Chinese Restaurants in Spain #2: In Madrid with Yuanyuan

While I was in Madrid at the beginning of September I got to get together with Yuanyuan (媛媛), a friend from Kalamazoo who is studying in Madrid. We met up with a friend of hers, Meiling, from China who is also studying Spanish in Madrid, and we all went to a Chinese restaurant near Gran Vía. Although most of the shops around there are pretty fancy, the three of us wandered up a side street and found a little place that Yuanyuan knew.

As we strolled inside,  I instantly felt an air of authenticity. Granted, it was not identical to restaurants that I had eaten in in China. There were several tables full of Chinese families and groups of Chinese people, and rather than saying hola as we came in, a lady welcomed us in Mandarin Chinese. The three of us sat down and checked out the menu, I was pleased not only to see the items on the menu in both Chinese characters and Spanish writing, but also that dished I was familiar with were there. Yuanyuan's friend didn't even look at the menu, but just told the waitress that she wanted some 炸酱面, whereas I was excited to order 鱼香肉丝 (yuxiangrousi) as soon as I saw it on the menu.

The girls: Yuanyuan on the right and Meiling on the left.

The set up of the restaurant was similar to Chinese restaurants in the United States: the wall decorations seemed half faux-Chinese and half faux-modern art.The furniture was wooden and in a style that I think is common in middle class Chinese restaurants in China. It was also great to have an evening of speaking Chinese.

When the food arrived, I found it interesting to see that the portion was European-sized rather than Chinese-sized. This is going to be something difficult for me to adjust to. Despite the size of the dish being half of what I was accustomed to, I was eager to try it. My yuxiangrousi was definitly different from what I would've eaten in Beijing, but it was similar enough that I would've been able to identify it by taste. I also have to say that, although I greatly prefer to eat yuxiangrousi in Beijing, this was far for similar to Chinese food in Beijing than any dish that I have had in the U.S. or in Spain so far. I enjoyed the place, and I would definitely be willing to go back there again.