Crowne Plaza GUANGZHOU SCIENCE CITY

When you are the only foreigner in a Chinese restaurant, you order your favourite dish, the people sitting at three nearby tables, all of whom are Chinese, half stand up with their mouths dropping open when it arrives, and then look at you with an awestruck look on their faces, well, it doesn't get much more flattering than that.And that is exactly what just happened to me at the Mei Hua Chinese Fine Dining Restaurant at the Crowne Plaza Guangzhou Science City on the outskirts of Guangzhou, China. I ordered three dishes, and my favourite since I was a little boy – Pineapple Sweet and Sour Pork – was the first to arrive. When it did, the diners at the surrounding tables stopped talking momentarily as they eyed it with intrigue. The dish – I have never before seen it so beautifully or innovatively presented – was a feast for the eyes.A small pineapple had been cut open and hollowed out. Half of the sweet and sour pork was put inside. The other half was put in a small bowl. The pineapple's crown completed a triangle on the plate.And if this stunning presentation was not enough to get the saliva flowing, the taste exceeded the presentation – if that is possible. It had the perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. The tender morsels of pork had an ever so slight crunchiness. And the sauce was thick and gooey – just the way it should be.The pineapple was a bit smaller than those I have found in Hong Kong, Honolulu, and Taiwan, but not as small as those that Zhongshan is famous for. The crown was also a bit more profuse and softer. When I asked the waitress about it, she said that this type of pineapple was indigenous to Guangzhou.Since I was a small child, sweet and sour pork has always been my favourite Chinese dish, but most restaurants simply cannot do it justice. The Pineapple Sweet and Sour Pork (48 yuan), which I ordered without bones at the Mei Hua, was without doubt the best I have ever had.

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