<Chengde> Nameless Chinese Restaurant Serving Camel Meatballs

[It is not that the restaurant is nameless, it is just that I was sick and I ran from the bus to the dingy-looking clinic/pharmacy located opposite the restaurant. Thereafter, the China tour guide held my hand to cross the busy ( almost mad) traffic towards the restaurant! It was raining and hence, the first thing on my mind was to find shelter instead of taking picture of the restaurant. I was having a burning throat and sore muscles.]

During our Beijing trip, we had an excursion to Chengde, which is about 3 hours drive away from Beijing. It borders Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Beijing and Tianjin. Hence, the staple food of Chengde is often Mongolian influenced, so, instead of pork and chicken, the meat dishes are generally lamb, donkey and horse!

We reached Chengde 7 pm-ish and we were brought to this restaurant, which according to  the China tour guide, is the best restaurant in Chengde. I could not attest to that as it is almost an unwritten consensus that food served for tour groups are distinctly different compared to those for locals. According to the China tour guide, our dishes had been tweaked to suit our flavour – less salt added compared to the normal dishes for the locals. Well, let’s just put it this way – this dinner was the saltiest that I had ever had during the tour. IT WAS SALTY!

Although I do not remember the name of the restaurant, my memory of the restaurant remains vivid!

The decor of this few storey of restaurant are mainly Chinese oriental with a lot of antique furniture ( which looks a bit dated ) and some ( I think) are over the top. This sprawling restaurant occupies a few floors over a few shoplots. The ground floor cater to public dining while the upper floor comprised private rooms. I did not manage to peep through these private rooms but understandably, should be elaborately furnished as evidenced from the ostentatious private entrance!

 

The walls are adorned with  elaborate Chinese paintings and taxidermy which are for sale. Whilst I respect the culture of the locals, I felt a sense of creepiness dining amidst there wide-eyed animals ( if you look closely enough, you can even see the eye-lashes!)

 

 

 

 

Highlight of the day – camel meatballs. Tastewise, not bad, not that springy but still passable. Would you eat this? I ate one… that was before knowing that it was camel meat! We had lunch at the same restaurant the next day and they served the same dish again – it was left untouched!

---