Sunday, May 20, 2007

Hot Food at the Yunnan Restaurant

I never thought I would enjoy hot food so well. But when you couple unique food in a unique setting it usually results in the enjoyable. It has at the the Pousthouse Restaurant.

I had walked past the original Pousthouse Restaurant near my apartment complex for over a year without interest in stopping. There is very little English signage, and that just stopped me short. When it finally did, and I stopped for a meal there, I was hooked. Okay, I do usually have to ask that they cut back a little in the peppers and HOT seasoning. It can be more than a little HOT!

The restaurant is a Yunnan style food restaurant. I’m still not sure where the Yunnan Province is located. I think it is inland on the way to Tibet. They are known for hot spicy foods. They are keeping the tradition alive at the Pousthouse. The Province must be inland some distance, so they got good at preserving foods with a lot of hot seasoning that became part of their trademark.

But at the Pousthouse, hot is not the only unique feature. Every dish is specially served and seasoned. The beef is a real joy, as it’s cooked at your table over hot rocks. Thin slices of beef are just mixed in the rocks to cook the beef to your pleasure. Topped with the hot and spicy seasoning and you have some great flavor. Most other dishes end up covered in peppers. You can hardly find the fish or chicken amongst the red peppers. But when you do, the food is great. And its really not so hot. Not if you avoid the hottest peppers anyway.

On a recent visit, the hostess invited us to a new Pousthouse Restaurant in the recently constructed Restaurant Row just a few blocks away. Taking the opportunity to do so a couple of times now, I’ve been amazed at the modern and unique décor. The four story restaurant looks like a lighthouse. It has a upper deck on the third level. And the tables and many chairs are rough hewn lumber from old ships. Set in a modern setting, it all couples with a beautiful and delightful experience.

The outdoor deck is a little close to some nearby power lines. The view gets a little disappointing, but in good weather it is a great new experience. And don’t forget to check out the restrooms. Very unique too.

The Pousthouse Restaurants of DongguanYunnan style dining at two locations.

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