Dinner on My Own in on Night One

First dinner in shanghai was tough… I really need to learn Mandarin.  Here’s the story…

Choy of Some Kind

After a very difficult day at work, I decided to go out to dinner by myself.  Of course, I was going to leave the hotel.  I used my trusty Rough Guide to find a place that would satiate my incredible appetite.  Bi Feng Tang fit the bill.  I looked up the nearest location.  (Side note: Eating at chain restaurants in China is not like eating at chain restaurants in America.  Applebee’s they are not.)  After navigating the subway without incident, I was able to fine the restaurant very easily.  I suppose the HUGE neon sign helped.






Pork and Crab Roe Dumplings



As soon as I walked in, I knew the night was going to be tough.  I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do to get a table.  After, I was sat, I slowly opened the menu wishing my hardest for me to be able to understand anything inside.  BOOYAH! It was a picture menu with English names.   







Szechuan Green Beans



The ordering is really simple.  Each dish has a number, and you are given a paper with the numbers and Chinese names and you just check each one that you want.  The difficulty, as I found out later, is that in China, you need to call the servers over to take your order.  I had no idea how to get their attention, so I just held my clip board up in the air.  It worked. 







Szechuan Duck Tongue



It is a cultural adjustment that you call servers over for everything, even if they are in the middle of something.  Although snapping is uncommon, other gestures and methods of demanding attention would be so rude in the United States.  I was told several times, until I understood that they were out of some dishes I had ordered.  In the end, I ate duck tongue, some Chinese kale or choy, Szechuan green beans, and pork and crab roe dumplings.  The food was really good.  Overall, it was not a terrible experience for my first night.