Chengdu 2nd full day

Since I came to Chengdu, I've seen several Starbucks, a few McDonald's and a couple KFCs - not many foreign companies. This is a good sign that the city preserves its own culture. However, one of the drawbacks of strong culture is the lack of English.


Another tasty breakfast venue didn't have English signs... Very new and casual interior. Yet the foods are very traditional.

This is their signature dish Feichangfen, which is soupy spicy (of course) noodles with organ meats. The noodles are made with some potato and are semi transparent, which reminds me of Korean cold noodles. Unlike noodles made with wheat flour, they're very light. I really don't know what to call the liquid portion. Unlike ramen or pho, this is not soup because it's supposed to be left after all the noodles and other solids are eaten. But it's not thick enough to call it a sauce. It seems wasteful, but the water is from the pot that the noodles were being boiled in. It's not any special stock. So, I guess it's soupy just to dilute the seasoning and spices....

Nonetheless, it was very tasty. Again, it wasn't hot in terms of chili and had a nice flavor of szechuan pepper corn.

This is my most favorite szechuan dish, called Koushuijipian!! Cold steamed chicken is covered with chili oil with various spices and peanuts. I had to have this dish while I'm in Chengdu. I wish I had more time to try it at various restaurants. Spiciness-wise, it was pretty mild. I've had a much spicier version when I was in Los Angeles. All of chicken in Koushuijipian I've had in the US were bone-in. But this one had bones removed. It could be just this restaurant but I didn't expect that... Anyway, this was satisfyingly good dish. 

There are not many sight seeing spots in the city. I could have made one day trip outside the city, but I rather wanted to have as many Szechuan dishes as possible. However, I did go to Wuhou memorial temple, which was beautiful. The temple is surrounded by Jinli pedestrian street, filled with souvenir shops, food stands, etc.

Although the street looked very touristy, I didn't see any vendors for foreign tourists. This is one of the very few vendors with English signs. 

In this place, I found that draft beers are sold. I was expecting some sort of lager made in China. But they are selling IPA! I had to try it.

I was really impressed with their IPA. Very hoppy west coast style IPA. I figured out the owner of this venue is an American from Boulder, Colorado. No wonder why.... Anyway, this is unexpected in Chengdu. 

Another late lunch to avoid the crowd. It is similar to the hot pot that I went to yesterday. But the difference is the foods are skewered.

Some appetizers, deep fried meats and sticky starchy cakes soaked in syrup. Later, I'd be glad that I had these, especially the sweet one....

Like the hot pot from yesterday, there are two kinds of broth. Based on my lesson yesterday, I chose the mildest (again there are 3 levels of spiciness). This broth is more chili and less szechuan pepper corn. It's supposed to the mildest of the three but it seems spicier than yesterday. As I ate, the heat of the chili got out of control and it became inedible. I was trying to cool down my mouth with the sweet appetizer, but I had to surrender at some point. It was too spicy.... Still tastes great, though. 

The dinner was at Chin Ma Po Tofu, which is just across the street from the hotel. This restaurant is considered the pioneer of the famous Szechuan dish, ma po tofu.

Of course, I ordered their ma po tofu. Luckily, they offered two sizes, small and large. I chose small because I could try other dishes then.. I was expecting a pretty hot and numbing ma po tofu. But compared to the lunch, I didn't really feel any heat.. Since this is one of the most famous restaurants in Chengdu, probably they are toning it down??

This is another famous szechan dish, called twice cooked pork, which is my favorite. I've had both spicy and non spicy versions. I guess this is supposed to be spicy but not so much. All the twice cooked pork I've had before in the US was prepared with leeks. But the green veggie used in this dish didn't look like leeks. Probably Chinese chives? It was good but I wish it had more heat.

Not particularly Szechuan dessert but my favorite. Sticky rice ball filled with black sesame paste. The rice balls are served in the semi sweet warm water. Although I was pretty full, I finished this with no effort.

The service was pretty horrible. Because any other restaurants I went to in Chengdu weren't like this at all, I don't think this is Chengdu's "authentic" service. Probably famous restaurant's attitude?

When I left the restaurant, I saw two single customers. Each customer was having so many dishes. One lady was having a small ma po tofu and three other big dishes. Are people in Chengdu big eaters? Or are these people tourists and just trying to eat as much food as possible like me?

Chengdu 1st full day

My first full day started with nice breakfast at an eatery specialized with tofu, which is walking distance from the hotel.

This is their specialty noodle dish. Initially I thought the noodle contains tofu but tofu is at the bottom. Tofu and noodle is served with spicy sauce with peanuts topped with braised ground meat. Very flavorful but it wasn't as spicy as it looks. Probably because this is breakfast??

Other dishes includes:

 Eggy tofu with meat sauce

Rice flour dumpling with sweet/savory ground meat inside 

 Dumpling

After breakfast, I walked around the city and stop by at this place

This is Chendu's Fuqi feipian, literary meaning husband and wife lung piece. "fei" originally spelled "offal" (organ meats) but the Chinese alphabet was later changed to "lung." Lung can be a part of this dish but lung is not the only offal that is used. This fuqi feipian is served in the pita-like bread. Like other szechuan dishes, it's served with plenty of chili oil but the bread absorbs the oil and is supposed to prevent it from dripping. However, it still gets pretty messy. It wasn't spicy in terms of chili, but it gives a nice numbness from szechuan pepper corn. 

After the snack, I kept walking and found very unique looking food court. Since it was still pretty early, around 10:00am, not everything was open but it looks like there are more than 20 vendors.

For the first time, I saw one of Chengdu's most famous regional foods, rabbit's head. It's pretty graphic and I was surprised that this many heads can be sold. It must be popular... Heads are covered with chili flakes and I believe it's flavorful. But it's questionable if there's much to eat...

While I was heading back to the hotel to take a short rest, I found an interesting looking mango. It is bigger than most mangoes and very yellow green. I thought it's not ripened yet but this is the color it's supposed to be. According to the fruit shop staff, this is a locally grown mango. I didn't know mangos can grow in inland China... The staff said she could cut the mango, so I decides to try one to snack on at the hotel.

It tasted closer to red & green and round mangos than the small yellow ones from Southeast Asia.

There are tons of hot pot restaurants in Chengdu. My Chinese friend found this place from a Chinese review site and it's one of the most popular in Chengdu. Since it sounds like this restaurant is always crowded, we chose a late lunch after 2:00 pm. Still, there were more than 20 people waiting before us. Although the menu was written all in Chinese, I found the restaurant's name on the outside wall spelled in English, which is Xiaolongkan.

The waiting time wasn't that bad, approximately 15 minutes. The decor inside was newly renovated yet retro, and very clean. There were 3 levels of heat for the broth. Because of everything I've had since I arrived, I ordered spiciest of the three and non spicy broth for my friend (the small pot in the center is non-spicy broth). However, the waiter brought the mildest saying they can add more spices if we'd like to after tasting first. I was a little worried because they may tone down everything for "tourists" (people in Chengdu speak Mandarin but with heavy accent so they can tell my Chinese friend is not local).

I'm glad I didn't insist on the spiciest.... It was an amazingly tasty broth but very spicy. It was still an edible level spiciness for me, but approached the upper end of my heat tolerance. Although it's pretty "hot" in terms of chili, the numbness from the Szechuan pepper corn is strong too. I finally had the Szechuan flavors that I wanted to have in Chengdu!!!

Topping (cilantro and chopped garlic), flavored oil and tea

Tripe

Meat ball on top of rose petal (I'm not sure if the rose petal does anything flavor-wise...). The meat ball was very flavorful

Wood ear mushroom and pork belly

As I ate, the broth kept getting spicier because the chili and Szechuan pepper corn were being cooked. It was almost inedible by the time I finished the meal. I'm so glad that the waiter gave me the mildest first..... Anyway, this was an amazing meal!!!

In the evening, I went to a famous place, called Kuanzhaixiangzi, which consists from 3 parallel streets (wide, medium and small). Two bigger streets are filled with restaurants, tea houses,  food stands and souvenir shops. Although it was a weekday evening, it was packed with people. 

Because I was still stuffed from the huge hot pot lunch, I didn't try any street food, though it all looked so inviting... I managed to try the grilled tofu with chili flakes on top. It was a light late night snack.

I believe I accomplished a lot this day. I hope I can try this many dishes tomorrow!

Chengdu - Arrival

I'm a big fan of spicy food and Chengdu, which is the food capital of Szechuan foods, has always been on my bucket list. I was fortunate enough to go there with my Chinese friend. I've heard few locals speaks English, so that this was a "must have" requirement for visiting Chengdu.

I arrived at the Chengdu airport late evening and transferred to the local subway to meet my friend at the hotel in the city center. The subway was very modern and clean. The only problem is that everything about Google is banned in China.... I was going to cache a detailed city map at the airport but I realized I can't use Google Maps (I have an Android phone..). Because I remembered the closest subway station and the hotel is close to the station, I decided to give it a shot without a detailed map.

After I arrived at the station, I started to walk around hoping I could easily find the hotel. I was wrong.... I wandered for about 20 minutes without any luck. I thought about asking the locals but I realized I didn't bring the Chinese name of the hotel, only the English name.... All the signs in the city seem to be in Chinese... I opened Google Maps and found the saved starred location of the hotel and my location with GPS. I moved towards the starred location and luckily found the hotel. Later, I found that the hotel is right outside the exit of the subway station, if I had chosen the right exit (there are 5-6 exits).

When I united with my friend at the hotel, it was pretty late. Besides, I wasn't really hungry because of the time difference. However, I didn't want to miss any opportunity to try local Szechuan foods since my time here is limited. So, we went outside the hotel and tried a street vendor.

I wasn't totally sure of the hygiene of street food in Chengdu. But it was a chilly day and each dish is made to order on the hot iron plate. So, I thought it should be safe. This street vendor serves fried rice and fried noodle with a few side dishes. The customer before me ordered fried rice and was customizing all the additions. I had my friend order fried rice noodle. My friend explained I love spicy food and I saw the vendor double the chili and szechuan pepper corn (compared to the previous local customer...). I was a bit scared because I'm in Chengdu after all...

I also found an aromatic root vegetable, that I have never seen. Its scientific name is houttuynia cordia, which is also called chameleon plant, fishwort, bishop's weed, etc. Normally the leaf is consumed but the root is eaten in some regions. The flavor is very distinctive, medicinal and weedy. I liked it so I asked him to add it to my noodle. But I believe this is an acquired taste.

Here's the fried noodle. It wasn't as spicy as I thought. Just a comfortable (for me) spice level. Nice numbness from the szechuan pepper corn.

This is additionally ordered stir fried squid. The squid was skewered by the vendor so I thought it would be served with the skewer. But the skewers were removed and the squid was cut into smaller pieces. Then why was it skewered?? Anyway, the squid was cooked with aromatics and tons of fresh chili / chili paste. It's spicier than the noodles but still had an edible level of spiciness. Since it's a bit on the salty side, I wanted to have this with steamed rice. Nonetheless, very tasty!

It was less than US$2... Amazing deal.


I have 3 more full days to spend in Chengdu. Let's see how much food I can try...

Dublin - 2nd day

Today is virtually the last day of the trip because I'm returning to California tomorrow morning. The whole day is in Dublin, with no appointments made. I decided to play it by ear in Dublin today. As a result, it turned out to be another packed day. It'll be another long entry again....

As I mentioned before, most Irish whiskies are made by 4 major distilleries. Due to the increasing demand in whiskies, more distilleries were built recently, however most of them are too young to sell their whiskies yet. Whiskeys usually needs 3 years to mature at least.

Among these newer distilleries, I found one that's already selling their whiskies, called Teeling Distilleries, which is the first new distillery in Dublin in 125 years.

Irish whiskey in general is triple distilled, which makes them different from most Scotch whisky. It is said triple distillation makes it smoother. Since this is a new distillery, they had only 3 pot stills, which can make only 1 batch at a time.

The tour guide was very nice and the tour was very informative. But she was trying to emphasize that Irish were the first to make whiskey and not the Scottish. I wonder whether the Irish have some rivalry with Scottish when it comes to whiskey... I was always curious what makes Irish whiskies creamy in note. It is the unmalted barley. In Scotland all the barley used in their malt whisky is malted, whereas some Irish distilleries started mixing malted and unmalted barley to compete against Scotch whiskies for the price (the Scottish do make "grain whisky" as well, which can include unmalted barley and other grains but it's not as common as Irish'). Thus, the Irish approach for cost reduction created the distinctive flavor of Irish whiskey. Unfortunately, I'm not crazy for the creamy note in my whiskey. I wonder if the Irish also make a version with all malted barley...

Also, it seems the Irish are more into blended whiskey. The whiskey tasting included two blended (barley and corn) whiskeys and one single malt (barley). Because corn has higher starch content, any whiskies containing corn will be sweeter. One of the two blended whiskies is called "Small Batch" which wasn't too sweet and very smooth. But I still liked single malt better (maybe I don't like too sweet whiskey...)

After the tour at Teeling, I went to Vintage Kitchen for lunch, which was recommended by the bartender at Mulligan's yesterday. It is a very cozy restaurant. When I arrived at the restaurant at 12:30, it was pretty empty... The menu is like a mixture of French bistro and contemporary casual Californian restaurant.

This is risotto of chili chorizo. The risotto is in the small cup, which seems like a measuring cup. And it's on top of a small skillet. Interesting presentation. The flavor and seasoning is on the stronger side. It's not a risotto in Italian style (al dente) by any means. But it was good otherwise.

The next dish, Cod brandade & samphire, is very unique dish. Cod is shredded finely and mixed with bechamel-like sauce and baked until the top is browned. A unique vegetable, called samphire is on top of it. The samphire is a succulent that grows around the British isles. It could be blanched in salt water. Not much flavor but it has a nice crunchy texture. It's served with chicory leaves.

With this upclose photo, it may be difficult to tell what this is, but it's fish pie. The fish seems to be cod or a similarly mild whitefish. It was a good portion and I couldn't finish it. The potato on top was very filling (it looks like strangely shaped cloud...). Compared to the first two appetizers, it was seasoned lightly and the sauce at the bottom was very thin. Lots of fish pieces inside the sauce. This dish and the previous cod dish were both served on top of wooden cutting board. I did see something like this last night too. Probably some trend in Dublin??

This lamb shank is cooked to perfection. Very tender and moist. I've had a few dry lamb shanks before because they're cooked at too high a temperature. The sauce is a more tomatoey but less tangy BBQ-like sauce. The presentation is very fancy, all the ingredients were placed directly on the flat stone.

Very good food, I'm glad the bartender of Mulligan's recommended this restaurant. By the time I left around 2:00pm, the restaurant was full. I guess their lunch time is late??



After lunch, I headed to the old Jameson distillery. Although they offer a tour, their whiskey is not made there anymore. Jameson whiskey is now made at Middleton distillery, which is one of the major distilleries in Ireland. Middleton is located 30min east of Cork. I had originally planed to visit Cork and Middleton but I thought it's too much time for moving (it takes 3 hours to Cork from Dublin). Besides, I found this tasting room with tour in the city of Dublin.

Since it's not a production facility, I was expecting something touristy. It is indeed touristy. The tour is conducted every 20 minutes, yet each group is more than 20 people. According to the guide, Jameson just remodeled the building and tour facility. This building is the original location where Jameson whiskey was first made. They used the original building material efficiently and added all modern features. By now, I've been to several distilleries and I thought I knew quite a bit about the whiskey making. However, their animated video explaining how whiskey is made was impressive. Since I can't see inside all of the processing equipment, I had to count on the guide's explanation and my guess. But this video cleared all of my uncertainty.

Moreover, there are some samples that help to understand the video even more by smelling, touching and eating. It was very well thought-out and organized presentation. There are two kinds of whiskey in the spray containers, along with small pieces of paper. It's like testing perfume. 3 flasks with differently aged whiskey are linearly getting darker, showing the color difference. The two kinds of barley are malted and unmalted.

The most interesting part of the interactive exhibit was the comparison of different casks: sherry and bourbon. The caps are made with corresponding woods and the same whiskies are placed inside. By opening the cap and smelling both the whiskey and the bottom of the cap, I could clearly tell the difference. Now I see why sherry casks are used for higher grade whiskey in both Scotland and Ireland. The one in the sherry cask smelled very "whiskey" but the one in bourbon cask smelled like some furniture.

After the tour, the tasting came with 3 samples. Jameson's Whiskey is only one of them. This is the comparison tasting with Johnny Walker and Jack Daniel's. Johnny Walker represents peaty (smokey) Scotch whisky and Jack Daniel's shows the example of corn-made sweet whiskey. Jameson's was blended whiskey too. These were very good representations of different type of whiskies.

The admission ticket comes with one free drink coupon at the bar. Very touristy but I'm not complaining.. I could have their blend whiskey as is but I chose a cocktail since I haven't had any whiskey cocktails since I started the trip. The cocktail was called "Jameson, ginger & lime" and contained whiskey, ginger ale, and a lime wedge. Very refreshing.

More alcohol!!! It's Guinness! I was going to skip this because it seems very touristy. But because the Jameson's tour was very good despite the "touristiness", I decided to give a try (besides I had enough time). But when I arrived, I kind of regretted it. VERY touristy with a long line of waiting people. They control the number of visitors per 30 minute period. However, when I got inside, it was still very packed.

Like Jameson, the admission ticket include one free drink (or three tastings). Of course I chose three samples. There are more tasting rooms (it seems there's an additional charge). But these rooms looked super packed. Because the entire facility is so packed with tourists, it was also very hot and humid. I just decided to leave. Although the building is adjacent to the production facility, they don't offer any production tours.... I guess this is not a "foodie" destination. At least I can say I've been to the Guinness plant!

This is the last meal in Dublin because I'm leaving tomorrow morning. This is a brew pub, called Porterhouse. They make their own beer and serve it with food. It seems the Irish meal time is on the later side; I arrived at this restaurant around 6:00 and got a table but soon after that, all the tables were taken.

This is their house IPA, Porterhouse IPA. I think this is the closest to the US single IPA. I've tried quite a few beers since I came to Scotland and Ireland. Although everywhere I went to had IPA, I never saw double or triple IPA (even in the US, I don't see triple IPA that often anymore. Probably because of the increase in the price of hops?). Also, the highest alcohol ABV is 6.5% or something similar. I guess some of the high alcohol beers sold in the US could be considered as crazy ones outside the US. I usually drink beer with 8-9% beers (sometimes 11%) so I never got drunk during this trip...

Since this is the last supper, I decided to order more traditional Irish dishes (although I saw more interesting dishes in the menu). The first dish is bacon and cabbage. But when I saw the dish coming to the table, it looked different from what I was expecting. But I thought this is this restaurant's original version or something.

In reality, I was getting it mixed up in my mind with corned beef and cabbage which, I discovered upon researching later, is an Irish-American dish. In fact, it's the American version of bacon and cabbage. I guess it's like pizza, chow mein or teriyaki chicken in that respect. Very much a "comfort food".

The second entree is bangers and mash, which I had in Belfast also. Unlike the one I had in Belfast, the sausage is one long piece and the sausage seemed not to have filler. The texture was more familiar to me. Slightly on the dry side but very "meaty"and delicious.

Since I'm leaving in the morning tomorrow, this is the last entry of the trip. I'm sure this is the trip where I consumed the largest amount of alcohol. Yet, I never felt drunk or sick!

As to whisky (or whiskey depending on which country I'm in), I still like single malt Scotch whisky. As I mentioned, I'm not a big fan of creamy/dairy notes in my drink (not only whisky but also wine). I still don't like too peaty (smoky) scotch whisky either because it tastes like a band aid. But I think a hint of smokiness could give a unique characteristic. As usual for me, I like longer aged foods (cheese, balsamic vinegar, miso, etc.). At most distilleries, I liked the longer aged whiskies. The only problem is the price....  Anyway, this is another successful foodie (or drinkie) trip!

Dublin

I'm in Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland. Now, I have to use Euros, instead of British Pounds. I took the train from Belfast to Dublin. Despite it being around noon, the train was full.

As soon as I arrived at Dublin, I went to a historical pub, called Mulligans, to which John F Kennedy has been. It wasn't crowded because I arrived there around 2:00pm. Of course, I had to order a Guinness. I'm not an expert in Guinness and I don't remember when the last time was that I had Guinness, so I don't really notice any difference in taste. However, the nostalgic atmosphere of the pub makes the taste better.

I was a bit hungry then, but Mulligans doesn't serve food. Instead, the bartender (possibly the owner) recommended the small restaurant next door. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a table,  so I made a reservation for lunch tomorrow. Hope it's good.




After spending the afternoon in the city, I went to a gastropub, the Exchequer. Gastropubs started from London as pubs that serve restaurant food. However, most gastropubs in the U.S. are considered to be upscale, hip and contemporary pubs. Although they're supposed to be pubs, some gastropubs in the U.S. don't focus on beers, but on wine and cocktails. So, I was curious to see what the gastropubs in Ireland are like.

The first dish was an appetizer platter, with chicken wings, falafel, croquettes and grilled shrimp. Unlike the U.S. gastropubs, the flavors were pretty straightforward. They were all pretty good.

The first entree was Hake, which is in the same order as cod and haddock. The skin was very crispy and the portion is pretty generous. When the plate was brought over to the table, I smelled some fishiness. However, when I had a bite, I didn't smell anything bad and the texture was showing the freshness. Throughout the trip, I found that much seafood from the coast of the British Isles has a strong smell of "sea" but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's not fresh. I'm guessing that's because of the seaweed that grows in the area. This was a very good dish.

Next was a lamb steak with celery root puree. European meat's "done-ness" is usually different from the U.S. standard. European (Italy and Spain, as far as I know) medium rare is more like rare in the U.S. However, I asked for medium and this steak looks medium in the US standard. I don't know whether it's just this restaurant or an Irish thing? Nevertheless, it was very juicy and had almost no gaminess.

Because I didn't find anything interesting on the dessert menu, I went for the Irish cheese plate (as dessert). I was a bit surprised at the generous portion. This cheese plate was listed in the dessert section, though..... Taste-wise, everything is mild and there aren't many characteristics to talk about.

The Exchequer is definitely more upscale than a regular pub, but not as fancy as the U.S. gastropubs. The decor was like modern restaurant, though.