Last night we went to my favourite restaurant in Suzhou: a fairly cheap, and simple Sichuan restaurant that is loved amongst locals as well as westerners. There is always a line at this restaurant, but the food is well worth waiting for. Since I have been there numerous times, the two gorgeous host girls recognize me as the “laowai that can speak Chinese” and they always greet me warmly, smiling and joking. Yesterday we arrived quite late, and only had to line up 10 minutes or so to get a table.
Once seated we ordered, ate and enjoyed.
When it was time to pay a waitress came over with the bill and said we owed 100 kuai. She then asked if we’d had to line up to get our table.
-Yes, I said, and gave her the little note with the line number that I had been given by the two host girls at arrival.
-OK, wait a moment, you’ll get some money back, the girl said and disappeared.
Five minutes later the restaurant manager (I know him too, man, I really go here too much!) came over, smiling at us. He handed over a VIP card and 30 yuan.
Apparently our new “VIP membership” gave us a 10% discount.
….and waiting in the line for 10 minutes knocked off another 20 yuan?
Well not sure what was the case but I now, if possible, love this restaurant even more. Every single night all their tables are full, and still they give customers who have to wait a discount.
Moreover, their food is always up to standards and an order never go wrong.
Chinese restaurant success story.
9 comments:
oh Jonna O.o, i do hope the spicy prawn on the pics is not what you were haveing that day, cuz spicy food and shellfish may very possible make skin allergy getting worse for some people XD
George -no no, I don't eat fish or seafood in China because I heard they might have have high LED levels... The food on the picture is spicy chicken, some meat stuff and a potato pot! :)
I'm going to China soon, and always enjoyed fish and seafood dishes. What is LED? Do you have any references for that?
Anonymous -sorry, I realize I must have been tired when I replied to George earlier today. I wrote LED. I mean LEAD. haha! I remember when I first came to China and I heard about some foreigners who'd done blood tests at a hospital and been notified that their blood had high lead levels. The doctor asked them if they had been eating a lot of fish in China and since they said they had, he believed this might be the reason. Now, I don't know how "true" this statement is, however, I know for a fact that a lot of lakes over here are polluted so therefore I avoid eating fish and seafood (unless imported) in China. If you are just coming here for a short time I am sure you'll be fine if you occasionally eat some fish. Maybe just not every day.
Yes, you have to be very careful with seafood in China, especially shellfish or any marine life that grows in a shell. An expat Chinese couple went back to China three or four years ago and almost died from eating some sort of shellfish while in Shanghai. It turned out that this particular shellfish contained an enormous amount of bateria since they were farmed in a dirty pool of water. Just stay away from seafood while in China.
Jonna, give it up, please: what's the name of this marvelous restaurant?
Great, Jonna. You visited Sichuan. I was born there, and I loved it. Especially the food. I am addictated to it. I am glad to hear that you like it too. I like the nodles, Hot pot, and of course Sichuan cusine, makes me wanna go back right now and eat.
Jiang. :)
Chinese Traveler -I've heard a lot of similar stories.
Mr. MacKnight -this is embarrassing, I actually dunno the name of the place... I'll remember to check next time I go there!
jiang -haven't been to Sichuan yet, would love to go.. especially to jiuzhaigou... :) Until then I'll enjoy the Sichuan food.
It never even occured to me to watch the seafood I eat in China! Interesting...
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