Well, as many of you may have seen from previous posts on this blog, I am a bit of a fan of the spicy dipping hotpots that are so popular in Beijing and am often found lurking in many of the local restaurants that are dotted all over the place. However, as all the Chinese will tell you, nothing is better than cooking up your own hotpot at home.
Hence, due to the rather cold weather we have been experiencing lately, I headed down to the Gome shop (a bit like Comet) today and purchased my very own electric hotpot cooker. Me and Siqi washed and chopped veggies and plenty of tofu and meat this afternoon and then cooked up an extra spicy stock and dipped away to our heart’s (and stomach’s) content. Absolutely delicous.
Have a look at the photos, I reckon 10 out of 10 for presentation 
It was Siqi’s Birthday on Thursday so I treated her to a surprise Thai meal at a restaurant in Chaoyang district which some friends had recommended. The restaurant recently won the award for ‘Best Thai Restaurant in Beijing’. The decor was lush and comfy, the service was good and the food was absolutely delicious. We shared the following dishes:
- Deef fried shrimpcakes
- Thai Red Curry with Fragrant Jasmine Rice
- Vietnamese Noodle Soup with Beef and Veg
I would also recommend that you wash all of that down with a nice pitcher of Beijing Beer.
Won’t be long before I’m heading back! Great value for money from a UK perspective (10 pounds, including two pints of beer). Pricey from a Beijing perspective (A meal for two in quite a posh restaurant should still be less than a fiver).
For those who are interested, the restaurant is called Purple Haze (紫苏庭) and their website can be viewed here (with menu, photos, info and contact details).
Here are some photos:
Jono
