Lao Zhengxing is a prestigious time-honored hotel, which originated in the Qing Dynasty, first appeared in Shanghai, and entered the Nanjing Confucius Temple in the thirties. Nowadays, when it comes to "Lao Zhengxing" in Nanjing, many people will think of Guangyingju Lao Zhengxing Restaurant located on Qinhong Road. Zhang Qiguang, the head of Guangyingju Lao Zhengxing, studied under Lao Zhengxing of Confucius Temple, studied in Jinling Hotel, and has more than 40 years of culinary experience.
Different from tourist restaurants such as Nanjing big stalls and Little Blue Whale, Guangyingju Lao Zhengxing has a high reputation among local gourmets, and most of the diners who go to dine are Nanjing locals or people who have lived in Nanjing for a long time.
Guangyingju Lao Zhengxing's menu incorporates a lot of old Nanjing characteristics, such as stewed raw knock, fermented bean curd pork, etc., which are rare dishes in today's Jinling restaurants. Eight treasure gourd duck is the top brand of Guangyingju Lao Zhengxing, and it is also a must-order dish for diners. The Eight Treasure Gourd Duck originated in Suzhou and later spread to many regions. Nowadays, the eight treasure gourd duck has appeared in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Sichuan cuisines, and the practices of different cuisines are also different. The difficulty of the Babao gourd duck is to remove the bones of the whole duck, keep the duck skin unbroken in the process, and put eight kinds of fillings in the duck's belly, and make the duck body into a gourd-shaped. Guangyingju Lao Zhengxing chooses about five catties of hemp duck, and puts a total of ten ingredients, including barley, mushrooms, ham, pine nuts, shrimp, etc. After the dishes are served, the restaurant will help cut the duck. The duck meat is fried and baked to make the meat tender and the fat of the skin and meat penetrates into the rice, making the rice more fragrant. Eight Treasure Gourd Duck is extremely laborious, often taking a whole day to cook, and the restaurant is limited to two servings per day, only available at the dinner market, and must be booked at least one day in advance.
Stir-fried fish heads are also very popular. Cut the head of silver carp into small pieces and stir-fry with cucumber and soybean paste. The sauce of the dish is fresh and salty, the cucumber is crisp, and the fish is tender. Ginger and garlic are not used in the raw fried fish head, and the chef has not handled the fishy side well enough, and the fish head still has a slight fishy smell, and the overall flaws are not concealed.
Although crispy duck is one of the four famous dishes of Guangyingju Lao Zhengxing, its performance is not worthy of its name. The crispy duck is different from the salted duck and roast duck common in Nanjing, which needs to be marinated in advance, steamed in a basket and then fried in a pan. The duck used in the restaurant is fat, with less duck meat, a slightly dry taste, not tender enough, and no obvious crispiness in the duck skin. The crispy duck is rich in portions, rough in cuts, greasy in food, and much inferior in taste compared to other dishes.
Some dishes will only be launched during certain seasons, and the restaurant menu is not updated in a timely manner, so diners are advised to call in advance for consultation. Wild reed can be regarded as typical and can only be eaten in late winter and spring. Stir-fry the wild artemisia stinky dried and take the tender stems on the top of the reeds, and match them with stinky dried and shredded meat, which tastes fragrant and delicious. In addition, the restaurant's scrambled eggs in the summer are also worth trying.
Guangyingju Lao Zhengxing has a small façade, and the restaurant has a total of five tables and a private room, the number of which is tight and needs to be booked in advance. The restaurant has a simple environment and the tables are close to each other, so it is inevitable that there will be a feeling of crowding when dining, but there is also a strong atmosphere of fireworks. If the number of diners is small, diners may need to share a table with others. There is only one waiter in the restaurant, and it is difficult to take care of every diner, the service is not attentive enough, and the dining experience of diners is not good.
