Proper "What's That?" eating experiences

Inspired by the not-so-great roast duck experience to turn our food karma around, we resolved to go easy on our wallets and to try our luck by turning into a couple of random eateries for lunch and dinner.

The lunch spot was quite local. From our hostel, we walked to the end of our hutong and hooked a right. A handful of doors down was a spot that looked busy, with "dumplings/noodles" in English the lone sign of what cuisine would meet us inside. We headed in.

After some back and forth with the owner and the waitstaff, in English, handsignal, and guidebook Mandarin, we did in fact end up with some noodles, soupy beef noodles to be precise. The noodles were excellent, with a twisted texture and some good bite. The meat left a little bit to be desired, as it was dry, overcooked, and a wee bit gamey. But, once I avoided the meat, added some chilli oil, and tucked in, all was good.

And, lo and behold, we also got some boiled dumplings. The picture shows you what one order of dumplings passes for in these parts - definitely no skimping here. These were good, simple dumplings, with a filling of pork and cabbage. Solid, fully eat-able, and a good base from which to judge subsequent versions of this northern style jiaozi.

For dinner, we added a determination to branch out beyond noodles and dumplings. We turned the other way coming out of our hostel, and ended up at a very popular place with a charcoal grill firing otuside.

Dish one was a mixed stir fry of pork, carrot, and green pepper. It was alright. A bit overdone, with some of the snappiness of the green pepper absent. Better versions of this dish definitely exist.

The charcoal grill, however, turned out to put out good food, including these mutton skewers. The meat was flavored with cumin, and these were delectable. We only ordered six, but could have eaten many more. The great taste makes me appreciate why, every night, the streets are filled with folding tables full of folks munching away on these. Odd sidebar: The cook who mans the charcoal station always has a hairdryer in hand, and often uses that to blow the smoke off the meat (and cool them down, perhaps?)

The final dish was scrambled egg and spinach. Totally mediocre.

Next time, I'll stick with the skewers, perhaps adding to it from the amazing looking cold bar of appetizer plates.