Day 6

August 26, 2010 - Xi'an, Shaanxi Provence, China

Sooooooo...I found a cheeseburger! And the funny thing is, the restaurant is, literally, right next door. Well, its actually kind of the same building. Xiao Liu mentioned that there was a McDonald's somewhere near my bank on Chang An Nan, and that I could try there but she doubted they had burgers at all. She said they served chicken and chips (which I think are french fries) and cakes (which could be bread, she seems to mix all of those sort of things together). I checked Google to find the McDonald's, but the internet was positive that there were three McDonald's restaurants in Xi'an and they were all in the city center, many miles from where I am, accessible only by pack mule or packed bus. I decided to go out and have a look for myself to be sure.

I stepped outside and had a look around. I was aware that there were a number of restaurants near my hotel. The restaurant to the left in the hotel adjacent to mine has a decal of a hamburger in the window, but these things are never really indicators. I mean that lava-shop Xiao Liu took me to had pictures of pizza and coffee on their sign. I looked to the right and noticed a sign with pictures of food on it. I decided to investigate. Lo and behold! Qi Xia Yuan Hotel Western Restaurant!


Qi Xia Yuan Hotel Western Restaurant. The sign!

The sign informed me that yes, in fact, they did serve hamburgers! A quick trip up five floors by glass elevator (everyone knows how much I love to see how far from the ground I am, right?), and I stepped out into the restaurant. The decor was subdued and "western" hued, insomuch as they had forks and this:


Eagle Sculpture. Cause it's a "western" restaurant.

You know, cause the food is American. The waitress seated me and I asked "你会说英文吗？" ("Do you speak English?"). She shook her head. Oh well, can't all be winners. I ordered a burger and there was some confusion. The menu didn't say if it came with cheese, so I said "干酪" ("cheese"). She said "Cheese only?" and I said "no, 和干酪" ("and/with cheese"). We worked it out, she put in my order and brought me a Coke (可乐). From a cold fridge! Still no ice, though.


Western Restaurant. The interior of the restaurant.

The couple next to me, the only other people in the place, were Chinese. The husband had ordered spaghetti (!) and was having some difficulty with it, even though they eat all sorts of noodles in China. I picked up my fork and spoon and mimed twirling spaghetti for him. He smiled, grabbed his spoon, and used the spoon to shovel the pasta onto his fork. Oh, well.

Then, it happened: My burger came out from the kitchen. I was immediately struck by one odd fact...


My Burger. My first burger in China.

...there was a fried egg on it. Hmm. It's not the first time I'd had a fried egg on a burger, and, in fact, I like a fried egg on a burger. But, it wasn't listed that way on the menu. I thought for a second that perhaps the egg had taken the place of cheese, because of the confusion, but, nope, there was SOME kind of cheese on it. I'm not sure what kind exactly, it was white and melted and looked like cheese. There was also bacon on it, but not crisp bacon more like blanched bacon. And the thinnest slices of tomato and pickle you've ever seen. They didn't skimp on the vegetables, don't get me wrong, there was a enough, they were just paper thin and stacked up.

There had been a discussion about temperature when I ordered the burger. The waitress said "8 or 9 degrees?" I assumed this had something to do with how done the meat would be. I chose 9 degrees to be on the safe side, since I'm not familiar with Chinese beef. The beef was QUITE pink:


My Burger 2. After a few bites.

It wasn't raw, or bloody in any way. Just dark pink. It was the first straight-forward piece of meat I'd had here, and I have to say Chinese beef tastes different. Way more complicated, for one. A little bit wild, too. And less fatty. Also, the egg was farm fresh, it tasted like eggs tasted when I was a kid and my grandma harvested them from the chickens in her back yard. The fries were fries, but I guess just putting them out with salt would not be in the Chinese manner, so they were rolled in Asian spices. All-in-all, the meal was fantastic.

A few other items on the menu:


Club Sandwich. I LOVE club sandwiches! I hope this one is really good.


Spaghetti. Well, if this is good I won't be missing it much longer.


Shrimp Fried Rice. I love this. I love that Shrimp Fried Rice is an American food.

I was also quite amused by the sign. It featured this picture:


Westerners. Americans eat here!.

It's as if they were like "Look! Black people ate here once! American Food!" Sorry, I just found that funny. Also, next to them is a picture of "Seafood Pizza." Their knowledge of America is uncanny.

My meal was a bit of an expenditure. It cost me 22RMB, about $3.25. On my birthday, in the grand tradition of birthdays, I'm going to have ethnic food: American. I'm going to have a steak dinner, only 32RMB ($4.70)!

Hayden

Comment Responses:

@Sami: "IFC would never get away with tiny shrimp in a sandwich here! " Lol, if Independent Film Channel made tiny shrimp sandwiches, I might have one...