Coming to America: the food edition

During Mr. H's two weeks in the US, he braved a number of different cuisines. I was impressed he never asked to go to the nearest Chinese restaurant at all during his trip. It would have been understandable for him to retreat to something more familiar, though it did not take him long to learn that even the apparently familiar was not really.

More after the jump

• One of the first evenings of their travel together, Randy and Mr. H were staying in a Maryland suburb. Across the street from their hotel was a P.F. Chang's. Randy knew it was probably not the best idea, but it was convenient. Mr. H was amused at how little the dishes served resembled or even tasted like the versions served in China. In fact, he was suspicious of the Ma Po Dou Fu--neither ma (numbing-hot) or la (burning-hot), and surrounded by a ring of broccoli. While he did actually like the free garlic noodles they were given because the service was slow that night, his pronouncement over the whole meal was, "It's okay if you are very, very hungry."
• The next day for lunch they ate with the customer at an Indian restaurant. Randy was hoping that the spicier food here would be to his liking. Mr. H really enjoyed the tomato sorba and the curries. Beijing has several decent Indian restaurants, but none in Changping, so it was a first for him.
• That evening in Baltimore they went to a tapas bar. This made me unbelievably jealous, by the way. Again, the spicier the food, the more Mr. H liked it. Patatas Bravas was a big hit, as well as some of the meat dishes Randy did not pay enough attention to remembering. Mr. H relented to take a tiny taste of the sangria. Even when we were all at the Foxburg Winery when he arrived, he barely sipped a wine sample. He seldom drinks alcohol, often quoting a mutual Chinese-American friend, "Americans drink for the pleasure. Chinese drink for the pain." While I find this an oversimplification, it is true that I have seldom seen Chinese people have only a few drinks with friends.
• Among his favorite meals was lunch at a Mexican restaurant. He singled out the salsa and salsa verde as particularly delicious. He remembered the tortilla chips from when I once made guacamole last year for some of Randy's coworkers after we had discussed the uses of 牛油果 (Niú yóu guǒ, literally cow-oil-fruit, idiomatically butter-fruit, actually avocado) at dinner one night. Later in the trip he smothered his breakfast scrambled eggs with salsa. Now I know what present we will bring back in August for Mr. H--several jars of salsa.
• For the last afternoon in the US, Randy and Mr. H were back in Pittsburgh. All week Randy and I discussed what restaurant would be the best choice for this final big American meal. I have to admit I disagreed with Randy's choice, The Church Brew Works. It is one of my long-time favorites, but I thought the menu was too full of food that I believed would not appeal to a Chinese person. I was specifically thinking about all the amazingly cheesy things I like to eat there, and Chinese people tend not to like cheese. But Randy really wanted Mr. H to eat pierogies, Pittsburgh's signature food. I am happy that I was wrong. Mr. H loved EVERYTHING about Church Brew. He was fascinated by the building itself, an old, de-sanctified church. After Randy explained to him the restaurant's motto, "And on the eighth day Man created beer," he nodded at the appropriateness of it. He devoured the pierogies, the sweet potato fries, and yes, even the spinach gouda dip. Even though he will not drink wine or liquor, Mr. H will drink beer, so he shared a sampler with Randy. He preferred the lighter beers to the darker beers, but really appreciated them all. He declared Church Brew his favorite restaurant of the whole trip.

I am glad that Mr. H was able to experience so many kinds of food on his trip to the US. I've known a few Chinese people who were afraid of Western food. In fact, Mr. H did bring with him some Traditional Chinese Medicine in case the American food made him ill. Several times he mentioned to Randy he had it but had not needed to take it. I am guessing he was surprised how much the food here agreed with him.