YAYA LEMON DUCK

We had a 4-hour transfer at Nanning Station and found this Guangxi specialty restaurant. We ordered a set meal for two people, plus 3 dishes, all of which were Guangxi specialties. We came for the main dish of lemon duck and were not disappointed. The children especially enjoyed the meal very much. It is worth recommending!

I traveled to Nanning, Guangxi during the Spring Festival, hoping to try the local delicacy, lemon duck, but was a little disappointed. The duck was too oily and salty. It might be because the locals have a heavier taste. The dishes in Nanning are really average, and there are not many options.

Chain brands have a unified image and signature dishes. Yaya Chef has many stores in Qingxiu District, Nanning, so that many loyal fans can taste this lemon duck delicacy without leaving Tanmen.

Yaya Chef, specializing in the old Nanning lemon duck flavor. The menu has been changed recently, and the lemon duck is only available in large portions, which is just right for four people. The tofu and taro are both very good. The new drinks include sweet wine, which is very refreshing and worth a try. The environment is very unique, suitable for entertaining relatives and friends~ ​​​

The first meal after two days out. Authentic Guangxi lemon duck. Sour and delicious. Stylish environment. Business is so good. It was just after 4pm. Customers started to come in one after another. A very unique canteen. The lemon duck dish is as its name suggests. Sour and sweet. A lot of ginger and scallions are added. A little spicy. Very unique. At least you can't taste this in Sichuan. Flat vegetable duck blood soup is actually leek duck blood soup. Served in an enamel cup. It has a refreshing taste. The organic cauliflower tastes sweet. The duck blood porridge is delicious. Worth recommending.

We found the food court by accident. We visited the 7th and 8th floors before finally choosing it. We were not disappointed. We just came back from Beijing, and Guangxi local dishes are more to our taste. It's really great. The price is also really good. There is a special dish every day that is worth recommending. Lemon duck is also a classic. Four dishes and one soup are only 124 yuan. I will come again next time.

I heard from a friend that Yaya Chef, a restaurant under Ganjiajie, had a huge line for dinner on Ghost Festival, July 14th. My friend had already come back and said the food was good, so I went with four of my foodie friends. (P.S.: In Nanning, on Ghost Festival, July 14th, they eat duck. Why do they eat duck? Because on July 14th, the Gate of Hell opens for a day before closing. There's only one bridge leading to the other side, the Naihe Bridge. So, killing ducks allows the deceased souls to cross the river quickly. Gradually, this practice became a custom.) Without further ado, let's first talk about the restaurant's interior. The decor is very similar to Waipojia's, like a maze. Without a waiter's guidance, it's difficult to find your seat just by looking at the signboards. And sometimes, their waiters can't even find their table numbers themselves. That's a bit embarrassing. Overall, the cleanliness was okay. We ordered eight dishes in total, and the first must-try was the signature lemon duck. It was slightly cheaper than the one at Ganjiajie, and I felt it tasted slightly better. My last visit to Ganjiajie, I felt the lemon duck was overpowered by the excessive sour chili peppers. Perhaps the chef's skills were different. This restaurant's lemon duck was perfectly cooked, with a sour lemon aroma blended with the other sour ingredients, complemented by the duck's natural sweetness. Taste-wise, it's an 8 out of 10. If the perilla and jalapeno leaves were more pronounced, it would have been even better. However, the only drawback was the lack of meat. The duck was too lean, and I mostly ate the neck or feet, with very little breast. There were too many bones, and I'm not here to gnaw on them. I hope the restaurant will spend more next time. For those who enjoy duck feet and wings, this place's feet and wings are perfectly cooked, fragrant, and visually appealing. See the pictures for details. They also serve five-color glutinous rice. It's a solid color. The flavor is a bit bland, but the glutinous rice is still quite good. If you haven't tried five-color glutinous rice, it's a good idea to give it a try. After all, it's a specialty of Guangxi cuisine. We ordered the pickled fish, which was arguably the most amazing dish of the day. The snow-white fish was boneless and seemed to have been cured, making it chewy and tender. The flavor of the pickled cabbage was infused without sacrificing the fish's natural freshness. This dish is highly recommended. Next up is a very ordinary, almost ordinary dish called Tujia Eggs. It's essentially stir-fried duck eggs with green peppers. The duck eggs are fried, cut into thin strips, and stir-fried with chili peppers to make them tasty. It's a very appetizing dish that goes well with rice, with the spicy flavor of the green peppers, but not overpoweringly so. Those who can't handle chili peppers might want to try it. However, it was a bit salty. I wonder if it was the chef's fault. Still, it's worth a try. We also ordered the chef's stir-fried beef offal. I won't go into detail about this dish because I didn't find it particularly appealing to me—it was a bit too sour. The beef tripe was chopped too finely, and there were too many pickled bamboo shoots and other side dishes. Choosing the right meat was a real hassle. After a long search, I ended up with a mountain yellow peel. I felt quite downhearted. But those who enjoy this dish should definitely give it a try; everyone has different tastes. We also ordered two vegetarian dishes: dry-fried green beans and organic cauliflower. The beans were both delicious in presentation and texture. As for the organic cauliflower, it was stir-fried pork belly with cauliflower. I've seen some reviews calling this dish a failure, and I'm not sure what the problem was. This time, the cauliflower wasn't that bad. It was crispy and not raw, and very sweet and fresh, with just the right flavor. The portion was a bit small, but everything else was fine. There were five of us, and we ordered 230 yuan worth of dishes in total. The average bill was about 50 yuan per person. If you're dining with friends from out of town, this restaurant is a good choice. The ambiance is better than Ganjiajie, and the prices are relatively reasonable. The service was quite good, but I seem to have forgotten whether our rice order was served. That's all for this restaurant. I hope the food can maintain its consistency. Keep up the good work.