Korean Food @ Hannashan Korean BBQ 汉拿山韩式烤肉

Authentic and great tasting Korean food is widely available in China. In fact, a minority of the people living in the Dongbei provinces are Korean by descent, a legacy of longstanding and close relations between China and Korea for numerous centuries. As such, one can easily find great Korean food with authentic taste that will even satisfy a pure Korean quite easily. Although, I must admit, this is much more easily done in north China than in the south where I am.

Jiaxinmao Shopping Mall (嘉信茂) is right below Walmart's China headquarters. Prior to Walmart's move there, the place was new and dead with the only life coming from Sam's Club next door. Sam's Club, for the uninitiated, is like a members only warehouse style department store where shoppers gain slight discounts for purchasing in bulk. In practice, they sell the more or less the same stuff sold in supermarkets outside, except for a decent imported goods section. Price-wise, I do not see much of an advantage. Some items are cheaper and others are more expensive and I believe it all evens out. I do a lot of my shopping there because I love the spaciousness and the wide aisles. I also get most of my DVDs there since they cost slightly over 10 RMB for a recent movie DVD, I do not see why I should buy pirated ones.

Hannashan Korean BBQ (韩式烤肉) restaurant seems to be set up mostly for barbecued meats. I was there for a quick lunch and I did not want to go through that process. So we ordered a pair of stone pot rice dishes. Even then, we were presented with four appetizers which were artfully presented.

Kimchee, which is cabbage preserved in vinegar and Korean chili paste. I thought this was ordinary but it did whet up my appetite.



The boiled brocolli was artfully garnished with a slice of carrot and that provided me a nice photo opportunity.



I thought this shredded Chicken was excellent. Just the right blend of sour and spicy tastes.



The black beans were interesting. The beans were on the sweet side, simply boiled and coated with sugar and something else which I could not make out.



The mushroom stone pot rice arrived and unfortunately, it could not follow up on the excellent start provided by the four appetizers. The sauces were on the sweet side, and unfortunately, the rice was not fragrant enough. I think they were short on some of the traditional sauces used in this dish, as the dish was just sweet and flat.



The beef stone pot rice was no different. Sweet and devoid of other fragrant tastes associated with stone pot cooked food.



In all fairness, I did not try their specialty, the barbecued meats, so this should not be seen as a damning review of the Korean restaurant. For the sake of the excellent appetizers served, I shall make a second trip to sample their barbecue meats at some point in the future.

The address:
Hannashan Korean BBQ Basement One, Jiaxinmao Shopping Centre (next to Sam's Club), Nonglin Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 汉拿山韩式烤肉 深圳福田农林路嘉信茂广场负一楼山姆会员店旁
Directions there using my Shenzhen Food Map


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Beef Noodles @ Master Kong 康师傅私房牛肉面

Master Kong (康师傅) is one of the top selling instant noodle brands in China. So when I passed by this restaurant along Fuhua Road (福华路) near the Huaqiangbei (华强北) shopping area, my interest was piqued. And of course, I stepped inside.



Allow me explain why I had my curiosity aroused. Beef noodles is Master Kong's best selling flavour of instant noodles. This brand extension into a restaurant specializing in beef noodles would not only boost Master Kong's credibility as a beef noodles expert brand, the restaurant also becomes a trophy piece and brand spokesman. Of course, the restaurant is also an income generator so what better way of having your own brand advertisements that actually makes money for you.

This is all very well in theory. In practice, there are many potential pitfalls in this strategy.
Firstly, Master Kong as a company is a manufacturer and not a restaurant operator and they need to invest in this core competence and learn to trust the restaurant's professional management and not interfere. It would certainly be something that is quite difficult for a company as successful as Master Kong. Secondly, as both businesses share the same brand name, any incident affecting either business would automatically affect the other. And it is so easy to mess up with a restaurant. Someone gets food poisoning, whether it is the fault of the restaurant's or not, creates a major media stink and even the instant noodles business would be affected. It is so easy to create that media stink too, with the internet empowering every individual with his or her own media platform and with traditional media reporters and editors scouring the internet daily to get in on the latest scoop, bad publicity becomes harder and harder to extinguish. Then there is the product experience and whether both products, the restaurant and the instant noodles, provide a uniform level of experience that the consumer expects. So then, the Master Kong restaurant walks a really thin tightrope. Do the food too well and the consumer wonders why the instant noodles are so terrible in comparison. Do the food just like the instant noodles and customers do not see the point paying to be served when all they need is to add boiling water.

A scan of the menu revealed a range of items meant to boost Master Kong's brand reputation within the domain of beef noodles. There is even a high end halo product in the menu - some special rib noodles for 108 RMB for a bowl! Apparently, the restaurant picks a specific rib in the cow and there are only four of this particular rib in each cow. The main reason why this particular four ribs are picked are because of the texture and tenderness of the meat. Seems a bit extreme and it also reminds me of another taiwanese restaurant in Shenzhen that makes similar claims for their steak, Taiwan Rubber-Wangpin Beef Steak Restaurant (台朔王品牛排). The rest of the noodles clustered around the 20-30 RMB price range which is relatively standard for fast food. In the posters and promotional materials found around the restaurants, they proclaim their choice of fresh choice beef which makes the noodles much more satisfying. In all, I thought Master Kong could not have done a better marketing job to boost the image of their brand. However, all this would be a complete waste if the food could not live up to the high claims.

Unfortunately, the restaurant did not allow photography and I respected their request. So, no photographs of the food, which was a pity, as the food looked pretty good. I ordered their chef's special beef tendon, tripe and meat noodles (招牌牛三宝面). The noodles arrived beautifully presented in a large bowl. Portions are generous and the food looks appetizing. So I tucked in and then I found out where they went wrong. Firstly, the food while looking good, tasted just like instant noodles. The noodles had no texture to it and were soggy. The soup tasted like it came from the instant noodles spice packet too. The only good parts was the bits of fresh beef on it. At this point, the entire experience unraveled completely. What the restaurant served is a bowl of instant noodles with beef topping.

At this point I am not sure if this was the right move on the marketing front. It certainly was not from a restaurant perspective. Who would go to a restaurant that served instant noodles? From a brand perspective, I am not sure how it would work for the Master Kong either. In attempting to boost the image of the instant noodles, Master Kong has sacrificed the restaurant. In that process, it could also do irreparable harm over time to the instant noodles business as well.

The address:
Master Kong's Chef's Table, Fuhua Road (junction with Fuxing Road), Futian District, Shenzhen 康师傅私房牛肉面
Directions to get there using my Shenzhen Food Map
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Sichuan Chengdu Food @ Taoweifang 淘味坊成都风味

Chengdu (成都), the provincial capital of Sichuan (四川) province, is famous for her street food stalls offering a variety of spicy and savoury snacks and quick meals. Chengdu has exported their street fare all to the rest of China. Of course, Sichuan food has been very popular in major cities in China but it has mostly been restricted to hot pot restaurants and spicy crab restaurants.

Chili oil bamboo shoots (红油小笋) is a popular appetizer that is a spicy and crispy. Sichuan is also home to pandas and I wonder how many pandas were deprived of their meals to serve up this dish. In any case, I am glad this made it from the pandas' grasp as it was excellent.



Crunchy black fungus (爽口木耳) was the other starter and like the bamboo shoots before it, the fungus was excellent as well. The fungus is scalded and then doused with vinegar and chili.



Chili beef noodles (素椒牛肉面) are the Taoweifang's house special. This is basically a dry noodles with sauce and a generous topping of dried chili, minced pork and peanuts. While the ingredients are not exactly generous, the taste is excellent. It is like a great tasting instant noodles, in a nice kind of way. I love this and will definitely go back for more. But I would advise going for some other dishes to go with your noodles.



Pork noodles in chili oil (大肉面) is a more soupy variant with a more generous topping of pork belly meat and the noodles are soaked in a soup that is probably 50% chili oil. I found this a bit too oily and ordinary. The taste is not as multi-layered and interesting as the chili beef noodles too.



Flour balls in glutinous rice wine (粉子飂糟) is a traditional dessert in Sichuan and Hubei. Many families actually make their own glutinous rice wine as well. The wine made the soup mild and slightly sweet and this made the flour balls a bit easier and smoother to eat. Compared with the dish served in other restaurants that I have tried, this is one of the better ones. It is the perfect end to a hot, spicy and oily meal.



The address:
Taoweifang Sichuan Restaurant Jiaxinmao Shopping Mall (next to Sam's Club), Nonglin Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 淘味坊 深圳福田农林路嘉信茂购物中心负一楼山姆会员店旁
Directions using my Shenzhen Food Map



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Hexu Sichuan Noodle Bar 和旭面吧
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Shenzhen Free Wifi Hotspot Map

I have started to compile a map of Shenzhen marking out all the free wifi internet hotspots as I discover them and note them down. As always, this is very much a work in progress.


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Wifi Hotspot Listings:
Baoan
Futian
Luohu
Nanshan
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Fried Spicy Crab @ Thirty Three Rooms 三十三间堂

One of the most popular Sichuan cuisine dishes around is fried spicy crab (香辣蟹). Thirty Three Rooms Restaurant (三十三间堂) is one of the more popular restaurants in Shenzhen China that specializes in fried spicy crab and the restaurant does it with their own particular style and taste.

When I settled down on the table to order your food, the first thing I ordered was the crab. There are usually two kinds of crab. First, the normal crab which is usually puny in size, about two to three inches across the shell. Then there is the Bangladesh king crab (孟加拉蟹王) which is the bigger crab, spanning four to five inches across the shell. Pictured below is the basket at the front of the restaurants containing the Bangladesh king crabs from which I selected a larger specimen weighing a kilogram.



The fried spicy crab (香辣蟹) arrived in a black iron pot that is about a foot in diameter. As part of a promotion incentive from the restaurant, an additional pound of shrimp was also added to the dish free of charge. The crab is cooked in a mix of chili, peppercorn, plenty of onions, peanuts, ginger and other Sichuan spices. The result is a potent mixture of spicy and fragrant food, along with the occasional numbness if you accidentally chewed a peppercorn by mistake. You have to be very careful in eating the food as first time attempts at chewing peppercorn usually ends up with swollen lips and tongue. If you ever try this dish, do make sure you pick out the bits of onion as the natural sweetness of the onion, fused with the spicy oil, makes an excellent topping to go with your white rice.



In addition to the spicy fried crab, we ordered the pork with taro (香芋扣肉). The pork is sinfully fat but excellent and from the picture, you cannot see the taro which is underneath the layer of pork. The combination is tasty but a bit heavy going.



The fried bamboo shoots (香箭脆笋) was pretty well done. The bamboo shoots were well selected as they were tender and crisp.



Finally, we ordered the goose gizzard fried with yellow peppers (黄椒炒鹅胗). I found this dish to be a tad bit too greasy and the gizzard was leaning towards tough. The thing with gizzard is that you need to put in the appropriate amount of cooking time into the dish or the gizzard will be tough on your jaw muscles. Chewing the goose gizzard was heavier going than a high impact aerobic exercise for the jaws. The chef clearly did not put the cooking time needed to tenderize the gizzard and this ruined an otherwise excellent dish.



In all, other than the house special fried spicy crab, the rest of the food was average or above average and I would highly recommend going there just for the crab and minimizing the rest of the food you order.

The address:
Thirty Three Rooms Crab Restaurant, Second floor, Donghai Plaza, Nongyuan Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 三十三间堂 深圳福田农园路东海购物广场二楼
Getting there using my Shenzhen Food Map



Other Sichuan restaurants reviewed:
Xianguomen Sichuan Restaurant 香锅门川菜馆
Another Village in Bashu Sichuan Restaurant 巴蜀又一村川菜馆
Baguobuyi Sichuan Restaurant 巴国布衣川菜馆
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Roast Goose @ Fat Girl's Roast Meat Restaurant 肥妹烧腊店

Fat Girl's Roast Meat Restaurant is a local restaurant that has grown from strength to strength over the last six years since I first ate at their first restaurant. They have consistently offered great tasty roasts along with generous portions for a reasonable price with a good solid meal available for just 10 RMB. Naturally their prices have risen a little over the years but compared with the prices out there, they offer excellent value for a budget priced meal.

I ordered the roast goose drumstick with rice (烧鹅腿饭) and I was first served with a bowl of soup. Normally, soup at roast meat restaurants are pretty dismal. You expect to see a bowl of boiled water that has been flavoured with some oil and soy sauce. Not this one. The taste of the soup was fragrant and tasty. The soup appears to be made from the bone rack of the roast goose that is left over after chopping up the roast goose for customers. As such, I could taste the goose as well as some of the spices that was stuffed into the goose. An excellent start to the meal and I am ready to eat.



The roast goose drumstick came served and compared to the previous meals at Tai Hing 太兴 and MC Charcoal Goose where I ordered basically the same thing for about the same price, the portions was nearly double of what the other two restaurants served for a comparable price. In terms of taste, the goose meat was excellent. The skin was crisp and the meat underneath was tender and juicy. I thought the only blemish to an excellent dish of roast goose was that the meat was a tad bit salty and it seemed that the chef was a little too generous with the spicing the goose before it was roasted.



I highly recommend this restaurant if you happen to be in the area and fancy a quick and delicious meal that takes a very small bite of your wallet.

The address:
Fat Girl's Roast Meat Restaurant, Yitian Road (next to Shuidu Spa), Futian District, Shenzhen 肥妹烧腊店 深圳福田益田路水都水疗会隔壁
Google Map Directions



Other roast goose restaurants reviewed:
MC Charcoal Goose Restaurant 味宗烧鹅
Tai Hing Roase Goose 太兴烧鹅
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Chaozhou Beef Noodles @ ChangTeng Noodle House 长腾潮州面馆

Whenever I do not feel too good or I have had too heavy and greasy meals over a period of time, this is the place I go for a cleansing. This restaurant specializes in traditional Chaozhou (潮州) style beef noodles and soup.

I always order the same two soups that are their specialty. First is the lotus rhizhome with pig innards soup (猪杂莲耦汤). The soup is a light clear broth made from pig innards and the lotus rhizome is pre-stewed so that it is already soft and sticky. The soup is just fragrant and perfect for a light meal.



The second house specialty is the watercress soup (西洋菜汤). If not properly cooked, watercress tends to have a strong flavour and on the fibrous side. The vegetables here are done nicely with the soup flavoured lightly with a distinct watercress flavour but yet not overpowering to put off the uninitiated. As watercress is high in fibre, those on a diet can take some comfort in this despite the high cholesterol coming from the pig innards.



One other specialty is the beef ball noodles (牛肉丸汤粉). While their beef balls are by no means the best I have ever tried, they are pretty good with the right amount of chewiness and texture and tastes of beef. They are hand beaten till they achieve a certain level of chewiness and springiness and yet are tender to bite on and smoothly textured. I have had beef balls that are hard and tastes more of the flour that is used to hold the beef balls in shape.



The address:
Changteng Chaozhou Noodle House, Huaqiang Bei Road (just north of the Shenzhen City Hospital for Traditional Chinese Medicine), Futian District, Shenzhen 长腾潮州面馆 深圳福田华强北路市中医院北测
Google Map Directions



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