lamb fan normally and he enjoyed this dish very much. These were actually grilled just outside the restaurant and had a great charcoal flavour. Just looking at this picture makes me start to drool.
We also had some spicy pork ribs. The ribs were dry roasted with chilli, garlic, and onions. Similar to the lamb, the ribs were very spicy but extremely tasty. I can take quite a bit of spice but I had to temper the spice with some rice. One of the reasons we ordered this dish was because almost every table in the restaurant ordered it as well.
I grew up eating canned dace when I was little and this next dish kind of reminded me of those days. This dace cooked with black beans and served with some veggies.
The hot and sour soup was not as thick as the one I usually have in Vancouver. It was just the right amount of spiciness and the big chunks of swirled eggs were a nice touch. I found it really easy to have several bowls of this soup because it wasn’t as thick as the hot and sour soup I was accustomed to…I guess it seemed less filling.
I had never had anything like these thick potato rice noodles before but they were very tasty. The noodles had a chewy, glutinous texture and the entire dish had a similar taste to fried beef rice noodles although the texture was completely different.
The minced pork and fresh cucumbers went very well with these noodles:
My only regret about this restaurant was that the chunky noodles came at the end, when I was completely stuffed already. If anyone knows of a similar restaurant here in Vancouver, let me know and I would be the first in line. :) This restaurant was definitely very popular with the locals and was packed with people, all with tables full of yummy food.
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Posted in Beijing, Other Cities, Asian, Chinese, Reviews | No Comments »
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