Perhaps you’ve noticed a random picture of what is supposed to be beef stroganoff in the picture gallery. It was taken last Saturday after Chris and I wandered around the Russian part of town in search of the Shard Shop. We never found it, but hungry and exhausted from a late night/early morning, we found Chocolate. Their nest-like swings won us over, and we quickly nestled in them.

Chocolate is a night club/restaurant, and as heard around the blogosphere, it’s a pretty swank place to go at night. Its over-the-top decor (probably hinted at with the nest swings) of chandeliers and velvet chairs makes it seem gaudy — but it wants to be and even makes it a good thing. Anyway, I only had the beef stroganoff and an 80-yuan bottle of pineapple juice. They did bring us some ice in a bucket, though.

I’ve never actually had beef stroganoff before, except for what I make. The beef was sauteed with onions and mushrooms, which I love, and it was definitely shredded — so props to them on that. But the sauce was a weird orange color and a bit thick for my liking. Instead of sour cream, it seemed like just cream, and it just overwhelmed the beef-onion-mushroom flavors. I was really glad it came in a bread bowl so I could soak up some of the sauce with it. It didn’t help that it cost 40 kuai, either.

I wish I had tried something else on the menu, which offered things I’ve never heard of and can’t really remember. They were all misspelled Russian foods, but I have a feeling that anything I ordered would have been only subpar.