A Decent Change, Monday, 06 August 2007
I went to Tian Yuan this past Sunday (5 August) with two friends.
The directions were good and the taxi driver was able to find the place without any problem. However, we called first just to confirm the location.
I like the little hole-in-the-wall places and am used to eating at them. True to the previous comment, there were very few tables. I think I counted six or seven, but one was being used for a tea setting. Ambiance? Definitely not a place you'd want to take your first date or have a business meeting.
We three were the only people in the place with the exception of the two kind ladies working there.
I'm not currently vegetarian, but when I was younger I was. In fact, for a while I was even strictly vegan. I'm used to TVP (textured vegetable protein) that's used as a replacement for meat. I've only been to vegetarian restaurants three previous times in the four and a half years I've been in China. It always makes a good change from the dishes always loaded with meat. How many times have I been told that a vegetable dish REALLY IS only vegetables then find out when it's delivered that it does in fact contain meat??
So, we ordered three dishes. The first, sorry I can't remember the name, was 'chicken' with cabbage and mushrooms. The second was a style of pai gu (ribs) with carrots. The third, my favorite, was simply a stir-fried cabbage that tasted like it contained just a hint of wasabi.
One of my friends and I each ordered a beer. We soon discovered the only beer served at the restaurant is non-alcoholic beer. Not a big deal, but something the booze hounds amongst us should be aware of. However, I suppose this isn't really the kind of place most big drinkers would be going to anyway. ;)
The two ladies were friendly and offered a few suggestions about what we may like.
Food has to be pretty darn good to make me want to "stand up and slap my momma." So, I only gave the food a 6. The food at Tian Yuan was average when compared to the other "canteen" style neighborhood restaurants. As most canteen food tends to be heavy on the salt and oil it's something that tends to wear thin after a while. Tian Yuan was very light on the oil, but pretty much par for the course with the salt and MSG. I forgot to ask for no MSG. It's nothing I'm afraid of, it's just that food seems to have a bit of a "metallic" taste when a lot of weijing is used.
The prices were average. Three dishes, two small bowls of rice, two beers, and a Sprite came to 55kuai.
Because I live in Kai Fa Qu, getting into town takes a while. This isn't a place I'm going to be making weekly trips to. It's not THAT good. But, will I go back? Sure, if I'm in the area.
It's good average canteen food without the meat. Definitely good for something different.
007
