Travel Happy

Olympic athletes take note – Beijing, host of the 2008 Games, now has its very own restaurant that serves only the penis and testicles of assorted animals

Back in December I posted a photo on Photohappy of a sign I’d spotted in Xi’an, China – “nutricious beef penis in pot“. The photo subsequently got picked up by BoingBoing and did the internet rounds, which was great.

Anyway, I thought it was just a comedic bit of Engrish, but the Daily Telegraph newspaper recently ran a full article about Guo-li-zhuang, the new gourmet restaurant that only serves the penis and testicles of various animals – complete with eye-watering photos.

Situated in an elegantly restored house beside Beijing’s West Lake, it is China’s first speciality penis restaurant.

Here, businessmen and government officials can sample the organs of yaks, donkeys, oxen and even seals. In fact, they have to, since they form part of every dish – except for those containing testicles.

Some dishes appear unexceptional, such as the simple goat penis, sliced, dipped in flour, fried, and served skewered with soy sauce.

But Guolizhuang also has its showpieces, such as the elegantly named “Head crowned with a Jade Bracelet” (provided by horses from the western Muslim region of Xin-jiang), for £20 a portion, or “Dragon in the Flame of Desire” (yak, steamed whole, fried and flambéed) for £35.