Chengdu - Land Of The "La Mei" 辣美 (Hot Women)

They say the most beautiful women in China may be found in Chengdu, in Sichuan province. Sichuan is famous for their spices. The women's beauty is first attributed to their steady diet of Chengdu spicy hot pot. The combination of the broth's heat and spice helps their bodies have smooth blood flow, regular bowel movement, and flushed cheeks.

Hotpot from Chengdu. Token clear broth for me, the laowai.

Yak Cheese From Yunnan province

I had a taste of Yak cheese during my visit in the Shangrila County in Yunnan Province. It was good timing entering the first restaurant on my list where I met my first friend, Ricky, owner of the famous Tantra Restobar, who was having a taste test meeting with the Tibetan Yak cheese manufacturer.

Yak cheese is not yuck at all.

Argo in Wudaoying (with real Greek food this time)

One of the places I like taking my friends to is Wudaoying Hutong near Lama Temple. My German friend Sascha mentioned that he hasn't had Greek in a long time, so we chose Argo and treated ourselves to the Greek version of 好吃. 

A German boy and a Filipino girl feasting on Greek food in a restaurant in China, and listening to American country music in the background.

Le Petit Saigon at 鼓楼

Vietnamese food is one of the top in my list as healthiest food in the world. Perhaps its the simplicity of its ingredients and arrangements and the aroma that wafts into the air that gives me the vibe that I'm eating something freshly plucked from the ground, washed, the arranged in the kitchen. 

My very good friend 绫子 and I had one of our last meals in Le Petit Saigon in the 鼓楼 Bell Tower area of Beijing, before she returns to her premier job in the Japanese Trade Bureau. 绫子 is the epitome of health and beauty, so we both had ourselves some of Vietnam's delicious Pho (mine with beef, hers all veggie - she is, between us, is the epitome of health and beauty.)

I appreciated how the restaurant put in old alcohol label and bottles, and filled the room with pictures of rural Vietnam. The walls were lime green but the interiors were all designed with wood, and with perfect lighting, made us feel warm all through out. Menu in French and Chinese - a good way to practice my Chinese, and yearn for my once dream of learning French.

Mesh Bar in The Opposite House

One of the things that I try to do for myself every week is to go out on a corporate girl night. I explore a new bar and try out their drink and generally enjoy the time I spend with myself. 

For week 4 of corporate girl night out, my best friend Sascha joined me in Mesh, the quiet and posh bar within The Opposite House. The Opposite House is one of Beijing's boutique luxury hotels. They feature art installations in their lobby, and the creativity in designing the lobby itself is on a class of its own. Here is a short blurb about The Opposite House from Jing Daily.

The past 6 months in snaps

The hibernation required by the cruel Beijing winter kept me at home or indoors in a nearby place most times, without much foodventures to speak of. The Great Firewall of China also discouraged me from accessing my blog (required a VPN), thus I easily fell into the comfort of becoming a creature of habit. 

Still, these past 6 months, life happened. I realized the value of building face-to-face relationships with people I met in the places I frequented, and sharing my many favorite foods with a carefully chosen set of friends. I live in a city where it is easy to find friends but difficult to keep them, because people come and go all the time. Going to the same places with the same persons helps us easily draw into memories in the future. 

A sneak-peak into my life in the context of food:

 Peanut butter toast from Bridge Cafe, my favorite in all of Beijing. One of the cafe's other frequent guest said I was here too often I was already part of the cafe furniture. The chef drew the translation of my name (Faith: 信) on the toast, upon hearing that this was the only item on the menu that I haven't had yet.

老北京 Old Beijing Restaurant

Every Saturday after badminton, my friends and I eat in one of the restaurants nearby before heading to a night activity like 打麻将或者在三里屯去玩儿. I've successfully lobbied for us to venture out of the Shuguangli row of restaurants (near our badminton court), although this entry is a tribute to Old Beijing 老北京, the restaurant we formerly frequented for our post-work out grub, and the place that taught me to eat more veggies.

Thank you to Old Beijing for my one too many 烤鸭。

蔬虎 Shuhu Vegetarian Restaurant

I've taken a serious liking to vegetarian restaurants these past few months. Probably because I hang out with more vegetarian or health conscious friends, who fill out middle table with veggies when we eat out. It was only in China that I got used to eating mostly vegetables, because the Chinese menu is filled with yummy veggie choices that makes it easy to chow on vegetables three times a day (although I still get angry stares from my guy friends when I forget to order meat when we eat out).

Shuhu Restaurant in the university district in Wudaokou is always a welcome choice when my friends and I run out of new options on where we will choose to share a meal. Note that the pictures below are all vegetables, and it somehow, for a previous meat-eater like me, all-veggies somehow tasted like the real thing.

Forever favorite 麻辣香瓜

Suzhou 大圆糕 (big round cake) and Suzhou's fish-squirrel specialty

Government girl Ishy and I spent a weekend in Suzhou, where we got a view of a number of imperial gardens and got a taste of Suzhou's street food. Below are some snaps I borrowed from her blog entry:

Ishy and a taste of the 大圆糕 (for the purpose of translation, I'll call it the big round cake)

Shanghai snaps

Government girl Ishy and I traveled to Shanghai and Suzhou where we spent most days talking, laughing and eating. Below are some of the snaps from Ishy. 

I didn't have the energy to take pictures or take notes of the menu because there was so much to catch up on.

Vineyard Cafe

This is rather belated, but last summer was the first time I tried out Vineyard Cafe in the up and coming Wudaoying Hutong 五道营胡同. Wudaoying is currently being developed and hyped up to be the next destination for hidden hutong gems for young urban professionals. 

Vineyard cafe has gained a reputation for their brunch menu, but whenever I bring new friends there at any time of the day, I always order their chili con carne. On some lazy mid-afternoons plowing through a Chinese article before hitting afternoon badminton, I sit for a couple of hours in Vineyard with a cup of coffee and lemon cheesecake - the taste is divine. It's worth the travel to midtown because I haven't found a sweet and sour cake like it. 

As with most middle-to-high end establishments in Beijing, free wifi is available in Vineyard Cafe. I lost the price list sometime in the past, enjoy these yummy photos for now!

I somehow cannot replicate their chili con carne, no matter how much I try.

老北京 Old Beijing

I play badminton regularly during the week, and although I get a lot of cardio, there is no trace in my body that proves this because my body looks nothing close to a svelte physique molded by a lot of running and body stretches. This is most likely due to the fact that after badminton, my friends and I go straight to a nearby restaurant and chow on oil-submerged grub and share pitchers of 啤酒.

The great thing about ordering for the middle table is we get to try different food. Below are some new things I tried in our dinner in Old Beijing restaurant:

蒜汁驴肉 Donkey meat cooked in garlic sauce - RMB 38. 他们告诉了我 donkey meat is popular with females because it gives us better skin. Chow on!

Haidilaohuoguo 海底捞火锅 (Hotpot)

One of Beijing's most famous hotpot restaurants is 海底捞火锅 (Haidilao Hotpot). Their hot pot offerings are regular fair, like many hot pot places, but what sets this restaurant apart is its excellent service. Other hotpot restaurants tried to copy this, but have not become as popular as Haidilao, as Haidilao enjoys first-mover advantage.

While waiting, kids can play board games and puzzles in the kids corner just right beside the entrance.

Cava Coffee

Aside from their wide selection of Western food, Cava Coffee has an array of cocktails that I enjoy on some afternoons while drowning in Chinese characters and translations.

What I had on my first day in: Cosmopolitan 四海一家  for RMB 30

Experiment with beautiful beans

I made it to the rice section of the grocery story and did not realize how much variety of rice there was! I only knew of black, brown, white and jasmine (different variations of white), but when I looked closely at their rice selections, I saw yellow rice, cous cous, off white rice, and THIS.

A combination of rice and beans: how can I not resist so much color?

Lindemand Blueberry: new favorite beer

In terms of beer drinking, I may be approximately defined as the female reincarnation of Samson - in that I don't drink beer, have long black hair, and is bursting with strength and energy (on the badminton court). The only time I relented to drinking beer was during a trip to Hangzhou where our host Chinese family treated us to a lavish feast that involved a lot of drinking.

A visit to Nearby The Tree with my friends Jill and Bianca introduced me cherry flavored beer by Lindemand for RMB 45. I was surprised to see BHG market for RMB 20+. 

I got all the flavors available: cherry, mint and raspberry. I like raspberry best.

Market, market

Early August, I started a Beijing cooking club with a couple of my friends from badminton, so before our first attempt for a get-together, I went to the wet market near my place and checked out what I can contribute to our dinner. I've forgotten how the colors of the wet market gave me a natural high. It was a sunny day out in Beijing so it was lovely how the afternoon sun gently lit up the fruits and heightened their colors, making them look more appetizing.

圣女果 (literal translation is woman of great moral virtue fruit) Cherry tomatoes for 10元/3斤

Garlic Shrimp

There are only two dishes I know how to cook by heart. One is adobo and the other one is this garlic shrimp. I love both dishes and would eat them several times a row when our helper prepared it back in Manila.

Ingredients

1. Tomato and tomato paste

2. Shrimp

3. Garlic

4. Olive oil

Sometimes I add walnuts and random greens

RBT 仙踪林 Cafe

Every so often I would attend a Chinese culture class held by a Chinese native who teaches English. She uses the time to practice English with foreigners, and it helps me find out topics about the Chinese culture that I would otherwise not think about or research on. It's been an awesome learning experience for me, but just as awesome is the food they serve in the cafe we meet in.

I have to note though that after a month of not visiting the cafe, I found that they changed the menu and some of the selections. They no longer serve the French toast I love! So I had to settle for something closer to it.

Honey Waffle 蜂蜜脆皮松饼 for RMB 26

RBT 仙踪林 CafeNo. 15 Zhongguancun St,
Zhongguancun Plaza Mall (新中关),
3rd Floor

Eatalia in Wudaokou

This is a belated entry, but one of the last meals I shared with my awesome 初级三 friends was in the new Italian restaurant Eatalia in Wudaokou. There is a dearth of Italian restaurants in our area, mostly clubs, cafes, delis and Mexican type establishments, and since we've hung out in most of these places already, anything new was much welcomed. 

Creamy Tomato Porchetta for RMB 38 - The pasta was a bit tough, but the sauce was really creamy.

Quattro Formaggi (Taleggio DOP, Gorgonzola DOP, Parmigiano, Mozzarella) for RMB 58