Being a government official can be a tough job, especially when called far from your home province for sessions in Beijing.
To provide the higher-ups with culinary relief, each province has its own office in Beijing, usually with a restaurant where officials can enjoy local cuisine when they come to the capital on business trips.
These restaurants are also open to the public, so local gourmands eager to enjoy authentic regional foods can sample authentic cuisine from anywhere in China �C for a price.This week, Beijing Today lists some of the very best such restaurants in town.
**Jiangsu
Typical southern Chinese beauties
Yao works in a high-pressure theater company. His colleagues randomly pick someone in the office to treat everyone to his hometown��s local cuisine each weekend. That was how Yao found the Jiangsu Zhujing Banshichu Restaurant.The first time he went into the restaurant, one thought quickly flashed into his mind. ��This is a typical southern county home, the only difference is here it is in Beijing.��Chinese ink paintings of birds, flowers, mountains and lakes decorated the walls. He even found duilian, matching vertical couplets, on some doorways. Each door that faced another room was decorated with lines of small, shining beads. ��When I walked through the door, the sound the beads reminded me of a country yard.��The chairs are also excellent. They are small, made from wod and are totally different from big, ugly northern chairs,�� Yao said.The restaurant has excellent seafood. Yangchenghu Lake, one of the most important lakes in Jiangsu Province, is famous for its watery treasures. The restaurant�s crab dishes are a favorite of officials during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Yao was impressed by the Cao Chengzi, fried razor clams. ��The clams are a little bit salty, but soft enough. You can swallow them whol without needing to chew.?
His Jiangsu friend now has already left the company. ��She was a nice person to work with, tender, warm-hearted. But every time I think of her, the Jiangsu Banshichu Restaurant pops into my min.��
Jiangsu Banshichu Restaurant
Where: Jiangsu Hotel, 88, Andingmen Wai Dajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6422 6633 ext 3705
Open: 11 am �C 2:30 pm, 5 pm �C 9:30
