confessions of a food junkie

I really like to eat.  I'll eat anything, but I'll really impress you with my eating skills if you plate something with chocolate, a cheesy sauce, or something fried in front of me.  

I also really like eating out.  What's not to love about leaving the dishes for someone else to clean up (not to mention all the food your kids left on the floor)?  

Unfortunately, eating out in this country isn't all that great.  Pizza Hut and McD's are the only two western options - and they're currently out of rotation due to burnout.  I'm certainly not opposed to local food (in fact, I really like it sometimes!) but it's the whole idea of "eating out" that is so...unpalatable.  

Here is a restaurant review that could probably generically be used for many restaurants around here - Smoky. Crowded.  Loud.  Drunk men.  Drunk men watching blond-haired girls eat.  People who are more interested in watching how you eat your food than with them eating theirs.  Dirty floors.  Squatties that don't flush, with poo still in there when your kids are ready to use the bathroom for the first of six times.  Not exactly appetizing, even when the food is great. 

These problems can be minimized with the use of a private room - a concept that hasn't quite caught on in America.  Many restaurants have rooms, with one table seating 6-8 people, where our family can eat without signing autographs or posing for 326 camera-phone wielding college students.  

But...due to my love of eating, I'd been wanting to check out a new restaurant.

It's at the bottom floor of a supermarket I only go to occasionally, because they are one of two supermarkets that carry chocolate donuts.  Thank you, chocolate donuts.  I love you forever.  

Anyway...back to the story.  Week by week, donuts safely in my killing-the-earth plastic bag,  I watched the construction and remodeling of the restaurant.  I'd see the progress, bit by bit, and I felt strangely maternal towards it...maybe because I'd watched it grow up.  

A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time.  Brace yourselves, children and husband.  We are eating out.  

My loose translation of the name of the restaurant was: Tang Dynasty Train Station.  Yep, the whole restaurant is train-themed.  Wait til you see the pics.  It rocked.  

Right from the start, the restaurant was different.   As soon as we sat down at our booth, they handed my kids toys.  (and not just my kids, either!  Every little child had a toy.)  Kid-friendly checkmark #1.  Usually restaurants are terribly unequipped to handle children.  

Then, they handed us aprons - big ones for mommies and daddies, little ones for cute kiddos.  This was a hot-pot restaurant (a big pot of water and seasonings, and then you add your veggies and meat yourself) and I guess they figured that sometimes you get dirty.  Everyone in my family was digging the aprons.  Except Abby, who was not really in the mood for hotpot.  

The most way-coolest part about this restaurant is that all the booths and tables are arranged around sets of train tracks.  Little trains go by every few minutes, carrying options of things to throw into your pot.  Bowls of green veggies, tofu strips, noodles, potatoes, and all sorts of other great stuff are just waiting for you to grab them up.  My children were entranced.  Captivated.  They could have watched the trains all day and into the night and even slept there.  Well, except for Abby.  She wants to stay with me.  ;) 


Nearly an hour into our very relaxing lunch, we notice across the restaurant the "noodle man".  He was doing interpretive dance/hip-hop with a strip of dough, and after a few minutes it ended up like noodles and he gently dropped into the pot of a nearby customer.  Good thing they had aprons.  We even ordered some hip-hop noodles too, just so we could video it.  
Every table is situated right next to the train tracks, giving close up views to children of all ages.  One other fabulous factor about this restaurant is that the booths had very high backs and the restaurant was spacious, so we were (gasp!) hardly noticed by anyone.  We enjoyed our lunch in relative anonymity.  It was unusual and very nice.  
My kids were so distracted and consumed with noodle man/train tracks/ free toy that I left them all at the table for a long time while I walked around and took pictures.  Also unusual.  I never linger at restaurants.  

At the end of our meal, we grabbed hot towels from the lady whose only job is to make rounds around the place handing out hot towels, and wiped off hands and faces.   It was a perfectly clean ending to a very nice meal.

I have decided that even though the actual food at the restaurant was only very average, our entire eating experience was so unbelievable, we will be going back soon and often.  And if you come visit us, we'll take you too!

Choo-choo!!