Mediocre Munchies

This 24-hour kebab and Chinese staple eatery is completely underwhelming in every way, and the food here is fit only to be consumed in the late hours of the night. The blank gray walls and wooden tables and benches give the space a dark and gloomy feel, and with bamboo shoots being the only sign of decoration, we felt like we were, literally, in a concrete jungle. The staff sits at open tables, bored and watching CCTV, though a shout of “fuwuyuan” summons them quickly. The chicken wing chuan’r (¥6) taste decent enough, with four different levels of spiciness to choose from, but their size is pathetic. We’d skip the tough, dry and overcooked lamb kebab (¥3), as well as the under-seasoned mantou (¥1). The fragrant mushroom kebab (¥3) is overly lubricated, and is just a gummy and greasy piece of produce. The only kebab we fully enjoyed was the fried egg (¥2), which is actually a boiled egg with spices and a yummy, soft, yellow yolk. Off the menu of staple dishes, the Sichuan cold jelly rice noodles (¥8) aren’t bad, but they’re also nothing amazing. The geda tang soup (¥14) looks promising but lacks salt. Our favorite dish is actually the over-sauced fried rice (¥10), a humongous plate of one of our favorite Chinese starches and the only dish we tried that had a sufficient amount of flavor. Huazai’s owned by the same people behind the Heaven Liquor Shop: they might want to stick to the booze business. Still, at 4am, we admit that one might feel differently about the mediocre food on offer here.

Sarah Ting-Ting Hou, January, 2012