The name Shunde Lao apparently means something like “a chef from Shunde,” and Shunde chefs have long been famous for their skill. China is so big that when people host a business dinner, they usually do it at a good local restaurant of their own region. In Shenzhen, for example, that means Cantonese, Chaoshan or Hakka food, dishes you can only taste in this region, and that is what counts as a real business dinner. Beijing-style food, after all, is available in every town. China is one country, but it feels a bit like the US in that it is really many countries gathered together.
Anyway, so this dinner was also at a Cantonese restaurant called Shunde Lao, and the food was of course excellent. But the truly high-end restaurants are actually in more expensive buildings, and in a way this place would count as good value for money. Those really expensive restaurants are for when there is something expensive enough to warrant it, I suppose. China seems very strict about the rank of a business dinner, too.
The place
I didn’t get a good shot of the entrance. This restaurant also has a branch over on the Tairan side, and the line was long there as well. So the taste is pretty much guaranteed.
Inside
It is mostly private rooms.
Tonight’s drink
It turned out to be an interesting liquor. It comes from the Moutai region, but the sauce aroma wasn’t that strong. This kind of baijiu seems to be in fashion these days. I guess young people don’t really like a strong sauce aroma.
Oak-barrel-aged beer
This was a fairly interesting beer, too. They say it is extremely expensive, though, and I don’t think the taste justifies paying that much.
The table
I’m getting used to round tables by now.
Peanuts
Wine came out too.
Mixing drinks like this is dangerous.
Sauce-aroma baijiu
It hardly shows up even if you search for it in Korea.
Duck dish
Pretty much everything is delicious.
This felt like Fujian cuisine.
Something warm to have before the meal.
A dish
It seemed to have something like sea bream skin in it.
A dish
Delicious.
Hakka tofu dish
It’s not just Cantonese food; they seem to serve anything good.
A dish
This one felt a bit like Hunan cuisine.
Something like Korean meat patties
I never knew Chinese cuisine had something like this.
Salad
A gong
They seem to strike it whenever a special dish comes out. I thought this was another fun bit of Chinese culture.
Food
So much came out by this point that I can’t remember it well.
Shrimp
I gained a lot of weight from the endless stream of food.
Chicken
This was tasty too. Actually, there was nothing that wasn’t tasty.
Probably lamb chops
This place really serves a huge variety of dishes.
A dish
I have no memory of eating this.
Water spinach
My memory gets hazier the further along we go.
Rice
Salad
By the end I was so out of it that I really can’t remember.
Mugwort cigarettes
These were so curious that I took a picture. They are cigarettes made from mugwort with no nicotine at all. So people who can’t smoke, but end up in a smoking situation, apparently smoke these in China. Just as drinking used to be in Korea, smoking is essential to social life in China, which is probably why these fake cigarettes exist. Cultural differences like this are really fascinating. The mugwort cigarettes aren’t cheap, though. I wonder whether it really has to go this far.
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