Casual Restaurant; fabulous spicy food
Whilst in China last year, my friend Jon and I travelled by plane from Inner Mongolia to Chengdu [the capital of Sichuan Province] to meet our friend Peter (who we first met at my favourite Chinese restaurant here in Canberra).

(source: http://www.inthetaratory.wordpress.com)
We arrived around 7pm and would have been happy to take a taxi but Peter and his father arrived to pick us up from the airport and take us to our hotel. It was very kind of them as it had taken two hours from their home but let me say it worked out really well as the traffic was horrendous and it took us nearly three hours to reach our hotel – I got to sleep in the back of the car [yay!!].
Peter’s father does not speak English, only the Sichuanese dialect and Peter told us later that his father had asked how he should greet us – he was told to say ‘hi’ as it’s easy to pronounce and that is what he did at the airport and every day with a huge smile – his only English word!
We arrived at our hotel nearing 11pm. Peter wanted us to check in and come straight to his home to meet his mum and have a late supper. I was just so tired from a full day of travelling so declined as I knew we had lunch at the family home the next day.
The next day Peter came to our hotel and we walked to his family home and along the way saw something I thought was very amusing…a take on the US originated KFC…Chinese KFG…ha ha.Peter’s family home is an apartment in a beautiful and very large complex complete with lake and lovely gardens.
We enjoyed an absolutely delicious lunch cooked by Peter’s uncle who is a chef. Peter’s grandmother who also lives in the very large apartment was there for lunch and we enjoyed telling stories of Peter’s life in Canberra. We then sat around with Peter’s parents and relaxed until it was time to go to dinner [oh my gosh more food!!] and in-between Peter’s father poured us some different varieties of Chinese wine to taste [or rocket fuel as I like to call it]. It only took us a short time to reach the restaurant which was quite small with plastic chairs and little wooden tables. Peter’s dad said it was his favourite restaurant and that the cuisine was Chongqing hot pot. (Chongqing used to be under the administration of Sichuan Province but now is separated and is under the direct administration of the central government similar to Beijing and Shanghai). Chongqing hot pot is spicier than Sichuan hot pot – I was a bit scared of my mouth burning!!!
I do like my food a little spicy but certainly not lip-tingling hot. Peter’s dad and Jon love spicy food so they both put an additional packet of oily chilli into their dipping sauce. (my blogging friend Gary would love the spicy food I am sure).
Now for this dipping sauce – the cooked food is eaten with the sauce which is a combination of spices and herbs and made by the customer from a wide range of ingredients. Peter’s mum made mine and it was absolutely delicious with oil, garlic, tahini, chives, chopped peanuts and chilli.
As for the actual hot pot – each table has a two sided simmering pot of soup stock. On our table, one of the pots contained meat stock and chilli and mine of course contained no meat but delicious spices, tomatoes, goji berries and vegetable stock.
We were seated at our little table and then the process is you walk up to the kitchen area and select what you want to eat, bring it back to the table and cook! I selected some fresh tofu, noodles, cabbage, mushrooms, thinly sliced potato and sprouts. These were also to be shared by others not just me. Another large fridge had shelves and shelves of meat and seafood which Peter’s dad selected for the table.
We returned to the table with our uncooked food and found the waitress had turned on the stove to heat the stock and ensure the hot pot is kept simmering. All ingredients are firstly placed on bamboo skewers and then placed into the pot. In true Chinese tradition both Jon and I were served by our hosts all night. Peter’s mum was so lovely ensuring that no meat was placed into my pot and kept the heat at a simmer rather than a boil to make sure the meat water did not bubble into my pot.
Peter translated throughout the meal but Peter’s mum who speaks mainly Sichuanese can also speak some Mandarin so this enabled me to converse with her rather than have Peter translate all of our conversations which I know was very tiring for him.
We had bought a bottle of wine from a shop close-by our hotel as I know that it is very rare for the smaller restaurants in China to have international wines [for anyone who has tasted Great Wall white wine – you will know you won’t ever buy another bottle]. It turned out that this supermarket sold Aussie wine so that is what I bought – warm of course as the wine is usually not kept in the fridge in supermarkets. The boys enjoyed some local beers which were bought from the restaurant.
One thing I did think was particularly cute about this restaurant was the small drawer in the table which contained our paper napkins – lots were needed.
Dessert and snacks are also available from the kitchen area but we were all way too full to eat anything else.
I must say I genuinely enjoyed this evening and the food was really really good.
I love steamboat/hot pot dinners like that. If there was only one English word to have, I agree, it would be “Hi”.
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Good job Peter’s mother was on hand to make sure you weren’t served meat! Looks great.
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I absolutely loved reading your post and all the veryy detailed information about the meal and the journey. Peter’s family seems perfect for hosting guests, in the pure Chinese tradition, as you mentioned. How lovely. And as a real fan of hot-pot, I envy you for having had this delicious meal in such a typical restaurant!!! xoxoxox
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I would’ve loved to be on a similar tour like yours, Sue. Since that’s not possible, I enjoyed following your steps very much. Thank you for sharing all the great dishes and lovely moments with us!
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How lovely to spend time with Peter’s family and enjoy a family meal together in their home. In the ‘hot pot’ restaurant I love your expression of ‘lip tingling hot’. Like you, I don’t mind my food slightly spicy but not too strong! I’ve come across those cute little drawers that pull out at the sides of tables in Hong Kong and as well as serviettes, chopsticks and cutlery were also stored there! Marion
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Your hosts were certainly welcoming and made every effort to look after you and Jon. Your time there sounds wonderful xx
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Thank you Emma. Hope you have a lovely weekend.
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Hi S. You always gone such nice comments. I am in Sydney this weekend going to the opera and a vegan festival. Please know I am in the process of writing to you but for sone reason haven’t finished. Xx
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Thank you so much Isabelle. So glad you are following my trip.
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Good to know about the drawers elsewhere Marion – they are a great idea. My brother and I were laughing when I told him about them as we both recalled growing up in Swansea Sth Wales has our very small dining table had the drawer and my brother used to put his peas in there from his dinner plate. As our dad wouldn’t let us leave the table unless our plate was clean!!! Nice memories and my brother was only seven when we emigrated.
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Thank you Simone. They were really lovely. And for continuing to read my blogs. Love you xx
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What a lovely story about the peas! My parents were like that too that nothing should be wasted. How times have changed so quickly, my Mum would spend her evenings watching TV and knitting. I used to play chess or scrabble with my Dad and developed a fascination for cryptic crosswords which I spent hours trying to unravel. Looking across our living room now my husband is reading the digital version of his newspaper on his iPad and younger son is watching a video on his laptop with his headphones on, and I’m writing this and half watching television. (We do communicate occasionally) HaHa. I sometimes wonder what the past generations would make of it all! M.
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What a fabulous treat from start to end… And that view from the apartment us fantastic. That food, oh Im hungry now, sooo good and a variety too.
On my end, it’s a humble chicken curry and rice😋
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Sue, I love your comments about baijiu aka rocket fuel and the Great Wall wine, hahaha!
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We often had hot pot here in AD. But I cannot have the spicy soup so we always order half spicy and half normal. Can you eat spicy foods?
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It sounds like you were treated as part of the family. What a great experience. I’ve had similar food but not with the skewers, just everything all in the soup.
“Chongqing hot pot is spicier than Sichuan hot pot” – that would make me very nervous!
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Thanks so much for that insight of your family Marion. Lovey!!
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Wow! Food for the soul!
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Thank you very much. It definitely was a wonderful time.
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Ha ha. Rotten stuff!!!!
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Hi V. Not really spicy food. I like a little spice as it does taste lovely but definitely not a lot.
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Oh my gosh. My friend Jon said it was the hottest food he has EVER had and he loves hot food. He said his lips and tongue were numb.
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That’s scary! 🙂
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Same 🙂
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