I went to a neighbourhood Sichuan restaurant for a meal, and I think the name was something like Lao Pao’er? It seems to mean an old, long-established shop.

The place

The places I go to are nothing special, just neighbourhood eateries. I simply wander into whatever is close to where I’m staying.

The table setting

Maybe it’s a local thing, but a lot of places serve the tableware wrapped up like this. Perhaps it’s because of COVID..

This bowl..

You rinse your chopsticks and dishes with hot tea to sterilise them, then pour it out into this.

Maopu buckwheat liquor

I ordered a cheap bottle to try, and it had a lovely pineapple aroma. At that price, with this kind of quality, I couldn’t ask for more.

Kaoyu (grilled fish)

It’s cheap, yet a huge platter comes out. The spice level was just right, too. There was plenty of flesh on the fish to pick at. I was quite satisfied with this. In the end, Chinese food is wildly expensive at the pricey places, but the cheap places are satisfying for the value. It seems hard to find Chinese food that isn’t satisfying.

That said, Korean Sichuan food is spicier than Sichuan food in China.. The kaoyu was spicier in Korea too.. Going to a Sichuan restaurant in Korea carries a certain risk..

Stir-fry

It went well with the drinks.

Craft beer

Apparently China is having a beer boom too, and the craft beer was pretty decent. If even a neighbourhood place has beer like this, I wondered how good the specialist bars must be.

Stir-fried aubergine

This was nice and piping hot as well.

Shredded potato

I ordered it because it looked refreshing.

Something like yakisoba..

It tasted remarkably like yakisoba. So China has yakisoba too, I thought.

Spices

A money tree

I wonder what on earth it is..

Various drinks..

Usually at restaurants like this you can just bring your own drinks, but it’s still worth having a look at which drinks are popular. Things like Xiao Lang Jiu and Maopu buckwheat liquor seem to be the favourites.

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