Thursday was Day 11 of our trip, and we finally just couldn't take any more noodles, or rice, or milk cabbage, or tofu.
For the most part, we really enjoyed the food during our stay. We did eat at Western places a few times because we were curious about both the McDonald's experience and how the Chinese served pizza. The rest of the time we tried our best to sample as many different vegetarian dishes as we could and become at least mediocre in our chopstick skills.
On Thursday, we set out to eat at a cafe in an English language bookstore because Ryan needed a book for the flight home and it was in a part of the city we hadn't visited yet. But we spent a little extra time at the museum in the morning and missed our serving window at the Beijing Bookworm. So we wandered over to a nearby mall and split a sandwich (our first sandwich in a week) at a restaurant called Element Fresh. It's part of a chain in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.
It reminded us of our favorite restaurant in the United Kingdom, Pret a Manger. The menu promised fresh, natural ingredients and it was completely bilingual to make ordering easier. Our late lunch was so good that we stuck around the mall for three hours - people watching, with a little shopping thrown in - just so that we could eat dinner there, too. While we hate to do that type of thing normally, the dinner was so delicious that it was well worth it.
-Elizabeth
For the most part, we really enjoyed the food during our stay. We did eat at Western places a few times because we were curious about both the McDonald's experience and how the Chinese served pizza. The rest of the time we tried our best to sample as many different vegetarian dishes as we could and become at least mediocre in our chopstick skills.
On Thursday, we set out to eat at a cafe in an English language bookstore because Ryan needed a book for the flight home and it was in a part of the city we hadn't visited yet. But we spent a little extra time at the museum in the morning and missed our serving window at the Beijing Bookworm. So we wandered over to a nearby mall and split a sandwich (our first sandwich in a week) at a restaurant called Element Fresh. It's part of a chain in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.
It reminded us of our favorite restaurant in the United Kingdom, Pret a Manger. The menu promised fresh, natural ingredients and it was completely bilingual to make ordering easier. Our late lunch was so good that we stuck around the mall for three hours - people watching, with a little shopping thrown in - just so that we could eat dinner there, too. While we hate to do that type of thing normally, the dinner was so delicious that it was well worth it.
-Elizabeth
Iced black tea with calamansi lime. Might have been the best part of dinner (and my lunch). Ryan and I both drank one with dinner, breaking one of Ryan's rules about not ordering the same thing. He held my purse for me later in the day, so I think it's only a matter of time before we buy the matching outfits.
I had pumpkin soup and a primavera salad for dinner. It was mostly roasted eggplant and other vegetables drizzled with balsamic dressing and served over mixed greens.
Ryan's dinner entree was porcini mushroom and cheese ravioli. He is doing his usual "I'm posing with food" face, if you didn't recognized it. Happens every time.
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