If you pay attention to the major food self-media in Suzhou, you may always see the figure of Xumen barbecue. On the east side of Laodong Road, there is only one shop in the area lined with civilian restaurants, and there is only one shop that has stood for more than ten years, so it has also become one of the food landmarks in the eyes of old Suzhou. However, with the passage of time, the standard of grilled food here has declined a lot compared to the past. Except for the old diners with familiar faces, there are few young customers.
Looking at the menu in the special recommendation column, more than ten special dishes are listed, which has become the face of Xumen barbecue today. The spicy fried clams, which are a must-order on almost every table, are only full and meaty, accompanied by green onions and chili peppers, which are stir-fried on a hot fire, with good color, flavor and flavor. Enoki mushrooms are roasted in salty and fresh soup, sprinkled with chopped green onions, sugar, and diced tomatoes to enhance the umami, crisp and pleasant. The restaurant's specialty roasted banana fans are also quite a few fans, peeling off the banana peel to see the fragrant sauced banana meat, which has a rich taste and melts in the mouth, which makes people have a great appetite.
Compared with the above-mentioned delicacies, the level of barbecue in Xumen is really uneven. Lamb and beef skewers are the only good choices left, the lamb is soft and glutinous, and the beef is thin and fragrant, both of which are not too seasoned to bring out the freshness of the ingredients. Crispy bone skewers, pork belly, chicken wings and other classic grilled items can only be described as barely passing. The thin layer of meat that crispy bones should have is missing, and the diaphragm should be eaten in the mouth, thick and hard to chew. The pork belly is too lean, and the taste is no different from ordinary meat skewers, and the dry wood is bland. The wings, which are supposed to be fat, are only the size of eggs, and the pleasure of chewing meat and spitting bones is lost.
After a few years of renovation, the restaurant environment is now a typical Chinese imitation European style, with brick walls and leather chairs creating an elegant atmosphere, sweeping away the roughness that a barbecue restaurant should have. The window along the street is the oven kitchen of the restaurant, and if you sit on the first floor, you can hear the sound of the Tohoku shopkeeper squirming on the skewers. Service is the shortcoming here, and the clerk's aunt's careless ordering and passing of food are powerless to promote the atmosphere of masturbation, but this is normal for the shops along the street that have been open for a long time.
Similar to the situation of Xumen, with the gimmick of "time-honored brand" as publicity, there are also Longlong Barbecue, Boya Barbecue and Century Barbecue, etc., they are all veteran players who have stood out in the market for many years. However, in terms of production, environment, service, etc., they have gradually lost recognition because they cannot keep up with the rapid development of the catering industry, and can only be reluctantly reduced to ordinary restaurants on the street corners. The list is only a brief description of this type of restaurant, and interested customers may wish to learn more about it.
