One of the things I miss in China are potatoes – so I was thrilled to come across ‘Jie Jiao Xiao Cai’. It serves a big bowl of spicy potatoes (featured image). It’s a modern, up-market place – so up-market that everyone gets handed a full-colour, glossy A3 photographic menu (no English) to tick off what they want. I felt so bad about all the paper being wasted the first time I went that i ordered two cheap dishes, plus rice – and had to take half of it home. Now, I just point, and the staff know me so well that they are pointing to the spicy spuds before I can spot them.

The spuds come in a stoneware bowl and are riddled with hot peppers. The who thing gets progressively hotter as you eat your way down. The 15 RMB bowl, maybe plus some extra rice to flesh it out, is heaps enough for me. There are lots of other nice looking things on the menu – I’ve also tried and can recommend the ‘Kamameshi gravy radish’ (only 9 RMB for a bowl).

A little part of the menu with a few things translated.

The Jie Jiao Xiao Cai’ is on Danfeng Rd.