I have been in Hangzhou for a few days - at a conference about Foreign Teachers in China, which was very interesting in some ways. I got to stay in a "top" hotel, met a lot of foreign teachers, sat through quite a lot of drivel, ate a lot of Chinese food, and had a tour around Hangzhou. I have many stories to write.
But I will start with this one. Today we were seated in a lovely restaurant - 8 foreign teachers and our "tour guide" whose English was not very good. As the plates of food appeared on the rotating table top, we would ask her what they were - she had ordered them, so it was fair to think she knew. Which she did.
One plate of dark vegetable looking food arrived and we asked her again "What is this one?" to which she replied "Bamboo Shits". As clear as day. It took a second or two before we were trying to stop laughing out loud, but one explained that she probably should say "bamboo shoots" and we explained what "her" word meant. We all had a good laugh about that one!
Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Sunday, 9 November 2008
The Hot Pot
Under the cherry blossom
Our group at the table.
Steam from the hot pot hides our birthday boy.
The cave.On Friday nights we go to dinner somewhere in Shaoxing. Sometimes there are 12 foreign teachers, and other times there are just 4 or 5 of us. Last Friday night it was pouring with rain, and there were supposed to be 7 of us going to a Hot Pot Restaurant. The French couple got lost and we didn't see them.
Seven of us arrived at the restaurant which was built to resemble a cave. We entered via a staircase which had cement stalagmites and stalactites built into it, and when inside we could see cave like structures as well as big tree trunks all created with cement.
The restaurant is very popular and was very crowded and busy, so we had to wait for a table for a short while. Eventually a table was vacated, it was cleaned and we sat down. I am always complaining that there is no wine on any drinks menu - as I do not like beer. The beer is a very "watered down" version of what the Aussies like to drink anyway. One of our group spotted "white wine" on the menu. It was very cheap - so curiously we ordered some for me. I have no idea what it was - it had a vague wine taste, but it resembled a beer. Anyway, for me, better than a Coke or Fanta.
We ordered - thanks to some students who had translated the menu for us as we had to mark on a sheet the food that we wished to eat.
Soon a waiter arrive and put the "soup" in the hole in the middle of the table, our food arrived. All on a big tray and each item we had ordered was on a little plate or in a little bowl. We were given three "soup ladles" and chopsticks and when the soup was bubbling we dropped our food in to cook, and fished it out again with our chopsticks or the ladle.
It was quite an experience and as often happens here we had ordered more food than we could eat. An interesting way to eat. And so inexpensive too. No wonder it was so popular. So there we were in a cave under cherry blossom, eating our meal.
Saturday, 1 March 2008
Visit to restaurant in Shaoxing
On Friday nights it is a common occurrence that some of the foreign teachers meet and have dinner together. Last night a group of 9 of us ventured into the city for dinner at a restaurant that is known by our group as the Smiling Buddha - perhaps because of the gold Buddha with shiny tummy that sits in the foyer of this restaurant.
We caught the bus into the city, and followed our "leader" along narrow lane ways for quite some distance from the main street to the restaurant. It was quite dark in the lane ways except for the occasional electric light. It was of course the very old part of the city, and along the way we could look in to the little shops - some still with workers, or customers. We saw one man making what looked like a kapok mattress, and others were full of mechanical tools. Our group was walking very quickly, dodging cyclists and tricycles as we went. It would be good to walk through more slowly at some time.
The restaurant was on a main road - but our route was the short cut. (I might add that some of our group have been in China for a while - one of the men, a Canadian, has his own motor scooter and takes off on his own and has done for a couple of years and knows the streets well. His Chinese language skills are impressive too!)
This restaurant has been a favourite of the group - but they were surprised to see it full. There was no table for us. Eventually we were taken upstairs to tables to wait for a private room. Some of us were "selected" to go and order the food and I went along for the experience. There were some 60 dishes - all set on plates covered with cling wrap - all with Chinese characters of description and a price, and the idea is that you choose from the array. As well there were many boxes/aquariums with the live fish. Crabs, stingrays, prawns, and a whole array of fish that I could not identify.
Our team ordered after spending quite a lot of time trying to identify some of the foods on the plates. Some was quite obvious but others not - especially as this is a traditional Chinese restaurant.
We had not long returned to our waiting place when our room became available. A small room but we all squeezed in around the table, and as we arrived so did the food. There was no doubt that the restaurant was struggling to cope with its popularity - and the staff were obviously stressed.
However, the food kept coming and I tried all but a plate of egg (I don't eat eggs). We had plenty to eat, it was tasty and we could identify much of what we ate. When we finished we asked for the bill, and we all had to put in 40 Yuan - which works out to just over 6 dollars Australian. We also had enough left in kitty to get 3 taxi's back to the college.
Even at night the traffic in the city was chaotic - few vehicles have lights, and they seem to travel at the same chaotic pace as during the day. We saw our first "accident" - a taxi and a car had come together - there appeared to be little damage, but lots of abuse from both sides as they sorted it out. One of the fellows remarked that in all the time he had been in China that was the first accident he had seen. Which is surprising really.
We caught the bus into the city, and followed our "leader" along narrow lane ways for quite some distance from the main street to the restaurant. It was quite dark in the lane ways except for the occasional electric light. It was of course the very old part of the city, and along the way we could look in to the little shops - some still with workers, or customers. We saw one man making what looked like a kapok mattress, and others were full of mechanical tools. Our group was walking very quickly, dodging cyclists and tricycles as we went. It would be good to walk through more slowly at some time.
The restaurant was on a main road - but our route was the short cut. (I might add that some of our group have been in China for a while - one of the men, a Canadian, has his own motor scooter and takes off on his own and has done for a couple of years and knows the streets well. His Chinese language skills are impressive too!)
This restaurant has been a favourite of the group - but they were surprised to see it full. There was no table for us. Eventually we were taken upstairs to tables to wait for a private room. Some of us were "selected" to go and order the food and I went along for the experience. There were some 60 dishes - all set on plates covered with cling wrap - all with Chinese characters of description and a price, and the idea is that you choose from the array. As well there were many boxes/aquariums with the live fish. Crabs, stingrays, prawns, and a whole array of fish that I could not identify.
Our team ordered after spending quite a lot of time trying to identify some of the foods on the plates. Some was quite obvious but others not - especially as this is a traditional Chinese restaurant.
We had not long returned to our waiting place when our room became available. A small room but we all squeezed in around the table, and as we arrived so did the food. There was no doubt that the restaurant was struggling to cope with its popularity - and the staff were obviously stressed.
However, the food kept coming and I tried all but a plate of egg (I don't eat eggs). We had plenty to eat, it was tasty and we could identify much of what we ate. When we finished we asked for the bill, and we all had to put in 40 Yuan - which works out to just over 6 dollars Australian. We also had enough left in kitty to get 3 taxi's back to the college.
Even at night the traffic in the city was chaotic - few vehicles have lights, and they seem to travel at the same chaotic pace as during the day. We saw our first "accident" - a taxi and a car had come together - there appeared to be little damage, but lots of abuse from both sides as they sorted it out. One of the fellows remarked that in all the time he had been in China that was the first accident he had seen. Which is surprising really.
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