Chapter 95 eating western food in beijing

In Beijing, there are many opportunities to eat Western food. This is not to say that you can’t eat Western food in other places.Look at KFC and McDonald's, which have almost penetrated into small cities at the county level in China. It can be said that they are pervasive.This kind of American fast food should also be regarded as popular Western food, right?It makes the concept of Western food penetrate into the homes of ordinary people.Alas, don't the "American blockbusters" produced by the assembly line have a higher box office than the "European native films" that are constantly improving!

When we were young, we only knew Uncle Lei Feng.Today's children are talking about Uncle KFC all day long.The ruddy white-bearded old man (statue) always stands at the door of the fast food restaurant with a smile on his face, staring at the pockets of Chinese children.It looks like you're full.The clown doll sitting on the bench outside the door of McDonald's has a smug "bad smile". I have a biased view: the so-called "globalization" was first opened by KFC and McDonald's.If these chain stores continue to develop in this way, they will soon become the "big canteen" of the global village.Hamburgers and Coca-Cola are indeed more powerful than cannonballs.

I heard that the "brothers" are also strangled.Wherever there is a KFC, there is almost a McDonald's nearby.Sometimes we just look at each other across the street, as if they were singing opposite operas.It is generally evenly divided.I really haven't heard of anyone being kicked out of the ring.The ones that were crushed were all Chinese restaurants.These two American "brothers" don't seem to be competing internally, they clearly joined forces to challenge the eight major cuisines with a long history. Western-style fast food on the streets of Beijing, in addition to KFC and McDonald's, there are also Rogers, Ed Bear, Pizza Hut pizza and so on.

For the Rogers chain stores, I often go to the two stores in Fuchengmen and Zhongguancun.Especially Rogers in Zhongguancun, the decoration style is avant-garde, with the nature of a bar, and there are rock bands singing at night.I didn't think the stuff inside was so delicious. I went there purely to drink some dark beer, listen to "heavy metal", and relax my nerves after a day of tension.By the way, during the night show, the lights will be turned off, and small candles will be lit on each table, which is very suitable for lovers' trysts.The face of the lover in the candlelight has an oil painting-like chiaroscuro effect, which is more beautiful than elsewhere, and is more suitable for collection and memory (there is no need for an additional frame).The little girl selling flowers at the door almost knew me.If I go alone, she will turn a blind eye.If I brought a female friend with me, she immediately became excited and greeted her with a bosom full of flowers: "Sir, buy a rose for your girlfriend." This girl really made me a lot of money a few years ago. .It's a pity that I'm really getting old recently, and I spend a lot of time alone. Even if I buy a rose to take care of the business of this growing little girl, I don't know who to give it to.

Ed Bear has a branch on Nanlishi Road.Through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the transmission tower of the Central People's Broadcasting Station can be seen.For a while, I chased a girl on the radio station and sat in Ed Bear every day waiting for her to get off work.In the end, I still didn't catch up.Ed Bear became my heartbreak.I think I'm "bear" enough. Pizza Hut is always beaming.My friend Zou Jingzhi thinks that the name of this restaurant is very questionable: "On the way to work every day, a new Italian bakery is opened, called 'Pizza Hut', how do you pronounce it, why dare not go in to eat. I really want to persuade the boss to change the name or reverse the words It might be better to call it 'Ke Bi Sheng'." Zou Jingzhi wrote the TV series "Private Interview with Kangxi Weifu", but he himself dared not enter Pizza Hut, which is really interesting.In fact, what can we do if we treat it as a "private visit via microservices"?I am not afraid.I love sitting in a Pizza Hut, cutting up a freshly baked pizza with a knife and fork in my hands, and watching the kids in Beijing scramble to serve fruit salad in disposable plastic bowls, piled high, spiky, and Pagoda-shaped, just give up.They happily returned to their respective seats, as if they were carrying not a paid salad but the spoils of a fight.

What I said earlier is Western-style fast food.It's like I haven't eaten any big dishes. In fact, when I first entered Beijing fifteen years ago, I had a dream to eat at a Moscow restaurant.What I admire is the reputation of "Old Mo".What it brings to people is the memory of red.You know, the former Soviet Union had not disintegrated at that time.A while ago, I heard that there was a Baikal restaurant next to the Russian embassy, ​​and I invited a group of poets to visit it.Maybe I drank too much vodka, the blue murals on the wall became the real Lake Baikal in my drunken eyes, the sound of the waves beat my ears, my back, and my heart, I walked towards the wall and asked my friend: " Do you want to catch some fish and grill them?" Fortunately, a certain poet caught me in time.Otherwise I'd either be bruised or smug and drowned.Baikal, Baikal, isn't it just a goblet between heaven and earth, which contains not lake water, but strong wine.It is said that Suiye City, Li Bai's hometown, is not far from there.I'll have to go see it sometime.

For western food, Maxim Restaurant is more authentic.But authentic western food, the atmosphere is too serious.The waiter stands at the table and keeps pouring wine and serving food for you, saying that he is waiting for you, but looking at his expressionless face, he looks like a prison guard in a movie.The knife and fork should be handled with care, for fear of making any noise on the porcelain plate, you feel like a nervous prisoner, burying your head in drinking soup under the eyes of others, trying not to make a sipping sound.You can take a silent film (silent film) during the meal.Title: "Pretend to be gentle, be careful."

I also knew a few foreigners who wrote poetry in Beijing.They are generally more frugal, and the treats are usually Italian macaroni or something.It seems that the remuneration standard for foreign poetry will not be too high. My publishing house has cooperated with the Portuguese embassy on a series of books.I was the editor in charge of the Chinese translation of the masterpiece "Song of the Luzitanians" by the Portuguese poet Camões.They invited me to an open-air reception in the back garden of the embassy.The tables lined up in the garden are filled with various dishes, pastries and drinks.But no chairs.Everyone holds a plate in their left hand and a goblet in their right, walking around the table and standing down to chat with acquaintances.For those who want to save trouble, they simply hold the wine glass with their left hand, and lightly hold a toothpick with their right hand, and grab whatever they want to eat.There are also foreign chefs wearing white hats in the crowd, all carrying big plates full of freshly baked food, smiling at everyone they meet, as if begging you to stick a piece with a toothpick and taste it.It seems that they are quite confident in their barbecue skills.

The buffet lasts from just before sunset until dark.The garden lights up.The blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners were not tired, still walking and standing under the shade of the trees, toasting and drinking, talking loudly. I couldn't stand it anymore.I got rid of an Italian China hand who was pulling me to talk about Beijing courtyard culture, and prepared to retreat. To be honest, it was the first time in my life that I ate a meal completely standing up.And it took three hours to eat. It is more tiring than participating in a military training. I don't know how many dishes and pastries I can't name.But there are still steaming barbecued food being served.If this goes on, I will soon be sorry for the smiling faces of the chefs who serve the dishes.

I subconsciously associate it with the Man-Han Banquet (it is said that it is eaten for three days and three nights in a row).It seems that foreigners are also good at this. Look at their joy.Beijing must have made them want to leave. I left early.Forget the laughter and brightly lit gardens.But until I wrote this article, I seemed to see those endless western dishes and foreigners holding goblets.They simply love to "talk about the mountains" more than authentic Beijingers.They seemed to be still standing there.It didn't mean to disperse at all. In the world, is there really a feast that never ends?

At least that's how it is in my head (or memory).