31 March 2013
Steak night
Not many photos tonight as I mainly wandered around inside supermarkets, bookshops, electronic shops and whatever. Stopping only to have a matcha tea latte.
For anyone who is concerned they cant eat sichuan food or authentic non western Chinese food, you can indeed find steakhouses in China.
There are ultra high end ones where they just about lead the cow to your table and you can pick the piece you want, I believe some hotels have places where you could spend $500 on a steak.
Then there are the mid range places like where I went tonight. You still allegedly get to pick the origin of your steak, with Australia, USA and Brazil available for beef options.
I opted for Brazil, pointing at the menu. I worried that it would come well done by default, but much to my surprise the girl asked 'how you want heat?' in Chinese (wo yao you re), which I took for how do I want it cooked.
I now had a dilemma, throughout the ordering process it was clear she couldnt speak any English, so I didnt know how to ask for rare or medium rare in Chinese. So after a pause she asked, ware, medium, well. I opted for ware. Presumably there are no Chinese terms for how you want your steak cooked so they use the Engrish ones.
What came out was actually really rare, raw on the inside, despite coming on a hot plate. Still for $6 I cant complain, even if that is the most I have spent on a meal so far on this holiday.
In addition to the sizeable steak, you get chicken and sweetcorn soup, 2 small pieces of passable garlic bread and access to a salad bar. The salad bar was amusing, only 4 vegetables, a heap of fruit, grass jelly, and lots of creamy sauces.
Most people opted for grass jelly, cabbage, tomato and about a gallon of thousand island looking dressing.
This is a Chinese bulk bin. Note its enclosed with lids so you cant over fill it. Not such a silly idea! This trip just became a potential tax write off.
Me, bathing in neon.
No wonder I am always lost. My hotel is on Minzu road. Every road around here is Minzu road. Why?