I had lunch today with a friend from Beijing where the discussion quickly turned from the food on our plates (Brunch Bowl at the LSE) to eats from China. We both weren't in search of much, just day dreaming of something wholesome, real, and preferrably cheap. Enter the Da Pai Dan.
The Da Pai Dan is a generic word for a family cafeteria style restaurant found anywhere any China. My friend, Howie, said it originated in Chengdu. You can pick up a meal with friends for about 8 RMB each (that's about 1 USD) in the heart of Shanghai. Grab a table if you can find one, order about 5 steaming hot dishes and pots of pork, vegetables, egg, tofu (ahh, the si shi ka fu...), chicken, and fish, and start chowing. When the rice runs out refill cafeteria style from the community pot. Put pocket change down on the table and saunter into a hot street wondering why not even your mother could make food this good. Apparently, you can fetch a meal at a Da Pai Dan in Chengdu for 1 jiao, that's about 10 cents USD.
When we snapped back to, we realized we had done ourselves a disservice, cold fried cod still was on the table in front of us along with a vegetable salad consisting mostly of celery. When it comes to eating, not exactly the salad days...
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