I only went out to buy some flour. I wanted to start a loaf of bread and was low on bread flour. I also had to transfer some money to a friend who was helping me buy something - I had to pass the bank anyway.
Then I called her to let her know the transfer had taken place. Just as I was approaching my flour purveyor's premises my cell phone rang. Friend again.
"I'm hungry. Where are you?"
She came out to meet me and my quick flour buying jaunt turned into a four hour lunch and shopping trip.
She had left it up to me to choose the venue and I remembered a new place I had spotted recently. A restaurant specialising in the cuisine of China's Shaanxi province named 陕西老碗面 (shǎn xī lǎo wǎn miàn - literally Shaanxi old bowl noodles.)
It has been a beautiful day so we settled into chairs outside and ordered:
尖椒皮蛋 (jiān jiāo pí dàn)
Preserved (century) eggs with red and green chillies and soy sauce
洋葱木耳 (yáng cōng mù ěr)
Onion and wood ear fungus salad
岐山臊子面 (qí shān sāo zi miàn)
Difficult to translate - my Chinese eating companion was baffled by the Chinese, too. Qishan is a city in Shaanxi. 臊子面 (sāo zi miàn) means something like shy person noodles. Unfortunately the first character can mean "smelling of urine" - not the meaning here! It was noodles in broth with finally chopped pork, tofu, egg, etc. Very good.
羊肉饺子 (yáng ròu jiǎo zi)
Mutton/lamb dumplings
We also had some 普通肉夹馍 (pǔ tōng ròu jiá mò) - ordinary rou jia mo which we both somehow failed to photograph.
This feast cost us ¥81 (just under $12 USD or just over £9 GBP)
Then we went to buy my flour and she bought two hats They cost more than lunch!.