Going local, or at least trying to

There I was, finishing up my afternoon blogging session at a cafe, when I started chatting with the proprietor. Turns out she had a neat backstory, having just moved back to Beijing from the UK, quitting her job as an engineer, and opening up a cafe. Hopefully she'll have some luck - her espresso was great, cookies even better, and the soundtrack was right up my alley.

We also talked food, and she asked where I was headed for dinner. I pulled out Beijing Eats and read the name to her. It was a place called Long Yuan Tang, and it served food from Guangxi. She shook her head and said "that place will be so expensive, you can just tell by the name." Then, she told me a couple of stories of traveling in continental Europe and just following her nose, literally, to places off the street that looked good and were full of folks. She challenged me to do the same in Beijing. After some not-too-productive excuses, I realized she was right. In many ways, that is the essence of traveling and the spirit of this trip. With my guides and recommendations, I had started to wander a bit from the winds of chance.

So, shortly thereafter, I found myself cycling down the next street, following my nose and looking for some good supper. I did one loop just to take it in and know my options. Then, I zeroed in.

The place seemed perfect. It was full of people, with only one empty table (the one I aimed to claim). The ambiance was amazing. There was one guy with a really long goatee and a white Chinese suit that looked straight out of a kung fu movie. And there was a ridiculous TV show on, where a bear was riding a horse, I think. Plus, the food looked good and everybody was digging in. I got the menu, one sheet front and back of characters. Hmmm. I saw the noodles (mian - one food character I know) and the waitress was pushing me that way too. So I said yes, and she picked one. We also, I thought, had a hand signal conversation about getting some meat skewers from the charcoal grill going strong outside.

The bowl of handcut noodles arrived. It was very good, if straightforward. The noodles were lovely, irregularly cut in a way that means they must have been handmade. They were also chewy but not sticky. The broth was good too, a mix of chicken stock and black pepper. About halfway through, I added some chillies and that took it even higher, as there was a new roasted chilli flavor now.

The skewers never arrived.

In sum, an experience I've had before. I was looking for something better, something new, and something super tasty. I called an audible and planned a second dinner.

This was where I placed my bet. It similarly looked stuffed to the gills inside. Plus, I saw pictures of food, which meant I knew I could get something different. I made my move.

My first choice, however, was unavailable. It looked like an odd dish of squid arranged neatly on a platter surrounded by bok choy. So, instead, I went with the stir-fried and butterflied squid. It came with onions and peppers in a thickened soy sauce. It was, alas, mediocre. I could not finish it. The texture of the squid was interesting, as the scoring of each piece had done some real work. But the sauce and the flavor were off, with too much fishiness in the squid and way too much starch in the sauce.

The vegetable accompaniment was lotus root, fungus, lily pods, and snap peas. Somehow, this dish managed to underplay four delicious raw ingredients. The resulting hot stir fry was bland, with the flavors muted and under-seasoned.

Ugh. Not what I planned. Whatever bet I made, I lost. However, if there is one more thing I will do before I leave China, it will be to meet the challenge the cafe owner laid down. To Plan B...