Simple Dinner at Zhongyang Street 中央街 in Haerbin 哈尔滨
It was a long day, I mean, a short day, I mean, long day. When you are as far north as Haerbin during winter, the sun sets so early that it is quite disorienting. I rely on the sun a lot to tell time but when you visit the more northern and southern latitudes, it really screws up your rhythm. Now I have to rely on my stomach to tell me what the time is. And it says, it is time for dinner. I was at Zhongyang Street at the time and I didn’t really feel like going back to the hostel just yet, actually, it was quite near. It was time for dinner.
Almost Empty Food Court at Zhongyang Street 中央街 in Haerbin 哈尔滨
I didn’t have any companions here in Haerbin anymore so I wandered into a food court. It was interesting since the food court was located about two stories below the ground. The first entrance had a heavy plastic curtain presumably to keep the cold out during the harsh winter. The second floor was the food court itself. It was almost closing time and I had to make do with what was still open at the time. There was this place selling fried rice which looks appetizing so I ordered that. I thought the serving was quite generous as well.
I also ordered some grilled lamb from a barbeque stall nearby. They quickly whipped up two sticks of lamb meat for me. The fried rice, who name was lost to me, was okay, it was a bit oily, but this is Chinese food, it is supposed to be. A fellow customer was asking where I got them, I guess it really looked that good. I don’t know if this was Heilongjiang specialty food though. While the grilled lamb was a bit tough but it was still edible, though I’d had better ones before. The food court looked clean as well and I expect it to be since they were in major commercial district.
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