Chinese Restaurants in Spain #1: LiDuFandian (丽都饭店) in Toledo

丽都饭店 – I arrived in Toledo on a Friday, and although Clara had originally planned to arrive in Toledo that afternoon and meet me there, she had some unexpected delays and couldn't make it until the following day. This left me, unexpectedly, with the whole day to myself. Having just been deprived of the internet for two weeks, I spent most of the afternoon and evening sitting in my hotel room, graciously updating podcasts and trying to catch up on the world's recent events. I did, however, make a point not to spend the whole afternoon on my computer but instead to get out the hotel and stroll the nearby streets, though, and in doing so I found what I hadn't even thought I would encounter in Toledo: A Chinese restaurant. And so, it is with pride that I announce the beginnings of a new project for myself: explorations and reflections on Chinese restaurants in Spain.

 

Lidufandian is a small buffet in Toledo situated near the Alcázar in the old section of the city, the casco viejo. When I entered for dinner around nine in the evening the place was completely empty. Granted, having dinner at nine is quite, almost ludicrously, early for Spain, so it wasn't terribly unusual that the place was empty. I was feeling hungry from a lack of lunch, though, so I knew that I wasn't going to be able to wait until eleven or so, a much more reasonable dinner hour according to my experience in Castilla-y La Mancha. As I walked into the restaurant and a little old lady showed me to a seat, I asked her where she was from, and after she responded China I asked which part. She said the south; I asked if she was from Guangdong, and she responded Hong Kong. I find it interesting that she didn't say “I'm from Hong Kong,” but rather she let me know that she is from the part of China that is called Hong Kong. I wonder if it is common for people from Hong Kong to consider themselves from China. Legally/politically it is a pretty tricky situation, and with the mixture of cultural influences from the British, the Chinese, and others, it is a complicated issue culturally as well. But what kind of a reflection on a restaurant focuses on the self-identification of a host rather than the food? I suppose that I should get onto that part.

For € 9.95 I was able to eat as much as I wanted (hence: buffet), but although I got full, disappointing is the word that jumps to mind the most concerning the food itself. It was similar to some Chinese buffets that I have had in the United States, but of even lower quality.

French fries and coconut yogurt are both classic Chinese dishes?

First, some of the food was of a distinctly non-Chinese variety. I have to deny myself being an expert here, since although I have lived in and studied China, I know very little of the cuisine of southern China. In fact, I just learned from a fellow traveler this afternoon that pigeon is a common dish in the south. I lived in China for two years and I had never heard of this before in my life. Just goes to show how humility is a wonderful trait to have when your life involves a country as big and complex as China.

Secondly, the actual quality of the food, and here I mean taste, was quite sub-par. It didn't just leave something to be desired; it left a lot to be desired. What appeared to me as a hard-shelled jiaozi was crunchy and tasteless, some attempts at spring rolls (which I have never actually seen in China), and very sparse stir-fried rice made this meal one of the worst meals of "Chinese" food that I have ever had. I think that is really saying something, since I had one or two really bad experiences of dining on Chinese food with Julie back at Kalamazoo.

The final thing that struck me about the food is that in total is that it was, as well as the restaurant as a  much more similar to Chinese restaurants in the United States than in China. I certainly didn't expect Chinese restaurant in Spain to be completely identical with one in China, but I was shocked at the similarity it held to one in the U.S.. It was as if U.S.-based Chinese food was taken as the model to be emulated for Spanish-based Chinese food. It makes me wonder if Chinese food in Europe and North America in generally similar. I don't have nearly enough experience to make such a claim, but I do plan on checking out a lot more Chinese restaurants here in Spain and seeing what they are like.