Day tripper

After a late start, my wife and I spent a whole afternoon traipsing around the city of Shenzhen while the children were at their grandmother's. We travelled miles on buses, metro and on foot, from one bookstore to the next like on some sort of treasure hunt through recommendation by the staff of each store. One such destination we were directed to was a massive complex named 'Shenzhen Book City', located in a new area called Shaonian Gong (少年宮站), literally 'Children's Palace' currently at the end of Metro line 4. The Book City is the largest of its type in Asia, and comprises 42 thousand square metres of retail space in a lowrise building. Most of the floorspace is occupied by a huge book hypermarket the likes I have rarely seen; there were other apparently specialist booksellers within the same complex, and fast food outlets to cater for hungry bookworms.

After 12 bookshops and about 25km, including an hour stuck in traffic, we decided to call it a day. Incidentally, the legendary traffic in Shenzhen is being exacerbated by roadworks caused by the extension of the Shenzhen Metro. It was already past 7pm and were still one volume short of our quest. I was hoping for a good meal but not expecting a gastronomic experience, for all my previous experiences in Shenzhen (other than in the top hotels) were always lacking in some way.

We fortuitously came across the Lao Shaoxing Restaurant (老紹興酒樓) tucked away in the courtyard of the Qinghua Hotel, near the Science Museum (科學館). I was attracted by the prospect of Zhejiang cuisine in a relaxed setting, despite the restaurant being fronted by a gaudy neon quite typical of Chinese restaurants. I cannot deny that the bright lights caught my eye.

The main restaurant upstairs was busy with diners when we took our seats. We were presented with a menu which was disguised as a book of culinary photography replete with images of traditional Chinese riverside villages and flowery text about the geographical context to whet your appetite. In the past, I have found a poor general correlation between the care with which the menu was assembled and the quality of the delivered product so I still wasn't holding my breath. At least the restaurant was clean, and the other diners behaved with decorum.

The menu of the Lao Shaoxing Restaurant

When the food arrived, I was therefore surprised to see that the photography had been faithfully replicated in the presentation. The lamb we ordered was attractively set on beds of deep-fried noodle fragments; the fish, sea bass prepared to Shaoxing style, came on a hot-plate en papillote; our eel was a careful visual coordination of colours and textures which my photography failed to do justice.

Eel (left); lamb (right)

Lamb is one of my favourite meats, but is not widely consumed in China except in Moslem cuisine. I have been severely disappointed elsewhere in the past, by the culinary treatment with heavy spices and salted in abundance, so I ordered it in trepidation. Fortunately, the first taste immediately revealed expert preparation – dishes which were delicately flavoured and seasoned to perfection. The hints of herbs and spices therein remained subtle, never threatening or overwhelming the savours of the principal ingredients. I have always been a fan of the Shanghainese preparation of eel; this variant with prawns certainly did not disappoint.


To top it all, the meal came to a total of RMB138 yuan (about US$20 at today's exchange rate), which I'd say represented extremely good value for money.

Le Tambour

This bistrot, situated at 41 rue Montmartre, was introduced by my friend Maria, a music journalist. It's a regular haunt of hers as the bistro is popular with the musico types which her job demands her to talk to from time to time. It's a stone's throw from Les Halles, and the Sentier district which was once the centre of the Parisian rag trade.

Many restaurants in France are individual enterprises not belonging to chains; I particularly liked the inside the bistro, where there is an artistic decor including a collection of modified street furniture, and a recursive sculpture of its own bar in a display case. There were no musicians here that I was aware of, but it was lunchtime in mid week, so many of these types would be scarely out of bed, but there we go. Strangely, I never discovered it in the years I lived here, although I would certainly have gone past it. Paris is a bit like that – it's an agglomeration of villages and you often find such treasure through friends.

I am told that it takes on a different ambience at night. The restaurant has has been family owned for two generations (according to Maria), and has recently been sold because the owner had grown tired of the hard work running an establishment which is open 24-7. The new owner agreed not to change anything, to preserve its atmosphere. To that end, the entire staff have also been retained. Maria only found out it had been sold when she asked where the owner was. Anywhere else, the new owner will not resist asserting their ownership by making a few "improvements"; in Paris, this stands a better chance of remaining untouched.

The menu is pretty classic French bistro fare, and not expensive by Paris standards. All the perennial favourites are on it. There is, of course the Hamburger à cheval, which my wife took literally. In fact it's not horsemeat at all, but a minced steak with an egg (sunny side up, naturally) on top. I was very tempted by the croustillant de chevre (toasted goat's cheese), which looked the business. However, my carnivorous tendencies took over in the end, and I had the Magret de canard (duck fillet) for EUR14. For another EUR8, I opted for the Tarte Tatin – an apple pie cooked upside-down then flipped over so the pastry is no longer on top.