Provincial Restaurants
Guizhou Provincial Government Restaurant Not Three Dishes to Order Again
Daily 11.30am-2pm, 5.30pm-9pm. Bldg 18, Yinghua Jie, Heping Xiqiao, Beisanhuan Donglu, Chaoyang District (6444 4466) 贵州大厦：朝阳区北三环东路和平西桥樱花街18楼 50m north of Heping Xiqiao (Line 5)
T
he first time I passed through Guizhou by train many years ago, I remember looking the province up in Lonely Planet, only to come across a rather harsh traditional saying describing Guizhou: “Not three feet of flat land, not three days without rain, not a family with three silver coins.” Ever since then, I’ve steered away from the province and its cuisine. From the get go, the provincial government restaurant didn’t help alleviate my doubts, as even being seated was a trial, a perfect example of why nationalization – or perhaps provincializaton – doesn’t work in the food and beverage industry. After 15 minutes of back and forth, with my party of three still forbidden to sit at a six-person table regardless of the fact that the restaurant was 95 percent empty, we were shoved into a dark corner. We swiped through the sticky iPad, ordering the potato cake (RMB 36), the fried spring chicken with red chili (RMB 52), fried pork and bamboo shoots with chili sauce (RMB 58), and cold eggplant salad (RMB 28) from the “Guizhou
specials“ tab. Only minutes later, the star of the show arrived: the cold eggplant salad, which was a delightful mix of charred eggplant and peppers, vinegar, and the typical Chinese liangcai dressing. Flavors were fresh and moreish, bringing to mind Vietnamese cuisine. The potato cake was also good: thin strips baked until golden and crispy, coated in just the right amount of spice. The fatty meat dishes, on the other hand, were disappointing. Despite the anticlimax of the Provincial Government Restaurant, our interest in the cuisine itself had been piqued and we resolved to explore further. Thankfully Guizhou cuisine able to redeem the province’s reputation does exist in Beijing: the inappropriately-named Train Spotting, located in the courtyard of 46 Fangjia Hutong. Their mint and beef rolls won’t disappoint and their deepfried eggplant dish topped off with coriander is always a hit. Margaux Schreurs
photo: margaux photos: schreurs ken
26
november 2015