The Ming Ting

Fly restaurants are usually neighbourhood spots, but Chengdu has a few that transcend their locales to become destination dining. The Ming Ting is one of these. The cab driver who took me there was pretty surprised to hear where I was going though; he thought I should be dining at some grand place.


The location, inside the Cao Jia Alley market, is even more modest than most fly restaurants.

 

Their most famous dish we saw on nearly every table - the pig brains and tofu (豆腐脑花). We loved this dish, which tasted quite a bit like the saucy kind of mapo tofu but which had quite a bit more going on.  When a friend of mine recently mentioned her memory had been bad lately and she should eat some brains, I knew the place to recommend.

 

The pickles (泡菜） came in large, crunchy shreds.

 

Another can't-miss dish, the lotus leaf steamed pork belly (荷叶酱肉）.

 

From the veg listed by the server, we asked for a plate of pea shoots. Nice and tender, and a good sized serving. 

 

We also got a dish of sliced potatoes from the bowls out front. They were excellent. 

We now understand why the Ming Ting is known as a five-star fly restaurant.

Name in Chinese:  明婷饭店
Location: 曹家巷 菜市场