Bridge Garden Restaurant, Box Hill

Have you heard of the Crossing the Bridge story? No... Not the West Gate Bridge, or the Golden Gate Bridge... But since we have touched on this topic, did you know that the colour red strengthens the resolve to jump off bridges? Nope.. neither did I. 

The colour red is also evokes hunger, which is why many fast food restaurants has the colour red as the predominant colour in their logos. So that consumers will be hungry enough to enter through their doors and eat that delicious but naughty meal..

OK.. that's enough digressing for a post. The bridge story is where a Chinese scholar was busy studying for the annual civil servant exams. For some reason, he had decided to study on an island. Maybe so he can play XBox the whole day with no one nagging him, 'You should be studying, you know!!' His poor wife not only has to continue cooking his meals, she also had to bring it to him all the way from home. No guesses that she probably also does the cleaning of his temporary digs, and laundry.

Anyway, by the time the food reaches him, it was cold. So she had to think of a way to keep it warm in an era where a thermos would have saved her a lot of trouble, and oil. You see, she had discovered that by placing a layer of oil on the noodles she prepares for him, it keeps the soup and noodles warm. So that's how civil servants in those times end up with robust waistlines. 

In Box Hill, there is a restaurant Bridge Garden that serves Crossing the Bridge noodles. It looked good on the menu but what we ate there was anything but that. We had a Groupon deal that came with:

Stir fried beef with pepper and onions. It also came with a heap of dried chillies but not at all spicy, I appreciated that! This was delicious! I think it was deep fried before stir fried with onions, peppers and dried chilli. 

This was dessert - glutinuous rice with brown sugar syrup. It arrived on our table after the beef so that it can thaw... It is served cold and was very refreshing after the mildly spicy beef. But the bland glutinuous rice lump takes some effort to be accustomed to. 

Stir fried vegetables with garlic and oyster sauce. This was yummy, and had crispy garlic bits.

Crispy chicken Yunnan style. I am glad we tasted a Yunnan style dish when dining at a Yunnan restaurant, but I am not sure how this is Yunnan style. The chicken skin was not crispy despite the name of the dish. It had a slight milk powder smell to the chicken (But wouldn't this be just a generic Chinese style? Surely the  daigous who  ship milk powder to China do not ship only to Yunnan?). The dipping salt looked spicy and dangerous, but it was more sweet, if anything.

We also got a cup of soy milk which was very refreshing and a bowl of white rice each. I would say that this is a really good amount of good quality food for a Groupon deal $39 for two persons. The next time we visit this restaurant, I want to try the noodles!