Last night, dinner with an old friend in a Chinese/SE Asian restaurant here in town. Hadn't seen her for several years.
The restaurant itself is beautiful. Being the greedy type, we arrived early, so it was still almost empty. By the time we left it was full.
We had:
Thai Mango Beef (泰式香芒牛肉粒 - tài shì xiāng máng niú ròu lì)
This is dish I often attempt to replicate, but I've come to feel my effort is actually preferable to theirs. I find theirs quite acceptable but rather sweet. I'm sure many would disagree.
Spicy Seafood (香辣虾兵蟹将 - xiāng là xiā bīng xiè jiāng)
Described in English (on the bilingual menu) simply as Spicy Seafood, the Chinese is more poetic. It translates as "Spicy Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals" which is also a euphemism for "ineffective troops"!
Whatever, it's called, it's the mentioned shrimp and crab with lotus root, chilli, wood ear fungus, beans and more.
Thai Lemon Duck (泰式柠檬鸭 - tài shì níng méng yā)
This was very nice, but I'm not sure how Thai it is.
Pimento Potato Chips (干椒土豆片 - gān jiāo tǔ dòu piàn)
I wouldn't call them pimentos - the Chinese just reads dried chilli. But I wouldn't call them chips either. They are discs of potato stir fried with the dried chillis and Chinese bacon (腊肉 là ròu).
Served with rice.
My companion went for an ice-cream desert. I passed.
