At The Grandma's

Sunday evening, the girls took me to a famous Zhejiang province chain restaurant to celebrate the end of the semester. In a few more days, I will be moving to Beijing, Reena will go back to Korea, and Tina and Lucy will finish out the rest of the school year here in Hangzhou.

The name of the restaurant is called “The Grandma’s.” Not “Grandma’s” but “The Grandma’s.” The Chinese characters refer to going to mother’s mother’s house and eating food more delicious that what you can receive in your parent’s house. The food was delicious and there were a surprising number of vegetarian dishes on the menu. I stuffed myself with cauliflower, eggplant, spring rolls, and fried tofu (not of the stinky variety, thank goodness) with nuts, honey, and cucumber.

The girls had Szechuan beef and raw salmon, while Lucy and I shared a large bottle of Xi Hu (West Lake) beer and toasted past, present, and future.