'My Least Favorite Dish Was Everything Else'

June 1, 2007— -- We arrived at an airport 1,000 miles south of Beijing and were greeted with a uniquely "Chinglish" sign that read "Welcom (sic) Go Home."

Aboard a pair of minibuses, our gear and luggage blocking any escape, we zipped along a four-lane superhighway into Guilin, an ancient city straddling the meandering Li River. Guilin is surrounded by lushly forested, round-topped mountains that have inspired poets and artists for centuries. We traveled to the historic city to prepare for a live "Nightline" broadcast on Earth Day 2007.

Clambering out of the minibuses, disoriented and famished, the first restaurant our intrepid crew visited was preordained by the People's Republic's foreign ministry representative, Mr. Mo.

"Asian-Pacific Restaurant" read the sign over the door. Walking past giant tanks of fish and crustaceans, we were led up a series of stairs to a warren of private rooms and were seated around a massive table with a Lazy Susan in the middle, the better to spin the upcoming dishes around from diner to diner.

Our group consisted of "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden, ABC's Beijing bureau operations producer Chito Romana, cameraman Roberto "Gamay" Palacios, audio engineer Yanbo Wu, producer Beth Loyd, production assistant and translator Fan Bing, finance specialist Linda Lee from ABC's Hong Kong bureau, yours truly, and of course, our ever-present minder, Mr. Mo.

A couple of things stood out about our dining experience. First of all, as is often the case in China, on the way to the dining room we got an opportunity to meet some of the animals -- turtles, catfish, crabs, crayfish -- that we were about to devour.

For me, that kind of makes the experience a bit too intimate. Second, I could not get past the gnawing suspicion that the ever-kindly, ever-present Mr. Mo was getting a kickback for bringing our party there.

We were served an amazing variety and quantity of food: eggplant, sweetly pickled cucumbers, rice cakes, pork, dumplings with some sort of mysterious meat inside, and tofu.

There was also a chicken specialty of the region, which for my tastes seemed disturbingly undercooked and turned out to be a rooster -- if the intact head with a comb on its crown was any indication.

We were also served pepper beef (which another "Nightline" producer who spent months in China warned me was probably dog) and rice and noodles.

My favorite item was the appetizer -- large, roasted, delicious peanuts. Lots of peanuts. It's a major crop in the area. My least favorite dish was … everything else.

Now, I was in a minority. Everyone ate heartily. And at the end, I solicited commentary on everyone's favorite dishes and asked for a "Nightline" lightbulb rating on a scale of 1 to 5.

Gamay, who eats everything put in front of him, pronounced each and every dish his favorite and gave the restaurant 4 lightbulbs. Beth, Cynthia, Chito and Mr. Mo also all gave it a 4. (Remember though, Mr. Mo may be on the take.)

Yanbo Wu and Linda Lee, the most discerning of our diners -- and both native Chinese citizens -- gave it only a 3. I voted 1. So, taking the average, the Asian-Pacific Restaurant gets a 3.5 lightbulb rating.

Now, as to value, that's another story. For all that food -- and all those people -- the bill, which Cynthia generously picked up, came to about $5 per person.

On a value scale, the Asian-Pacific Restaurant definitely rates a 5 out of 5. Still, I'm not at all sure that I would use the words "Asian-Pacific Restaurant" and "fine cuisine" in the same sentence.