Cheap Eats

Sometimes having little money can be a blessing in disguise. I spend most of my money on cooking or eating out, so whenever I get paid or we have a little bit more money than usual, we tend to go a bit overboard and eat extravagantly. This usually means eating Western food, which at first was an out-of-reach craving that we would occasionally spoil ourselves with; deriving from a desire for Western staples such as cheese, bread and essentially, fat. This eventually turned into an obsession that got out of control. We shamefully neglected Chinese food in favour of diners, delis, decadent dining rooms and, regrettably, fast food chains. Running low on money a few weekends ago, I quickly came out of this calorie-driven haze and embarked on a Western detox, well, with the odd cookie thrown in.
You don't have to look hard in China to find a cheap, unassuming eatery serving up delicious food at rock bottom prices. Admittedly, they don't focus on creating the right ambiance or perfect atmosphere. There's rarely any mood music, rather the proprietors' screaming toddlers or a Chinese TV serial blaring in the background. There's no innovative Phillipe Starck design, instead bare walls, a few tables, and poor lighting. The food is neither fashionable nor mind blowing. But what it is this; simple, unpretentious and good hearty cuisine.

Nanjing was the scene of my cheap eats weekend. The first night we ate a Sichuanese restaurant, fast becoming one of my favourite cuisines for its fabulous flavour and cooking style. We had salty and slightly spicy twice cooked pork, sweet and sour cabbage, the always-a-crowd-pleaser fish fragrant aubergines, and a big bowl of boiled rice. Tasty and moreish. Price? 36 yuan or £3.60 (Cue shock-horror facial expressions.)
The next evening we went to a noodle house which, on my second visit became one of my favourite fast food haunts. I love the simplicity of everything here. Diners huddle over their bowls of favourite noodle soup to get out of the cold and you hear little chatter for all the slurping sounds and occasional splattering of soup on the wall (that's usually me). There's only about 10 dishes available, written up on the wall. You go in, order (or point to) your dish from the guy with a till at the front, he shouts our order to the waitress and within minutes, two big bowls of steaming noodle soup arrives in front of us. We had a spicy noodle soup with pork, pak choi and mushrooms with crunchy dough stick (a sort of cross between a Yorkshire pudding and a crouton) and coriander served on top. It was delicious, satisfying and I can never finish. Price? 7.5 yuan per bowl, or 75p. Beat that Wagamama.
On the last evening of my cheap eats crawl we kept it simple and found a small eatery on a busy food street in Nanjing. We ate a dish each of chicken fried rice and braised pak choi with mushrooms. Simple and effective. Price? 19 yuan or £1.90.

This is one thing I will seriously miss when I get home.