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I was just about to reluctantly enter the hothouse that is my kitchen, when my phone rang.

 

"Hey, we're in town. Let's meet up for dinner."

Four lovely young ladies I worked with briefly a year ago in a neighbouring city had decided to visit Liuzhou. They suggested I suggest a suitable venue for dinner. Knowing they don't know the city well, I opted for a building they couldn't miss. It is the tallest in the entire province. That it is just next to my home did not enter the equation, oh no!

 

Beside it is an overpriced deserted shopping mall, but the fifth and sixth floors are entirely restaurants. Some great; none bad. And very busy at weekends (Impossible at holidays.)

I chose UBUD, a SE Asian place named after the city on Bali, Indonesia. Despite the name most dishes are Thai-inspired.

 

The girls chose (with me subtly pushing them to my favourites!) Only one had eaten Thai before.

 

 

As you can see, it is a picture menu. These are everywhere in China. Unlike in Europe and I suspect the North Americas, there is no class distinction. Even top quality restaurants often have picture menus.

You tick your choices and the serving staff enter your requirements into their computer station and presumably the kitchen pick up on it. Food arrives.

They chose:

Beef with Mango

 

Garlic Shrimp with Vermicelli

This was the one failure of the evening. The girl who had eaten Thai previously strongly suggested the others try Tom Yum soup, which was on the menu, but which they announced had sold out. Unlikely. It was only 7:30 pm. Instead they chose what was listed as Thai style coconut chicken soup.  What arrived was the above regular chicken soup into which someone had, at the last minute, thrown some lumps of hard raw coconut. The soup was fine but stunningly unexceptional and had no taste of coconut at all.

Yellow curry (chicken and potato) bizarrely served with a couple of bits of garlic bread.

Thai spring rolls

 

Clay Pot Cauliflower and Bacon

 

We happily got stuck in.

That was good!

 

The bill. ¥249 = $37 USD. And, no. This is a non-tipping culture.

 

I was just about to reluctantly enter the hothouse that is my kitchen, when my phone rang.

 

"Hey, we're in town. Let's meet up for dinner."

Four lovely young ladies I worked with briefly a year ago in a neighbouring city had decided to visit Liuzhou. They suggested I suggest a suitable venue for dinner. Knowing they don't know the city well, I opted for a building they couldn't miss. It is the tallest in the entire province. That it is just next to my home did not enter the equation, oh no!

 

Beside it is an overpriced deserted shopping mall, but the fifth and sixth floors are entirely restaurants. Some great; none bad. And very busy at weekends (Impossible at holidays.)

I chose UBUD, a SE Asian place named after the city on Bali, Indonesia. Despite the name most dishes are Thai-inspired.

 

The girls chose (with me subtly pushing them to my favourites!) Only one had eaten Thai before.

 

 

As you can see, it is a picture menu. These are everywhere in China. Unlike in Europe and I suspect the North Americas, there is no class distinction. Even top quality restaurants often have picture menus.

You tick your choices and the serving staff enter your requirements into their computer station and presumably the kitchen pick up on it. Food arrives.

They chose:

Beef with Mango

 

Garlic Shrimp with Vermicelli

This was the one failure of the evening. The girl who had eaten Thai previously strongly suggested the others try Tom Yum soup, which was on the menu, but which they announced had sold out. Unlikely. It was only 7:30 pm. Instead they chose what was listed as Thai style coconut chicken soup.  What arrived was the above regular chicken soup into which someone had, at the last minute, thrown some lumps of hard raw coconut. The soup was fine but stunningly unexceptional and had no taste of coconut at all.

Yellow curry (chicken and potato) bizarrely served with a couple of bits of garlic bread.

Thai spring rolls

 

Clay Pot Cauliflower and Bacon

 

We happily got stuck in.

That was good!

 

The bill. ¥249 = $37 USD.