Have you ever gone for Indian food.. in Beijing?  For whatever reason, a lot of people that I know here have never eaten Indian food before.  As someone who will never turn down Indian food, this is news to me.  The way that someone’s eyes light up upon their first taste of 罗根羊肉 (Lamb Rogan Josh) immediately removes any previously held 偏见 (biases) that may have existed before.  Although normally Lamb Rogan Josh is cooked in oil, the texture of the meat is like that of 烩肉 (braised meat).  Moreover, the type of 辣 (spice/spiciness) is unfamiliar to the Chinese palate as it is hot rather than numbing.  When a friend of mine had cottage cheese cubes in 菠菜 (spinach – as in palak paneer, anyone?) she remarked that the flavor was 怪怪 (weird) and happily continued eating.  Although there are those who are uncertain about the 味道 (flavor), they hold that 吃起来 (after you start eating it) Indian food is pretty much one of the best things ever.  My friend, convinced, asked to 打包 (doggy-bag it) and has even considered regularly ordering 外卖 (delivery).

罗根羊肉 luo2gen1yang2rou4 – Lamb Rogan Josh
偏见 pian1jian4 – biases
烩肉 hui4rou4- braised meat
辣 la4 – spicy
菠菜 bo1cai4 – spinach
怪怪 guai4guai4 – weird/strange
味道 wei4dao – flavor
吃起来 chi1qi3lai2 – after eating it/upon eating it
打包 da3bao1 – bag sth. up, wrap up a meal for takeout
外卖 wai4mai4 – delivery