Monday, February 27, 2012

My Travel Food Diary: Lunch in Shui Zhen Yuan Restaurant

Wuxi was a state in the Jiangsu province which we visited with a guided tour during our trip to China and you can read about the places of attractions I have posted here and here
I rarely travel with a tour group, and this is one of my very first, since school trips and you can read about my experience here

After a not-so-interesting trip to the Pearl Research Institute, we also had lunch there at their nearby (or probably the only) restaurant within the institute; Shui Zhen Yuan Restaurant.
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Located on the second floor, the restaurant was bustling with the lunch crowd which are mainly comprised of the tour groups.
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It was not that difficult to select what to order as the restaurant offered a detailed menu and I think even the food was pre-cooked as they were served rather promptly following our order.

Rice came in a container according to the number of pax.
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The weird part about our tour is that we are on our own when it came to food, and we have to pay for our food. It is not like there is much choice when it came to dining areas as visitors are just 'forced' to dine in the one or two restaurants in the tourist spot.

Braised white tofu with mushrooms and ham
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Sweet and sour fish fillet
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As usual, most of the fish I have tried here are just bony and one must exercise caution when consuming them.
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Stir fried omelette with silver fish
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This is a fish found in the famous Taihu Lake and it is really a small and fragile fish in texture; in fact, it kind of reminded me of anchovies as well.
I don't know why, I just felt like it was very cruel to be consuming these little fishes when I am touring the lake, yeah, call me sentimental:p
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Signature dish; sweet and sour vegetables
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When the word vegetables is mentioned, green leafy types come to mind and therefore, we were indeed surprised when we saw this dish served.
The so-called vegetable were these grains served with thinly diced carrots, bell peppers and ham.

The meal cost approximately RMB90+ (~MYR45) and it was quite a decent meal; in fact, the food was quite good which at least made it worthwhile (yeah, especially after the not-so-fun trip to the institute).

20 comments:

  1. They got this fake fish in china where it is make of plastic.
    the eyes is a dot of plastic ink..
    d real one is very tasty .. yummy..

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  2. It's rare to find decent food at these more touristy places. I'm impressed!

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  3. Enjoyed your post; we are going to Victoria BC, great China Town. Looking forward to sampling good food.
    Rita

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  4. I was enjoying the look of your sweet and sour fish, and then you reminded me of the bones :( Too bad! Looks fantastic though...

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  5. Simple Person, haha, seems like you have been put off by most of the reports in the media about the food quality in China:p
    No worries, I am also as cautious and the places that I visit are still fine due to higher standard of living there as well ;)

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  6. Joanne, yeah, I agree with you, most of the food in touristy places are just high-priced but low quality. I guess I am just lucky, hehehe :)

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  7. Rita, can't wait for your posting on Victoria BC soon!!:D

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  8. Charles, haha, I went through the same thing:p
    I was deceived by the lovely image of the dish when it arrived, until I was reminded and tasted the bones, sighs!
    The fish tasted great here, just the bones...

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  9. Love fish, not the bones. I'm so clumsy I need everything child proofed before I eat it! :-)

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  10. The Yum List, hahaha, yeah, I love fish but not the bones too...but sometimes, the best fish are those with the most bones...ironic right?:p

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  11. I am still shocked over the sweet and sour fish.. because I never heard of it before. I thought it was Mongolian beef for a second. but I wouldn't care for the bones either. Great post

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  12. Hi Christy, Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm so happy I find your blog, too. You have no idea I love Chinese food so much. Those dish looks like what my dad used to make. What a fun post :)

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  13. That's an awesome spread, great food! I particularly like the Braised Tofu with Ham, looks delicious! And thanks for visiting my blog!

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  14. Pure Complex, really? hahaha, but at least you love fish!:)

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  15. Tes, thanks for visiting me in return too!:) Hope to see you here more often ;)

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  16. food dude, thank you in return for coming to my blog as well!:)
    Indeed the braised tofu was a very good dish, just like all the other great dishes;)

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  17. Thanks for dropping by my blog. The food looks pretty simple and healthy =)

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  18. Smitten By Food, thanks for dropping by mine too!:) yeah, the food is really healthy, better than some of those I have had on the trip:p

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  19. All the food looks delicious!!!

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  20. Asmita, oooh, the food is not too bad :)

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