De Fa Chang Restaurant and oh ya, Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an, China

There. The figures alleged by legend to be real soldiers, buried with Emperor Qin so that they can defend him from any dangers in his afterlife. Widely pitted as the Eighth Wonder of The World.

With that out of the way, back to food.

One of the oldest and best restaurants within the walled city is located between 2 other historical buildings - The Drum Tower on the same row and The Clock Tower (doubling up a roundabout in a busy intersection) opposite it.

Everyone that's someone who had been led by locals and tourguides alike opined that this is a not to be missed restaurant and so, there we were for early lunch to beat the crowd.

Spicy Grilled Lamb Sticks. Just as good as those sold by the roadside but thinner meat on wider sticks. Served at room temperature but we requested the sticks to be reheated. They did. Yay!

In my previous post, I mentioned it's the baking summer in China so naturally the food choice cannot be without the dreaded (that's just me) Cold Dishes. But wait, the Savoury Cuttlefish is finger licking good!The rest are mostly Greens or Mushrooms tossed in oil, sesame seeds with an occasional shake of chili flakes.

Rice ('mi-fan' in Mandarin) is available but it seems to be more of a norm to have Steamed Dumplings ('mantou'). The flour is a bit on the dry side but both Shrimp Meat and Pork with Chives fillings were tasty.They do serve a kind of hot soup free of charge. Quite tasteless and we could not understand the waitress's descriptions of what ingredients went into it. The local dialect is different from our Malaysian spoken Mandarin and so are the names given for many things.

There were various sauces available on every table. Chili flakes, chili oil, chili sauce, vinegar. Garlic? Request from a serving staff and plonk, you're promptly served this:-

No, I kid you not. No, the staff was not being rude. It's just how they serve garlic. Not minced like in Malaysia but patrons are expected to peel the cloves and bite like one would a grape!

A healthy refeshing thrist quencher, Celery with Cucumber Juice (hold the sugar).

Note on the payment system in this restaurant.:

1) Order and pay for the steamed dumplings at the food counter. A receipt is issued to alert the serving staff to serve you once the dumplings are done.

2) For the cold dishes, they are pushed around in carts going from table to table (like how dimsum is served).Chose and pay upon delivery. And that's the excuse for me not being sure of the total price we paid. Nevertheless, it can be safely concluded that it was very reasonable as we did go again 2 days later.

Location: Right smack in the middle of the walled city where the famed Clock Tower and Drum Tower stands.

The 'cold' treatment towards Xi'an's World Heritage site and sight reflects my disappointment. There are those wise (bet they are ancient and wrinkled) chaps who would sing I did not do the research thoroughly. I was looking forward to do the old Bollywood moves (prance around, play hide & seek) among the Terracotta Warriors & Horses AND photograph standing BESIDE the statues!Hey, ticket was not cheap, k. AND it was a very long incinerated walk from the ticket booths to the gate and from the gate to another gate and another gate then to the final gate where they check the tickets. Easy to melt ones are strongly advised to take the tram. Just pay more.*sigh* Spoken like a true NON history buff, obviously.