Asia Flavours

Dim Sum at the Shangri-la, Shenzhen

Dim sum at the Shang Palace in Shenzhen's Shangri-la Hotel was something of a Jekyll and Hyde experience. Some of the aspects like the decor and the steamed dumpings were outstanding and some, like the cha siu bao and the rice paper rolls, were severely underwhelming. Quite bizarrely, there was absolutely no middle ground whatsoever - it was all outstanding or severely underwhelming, nothing was simply "ok". 

The entrance to the restaurant is impressive - all sophisticated, moody dark reds and blacks with artsy features - and the service was very attentive. We started off with some red and green peppers stuffed with minced pork which were full of flavour and then a selection of steamed dumplings that were totally spot on. The pork and chive dumpling was particularly good although the prawn dumpling and the siu mai were so close that it was nearly a dead-heat as to my favourite. Had we ended the selection process there, it would have been an outstanding meal. 

Unfortunately, I'm a foreigner and therefore part of my genetic make-up means that I can't have a dim sum meal without a cha siu bao. When they arrived, they looked so good, all white and fluffy. But the taste... the taste was just plain odd. It was as if they had added honey to the mixture. The filling was overly sweet and, probably to compensate for the sickliness, there was a lot more bun than the filling required. Cha siu bao buns are not all that flavoursome in their own right and so  I was left totally unsatisfied by the experience. The other severely underwhelming dishes were the rice paper rolls, both the prawn one and the barbeque pork one. The filling was rather limited and the soy poured over the top just sort of disappeared without a trace into the roll itself. The result was basically a mouthful of thick flavourless rice paper. Island Tang's rice paper rolls have nothing to fear! 

It didn't inspire me to want to pop across just for a meal but if I was in Shenzhen again then I would probably head to the Shangri-la (if only to use the bathrooms after the griminess of the shopping mall). Frankly though, the trauma of all that excess form filling H1N1 red-tape at the border was enough to put any future trips across the border on hold until it's subsided...

Shangri-la Hotel

East Side, Railway Station

1002 Jianshe Road

Shenzhen 518001

(86 755) 8233 0888

Awesome Street Food in Xian

I'm generally not a big risk-taker when it comes to food. Fully conceding that my pathetically delicate stomach likes the cleaner things in life, I generally avoid eating street food. During my recent visit to see the Terracotta Army in Xian however, my stomach, tempted by the smells wafting through the air in the Muslim Quarter, was persuaded that street food was the best way forward and, perhaps even more luckily, it was proved right. 

Despite sitting outside for what in my books was probably a little too long, the kebabs were very well cooked through (while remaining tasty) and so we indulged in a couple. We were also tempted by what we thought were fried potatoes with chili (damn silly with hindsight given Shaanxi cuisine does bread, not potatoes or rice). It actually turned out to be fried bean-starch jelly which, though quite a dull substance, was good as a bland background to the chili sauce (although slightly smaller pieces of the jelly would have been better in my opinion). The highlight of our first night was definitely a fabulously tasty flatbread covered in dried red chilies, sesame seeds and cumin seeds. I couldn't get enough...

Biang Biang noodles was another dish on our culinary itinerary. The noodles are really thick and certainly rather challenging to anyone less than expert with chopsticks (particularly with a rich tomato/chili sauce threatening to splash at any moment!!). Once mixed, the flavours were really good with a great chili kick.

I was tempted to try one of the persimmon pancakes available in the night market, probably because they rather cunningly look like doughnuts, but the taste wasn't anywhere near as good as I'd expected. It wasn't unpleasant, just rather odd. The rehydrated persimmons (also known as sharon fruits) are mixed with flour, osmanthus, rose-petals and sugar and baked until golden. I suspect that if you're a fan of persimmons as a fruit then these are a dream come true but I'm just not that fussed about the fruit. Bizarrely, it is thought that the raw fruits can cure constipation (by causing diarrhea) and the cooked versions can treat diarrhea and dysentery which seems a bit contradictory but wiki assure me it's something to do with the osmotic effect in the raw fruit sugars and the high tannins in the cooked fruit. You learn something everyday...

The star dish was the yangrou paomo, a noodle soup dish that requires the eater to tear some quite solid round breads into tiny tiny pieces before the bowl is filled with noodles, mutton and broth. To that you add chili, coriander and cloves of garlic that have been marinated in vinegar and sugar for several months. Our first attempt at yangrou paomo at a cafe in the night market was tasteless and dull - indeed the bread was pre-torn which was a bad sign - but we persevered and found an excellent one outside the city walls at Lao Sun Jia Restaurant, one of Xian's most famous restaurants. 

Xian is famous for its dumpling banquets so we decided to try the 18-course dumpling banquet on the second floor of De Fa Chang. It was probably the culinary low point of the weekend with rather over-cooked dumplings and heavy, thick dumpling cases. It was a shame because some of them were really pretty, shaped like fish and birds. 

The exception to the not so great dumplings rule were the rather bready walnut dumplings which were excellent - crammed full of chopped walnuts. The flavour and smell was really nutty and they looked fantastic, shaped to look like actual walnuts. 

We tried a fried version of the steamed mincemeat filled bread which is popular in XIan.  It was so good that, despite protests by our arteries, we had to have a second. According to various internet sources, the filling involves boiling the meat with wine, rock candies, fresh gingers, shallot stems and a herb bag of teasel nuts, cardamon seeds, cloves, cinnamons and aniseeds for 3-4 hours. 

We kept seeing massive queues outside one shop selling mungbean cakes and therefore felt rather obligated to give it a try. We were offered black sesame, rose petal and peanut mungbean cakes(there were other options but the woman got bored halfway through explaining the varieties, insisting they were all good...!). To be honest, mungbean cake (cake is a loose term - more heavy paste) has a bit of an acquired texture. The peanut one was definitely the nicest tasting but I can't say I'm going to rush to locate some in Hong Kong! 

And the award for best dish of the weekend goes to ... the rose petal mirror cake. There were stalls like this all over the Muslim Quarter and so I put aside my slight concern about the jams left al fresco, and took the plunge. Apparently a breakfast item, they are made from steamed glutinous rice cooked in these traditional round wooden steamers and coated in rose petal jam, sugar, crushed peanuts and black sesame seeds. Presented on a stick like a lollipop, they aren't particularly sweet but have this lovely rose flavour. 

Definitely a week of dieting required. 

La Gare du Sud 1910, Kunming, China

Kunming is not likely to feature highly on your radar but should you ever find yourself in the city with an empty stomach then a trip to La Gare du Sud 1910 should be on your to-do list. The restaurant has a railway theme (don't panic, not in an anorak-y way) rather, the tasteful interior decor features walls filled with old black'n'white photos of the railway connecting Laos and Yunnan, built by the French in 1910. If the weather is favourable and the smog bearable then there is also a rather nice al fresco dining area with large shades and leafy plant beds. 

I was rather expecting from the name that it would be a French restaurant but it is actually Yunnanese. And rather good at that. Indeed, after eating a lot of stir-fried dishes with gloopy sauces and an added buzz of MSG during my travels in Yunnan, I'd say it was my favourite Yunnanese restaurant of the trip. I'm sure there are lots of people who would suggest that it isn't the most authentic experience in the world, but it was great food in a lovely setting and that works for me.  

The waitresses couldn't have done more to help (possibly because we were confused looking foreigners) and we painlessly managed to completely over-order on their suggestions. Although the menu wasn't in English, it was full of pictures so it was easy to order. Of all the dishes, our unanimous favourite was the hot pot which was really flavoursome and beautifully presented in a mini wooden barrel with hot stones at the bottom of the dish. 

I also finally got my Yunnan ham. I'd been somewhat obsessed by Yunnan ham ever since my trip to Bei Yuan in Guangzhou (Bei Yuan Review)  and was gutted when we traveled through the whole of Yunnan without really being offered any. The dish was colourful and the contrast with the green peppers was excellent, helping to remove some of the saltiness of the ham. The minced pork dish was also rather salty but was equally flavoursome - not a dish to have on it's own to be honest, it needed to be in a group of dishes otherwise you'd have been trying to quench your thirst for days! 

 

The only weird dish was actually the house special which was not great. It was a sort of thick soup to which you added a variety of herbs and spices and in which you dipped your baguette. The soup was all a bit bland and the baguette was deep-fried and seriously oily. Not a great combo when it hit your mouth! 

Still, the rest was excellent - definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in town. 

8, Houxin Jue

Kunming

China

+86 871 316 9486

Lost Heaven, Shanghai

Lost Heaven is stunning from an interior design perspective - the dark reds and dark woods combine with the dim lighting and abundant Yunnan art to create a visually spectacular venue. Added to that was the great atmosphere - the whole restaurant was full when we went and the noise level was just right, you could hear yourself talk but no one else! 

I suspect that Shanghai folk think it is rather expensive but from a Hong Kong perspective it is reasonably priced - with a particular note to the wine list which has a good range of wine prices on it. The food was all very tasty and the menu gave you quite a lot of information about the different tribes the food was supposed to come from. If I'm honest, during my trip to Yunnan I didn't have food anywhere nearly as sophisticated so I'm glad I've been to this restaurant!! 

Shangri-la Shenzhen (8/10)

I always feel the need to spend a disproportionate amount of time washing my hands whenever I'm shopping in Shenzhen. The mall on the border is a rather grubby place and it could all get a bit much without a break in the clean, orderliness of the Shangri-la (particularly now that the credit crunch seems to have hit Shenzhen and the sales pitches are rather more aggressive and grabby). 

My friend J.M. and I went to Shenners before Christmas for a spot of retail therapy and when it all got too much in the Pearl Market, decided to have a light bite. The Chinese restaurant is still under renovation but they have a new international area which has an absolutely huge buffet on the Sunday. The vast displays of food didn't exactly fit with the idea of a light bite so we managed to resist and instead ordered really good Hainan Chicken, served with dark soya, ginger and (strong) chili dips. 

The other cool thing about the Shangri-la is that they have a Tea Man. I'm an addict. If there's a tea man around, I have to watch and I reckon that the one at the Shangri-la is particularly good! 

It's a great place for a meal and I'm definitely going to be back (a) to try the Cantonese restaurant when it's renovated and (b) to try the Sunday buffet which looks amazing. Might need to do a pre-emptive diet first... 

Guangzhou ... again.

Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangzhou. I can’t deny it - I’m completely and utterly obsessed with the city. On one side, it is somewhat of a sprawling, polluted, industrial city with a million non-descript buildings but in the centre, it provides a fascinating insight into China with its endless markets, delightful cuisine and interesting architecture. I can wander for hours through the dishevelled alleyways of the central area, past the crumbling residential housing in Liwan and the faded glory of Shamian Island (which is probably not going to be faded for very long given the number of tasteful and classy restorations being undertaken at the moment). True, it’s not for the faint-hearted or the squeamish, but it is definitely worth the trip over the border. 

The markets themselves were amazing - you can literally buy anything. At one point we were drawn to a group of women sitting picking black things out of enormous plastic bowls with chopsticks. On closer inspection the black things turned out to be scorpions. I have no idea but I guess you stir-fry or deep-fry them? Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for us, these scorpions were very much alive and we didn’t pass any stalls selling cooked versions. We did however pass through an alleyway lined on both sides with shops selling dried goods from innocuous items like rose-buds and bark to items such as dried bats on sticks, their wings spread-eagled. It wasn’t totally clear what you’d do with it once you’d purchased your dried bat on a stick but I guess it would probably be used for medicinal purposes, perhaps put in a soup?

The alleyways seemed to be quite systematically divided up with, for example, one area offering butcher’s shops whilst another would be full of shops selling dried goods. We passed quite of lot of butcher’s shops in Guangzhou’s backstreets which seemed to divide up into three types: the first had chunks of meat laid out, prepared and ready to be chopped at the customer’s request; the second had live animals huddled in cages (also waiting to be chopped at the customer’s request); and the third had dried meats, almost pepperoni-like, which I think are chewed as a snack. One of the delights the dried meat shop on the main shopping street had hanging up at the front of the shop was a whole pig’s face. Hanging next to a whole dried animal that we couldn’t identify, to be honest, neither looked even slightly tempting… Back in the thick of the market, next to all the heavily-laden vegetable stalls, was a guy selling fish, snakes, eels and toads. The snakes were all coiled up in a wire cage, being peered at by housewives clearly looking for the best one. Slightly gruesomely the owner was keeping tally of the number of snakes he’d sold by lopping off the heads and keeping them in a pile on top of the cage, within view of the snakes that were still alive. All in all, not for the faint-hearted but definitely an amazing place to experience.

 

 

Away from the market we passed an amazing shop devoted to cobra wine. The shop was full of glass jars of varying size, each of which had a cobra coiled in the bottom, mouth open as if frozen in time. The rice wine, which has been left to ferment for several weeks, is apparently effective for relieving muscle ache but its main use appears to be one of improving virility. Should you need something stronger, they also had cock’s testis wine and snake’s penis wine…

Disappointingly, the culinary adventure in Guangzhou’s restaurants didn’t start that well. After checking into our hotel at lunchtime we had a pretty non-descript meal at Shanghai and Suzhou Cuisine on Shamian Island - chosen because of its convenient location, rather than any review - and next time I’d stick with a sandwich at the Starbucks round the corner. I realise that sounds distinctly unadventurous but not only is the restored colonial-style building one of the nicest on the island, it also affords you an outstanding view of all the hundreds of couples getting their wedding photos shot at any one time…. The dresses are truly amazing from totally traditional Chinese cheongsams to crazy lace and taffeta overloads to stunning historical outfits that any BBC costume drama would be proud of and which Marie Antoinette wouldn’t have looked out of place in! Still, I was optimistic about dinner after the amazing meal we’d had at Bei Juan on our last visit. Based on that, we decided to try another garden restaurant and chose Panxi Restaurant which seemed to have pretty good internet reviews. Unfortunately it paled in comparison to the quality of Bei Juan - whether in terms of cooking, ingredients, décor or presentation. The Panxi restaurant was absolutely huge with several large dining rooms and it felt hectic and somewhat impersonal. The menu was pretty extensive and some of the items were good - we all enjoyed the BBQ crispy pork belly and the BBQ pork ribs, which were simple and flavoursome. The deep-fried salted crispy chicken was perfectly decent but not going to knock your socks off and the braised scallop and shrimp with beancurd was nice but a little slimy. We were quite excited by the look of the grilled sliced pigeon with Yunnan ham and, while the Yunnan ham got thumbs up, we were rather disappointed with the shrivelled, unhappy looking pigeon meat. The last dish of the meal was a bit of a disaster - they’d forgotten to bring the pan-fried Black Cod with garlic flavour and so it came right at the end when we reordered it. The two pieces were completely different shapes - one long and thin, one square and chunky - and unfortunately the chef had not taken this into consideration. The chunky piece of cod was completely uncooked in the centre. Given that there was not much price difference, there is no doubt which garden restaurant I’d go back to when in Guangzhou again.

 

By this point I was on a bit of a downer - after all, my obsession with Guangzhou was based on the food. The market had been good but both lunch and dinner were disappointing. Naturally turning to alcohol in a moment of crisis we headed to the Grand Hyatt’s 22nd floor sky bar for a quick mojito - and what turned out to be the turning point in our culinary experiences. While lounging in the bar we ordered four puddings to share. They were amazing. I have absolutely no idea which of the apricot bread and butter pudding, chocolate tart with lemon mouse, oozing chocolate cake with preserved cherries or blueberry cheesecake was my favourite. They were all perfect - perfectly cooked, beautiful presentation and wonderful flavours.

 

The next day should have been a trip to the Guangxiao Temple followed by dim sum at the Westin’s Hong Mian restaurant but unfortunately the taxi driver accidently drove off with the luggage of two of our friends (including their passports) and so the temple got quickly sidelined. Rather amazingly, the hotel managed to track down the run-away taxi and the luggage was pretty promptly returned which was good because I’d been really looking forward to the dim sum lunch! The Hong Mian is quite a contrast to the Shangri-la’s Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is full of dark reds and golds and is quite traditional and opulent. The Hong Mian is modern, full of dark woods and slate. The dim sum at the Summer Palace is traditional with an extra tweak. The dim sum at Hong Mian is minimalist with the items stripped back to simple quality ingredients. Both were excellent and it depends on what mood you were in as to which you’d prefer that day!

 

The clear favourite in terms of dim sum dish at the Hong Mian was, without doubt, the shrimp and scallop dumplings which were so simple. The flavour of each individual aspect of the dumpling was stunning. The radish cake with XO sauce was also delicious - interestingly “turnip cake” and “radish cake” are the same thing in Cantonese cuisine with “turnip cake” actually having no turnip in it. Also as a random tangent, according to Wiki, XO sauce “is made of roughly chopped dried seafoods, such as scallop, dried fish and shrimp that has been cooked with chilli, onion, garlic and oil”. Wiki also claims that the name comes from “fine "XO" (extra-old) cognac, which is a popular western liquor in Hong Kong” and describes the fact that it was originally only served in swanky restaurants. The pork dumplings with crab roe also warranted a second order although I was a little disappointed by the meat dumpling with quail egg, finding the hard boiled egg yoke on top of the dumpling not especially inspiring. Both the rice flour rolls with BBQ pork and pan-fried rice flour rolls with XO sauce were flavoursome - although they paled in comparison to the magnificent crunchy red rice flour rolls at the Summer Palace. I wasn’t sure the beef balls with orange peel were going to work as a concept but after the initial slight oddness, they did work. I can’t say I’d want them too often but they were interesting. Clearly deciding the dim sum was just not dim sum unless there was a danger of bursting, we also had the egg tarts and the outstanding white oatmeal buns. The oatmeal buns were a recommendation from the waitress and were definitely not something I’d have ordered - they sound rather dull and healthy! However, healthy they were not with a sweet paste filing….! All in all, a great meal for about RMB150 per head.

Panxi Restaurant
No. 151 Longjinxi Road
Guangzhou
Tel: 86 20 81721328

Hong Mian
The Westin Guangzhou
6 Lin He Zhong Road
Tian He District
Tel: 86 20 2826696

Shanghai

Apparently the Din Tai Fung in Hong Kong is not very good. I’ve got no idea if this is true or not because I’ve never been (what with it being on the dark side and everything) but my friend C.L. was quite vehement about this and also about the sorts of terrible action she would take if we didn’t make a detour to one of the Shanghai outlets of this Taiwanese chain while we were there. So, while in Xintiandi, the beautifully and tastefully restored shopping area comprising of traditional shikumen or stone gate houses, we indulged in some Shanghainese dumplings. The lengthy queue suggested that the dumplings were good and indeed, they were - both the pork ones, and the scallop and crab ones. As a personal aside, I am delighted to report that my Shanghainese dumpling eating technique has come on leaps and bounds since my first trip to Crystal Jade and I no longer squirt juice at my fellow diners or down my front.

 
In addition to the traditional dumplings which we ordered, the cold appetiser of deep-fried tofu with oyster sauce and black fungus was tasty - although it does give you a jekyll and hyde moment with one side of you recognising that with all that oil the dish is a cardiac arrest waiting to happen and the other being unable to help eating more of that sponge-like tofu filled with the sweet sauce, and unfortunately for my long-term health, the more gluttonous side of me won. By comparison the bland and boring steamed vegetable buns were a serious disappointment.

Shanghai appeared to be in the throws of hairy crab obsession and so we felt it only right to indulge in a bit of soft beancurd with hairy crab action. According to Wiki, hairy crab is thought by Chinese people to have a “a "cooling" (yin) effect on the body” but I can’t say I thought hairy crab that much to write home about. The dish was tasty but the crab not especially noticeable. Apparently hairy crabs famously come from Yangcheng Lake, a freshwater lake about 3km from the town of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province but Wiki suggests that in reality the Chinese hairy crabs in that lake died out in the 1990s and the only hairy crabs there now are the Japanese variant which were introduced in 2000. However,  the original Chinese hairy crabs have had a bit of a migratory streak and have been seen by the River Thames and the River Hudson (where they are not popular because they destroy river banks and kill off other types of crab…). 

After an afternoon of hardcore shopping, we were in need of another good meal by 7pm and chose to head to Fu 1088, a restored Spanish-style villa made up of lots of individual dining rooms. The décor is quirky, deliberately stylised to look old and slightly musty, but that is all rather cool in a city of crazy modern skyscrapers and uber-trendy bars. And, while the décor was simple, the food was anything but. The presentation was phenomenal. For example, the simple steamed egg white with hairy crab meat came presented in an egg shell with the hairy crab replacing the yolk. The deep-fried mandarin fish with orange sauce was also beautifully presented - the meat of the fish had been broken up before deep-frying and so it had the most amazing texture, almost hedgehog like. The orange sauce was really sweet but not too gloopy, and the accompanying winter melon balls countered any excessive sweetness. One of my favourites was the drunken chicken which was served cold with a mound of ice on top - stunning and effective. Wiki claims that drunken chicken is prepared using the following method: “the whole chicken is first steamed then chopped up into pieces appropriately sized for picking up by chopsticks. The steamed meat, along with its juice, is cooked with scallions, ginger and salt. After the chicken is cooked it is marinated in Chinese liquor, sherry or hard liquor, like whiskey, overnight in the refrigerator.” The slow baked beef rib with crispy garlic was also really flavoursome, as was the delightful minced pigeon with pine nuts served in pastry pockets.

Already full by this point, TT.L. persuaded us to share some puddings and I have to say that that was a very good call. I’m not normally a fan of Chinese deserts but these were vying for the best dish title. We started with the subtle Black Sesame Tiramisu - delicious but if being a bit pedantic about these things, a slightly misleading title in that it consisted only of mascapone combined with black sesame… Still, while it was smooth and flavoursome, it was outdone by the homemade raisin ice cream with rum. In turn, that was outdone by the piece de la résistance: oriental herb infused “Chuan Bei Pi Pa” pudding served with white chrysanthemum lime sorbet. It was visually stunning and absolutely delicious. My “I’ll only have a small spoonful to try it” turned into a food battle with C.L. and TT.L!

Having tested one too many of the mojitos available in the bars on the Bund, we needed a good brunch to aid the hangover recovery process. We decided on Jean-Georges on the Bund. I’d been to the one in Trump Towers in New York and had very high expectations.

 
To be honest, the Jean-Georges in Shanghai is really a restaurant to go to at night. The venue is massive and with the large bar area completely empty at brunch, the deliberately dark décor was a bit claustrophobic. Having said that, there were plenty of diners and so once you were in the actual restaurant it was fine. Most of the tables have a view across to Pudong which is an added bonus both at lunch and in the evening (although on the day we visited the haze was so bad that Pudong was barely visible). The brunch menu is good value (although for some reason the fruit juices were rather extortionate) and as an alternative you could have a set three course lunch menu. I opted for the three courses and started with an excellent dish of smoked salmon with potato-horseradish galletes and crème fraîche. The main course of sea bass with creamy parsnip and fragrant coconut juice was Thai-influenced and delightfully sweet (although some male diners may have felt a little aggrieved at the portion size). As the pudding, we were persuaded by the waitress to try the chocolate pudding on the grounds that was a “Jean-Georges speciality”. We were expecting great things. Too much build-up. Frankly, none of us were quite sure what made it special - it was a chocolate sponge cake that let out a flow of chocolate gunge when attacked with a fork - well, wow, how crazy! - both Delia and Nigella offer recipes that produce a similar pudding without that much effort… Anyway, the meal was pretty good for the cost and the smoked salmon was definite the best of the three. This rather confirms what my friend K.W. said about her visit which was that the starters were by far the best course and that the mains weren’t particularly inspired. However, it would be interesting to try it at night when the atmosphere might make up for any deficit in food quality...

Guangzhou

So this weekend, for a lack of anything else to do, we rocked over the border to Guangzhou, that smog-filled industrial zone. While it certainly lived up to its reputation in terms of pollution with its shockingly poor visibility (who needs to see distances anyway?), it turned out to be a surprisingly brilliant weekend. The central maze of alleyways with the huge jade and “antique” markets were just as you’d imagine Hong Kong would have been like in the distant past, with the faded grandeur of the British/ French concession of Shamian Island providing a wonderful respite (and possibly one of the coolest Starbucks in the world - not that I normally advocate going to Starbucks when abroad but this one, set in a gloriously restored colonial-style building with huge verandahs, ceiling fans and a glorious garden just had to be done). In itself, this was all fascinating but WOW, THE FOOD!

People had said that Guangzhou was a bit of a culinary hotspot but what an understatement. Admittedly we only managed to try two restaurants but both were excellent, far better than anything I had tried in Beijing (or even, dare I say it, Hong Kong).

The first restaurant was a “garden” restaurant called Bei Yuan Jiujia which I’d hit upon rather randomly through the internet. From the reviews we were expecting a rather “local” experience but the place was magnificent and, except for the chandeliers, surprisingly classy in décor terms (I say surprisingly because there seems to be a little tendency in Guangzhou for OTT - a chandelier is apparently not a chandelier unless it is a mass of multi-coloured glass shooting off in different directions; a wedding photo is not a wedding photo unless you are either wearing all the lace and frills in China or even, a dress that could possibly have been owned by Marie Antoinette).  Back to the food. So, the restaurant is set round this beautiful courtyard with a water feature, grotto, wooden bridge, flowers and miniature trees. I was thoroughly impressed. Should you be going for a special occasion, they even have one table in a glass room right in the courtyard…

We somewhat over-ordered but that was partly because we kept getting inspired by the food arriving at the next tables. We started with golden tofu balls which were unbelievably crisp and light, complemented by a refreshing dish of smashed cucumber. Then came, what in my opinion was, the nicest dish of the meal - braised ham with Osmanthus sugar. The braised ham was beautifully presented on top of a slice of steamed bread with a slither of cucumber, completed by a stunning sweet floral flavour courtesy of the Osmanthus flower sugar.  Having been totally blown away by the braised ham, it was amazing that the other dishes weren’t a disappointment but they actually gave the braised ham a run for its money. The chicken cooked in Hakka rice wine was beautifully subtle and flavoursome, and the spicy chicken had sufficient kick to make it interesting but not too much that it ruined the other dishes. The other amazing dish was the small yellow croaker fish with mustard which had been cooked such that the mustard flavouring had been infused into the fish. By this point we had clearly eaten too much but we couldn’t resist the durian puffs we’d seen on the next table - the pastry was perfect and the durian paste in the middle was sweet and subtle. Despite an extreme tendency to over-order, the bill still only came to about RMB 150 each which was amazing value for money given the quality and effort put into each dish.

The quality and effort put into things in Guangzhou continually impressed us throughout our trip. We’d heard all these scare stories about armed bag-snatchers marauding on motorbikes and of general rudeness but we experienced quite the opposite. Everyone was incredibly  friendly and tried to speak English if they could - even when we got completely and utterly lost in the Liwan district trying to find a restored clan house. The service in the restaurants and bars was excellent whether it was the  Bei Yuan Jiujia where we were the only foreigners or the Grand Hyatt’s lovely 22^nd floor cocktail lounge where there were mainly foreigners!

On the Sunday, after visiting the restored clan house in Liwan and wandering round that fascinating district, we headed to the Shangri-la’s Summer Palace restaurant for dim sum. With hindsight I would have requested to sit in the smoking area because they rather punish non-smokers by seating them in a small windowless dining room at the back, instead of in the main room with views over the river (albeit rather hazy views). Despite the lack of natural light, the food was definitely some of the best  - and most interesting - dim sum I’ve had in China. We had all the usual suspects in the form of steamed prawn dumplings, streamed shrimp and scallop dumplings and steamed vegetable dumplings - all of which were delicious. We also had some slightly addictive spare ribs with black bean sauce and even chicken feet in black bean sauce. According to Wiki, "in Chinese cooking chicken feet are usually deep fried first in order to make them puffy before being stewed and simmered in a sauces flavoured with black fermented beans, bean paste and sugar". To be honest, I don’t really get the point of chicken feet, not been a massive fan of skin and bone, but Wiki does note that "some folk medicine traditions claim that chicken feet can prevent or treat wrinkles, due to their high collagen content", so my view has now changed a little!!  The highlights of the dim sum were the excellent cha siu baau (BBQ pork buns) with an unusual addition of a honey sauce, and also the red rice flour rolls with shrimps which were visually stunning with their bright red colouring and, unlike normal soft, almost slimy, rice flour rolls, these ones were crunchy. E.L. went as far as to say that they were the highlight of her weekend!

Having had 100% success with our restaurant choices and given the ease with which you can get to Guangzhou, I am definitely going to come back and explore more restaurants. The food was some of the best I’ve had in Asia to-date and as an added bonus, was a fraction of Hong Kong prices. Perfect.

Bei Yuan Jiujia
Xiao Bei Lu 202, Guangzhou
Tel: 020/8356-3365

Summer Palace
Shangri-la Hotel
2/F, 1 Hui Zhan Dong Lu
Haizhu District
Tel: (86) 20/8917-8888

Yangshuo, China

A trip to Yangshuo isn't about the food; it's about the scenery. And to be honest, had it not been for a random encounter with a fantastic village restaurant just outside Yangshuo, I'd have come away rather uninspired by the food.

Our mountain biking guide offered to take us to a restaurant she knew for lunch. I have to admit to rather cynically suspecting that we were going to be taken to a tourist trap where she was going to get a kick-back but we went along with it because we didn't have any better suggestions. I really should learn that not everyone is out to scam you. The Farmers' Holiday Inn (or "Farmer Holday Inn" as the sign actually said) was a fantastic family-run place in a small village outside Yangshuo. To be honest, it didn't really look like a restaurant at all. It consisted merely of a few wooden tables under an awning in the car park but when you look at the picture below (taken while sitting at the table), you can see why they put their dining area in that spot!

There was a menu in English but as they admitted, they'd copied the entire menu from one of the tourist restaurants in town and so it didn't include what they regarded as their specialities. Accepting the hint to go with the flow, we agreed to have whatever they suggested and were not disappointed. Among other things, we had a really flavoursome stir-fried beef with tomatoes and green peppers, a delicious, slightly salty, chicken with bamboo shoots and a lovely pumpkin dish. We also had a beautifully cooked whole fish served in a delicate soy sauce - the fish having been extracted from the pond in the garden only moments before!

The food was simple rustic stuff, freshly prepared and cooked to perfection. We know it was fresh because the kitchen was in what looked like it should have been the building's garage and the large door was permanently wide-open, allowing us a complete view of the proceedings. Indeed, they were keen for us to actually wander in and have a look at the preparations, and in particular at the huge wok at the back where the chef was battling some serious shooting flames!

All in all, the food was delicious and generously proportioned, the service enthusiastic and incredibly welcoming. Should you be able to track it down (sorry can't remember the name of the village) I couldn't recommend this place highly enough. As an added bonus, the Farmers' Holiday Inn was phenomenal value. None of the restaurants we tried in Yangshuo had anything on this restaurant and used to their prices, we were rather shocked to discover that the bill was only RMB30 a head. Unbelievable value.