I once worked with a man who had, in the case of food, no sense of adventure. We were on a business trip to Europe together, stopping in England, Holland, Germany, Italy and Ireland and at each stop he went to find a McDonald's. In Italy I enjoyed Steak Florentine. He had a cheeseburger. In England I had kippers. He had a cheeseburger. In Germany I had the steak tartar and he had…you get the picture. We were in countries we had never visited before and he was, in my view, wasting a golden opportunity to broaden his culinary horizons, particularly as we had expense accounts that would cover whatever we wanted. His office must have been delighted with his low bills when he got back but I just felt sorry for him.

Now comes a report that Goubuli, a well-known Chinese food brand that specializes in steamed buns stuffed with all sorts of delicious goodies, is making a deal with an American coffee chain to have it carry high-quality Chinese cuisine to the Western market. Goubuli won't say which coffee chain it is dealing with but I would guess it's probably Starbucks. I don't like Starbucks coffee but if they get a good line of stuffed buns I'll go there just for that. Goubuli's chairman of the board says the Chinese food currently available in Western restaurants is considered low-end and there are certainly some items available in restaurants in China that you won't find here, so he says he's trying to raise the bar. I will look forward to Goubuli's buns but I must take issue with its chairman. There are many Chinese restaurants here, they are run by Chinese people who know what they're doing and the food is both varied and delicious.

I won't decide what to order at the restaurant tonight until I get there, get a look at the menu and see what appeals to me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to choose the restaurant we'll dine in tonight. As mentioned, we're going with friends and even if I had wanted to go for Chinese or Japanese food, I would have been outvoted. Such is life. I have a nice box of vegetable spring-rolls in the freezer.

Brad Franklin is a former political reporter, newscaster and federal government employee in Canada. He is a regular columnist for China's English Salon magazine and lives on Vancouver Island.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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