The best meal I had in Harbin was at this Russian Restaurant near our hotel. Though I forgot the name of the restaurant on central street 中央大街, I have pictures to bring back fond memories.
On this trip, we had all types of northern Chinese cuisine, with dumplings, pork, and pancakes. Just hours before we were heading home, we luckily found this little Russian bistro, filled with tourists from the bustling central street. You’d notice all the Russian influence with the architecture on Central Street and Harbin. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew Harbin building differed from other cities in China.
After having a cream and tomato soup with some bread – which was ho-hum, to say the least, we anxiously waited for the fish. Our waitress indicated that this special dish, required about 40 minutes for preparation. The fish, 桂魚 – translates in to Mandarin fish, but I thought was a sturgeon was baked and prepared in a careful way. Once it was served to our table, I knew we were in for a treat. The The heavy cream was layered on top of the fish, appearing to look like a mound mashed potatoes with little burned-in marks all over. The sides were, actually, mashed potatoes, presented as if they were icing to a cake. After digging through this goodness, you’d find a whole fish, with luscious tender flakey fish meat. Though a bit heavy with the cream and potatoes, this is a great main dish otherwise. I think this dish, the Baked Russian Fish, was the best dish I had in Harbin.
Harbin
中央大街
Central Street (Kitaiskaya Street)
Popularity: 13% [?]