Wai Po Cai Guan (grandma's restaurant) offers not
only a comforting name, but also a variety of homestyle
dishes that are native to Nanxiong, a city in
northeastern Guangdong. Given Nanxiong's proximity
to Hunan, chili is often used in cooking, while
pickled vegetables are very popular. Just when we
wondered if the flavors would be altogether indistinguishable,
the difference in texture provided the
answer. The pickled bamboo shoots in the duck
stew (酸笋焖鸭 38RMB) were exquisitely tender,
while the pickled taro shoots (芋禾炒花肉 25RMB)
which were fried with streaky pork, were crunchy,
mildly spicy and definitely inspiring. Their signature
eggplant dish (南亩擂茄子 15RMB) was a whole
eggplant served in a set of mortar and pestle, as
we needed to mash the tasty goodness for the
flavor to come through. The soothing taste of the
eggplant was complimented with a ginger and
green onion sauce. Finally, we concluded our
meal with home-made rice wine and toasted to
a relaxing evening.
78, Ti Yu Xi Heng Jie, Tianhe District (8559 0075)
外婆菜馆，天河区体育西横街78号
Daily: 9:30 a.m. – 11 p.m. Payment: cash only
Price: 40 RMB pp