Food!

I enjoyed the food in Torino tremendously. Even the NBC commissary, which was horrible in Athens, was terrific in Torino, especially the pizza (controversy still reigns over my awarding of the Gold to the veggie pizza over the Sausage and Padano Cheese pizza - and I have to admit, I think I made a mistake in judging).

Now in Beiing, the commissary has been pretty good, and ususally offers something Asian every day. I typically have dinner when I get in at midnight, so I try to have the Asian food if it is something that looks palatable. But, it's not "real" Chinese food.

Chinese food is best experienced with a group of people, so that you can order many dishes and share. With my hours, and with nobody to go out with, it has been difficult to actually go and sample real Chinese food at a real restaurant, and there was no way I was going to eat any of those bugs down on the Wangfujing "Snack Street".

The closest I have come was to have some sweet and sour chicken, spicy beef, and steamed rice at a "food court" at the Yashow market. The food court is exactly like the market, all the vendors are shouting at you to come try their food, and the pretty girls walk around with samples on toothpicks to entice you. Even this food was better than what we get in the commissary.

I mentioned before that my driver/guide for the Great Wall trip was Susan, and that she owned a restaurant over near the Holiday Inn in the Lido district (pronounced Lee Doo). John (the COMMs manager) is staying in an apartment over near there and has eaten at "Susan's" (that's what it's called) many times and recommended it to me.

The Holiday Inn is close to the airport expressway, and as a result, many flight attendants and pilots end up staying there, and eating at Susan's. Her menus have English descriptions (good), and lots of pictures (great!).

Yesterday, I decided to go by myself and have a "real" meal. It was soooo good! In some respects, it is good that I waited so long to visit a resaurant. If I had done this sooner, I might have decided to blow off some of my side trips just to go back and eat more.

At John's recommendation, I had the Kong Bao Chicken (what we would call Kung Pow), some Spicy Fried Green Bean, Fried Rice, and a "small" bowl of Hot and Sour soup. I also had a local beer called "Tsing Tao". This was all really, really good, and served piping hot (except for the beer, which was only luke warm).

You can see by the pictures that I probably had enough food for two (probably three) people, but you know what, I managed to eat almost all of it myself (I was feeling that deprived of real food).

The entire meal (including the beer), cost 70Y (about $11.50).

Susan wasn't there, but I did get to meet her "brother" Jack (actually, I think Jack might really be her brother, as this is how the staff introduced me to him when I asked if Susan was around).

Here are a pair of young people who came to Beijing from the countryside (probably dirt poor), who have entrepreneurially set up a thriving restaurant that is in a good location for foreign (ie. rich) visitors, and who cater to them with English menus and pictures, and run a side-business doing tours around Beijing. Amazing!

If you are ever in Beijing, I would highly recommend "Susan's" in the Lido district.

And no, I was not hungry an hour later!