Lunch on the 11th: The First Day

Early next morning after we arrived, Hubby's da gu gu called to invite us for lunch. Since i like sweet and sour so much, they decided to treat us including mom and dad-in-law to a popular restaurant at about 30km away, which is well known for their song shu gui yu and gong bao ji.

There were eight of us: Da gu gu, da gu fu, Lulu jie jie and her hubby, mom and dad-in-law, Hubby and myself. I wasn't really prepared for another feast after yesterday's lunch at Shenzhen but was really glad to meet another part of Hubby's family particularly this one who had warmly came to invite us, and specially picked a restaurant which serves my fave food. I'm too blessed :-).

We departed at 11am to arrive just before 12pm. As usual, the restaurant is packed with customers, but da gu gu had called earlier on to book a room, so we were able to chit chat while dining privately in the room.

The first four appetizers came just after gu fu placed the order; black dou fu, duck feet, peanuts, and beef muscles/joints. Honestly this is another eye opener for me. Apart from peanuts, i have not tried any of these in my entire 24 years, not mentioning the duck feet and beef thingy looked a bit 'yucky'. Among all, i love the dou fu the most, and would not hessitate to have another serving. This dou fu is black because it is made out of black soy beans.

Hei Dou Fu

Mustard Duck Feet

Diving Peanuts (Tiao Shui Hua Sheng)

Niu Jian Zi

Next was this hai sheng (sea cucumber), one of the expensive dishes on our lunch menu that afternoon. I have to say this is good, although initially i had this blacky impression of it (had always disliked dark soy saucey gravy).

Hai Sheng

Together with hai sheng was this Fu Qi Fei, which according to Hubby are slices of beef and cow tummy. I didn't know what it was at first, but mom-in-law kept insisting i should eat it, so i took a bite and thought it was jelly fish, until i asked Hubby again before writing this blog. Seriously, if i didn't have this blog, i don't think i would know what i have just eaten for the rest of my life!

Fu Qi Fei Pian

Eels were next. Two types: man yu which lives in the sea and shan yu from the freshwater. One word to describe both: Delicious-superfilicious. I had always loved eels, particularly those served in japanese restaurants back home. This time i got to eat Chinese eels, which was terrific!

Man Yu

Shan Yu

To go along with the song shu gui yu, gu fu ordered sweet and sour prawns with pineapples. Well, so happened that Lulu Jie Jie is also a fan of sweet and sour just like me, so ordering another kind of this is almost necessary.

Sweet and Sour Prawns with Pineapple

This restaurant is most well known for its Gong Bao Ji, so having this dish is a must. Yeah, to most people incl Hubby this dish is as good as how they brag it is, but to me, this dish is way too oily, and i don't really fancy it at all.

 Gong Bao Ji

In a typical Chinese meal, vege is a must must, and this time it was dou miao (pea sprouts?)

Wan Dou Jian

Don't think i need to re-introduce this dish any further. One word: Exquisite and I love it! Me and Hubby actually picked the fish ourselves, think it weighed about 600g. This time the fish was not as fresh as previously, but the taste was still good to me. :-)

Song Su Gui Yu

Upfront

Carbo in terms of starch is very important to most people, especially the Chinese. Since we are not having rice, the guests decided to order some cold noodles which look a lot like kon lao mian to me (you are supposed to 'lao' the mian before you eat it). On top of the noodles are shredded chicken, cucumbers, soy sauce, chilli sauce and some special gravy.

Liang Mian

Dian Xins were next. This time there were four which i didn't eat at all (too full after so many dishes). The first one, Ci Ba is fried glutinuous rice which should be eaten with the hua sheng mian (the middle). The second one is more familiar to me, coz it looks a lot like onde-onde, apart from the dou sha filling. Yan Su Bing and Lou Bo Gao are fried items, which i really don't fancy at all.

Ci Ba Nuo Mi Ci

Yan Su Bing

Lou Bo Gao

When this fruit platter was served, we actually thought it was free since we had ordered so many dishes but we were wrong. Only three types of fruit: baby tomatoes, watermelon and super sweet hami melon.

Finally the waitress came and brought in strawberry ice creams. This time they were free.

In total, we actually had 13 dishes, 4 dian xins, fruits and ice cream. And this was only lunch. Sigh..i'm wondering what dinner would be like.....I'm going to be fat!