When I was at SfN I went with a friend to Chicago’s china town. The restaurant we picked was full of Chinese people and only one of the people who worked there spoke English, and she spoke it poorly.
I was a little nervous that I would inadvertently get served a dish with meat in it unless I picked something that was obviously vegetarian. As I looked over the menu I spotted a dish that screamed vegetarian, “Hallow Vegetable with Aged Tofu”. I ordered my food and waited patiently. People around me were getting served dishes that look delicious and smelled really good. So imagine my surprise when I got served this.
It was little hallow tubes with spinach like leaves coming off the sides. It tasted exactly like it looks, bland and mushy.
I ate about half of it and then my friend gave me some of his soup. Although I left hungry I had a great time and when it comes to ordering random dishes in china town I’ve learned to count myself lucky when I get a mild dish that doesn’t contain some kind of animal foot.
Mark
/ November 2, 2009Hmmm, yes, the classic “no one that cares about taste will actually order this, let’s just put it on here to appease the vegetarians” dish.
There should be laws against them.