Day 50: Dog gone & more food stuff…

Well, everybody wants to know “Do they really eat dog?” The short answer is “yes.”

The long answer is a little more complicated, I haven’t eaten any dog meat (as far as I know) nor have I seen it on the menu (as if I can read Chinese). I know it is out here, I just have not ordered any. Recently, I read an article where a number of restaurants were asked to remove “dog meat” from their menus.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7501768.stm

Chicken feet and duck webbing are also popular. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to experience the joy of gnawing on a chicken foot (note: a chicken foot, doesn’t have much meat on it). Apparently, people love it… I just wanted more meat on my chicken foot.

Most restaurants I frequent have menus with pictures; the nicer restaurants even have English translations. Occasionally, I will go to a restaurant which doesn’t have any pictures and the menu is in Chinese characters…if I cannot figure out what to eat, I just tell the staff what kind of meat I want and then ask them to pick their favorite dish for me. It has worked out good for me so far, I haven’t had a bad meal yet.

If you are looking for something a little more closer to home not only do they have Starbucks coffee shops all over town, but they also McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Outback Steak House, and even a Hooters. Up until now, I have only been to Starbucks and KFC (note: you will pay more for a Starbucks coffee than you will for a taxi ride). Additionally, KFC has created a delicious version of “Peking Duck” using chicken instead of duck…yummie. As for the other “Western Fast Food” places, I just haven’t gone there yet.

There are hundreds of interesting things about food here. I’ll try to take pictures of cool food stuff and post them whenever I can. Keep those questions coming.