There are dozens of expat pubs around Suzhou. Last month, we read about the opening of Cheers, advertised not suprisingly as 'where everybody knows your name'. Whatever nationality you are, there's bound to be a cooresponding restaurant/pub; Aussie, German, Italian, Indian, 
French, Brazilian...you name it. Most of these places are kid-friendly, offering the standard chicken fingers and/or pizza options. We'd heard from our British friend, Carl, about the Drunken Chef. It's one of the oldest expat establishments having been around for a whopping twenty years. This place is tucked around the corner and off the beaten path in Old Town. Just when I think I'm beginning to learn my way around, I'm taken some place new. Word was the owner grilled like a madman and Larry was hankering for some good ol' steak. Upon entering I felt a kind of deja vu. Not so much by the look of the place, it was your basic sports paraphernalia, flag covered walls decor. The owner, Clive, is a huge Formula 1 fan, so it wasn't even familiar sports. That was until we'd been seated and I glanced over at one of the walls. There it was...an honest to 
goodness Original Tiger Rag. I about knocked over the chair getting to it to verify. Sure enough as it had the little hook in the paw. It had been there for over five years but Clive couldn't give me any more details beyond that. No other college flags were visable or if there were I was blinded by the orange.
French, Brazilian...you name it. Most of these places are kid-friendly, offering the standard chicken fingers and/or pizza options. We'd heard from our British friend, Carl, about the Drunken Chef. It's one of the oldest expat establishments having been around for a whopping twenty years. This place is tucked around the corner and off the beaten path in Old Town. Just when I think I'm beginning to learn my way around, I'm taken some place new. Word was the owner grilled like a madman and Larry was hankering for some good ol' steak. Upon entering I felt a kind of deja vu. Not so much by the look of the place, it was your basic sports paraphernalia, flag covered walls decor. The owner, Clive, is a huge Formula 1 fan, so it wasn't even familiar sports. That was until we'd been seated and I glanced over at one of the walls. There it was...an honest to 
goodness Original Tiger Rag. I about knocked over the chair getting to it to verify. Sure enough as it had the little hook in the paw. It had been there for over five years but Clive couldn't give me any more details beyond that. No other college flags were visable or if there were I was blinded by the orange.
Since I was already completely won over, it was up to Clive to win over Larry. He wheeled out his assortment of US steaks. They talked over rubs, seasonings, charcoal flavors and temperatures. An hour and many beers (wine for me) Larry was almost reduced to tears. His seven month steak drought was over. I dare say Larry probably would have sung the Clemson fight song if Clive had asked him, the steak was that good. 
We'd sent Mr. Liu home after he ate dinner with us, telling him to enjoy the evening. We thought we'd be able to get a taxi home. We waited for over a half hour. It wasn't scary or anything but we were cold and quite lost. Once again, we were helped out by a friendly girl. We called Mr. Liu and she told him where we were. He showed up less than five minutes later, undoubtedly prepared to rescue us at a second's notice. I know southerners are friendly, but the chinese people just may have them beat.
We'd sent Mr. Liu home after he ate dinner with us, telling him to enjoy the evening. We thought we'd be able to get a taxi home. We waited for over a half hour. It wasn't scary or anything but we were cold and quite lost. Once again, we were helped out by a friendly girl. We called Mr. Liu and she told him where we were. He showed up less than five minutes later, undoubtedly prepared to rescue us at a second's notice. I know southerners are friendly, but the chinese people just may have them beat.
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