Baba is sold all around northwest Yunnan, where it mostly consists of a piece of flat rice dough that's grilled or fried and flavored with salty and spicy seasonings. In Dali, the dough is stuffed with salted vegetables, sweet sauce, chili sauce, crushed peanuts, and youtiao (fried, salty doughnut) and grilled to tender perfection. This "Dali calzone" is one of the most popular breakfast items, often sold on street corners like Huguo Lu and Fuxing Lu. Other typical local dishes include shaguo yu (stewed fish casserole) and the Bai specialty, rushan (milk fan), a delicious local goat's cheese sliced in thin layers and fried until "rubbery."
The foreigners' cafes clustered along Huguo Lu and Bo'ai Lu serve inexpensive and generally tasty Western, Chinese, Bai, and Tibetan meals. Cafe de Jack at Bo'ai Lu 82 (tel. 0872/267-1572) has recently been refurbished but as yet the reliability of the menu does not match the new decor. Jack is also the owner of La Stella Pizzeria at Huguo Lu 58 (tel. 0872/266-2881), which serves an excellent pizza focaccia and does a very generous goat's cheese and tomato salad.
Also popular is the Tibetan Cafe on Renmin Lu (tel. 0872/266-4177), which used to be a lot cozier until they recently invested in a row of PCs to supply free Internet. Even so, this is still the best place to start the day; the unbeatable Dalai Lama's Breakfast Slam consists of Tibetan oats, fresh fruit, yogurt, and jasmine tea. New to the scene, Sweet Tooth, at the corner of Renmin Lu and Bo'ai Lu (open Mon-Sat 10am-10pm), is wildly popular with foreigners but sees very few domestic customers. Set up by an American entrepreneur to provide jobs for Dali's deaf community, Sweet Tooth's traditional chocolate chip cookies are just what a stressed traveler needs; their ugly brownies and huge slabs of Oreo cheesecake will make you wonder if you are still in China.
While generally we were not impressed by many of the copycat eateries on the local Foreigner's Street, the one exception was the newly opened Clock Tower on Yang Ren Jie Zhong Xin Guang Chang (tel. 0872/267-1883). Three stories consisting of a ground floor kitchen, a second floor dining area overlooking the local croquet ground and a rooftop bar. Western breakfasts are reliable and the salads full of local produce are very refreshing.
To get away from the tourist crowds, take a taxi for ¥10 ($1.30/65p) or the no. 19 bus for ¥1 (15¢/10p) up to the rear ticket office of the Three Pagodas (San Ta Gongyuan), where the Xin Ru Yue Vegetarian Restaurant (tel. 0872/266-6516), owned by Taiwanese TV celebrity, Lin Xin Ru hosts lunchtime tour buses for its bread and butter, and so the place is very quiet in the evening, with plenty of surplus staff, all willing to bend over backward. The English translations on the menu are clear and accurate, and although the exterior is a very pleasing Bai courtyard, the interior is stark but efficient Cantonese style. I especially liked the orange sauce to go with the deep-fried dishes, such as the vegetarian shrimp balls or the banana spring rolls.
