Kunming Restaurants

Brand new.
Clean.
Looks expensive, but not really

As in any other korean restaurants, one will always get freebies. I get 6 freebies which are replenishable: tea, kimchi, pumpkin soup, stewed potato, a green salad, sauteed mushrooms.

The waitresses say all the greetings in Korean, which I don't understand. They are friendly and prompt, and they remember to ask if I need more kimchi etc.

But the hand towels for guests smell a bit unclean. I hope that's an isolated incident.

Favorite Dish: I ordered a Tuen Jang Chigae (RMB15). Rice comes with it as usual in a korean restaurant. Very good. Not too salty.

I looked through the menu and BBQ beef costs only RMB 20 per plate. This, if good, is really a bargain !

The crowd in there tells you it is a very popular restaurant. However, like any popular and reasonably-priced restaurants in Kunming, service is lousy.

Rice came when we were almost done with the dishes (as chinese food diners it is expected that rice comes with dishes, not way after).

If you request for an extra bowl, you get it when you have finished your meal..

Favorite Dish: This soy sauce glazed meat (lu wei) is quite something. We only ordered proper meat(pork), some intestine and chicken wings and tofu.

Many chinese are more adventurous than that, ordering
1) pig ears
2) pig tongue
3) pig ***
4) pig (any organ you can think of)
5) tofu

Very busy. So busy that customers are usually ignored. But the crowd that dine there don't seem to mind at all.

Favorite Dish: This salad has a oily and spicy sauce, which is quite flavoursome. It consists of 3 things:

1) Er Gen - only found here in Kunming and not anywhere else. Takes a while to fall in love. Or you'll never like it. Said to have "cooling" property.

2)Green pea cake/jelly - this is very firm. Goes well when dipped in the salad sauce.

3) Cucumber - my favourite.

The whole place is built of pinewood. The owner pays attention to its deco including fresh flowers in a huge vase. Gives a nice feeling.

There are two Mamafu's around, one is called Mamafu, the other Fumama.

Anyway, Mamafu sells western food, while Fumama, just 3 doors away, sell noodle soup.

Favorite Dish: If you have been deprived of real chicken curry for a long time (real meaning: Malaysian), then this is a good surrogate. The "curry" is actually lots of turmeric, no onion or those "tumis" we use back home.
It's a huge serving RMB10.

They also serve other varieties of noodles, namely the typical Kunming "mixian", or "ersi".

The noodle is good, real noodle with "kyi" in it to give it the "qiu" and yellowish colour. I specifically mention this because in Kunming, you get a lot of noodle like our assam laksa noodle (mixian), or our "pan min" noodle (er si), but never proper bihun, misua, or this real yellow noodle.

A typical local eatery. The claypot with small mouth ensures the soup stays hot for a long time.

The food is served fast, which is good.

You select the type of flavour you want for your noodle soup, pay for it, and find a table.

Favorite Dish: Rice noodles of course.

Various meat from very normal pork and chicken to frog to a luxurious type offering all ( I think)

Price starts from RMB 5 (peanut soup - vegetarian).

When the noodle set is served, put the raw raw into the soup first, followed by raw vegetables, then cooked meat, and lastly the noodles.

The evening the only guests were the two of us. Traditional Japanese deco, with rectangular tables and chairs (no you don't have to kneel)

If you opt to pay by credit/debit card, you are taken to another restaurant in the hotel.

Favorite Dish: I had a set meal - sashimi set. You can a choice of 3 different fish/
My husband had tenpura set and a kirin beer.

The deco makes you think you are in Europe. There are three levels to it, each table has its own unique settings.

The bread is authentically French, and comes with an onion dip (although I prefer mash olives, which I used to get in a southern Italian restaurant in Singapore).

The soup, salad, main course are all good.

The ONLY CATCH - it is NOT CONSISTENT. I was full of praise the first time I went there, then the second time everything was oozing oil....

Favorite Dish: The local salad in vinegar sauce, with wood-ear fungus and sesame seeds, is very nice, although it is not traditional French, but this can be called fusion food I guess.

The restaurant is a place you would go if you cannot find any other jap restaurants. The food is ok, the rest so so. The price is reasonable, a tad on the expensive side, but Japanese food is always a little expensive, is it not.

Favorite Dish: The hotpot noodles (nabeyaki udon) is not bad.