Cheeseburger in Paradise?

Notice the question mark in the title, well of course there's a story behind that!

A couple of weeks ago Lightnin had made the statement that she was going to go out and get a cheeseburger, and I said that sounded pretty good and then tried to block that thought from my mind for a couple of reasons: 1) There's a huge variety of almost any food types, backgrounds, etc. here to choose from, and 2) I really don't know where to go to get one here, other than McD's (yes they have them here, although surprisingly KFC is much more represented!).

However, this past Saturday morning I awoke with one thing on my mind: CHEESEBURGER! I guess I really need to go back to Friday night in order to explain this craving. You see most of the workforce here is made up of folks in the same age range as our children, and just like our children have done in the past, the challenge was laid out to this "Old Guy" that I should come pub crawling with the "Young Guy's" after we went out for dinner. So not being of a competitive nature I naturally turned them down.

Oh come on, you know me better than that, of course I went out on the town with them! ;-)

We started off at with dinner at a Hunan style restaurant (I guess I should take another side trip here to explain some more, but I promise I'll get back to the cheeseburger. You see Beijing is the capital city of Mainland China, so the representatives from each province live and work here. Well it seems they are a lot like us in that they like to eat foods that they grew up with, so there are different foods available in the different areas of town for instance Hunan, Sechuan, etc. are all totally separate provinces, styles of cooking, and different restaurants!). Anyway the food was great,and it helped to give a layer of protection for what was to lie ahead for the evening. Now back to the 1st diversion from the Cheeseburger!

From dinner we proceeded to hit several of the hottest, most popular night spots in the city. We started at a place that was giving your first two beers (Tsing Tao) for free and any additional beers (Tsing Tao) for 1/2 off or 5RMB, about 70 cents USD. So we stayed there and listened to music and talked for a couple of hours and moved onto the next hot spot. Well this went on until about 2:30am, at which point I decided It was about time to head back home and get a little rest. Feeling satisfied that I had proved that the "Old Guy"could still hang!

So after a hard night out on the town I slept in until about 10am the next morning (something that I very rarely do), time enough to get cleaned up and then head out for lunch (having missed breakfast, again something that I very rarely do), And that's when the cheeseburger craving hit me!

So as I lay there I start thinking about my plan of attack and just where was I going to get a cheeseburger? I'm not talking about one of those pre-stamped burgers from the clown shop either, I'm talking a real honest to goodness patted out thick juicy chuck of meat with melted cheese on a bun! Aha, I'm walking distance from the Hard Rock Cafe and I'll bet they've got a cheeseburger on the menu.

I get cleaned up and head out all the while imagining how good that burger's gonna' taste, ooh and fries too, with ketchup! By the time I see the place my mouth is actually starting to water. I head up the steps, past the armed guards (another post), and open the door to find "What the...closed for renovations!?" Yep they were redoing the inside of the place o prepare for the upcoming crowds brought in by the Olympics.

Well, do I get into a taxi and head for Hooter's (which is a bit of false advertising here I've been told!) to see if I can get one there? No, I spend enough time in a taxi as it is I need to walk. So I head back towards the apartment and decide to stop and get the next best thing to a cheeseburger, good old German style Brats at the Paulaner Brewhaus. It wasn't the same, but a couple of Dunkle's, Brats with Sauerkraut later and I'm somewhat satisfied.

I'm not sure if my new friends are keeping the location of these newly proclaimed delicacies a secret from me, or if they even exist here, but I'm on a quest now to locate and devour a real cheeseburger! I'll keep you updated on my progress.