Tasty, Boney, Riverfish

My brother-in-law is part owner of a fish restaurant.  Don’t think “Legal Seafoods”.  He’s got freshwater, river-fish, served on a plate with tons of spicy toppings and lots of little bones.  I associate all that spicy, ma-la taste to the Sichuan, but my brother in law is from Shandong.  He and his Binzhou mates have put this operation together. 

We roll up to a mall in the nearby exburb of WangJing.  There are dozens of restaurants all around, each with flashing lights, glaring menus.  I wouldn’t normally think of a restaurant as a smart business bet in China.  Restaurants are manifestly popular.  Young Chinese love to go out and spend money on food.  There are apparently next to no barriers to entry though, with everybody in China seemingly capable of making Chinese food.  Why would anyone want to go to your place, in particular, amidst all this neon?

We are shown to our table by a nice young lass who leads us through the floor.  The place is packed.  We are taken to a small little bao jian room, where everyone has been waiting for us with the spread on the table.  We pile in, exchange greetings and begin to sample the delicacies that are all laid out. Everything is spicy.  Fortunately there is a large decanter of dry red wine at the ready.  And after a moment, the fish arrives, on a large raised platter.  It’s dark in the room, but the presentation is appetizing and the taste . . . is lovely. 

My older daughter is a vegetarian.  My brother in law graciously suggested that it wouldn’t be a problem, as she could have fish soup, instead.  She picked at the spicy snacks and the fried bread.  But mostly it was all about the fish.  If I had opened a restaurant, I would have figured that having lots of things to suit lots of tastes was best.  But what do I know?  He’s got a fish restaurant, serving nothing but tasty, boney, river fish, and it's stuffed to the gills.  

Bring the spicey river fish to New York.