Tracking down hamburgers in Chongqing has been a passion of ours since  here at cqscene for a long time.  Times have not changed.  I admit I've been a little slow on this one however, first hearing about the Beer Garden Bar and Grill, in Jeifengbei's Deyi Shijie bar area.  In my defense however, we were still in a time of gray skies, and that unpleasant cold humidity that plagues the city.  Needless to say, the weather then, was not the weather it is now, and last Friday, in the early evening nothing sounded better than sitting outside with a burger and a beer. 
The beer, your standard "outside bar" Carlesburg draught, was made better solely for it being a cold beer on a warm day.  The burger my friends, was one worth returning for.  And though the food at hand gets its name from Germany, its no secret that America is where she was born and bred, and it was of no surprise to see the man behind the grill, to be from one of the 50 states.  Cooked to perfection, the burger can be enhanced with a variety of items such as white chedar cheese, grilled mushrooms, and bacon to name a few, along with "gramma's secret sauce," and delightfully seasoned, hand-cut fries, the Beer Garden and Grill's burger rivals any to be tasted on either side of the two rivers.  Being a passionate consumer of mustard after some good time spent in Germany, my experience was slightly soured by the lack of god's condiment, but head Chef  Mike Shane was quick to assure me that they would be having it soon, as chili dogs are destined for the menu in the near future.

Many times in my life, I have craved nothing more than a good burger and a Belgium waffle on a stick.  Okay, maybe not on a stick, but after experiencing the joy of Waffei’s 2rmb sugar/syrup-infused waffles…..I AM HOOKED!   


Of course, the waffle is nothing compared to the thick, juicy goodness of the Waffei-Burger.  Real sesame-seed bun, a pound of juicy meet, sautéed onions, mushrooms, ketchup/mustard/mayo, real cheese, and BACON!  Oh my sweet bacon cheeseburger, how I have missed you.  The fries were thick cut, with light seasoning to compose a great compliment for the burger.   

I will be heading back to Waffei for another Belgium-created burger experience.  I’m still debating if next time I splurge for the Ultimate Waffle in addition to my burger. 

Waffei is located on the 4th floor of HongYaDong, just outside the riverside elevators.  

  -T. Barnes

any one who's been a fan of cqscene for a while probably noticed last spring, that I have an affinity for the sweet, circular fried batter that we call doughnuts.  So much so, that I am now dedicating my second post to the subject matter. 

I have come across yet another legitimate example of what a doughnut ought to be, here in Chongqing(presumably throughout China).  This time it comes from the fine folks at Qin Yuan bakery who have recently introduced a sugar sprinkled specimen that, though not excellent, could hold its own anywhere from here to Baghdad (traveling eastward). 
Though not all of the Qin Yuan location carry them, most of the bigger ones do, and at a mere 1.5 RMB you cant go wrong. 

                                                                                                                                sidewalkspew

"Ohhh.. it big" and she is not the only one who said it, when i asked a patron before i entered the so called Big Pizza. As usual a skeptic i was, as i have seen, been and tasted what is supposed to be, but cant come close to being  American style pizza. unlike most things CQ Big Pizza does it bigg, American style big! and its not the very authentic tasting American pizza that does it , but its variety and service. Boasting an all you can drink beer and wine,  a good size salad bar and selection of meats, veggies and side dishes  that cater to foreign and local tastes a like, it is not hard to see why it is an easy choice for one CQSCENE'S best of  Chongqing. So if  you find yourself in Shapingba's san xia guang chang  around lunch [45 RMB] or dinner [45 RMB] drop in to capital retail on the 4th floor. Don't forget to bring an empty stomach and pick up a CQSCENE sticker while your at it.

sniperblack.......

as i mentioned in my previous post, chonging can get damn hot come the summer-time.  and with humidity to match the heat, often time you find yourself looking for a way to avoid becoming the world's largest jiaozi, that doesn't involve speanding the entirety of the day in -front of the AC.  fear not friends! we have the solution, or shall i say solutions, for you. 
all summer long we'll be giving you tips on how to "beat the cq heat." and first on the list(with the exception, of course, of our friend mentioned below) comes to you all the way from the usa.  yes, cq now has a dairy queen(aka DQ).  and though it lacks the burgers, fries, etc., found in the DQ you may be used to from home, it does have quite the offering of frozen treats, the highlight of which being the blizzard(oreo w/ banana in my case).  to get there just hop on the light-rail to yang jia ping, or take a cab or bus(i take the 402 from shapingba) to yang jia ping bu xin jie(aka"fu an bai huo")  and go into the "grand ocean" department store building right next to the station.  your escape to ice-cold extacy awaits you in the bottom floor.  though not hard to find by merely keeping your eyes open, a simple "DQ zai n'ar?" asked to any of the workers ought to get you there.

***UPDATE***
2 new locations are in the works and will be opening in the near future @ Hong Ya Dong in Jeifangbei, and Paradise Walk in Jiangbei.

one thing i've taken for granted growing up in america, was the ever present availability of doughnuts.  whether its my favorite organic, vegan doughnut from seattle's(one of CQ's sister cities) "Mighty O,"  or a pack of the hostess donettes from the nearest gas station, doughnuts, in america are everywhere.  and no matter where you are, its not easy to find a bad doughnut.  of course some are far superior to others, but most doughnuts are in some way enjoyable, even in china. 
i have found one however that goes beyond merely being enjoyable (i would go as far to say it is absolutely delicious), and that is the dico's doughnut.  yes dico's the over-priced fast food haven finally gives us a reason to enter its doors and that reason comes in two flavors, powdered sugar, and chocolate.  both being tasty, the chocolate exceptionally so, and at RMB3 and 3.5 respectively you can't go wrong.

As much as i love da pan ji, gong bao ji ding and the ever so good xin jiang ban mian. There is nothing and i mean nothing like the sweet satisfaction of stuffing your face into a half pound of pure minced beef cooked medium well surrounded by fresh lettuce, red onion, tomato and relishhhh, bathed in a healthy serving of mustard and ketchup, with the extra ketchup for the the double  dipps 'ahhhhh'. Ohh! lets not forget the thick fresh cut wedge fries that are the size of Chinese roaches " BIIIIGGG, " AND ITS UNDER 50 RMB. So in the words of  Senator  Clay Davis form Maryland " SHEEEEEEEEEEIIT....."  this burger is definitely worth buying flowers for. and you can find her on the 6th floor of da du hui plaza in jie fang bei across the new york new york building.

Dont forget your flowers, cause she is a beauty!!!

Address: L626 METROPOLITAN PLAZA NO.68 ZOURONG ROAD
Tell: (86)023-63726100

rumor had it that a new pizza restaurant opened up in shapingba, and after reading a post on cqexpat, i decided for myself to see what and where the hype was all about.  as I read in the post, suzie's was in the most unassuming of locations, located on the 23rd floor of an apartment building, but with the simple directions i had(across from the 2-story mcdonalds in shapingba[not the one by starbux]), it was fairly easy to find(if standing with your back to mcdonalds its in the tall gray building across the street and to the right), and well worth the trip. 
I tried both the chicken oregano and the hot & spicy pizzas, and both were quite good.  I was especially pleased with suzie's use of real cheese, a  homemade sauce, and crust that was delightfully crispy.  

suzies is located @ 沙平坝，[三峡广场重庆大酒店旁边]商社电器楼上，金沙国际B-23-4
or you can call her @ 136 9641 9353 for 24 hour delivery anywhere in CQ. [menu]

as many of you may know, subway makes its chongqing debut today(wed. 5/20) at hong ya dong in jeifangbei(No# 88 Jia Bin Road Chongqing CQ 400015 ).

 i feel shame to be taking up increasingly less valuable web space by posting about/promoting subway, but i'm sure many of you here in cq, myself included, yearn for the (up until today) evasive combo of  bread-meat-vegetables-cheese-bread, or as my friend Andy of the band Acorn Project used to eat, just plain 'ole 'bread-meat-bread.'
and in celebration of all things "sub," i'm offering some tracks from the 'sub-chongqing' cd series, an annual compilation cd made of tracks from cq's 'cold-cutty' underground music scene.

Yuren Chuan - from subCQ2 [dwnld]
unnown artist - from subCQ2 [dwnld]