Eric's Beijing Diary

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La Bamba. Ten kuai for the burrito, and five for the Tsingtao. An average meal at one of the expat bars on Wudaokou runs about 30 to 40 RMB. But La Bamba has specials on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The other places have special offers too, so if you get familiar with them, you can eat pretty well for not much money. Since I moved out to Fragrant Hills, I have gotten used to ordering a plate of vegetables at one of the local Chinese restaurants. I have been trying to avoid eating too much meat, especially red meat. When I first came to China, I was confused by the vegetable orders at Chinese restaurants. Chinese people don't eat fresh vegetable salads much. They prefer their vegetables lghtly cooked. They're sitting in oil when they serve them to you, so I always assumed they were fried. But I think some of them are actually boiled and served in oil to enhance the taste. I prefer them without the oil, but even with the oil, they are probably a healthier meal than pork and eggplant or something.

But the expat bars in Wudaokou (I mean both coffee bars, and the other kind, like LUSH) do have pretty good food--it's just a little expensive, so you have to watch for the special deals. You don't see too many specials on pizza, but I don't eat pizza anyway, unless I am with a group. But there are some pretty good sandwich specials. For example, the main sandwiches at Lush are on sale for 20 RMB every day between two o'clock and four o'clock. In the morning. I don't get that special very often. Subway has two for one specials every Monday. The Bridge Cafe doesn't have that many specials, but I have a VIP card their so I guess it evens out. And if all else fails, a bowl of oyako donburi at the little Japanese cafe above KFC near the light rail station is only 20 RMB. It's pretty good stuff, and it fills you up.