Coco (the intern) and I had lunch today at Dianke Dianlai, a Yunnan restaurant I like in Beijing. They do a 12 course set lunch for 128 yuan (US$20.50) which is a good deal. Pics below of selected dishes with my sophisticated gourmand comments:

No idea what this is but it was spicy and I got a bit of pepper stuck in my throat which sent me into a coughing fit ... tears flowing, though not from joy ... good way to impress the girls.

Shrimpies in a sort of spicy lemony tomato-y sauce with a sprig of dill? artfully stuck in there. I think that's dill.

This is the main dish ... fish that has been split down the middle, spiced and grilled. Mmm good. That's Coco in the background; she's lovely but shy. All my interns are hired based on their gaokao score (sort of like the SAT but a million times harder). Coco got a 650, which is high, and she goes to Nankai, which is a top ten university (in Tianjin). I delegate all the hard stuff to her and concentrate on blogging about my lunches.

Nice to end the meal with some noodles. Note the authentic chipped bowl™. They also serve yoghurt and honey to get a bit of sweetie at the end, but I didn't get a good picture of it (or the other seven courses not pictured). If you haven't been to Dianke Dianlai, I'd recommend you go.