Bodega

> Location : Guangzhou, Guangdong, Mainland China
> Cuisine : Xinjiang (Sinkiang)
> Website : N/A

When speaking of Chinese cuisine, we generally think of Guangdong, Shanghai, Szechwan and Beijing cuisines. Mostly being eastern China provinces. Yet, there are provinces to the west that features some fine dining as well. I am unfamiliar with this province (which I will unfold) and its cuisine until writing this review. Excited because it is something new to me, I did some research and would like to share with you the food and some facts about Xinjiang (Sinkiang) Province!

Xinjiang is located in the northwestern portion of Mainland China. It is the biggest province of China taking up 1/6 of the nation's land mass. The province is surrounded by countries such as Mongolia, Russia, and India. The highest populated nationality of Xinjiang are the Uyghur, originated from a Turkic-speaking tribe that use to reside in the original Mongolia. The Uyghur also reside in other countries also such as Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and others. Mostly, they reside in the Xinjiang province of China. Due to the high density of the Uyghur's along with the surrounding countries, their presence has a great influence on Xinjiang cuisine.

So without a restaurant that features Xinjiang cuisine, I won't be able to write this! In the heart of Guangzhou, I found a multi-floor building which hosts a few Xinjiang related restaurants. On the second floor is our review site: Bodega! Bodega in Mongolian means "god." It is actually a peak located in Xinjiang, where throughout the year, ice and snow covers it. The place is fairly big with some private rooms to the sides of the restaurant. During certain parts of the day, there are performances by ethnic Xinjiangnese, with dancing and music. I was part of one of the performances and it definitely adds a spirited mood to your eating experience. What's up with the food? According to the waitress', a lot of the core ingredients of their dishes are shipped directly from Xinjiang. Xinjiang cuisine is dedicated to its mutton dishes and also famous for its kebabs which are skewered mutton, roasted and seasoned over charcoal.

Anyhow, the first course is Mutton soup with glacier water. Using glacier water (technically from Xinjiang) for the soup and also mutton from Xinjiang, a sheep heavy tasting soup is made. The soup contained, onions, carrots, cilantro, turnips, flower pepper, and some minor chinese cuisine ingredients. A heavy pepper sensation fills every spoon full, containing a slightly salty taste but mostly detecting the sweet mutton flavor. The soup is boiled for a long time as evident by the ingredients melting in my mouth such as the turnips and carrots. Overall, a simple and great delicacy.
Their Kebabs, naming it as mutton roasted branches on the menu, is served on metal skewers. Each skewer is flavorful with various spices. The taste reminded me somewhat of the lamb served in Greek Gyros. The saltiness was just right and the meat was tender. The mutton had a little fat in some of the skewer but the taste was just amazing! It is one of those dishes hard to describe. The spices used to roast this was unique indeed because of its untypical flavor. This is a great order and I think it'll take a few of these to be satisfied! Thumbs up indeed.

A side dish is the Sinkiang flavor pancake. Note: Sinkiang basically is the cantonese pronouciation of Xinjiang. Anyhow, Xinjiang pancake (nang) is like steamed buns to the northern Chinese and rice to the southern Chinese. In some sense, it is similar to India's naan, made with desired flour along with sesame seeds, onions, eggs, oil, butter, milk, salt and sugar. The pancake here at Bogeda was cooked in a pizza like shape, along with sesame. I didn't see any onions but the taste was slightly salty. It's a nice touch eating it along with other dishes.

Next we have slices of mutton in what seemingly like lo shui sauce. On top, shredded red, green bell pepper along with shredded turnip. with garnish on the side, the mutton is tender for the most part just a slight sensation of being overcooked from perfection. It's not bad overall but i definitely enjoy the other dishes more.

In the end, it isn't just lamb, it is mutton. Goat, sheep, lamb, black sheep, and so on all carry different distinct taste and texture. As the word mutton defines, even matured or non-matured sheep has its distinct differences. I won't further discuss but that is for you to explore if you get a chance =) I enjoy the soup, the kebabs very much. All the mutton that is used carry a extremely strong sheep taste. Not just in taste, also in its aroma. To conclude this, it is a very new experience to me and until further experiences, I can't make any strong comments. Overall, Bodega was enjoyable for the most part! Note: The last photo is a crispy mixed ingredient bun which I decided not to discuss.

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >