Four agonizingly long months after I purchased my plane ticket, I finally landed at Beijing Capital Airport on the evening of April 30th. There was a two-hour delay to my flight and super long lines even after landing, so by the time I arrived at my friend Fangyin's apartment it was already dinnertime, a small disappointment as I had expected to have a whole afternoon free to explore. I was happy just to be with my friend, whom I hadn't seen since December when she moved back to Beijing after working with me in Seoul; so I didn't really mind that we weren't able to do much that day.
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| First selfie in China! Fangyin prepared bottled drinks and a mask when she picked me up from the airport. So sweet of her! :D |
For my first meal she took me to a branch of a famous roast duck restaurant called Bian Yi Fang (便宜坊) which is said to have centuries of history. When we got there, there was already a long line of people waiting for their tables, and we were told to wait for at least 40 minutes or so. I wasn't too hungry, so we decided to wait while trying out their homemade juices (pear and Asian apricot).
OK, first off, one thing I noticed in China was that in most restaurants, the menu is literally a big fat book because there are just so many things to order. China is a gigantic country, so obviously they've got too many cuisines to count. And although this place is famous for their roast duck, they still have an abundance of different foods to offer, and it is quite common to order several different things to share instead of just one plate per person.
So here is what I had for dinner on my first night.
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| 将米藕 Lotus roots stuffed with something... chewy and sweet. |
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| 鸭丝酸辣汤 I wish I knew more about this because it's just so damn good. But I only know the name :P |
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| Part of what makes roast duck so expensive is that they prepare/slice the duck directly in front of you. So this "show" is all included in the price. Not that it's all that interesting... |
The highlight of my dinner, of course, was the Peking Duck. To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting much of it at first, because all my Chinese friends and other acquaintes who had visited China all told me that it was overrated and too expensive. But for me, this was not the case.
So the skin and the meat are prepared separately; the skin is slightly crispy on the outside and a bit chewy as well, while the meat is juicy and savory. The dish is prepared with flour wraps and assorted vegetables which you make yourself. The sauce is amazing. The meat is amazing. Put everything together and the taste explodes in your mouth; it's inexplicable and I swear I could almost see fireworks somewhere in the back of my head. Who said Peking duck was overrated?
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| 椒盐鸭架 - Nothing is wasted; the leftover bones are roasted separately, and while there isn't much meat, it's still quite flavorful. |
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| The duck's head is supposedly the yummiest part; the eyes are covered with that slab of meat but if you look closely you can see the beak heading toward the right. |
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| Asparagus and... mushrooms? |
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| 蒜蓉扇贝 |
After dinner we were so full, we took a walk around the neighborhood before heading to bed. All in all my trip was off to quite a good start!
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