Staying in China with no skills in speaking Mandarin is so troublesome. Going around can be difficult because very few people understand English. Since I was hesitant to go around when I arrived for my conference last Wednesday, I decided to eat at the restaurant where my colleague and I visited last year. I remember the place because it was just several blocks away from my hotel and they offered Japanese (Japanese=comfort food).Since I could not remember if it was a good or bad dining experience (thanks or no thanks to my short-lived memory), it was like eating at a new place altogether.
Aside from the fact that this seemed to be the only restaurant which is accessible to me except for Starbucks in front of the hotel, the look of the place was inviting with its Japanese garden setting at the entrance. Later, I found out that there is an APM mall a few blocks more, which housed dozens of options, ugh! Too late for that.
Anyway --
Outside, it just says "Japanese Restaurant (uh-huh)". The actual name of the place is Jiang Hu Chuan.
I ordered something familiar -- Enoki Mushroom wrapped in beef slices. It was a big plate with 8 big bites. It was on the greasy side but quite a large serving.
And ebi tempura -- how safe can I get? Lol. These were some of my Japanese staples : better safe than sorry, I suppose.
The tempura is okay, have tasted better ones. It is a lot though considering my appetite, around 6 pieces of big prawns. In this restaurant, it is more like quantity over quality.
I felt like treating myself for a cheat day (currently cutting off my caffeine consumption) and ordered a cola which is pretending to be a Kirin beer.
I was thinking, this blog has more uses to me more than to anyone probably. Because of my Dory tendencies ( Finding Nemo?), I could usually not flag if I have had some bad experience with certain establishments. Hopefully, this will somehow be my reminder. Haha.
I spent around RMB150 (USD20-25) for this huge meal; quite expensive actually. I could have spent the same amount and enjoyed a wild and awesome Japanese buffet in the Philippines.
In summary, this will not be my first option (again!) if I should look for a place at the Wangfujing area.
Try the ones at APM mall as they would have more variety for whatever craving you may have.
On my last night, we were taken to Bellagio located at this mall. Food was S-U-P-E-R-B!
This is their specialty - braised pork knuckles (or hooves?!!) and chicken basil.
Some sort of water spinach?
Egg omelet --
Surprisingly, I loved this the most. Very flavorful tofu.
Shrimp (I know, I know! I am having a hard time identifying what the name is exactly because they were in Chinese and the ones who were ordering were my Chinese peers.)
So there goes my food (mis)adventure in Beijing. Hope to try better ones next year!
Cheers!
xx,
Corporate Junkie
