A guest post from Nico Polo - Mongolia

The current leg of Nico Polo's journey is taking him through Mongolia and into China before his return from Beijing (and accompanying celebrations and parties). I've no doubt there will be another post from there, but by which point Con-olog will have joined him, and I'll be getting dual reviews. Chaps, I'll take you for dinner when you get back, though possibly not for anything challenging. If anyone has suggestions on how one would reacclimatise to British food after a 2 month gap I'd love to hear!
On with the post... 


"I've had an amazing time here but the food has been a real surprise. Better than expected, hearty and relatively healthy. Don't think your Mongolian BBQ is anything like the real thing, and certainly don't think about eating well here if you're a vegetarian...


Most guidebooks that you read tell you that Mongolian food is bland at best and terrible at worse. Actually it's not true and while it wouldn't win Michelin stars, it is wholesome, tasty, healthy and surprisingly morish. 

The food is surprisingly similar wherever you go in Mongolia, with some concessions to westerners and tourists in UB, as well as the usual other food types you will find in any international city (though there is little in the way of fish due to the great distance from the sea and poor condition of the rivers).  

This comprises mainly of:

• the delicious Buuz - mutton and onion dumplings, steamed over hot water and served immediately.  These are prized with the herders and the fast food of choice everywhere in the country.  Every intercity bus stop has several Buuz shops to choose from, towns and cities have shops on abundance, all restaurants serve them.  They are sometimes offered with ketchup but plain is best. 
• Khushur - a fried crisp pancake of minced mutton. More fast food (I hadn't had the Mongols pegged down for being always on the go... is it a little bit like Manhattan, but with yaks? Ed), often sold on the street from cool boxes which keep them hot. They can be variable. Often either very greasy or crispy and dry. 
• Wheat noodles - in a variety of soups and stir fries. Often just with boiled potato and carrot, and dried goat meat boiled to make the stock.  The herder families eat this in the most, and its usually quite salty. I guess it's hot out there in the countryside and they need to keep hydrated. 
• Goat - usually dried as it keeps better. Small pieces are added to water to make a stock into which other things are added. 
• Mutton - eaten within 15 days of the kill as it won't keep longer without refrigeration.  They eat the innards immediately - brain, kidney, lamb, lung - fried up for lunch after the kill.  The intestines are filled with the blood and boiled to make black pudding which is also eaten quickly.  Usually a sheep is killed for a special occasion and so the legs are cooked for all the family that day. The rest cooked over the next few days. 
• Cow - sold rather than eaten by families.  In the towns, there is a lot of amazing steak available.  It isn't hung for that long but given the completely organic upbringing it has (there really is no meddling out in the countryside, for cost reasons more than anything else) the meat is tasty, tender and served in huge portions. 

And to drink? Well Chinggis beer is the bear of choice in UB.  Its a delicious crisp, 5.4% larger (though a dark version is available in some places).  In the steppe, they drink tea, milk tea (basically warm goats milk with water), and airag - the famous fermented mare's milk.  It tastes metallic and they drink it by the bowl.  I frankly could not."