At a foreign restaurant

One of the reasons for going to a foreign restaurant is to sample ‘authentic’ cuisine and a taste of another culture. But so often it doesn’t work like that. Food is adapted to meet its market and is a product of cross-cultural exchange absorbing the mores and tastes of locality.

I remember a funny little Chinese restaurant on Samora Machel near 7th which lasted a few months a decade ago. Catering to local Chinese, it did feel ‘authentic’ with the over-sized television in the front covered verandah permanently tuned fuzzily to a Chinese station and solitary tables set up under bright lights in different rooms of the old house.

There was no menu and almost no English spoken. One local guy was on hand to translate the dishes of the day from the Chinese proprietor who presided politely in her housecoat and oriental slippers. It was great fun and the food delicious though we didn’t know what we were eating! We felt like we had ventured briefly into another world. But we were the only guests that night and the ‘authenticity’ clearly not enough to make a viable market.

Great Wall on the other hand, at the top of Upper East Road, behind what has now become a truly towering wall capped with giant Chinese lanterns, has clearly mastered the cross-cultural crossover, and continues to expand its space and its menu. Chinese food as served locally seems best to share with a large group of people where you can sample different items on the huge menus. Its often difficult when you are just one or two — to get a good taste without having huge piles of leftovers.

All the same, two of us gave it a go for lunch last week. My friend was starving so we started with spring rolls to take the edge off. They arrived fast — were crisp and crunchy — and tasty enough. Navigating the menu is a daunting task with prices tucked away on a hard-to-read spreadsheet at the back of the pages and pages of numbered dishes.

There is a huge range of fish, prawns, chicken and duck, beef and pork, noodles, rice and vegetables. I was reminded of reading a novel a long time ago about a Chinese takeaway in London’s Soho where the ‘food they sold, certainly wholesome, nutritious, colourful, even tasty in its way…..bore no resemblance at all to Chinese cuisine.’ (from Sweet and Sour by Timothy Mo).

I don’t know enough about the different styles of Chinese cooking to appreciate whether or not this is true of the Great Wall. Would love to find out! We could choose between fried, flied, fired and fride beef or chicken with different flavours — mushroom, ginger, oyster sauce, pineapple. We settled for steamed fish with ginger and spring onions and sizzling duck accompanied by green beans in a black bean sauce and plain noodles.

With such a huge menu one presumes food isn’t cooked to order – or is certainly partially prepared in advance. Duck was disappointing and overpriced at US$18. Even though it was brought to the table noisily sizzling on its cast iron platter, it was grey and overcooked, looked like yesterday’s duck reflash-fried and needed extra soya sauce to lubricate! We enjoyed the fish – with slices of ginger an ingredient rather than just flavouring and the vegetable dish was really good, tasting and looking very fresh with crisp green beans and a lovely sauce.

Sure it was nice enough but — bottom line US$50 for two as compared to US$71 for six at the end of 2010 — not as good value as before.

g.jeke@yahoo.com