Spinning the food Chinese way

This is the unofficial convergence point for the Chinese community resident in Kigali. You won’t necessarily bump into embassy staff or Chinese diplomats dining here, but be sure to catch a glimpse of Asian construction workers, businessmen, investors, and private families at any time that you check in. After the local chapter of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Game Torch Relay was launched at the KBC Roundabout recently, hundreds descended on the restaurant’s outside terrace for a sumptuous dinner. But to describe it as “sumptuous” is almost an understatement, as the evening’s events bordered on those at a food festival. What happens is that the Chinese generally do not fuss about their food, and when they sit down to eat, they do it in the fashion of a communal feast. Like all Asian eateries, Alink’s main thrust is the meats—pork, chicken, lamb, beef, and sea food— prepared the Chinese way; heavily peppered, lots of rare Chinese spices, and served steaming hot. When dinner time came, it was meats galore, as the wait staff now whizzed past with platters of steaming hot whole chicken, lamb, fish …and all the other meats. Seating comes in the traditional Chinese way –around large revolving glass tables on which the platters of food are placed. The table is then gently spun around with the simple push of a finger, and diners can halt its movement at will to serve. The act of spinning the table seems to come with some sort of entertainment value, especially to the toddlers, who will spin it just for the sheer fun of it. The revolving table introduces an altogether different dining experience from the one at the standard eatery, in that you just can’t eat alone, neither will there arise an awkward silence on your table as each person digs into their food. Somehow, soups, bowls of rice and platters of meats have to be passed around (the table too has to be spun) –so there is no shortage of that small intimate talk as you munch away. Perhaps the only downside to it is the real danger of over-eating, and it’s not advisable to come here for lunch if you have a heap of pending work on your desk. With all the bowls of food passing around, only the strong of will can fend off the temptation to over-indulge. The restaurant boasts an extensive selection of Chinese books and magazines that are accessible to clients and members of the general public. The upper floor of the building has numerous private meeting rooms of varying sizes, and two Karaoke sets –one for Chinese and another for English.