狗不理包子
Hal read my entry and asked the origin of 狗不理 that has been selling since 1858, originally started in 天津(TianJin). Yes, in this city, it is history everywhere.
I told him the story I knew of, that this vendor's first version was so bad that customers threw them to ground and dogs would walked away. He was so humiliated by the failure; he swore to reclaim his reputation. At last, like so many Chinese folklores, the hundredth version was so good they wanted to name the style after him. Remembering the 1st humiliation that led to this success, he branded the new style of BaoZi.
It turned out there is a less inspiring, but probably more realistic story. It is also authentically described on the wall of the 大閘欄(DaZhaLan: a retail alley in QianMen) branch.
This man named his new son 狗子(GouZi: Doggie). (Many Chinese believe that if you name your prized son or daughter as an animal, they will gain the resiliency as such. The ghosts and spirits will also think you simply got a new pet and won't bother to try to claim him away.)
Doggie grew up to quite a chef specializing in making BaoZi. They were so good; he couldn'™t meet the demand from the customers. Frequently, he focused 100% on making them and ignored the customers who try to buy those prized BaoZi. As people got used to his style, they called those "Doggie won't pay attention to you" BaoZi.
[...] Hal Stern几年前看了我的博志，及后来续篇。当他决定访华时，也一心要吃这大大有名的包子。终于，我有机会一尝天津狗不理包子了。他在华的最后一晚，一行四人，初试簋街狗不理。 [...]
[...] Hal Stern几年前看了我的博志，及后来续篇。当他决定访华时，也一心要吃这大大有名的包子。终于，我有机会一尝天津狗不理包子了。他在华的最后一晚，一行四人，初试簋街狗不理。 [...]
[...] Stern read my blogs on and off for years. When his China trip was confirmed, he was determined to try this famous steamed [...]
Hi all,
I have been to the GouBuLi Restaurant a few times. I must say that the environment is great, the history behind is great, the food is also great, but when it comes to the service… not so great, in fact, after the latest experience, I would not recommend anyone visiting if they want service in this restaurant.
The particular branch that I went to was located in Tanggu.
I made a phone reservation for a private room for 8 people and asked if it was OK if we arrived at around 8:30pm on Saturday. They said no problem, so off we went.
Upon arrival we were told that all rooms were fully booked and occupied (which is clearly a lie as typical dinning time in China is between 5:30 and 8:00pm). Then I told the reception that if I made a booking and could not have what I booked for, then we would all just leave. Magical, straight away they told me that a room is available and it would take about 5min to get it ready for us.
Instead of waiting, we accepted their recommendation to sit at the open area to order food. Then we just settled for having our dinner there, thinking not to cause any more grief.
Before the second dish was served, I realised that the air conditioning was turned off, so I called the manager to ask for the reason. I was then told that the air conditioning was on timer. My complaint did nothing, she just walked away leaving us sweating while eating. We had more sweat running down the side of our cheek than the buns had steam.
Half way through the dinner, the lights were switched off and we had on the spot lights on top of our dinning table on. I asked the waiter if they were trying to get rid of us quickly, no reaction.
My suggestion to the people who intend to visit the restaurant, make a booking and make sure you get a room number/name. And make sure that you get there as early as possible.
It doesn’t matter how expensive or grand a restaurant is, the service level drops to below the ground when it’s near clock off time.
tony