Nanjinged's Profile
Christmas in China
Just a quick note, for many in China, Christmas means a Christmas eve dinner out with friends, possibly followed up with drinks in a bar\club. For this reason many restaurants have a "special" Christmas menu (i.e. pretty much the same items as usual arranged in a set meal for an inflated price). Even places you wouldn't associate with this will do it. A few years back I was surprised by a hole in the wall Korean BBQ place only offering their special Christmas menu on Christmas eve (though the waitstaff did have on festive Santa hats).
Chinese equivalent of chowhound?
assuming you mean Chinese language as well, I would think dianping.com though it is more like a yelp! or something, unfortunately I have yet to find something I like as much as chowhound for china :(
EMERGENCY! Meeting my Korean parents for the first time here, what to cook?
Ahhh you can't build so much suspense with cliffhanger endings and then leave us hanging ;) Did the roast prevail.. Did total anarchy occur...
Langkawi, Penang and KL with kids
Heading to Malaysia next week with 2 kids (4 & 8). Looking for any info on "family friendly" type places. Really most places will do, but would like to limit more to street food on up to Western casual, as the kids don't really appreciate haute atmosphere I would rather avoid the upper end type places.
We will be there for a couple weeks, so all cusines are fair game, but we live in China, so Chinese cusine isn't a must, but definitely not off limits, and decent Western food would be welcome. We love Thai and Indian flavors, but would also need to have some less spicy options for the kids. Though we're not yet too familiar with Malaysian flavors, are looking to give that a go, but internet research seems to show a drought of true Malaysian places in the touristy areas of Langkawi (where we will spend a majority of the time). Got a decent idea on some Penang hawker areas and restaurants, and also seem to be spoiled for choice in KL, but Langkawi has been a bit more difficult to nail down. Anyone been there recently and know where a decent area to hunt down some street food, or decent restaurants without horrendous mark ups? Also general suggestions are appreciated as we are sort of winging it and have yet to nail down specific areas and iteneraries.
Thanks
Yangshuo Recommendations?
Yea, I was also somewhat dissapointed in most of the food I had in Yangshuo. The only places that I would return to if I went back were the BBQ street vendors, though they are merely on par with decent bbq in other parts of china. It wasn't that the food was bad, just not good given price, and maybe a bit of my own expectations given the setting.
City of Nanjing - Need recs
If you are looking for local and can read some Chinese I would really really really recommend http://www.dianping.com/
Awesome site for review and info on Nanjing restaurants, though I wouldnt put too much faith in reviews for non-Chinese cuisine restaurants, as they generally give a much too positive review for them across the board (i.e all are ~4 stars out of 5 when in reality most should be 1-2 stars) but great for Chinese fare, pricing and pictures!
And if you're not a Chinese speaker/reader the above mentioned 优仙美地 cafe, is called Yosemite in English, never had the food there, but may have to try it now :)
Broadmoor Bistro (KC)
Yea, seems any serious culinary student at that age would also be working part time in the restuarant trade, so weekends would seem to be out of the question. What are prices like? Would be more willing to be a guinea pig if it wasn't too pricey.
Edit1:
(Nevermind, this being 2009 and all, they have a webpage: https://www.broadmoorbistro.org/ )
Edit2:
Doh! and the price was posted in the original post... time to brew stronger coffee!
EMERGENCY! Meeting my Korean parents for the first time here, what to cook?
Although it seems the visit has already occured, I would agree with those who say that you shouldn't do too much Asian. Part of visiting you and your sister is seeing how you live, just do what you normally do with a few extra special touches to make it better, i.e. cook them the most decadent breakfast you would make for yourself, it will still not amount to much $$ wise. Then take them to a Korean grocery to show you how to recreate those meals you had there, cooking together is such a great way to bond, and every time you make it you will remember where you learned the recipe :)
City of Nanjing - Need recs
To add another reliable western choice (though they also have some Singaporean and Chinese inspired dishes). The place is called My Place, their website is http://www.myplacenanjing.com.cn/
Located in an old house it is a bit hard to find, so I would suggest visiting their website and also phoning ahead to let them know you're coming. Staff was helpful and the owner was a really nice guy who goes out of his way to make sure everything is up to expectations. Food is pretty good for Nanjing western, and the laid back & personal atmosphere is something very difficult to find in Nanjing.
Sorry if it sounds like an ad, but I enjoyed it, the food wasn't spectacular, but it was good, honest international cuisine at a price that wasn't unreasonable, not sure why it is so hard to accomplish this in Nanjing, but along with Swede & Kraut and Les 5 Sens, it's one of the less than a handful that succeed.
City of Nanjing - Need recs
Depends on what you are looking for I guess. If you are looking for Western food you are pretty much out of luck. As about everything I have had Western Food wise has been a disappointment, so bad in fact that I have pretty much given up the search, so maybe something out there, but I havent found it and it has become too painful to keep searching.
Of course decent Chinese food is everywhere, along with other non-Western cusine. I would suggest a stroll down Hunan Lu pedestrian street for a mix of a bunch of different restaurants in close proximity, a couple of favorites there:
Punjabi: Indian food that I think is generally pretty decent.
Golden Harvest Thai Opera Cafe: Fairly decent Thai food, can get pretty crowded at peak times with a wait, altough quality seems to fluctuate.
Jiubaiguo Hotpot: I really like this place, clean, modern, great food and really reasonable prices (also has a location in 1912 district and I believe a third outlet, though not sure where that one is exactly). You will need to (or find someone who can) speak/read Chinese here as no English menu is available.
Nanjing Da Pai Dang: If you're looking for a bit of theme dining, this place is made to look like an imperial courtyard complete with fake trees and the staff in full costume. Has a bunch of food stalls setup with all kinds of foods, from the mundane to the exotic (chicken egg embryo, bull penis, etc.) if you are somehow into that, or just want to freak out a guest :)
There are also a couple of Western restaurants on this street, namely Henry's Home and Jack's Place, errr if you are wanting to try either of those I would suggest hitting the KFC at the North end of the street instead, you'll probably be much more satisfied.
