Nanjing Impressions 大牌福

I was lucky enough to be invited to judge in the 1st China National High School English Debating Championships held in Jinling High School in Nanjing. The host school treated us judges to dinner in one of the best Chinese restaurants in Nanjing, 大牌福. The interiors reflected original street designs of 1800s. It was amazing being there, it was like being transported back into time.

I munched and chatted through the evening and thus forgot to take pertinent details of the food that we ordered and the location of the place, so what follows is a line-up of photos of the food that we ate (taken with my camera).

Capital M

One evening my friend and I did one of my favourite activities - restaurant hopping. We ended our trip in Capital M, a 5-star restaurant over-looking the Tiananmen Square. We arrived late into the evening when the soft lights and sophisticated decor blended perfectly with the rich cultural splendor of the view outside.

Photo of the terrace filched from the Capital M website

Story Of My Life

千鹤日本料理 Qianhe Japanese food

For lunch on weekdays, I usually grab a bite to eat in our school grocery. It's always a toss up between chicken pancake or maki rolls. The better alternative is the maki rolls just because it is easier to eat and has more variety in flavor, but its taste and presentation leaves much to be desired. So one weekend afternoon spent strolling, I walked in the first Japanese restaurant that I saw to satiate my cravings for decent maki.

Below is something that I had.

千鹤卷 Mix roll Chizuru style for RMB 38. The interesting about this is that it is sprinkled with chips. Other notable additions are grilled chicken and squash.

Qianhe Japanese food 千鹤日本料理Building 13
Huaqing Jiayuan, Chengfu Lu (West of Wudaokou Subway)
Haidan District, Beijing, China
海淀区，成府路，无道口，
华清嘉园， 十三号楼八号
(在五道口地铁站西边)

Isshi in Liudaokou

日本菜让我记得我的妈妈，她很喜欢日本菜。如果我们让她决定我们吃在哪儿，她一般选择日本饭馆儿。我想她的时候，我找日本饭馆儿吃饭。

Japanese food always reminds my of my mom, so on times that I miss her, I think back to the Japanese restaurants that I passed by while biking, and spontaneously decide to give it a try.

One restaurant that I felt doesn't belong to it's location (together with chuar side streets and slightly low end restaurants), is the minimalist and sophisticated design of Isshi in Liudaokou. 无道口有那么多的日本学生，也有那么多的韩国学生，所以也有很多的日本和韩国饭馆儿。

我拍这些照片我第三次来这个饭馆儿。

Grilled Shishamo Fish for RMB 14 - My guilty pleasure

Larissa's Asian-Jamaican curry

Larissa of Live Beautiful is not only a budding expert on beauty and fitness, but is an accomplished cook as well. She spent the past year experimenting on dishes, and I've gone to their place a couple of times to sample some of her creations. This is what she prepared for us for our girls' day in.

Jamaican-Asian curry - not too spicy, actually a bit sweet? I'm not sure what kind of magic she put into this.

New York House Coffee and Burger in Wudaokou

My good friend Larissa of Live Beautiful is one of the most exciting foodies I've met in Beijing. She's an accidental foodie, because she's more of a health buff but somehow she always finds yummy places to try new food. Most of the time I can't catch up with her suggestions and just have to see it for myself.

Larissa took me and a couple of friends to a new burger joint, New York Cafe. For a Chinese owned cafe, it's pretty consistent with a New York menu, although there are off-tangent offerings like Korean barbecue pizza (to cater to masses of Korean students in 五道口) and dumplings.

Our best find! I recommend this: Dutch Stroopwafels for RMB 23