World Foodie Guide

[NB All the Postcards from the China trip can be found under Restaurant Reviews - China, and the entire set of food photos can be viewed on Flickr. A summary of my recommendations AFTER the trip can be found at A Short Guide To Eating In Hong Kong, Macau & Beijing. All food photos were  added to this post after the trip.]

Before I go on any trip, I like to plan where and what to eat during my travels. I can do ’spontaneous’ now and then, but I generally prefer to know where I’m going to be eating! As the Olympics start in a few days, I thought I’d write up my notes on the Beijing restaurants and eateries that I hope to visit in October as part of a two week trip to Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing. Although it’s only the first draft of the list, it might be useful to visitors to Beijing during and after the Olympics. I’ve consulted friends and family out there, and read many online reviews. All the resources that I’ve used are listed below – thank you everyone, particularly Diana Kuan from Appetite for China and Sandra Huang from Savour Asia for all the amazing reviews!

When I lived in Beijing from 1996 to 1997, I had delicious Beijing duck (kaoya) meals at Quanjude, Imperial cuisine at Fangshan Imperial, countless cheap and tasty dumpling meals, hot spring onion pancakes (jianbing) from street stalls and best of all, wonderful home-cooked meals at friends’ homes. In addition, I would have dim sum once a week in a nice hotel, which served proper Cantonese dim sum, plenty of fresh sushi and far too much Korean food. In fact, Beijing was where I was first introduced to the wonders of Korean cuisine.

As I haven’t been back to that part of the world since I moved back to London, I’ll be practically a tourist, with guidebook and maps in hand. I’ll also have in tow the vegetarian husband, whom I hope won’t starve on our trip. So much has changed in the last 11 years, and I still can’t quite believe all the restaurant reviews I’ve been reading! I’ve avoided all the non-Chinese restaurants (with one exception), because no matter how amazing the food is at these places, I only have five lunches and six dinners in Beijing, and far too many restaurants that I’d like to try. And I’ve had to take into consideration the vegetarian husband.

The preliminary list (not in any particular order):

• Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant – I used to eat at Quanjude, but hear the roast duck is not so good these days. Da Dong is another popular duck restaurant (here’s an Appetite for China review), as is the recently opened Duck de Chine. But I want to go to Li Qun, which is small, family-run and hard to find, but charming, and food is served in the courtyard garden. Useful Guardian article about duck restaurants in Beijing (click on link for directions to Li Qun)

• Noodle Loft – According to Savour Asia: ‘Noodle Loft is a great place to sample a range of Shanxi noodles and there is an open noodle bar where you can watch the chefs at work’.You can choose from different types of hand-made noodles, including knive-shaved noodles (daoxiao mian) and there is a bilingual menu with photos. I love watching noodles being made, and vegetarian husband shouldn’t have a problem here. Here’s a review from Appetite for China (click on link for directions to the two branches)

• Pure Lotus – vegetarian restaurant run by Buddhist monks, and our Beijing friends’ favourite vegetarian. Although I hadn’t intended on eating at any vegetarian restaurants, I’ll make an exception for this one. There is an English menu. And here’s another article on ten recommended vegetarian restaurants (click on either for directions to Pure Lotus)

• Din Tai Fung - I can’t go to a city where there is a Din Tai Fung and not eat there! For the last three years, I have been dreaming about the xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings) that I had at Din Tai Fung in Taipei. There are two branches in Beijing, and they do vegetarian dumplings! Appetite for China has been, of course – read review (click on link for directions to the two branches)

• Jiumen Xiaochi – a collection of traditional snack food stands in a courtyard building down a hutong. It sounds wonderful, according to Appetite for China’s review (click on link for directions to Jiumen Xiaochi). Surely there’ll be something vegetarian…

• Dali - Yunnan cuisine, including the famous ‘crossing the bridge noodles’, served in a courtyard restaurant in an old hutong. Apparently, Yunnan food is very trendy right now – other restaurants include Zhong Ba Lou, Yunteng Binguan (inside the Beijing HQ of the Yunnan provincial government), South Silk Road and No Name. Savour Asia says: ‘it might not be the best Yunnan food in town but it is good, and eating at a table outside on a nice spring evening is a pretty excellent experience all around. And they only serve set menus (100rmb, plus drinks) so you don’t have to worry about ordering‘. The only thing I’m worried about is the set menu, so I’ll have to investigate further. Otherwise, I’d like to try Zhong Ba Lou, which serves a good variety of mushrooms, wild herb and vegetables, according to Savour Asia. Useful Guardian article, where I first read about Dali (click on link for directions to Dali)

• The Noodle Bar - Savour Asia has done all the legwork and I just have to roll up to this tiny noodle bar (seats 12) and enjoy! I love the idea of having just a few choices, and that there is a vegetarian option. As we don’t plan on having our Hep A vaccinations this time, we have to be careful. Click on link for Savour Asia review and directions

• Bao Yuan Jiaozi Wu – shuijiao (boiled dumplings) with fillings such as pumpkin, wild mushroom and fennel, perfect for the vegetarian. Click on link for Savour Asia review and directions

• Haitanghua Pyongyang Cold Noodle Restaurant – OK, I confess, this is not Chinese, but North Korean. I first read about this in Condé Nast Traveller in 25 Reasons to Visit Beijing. It’s kitschy and popular with North Korean dignitaries. And the waitresses sing Korean folk songs! I can’t wait.

8 Xinyuanxili Zhongjie
North Chaoyang
Beijing
Tel: +86 10 6461 6295 / 6298

• Gui Gongfu – I like restaurants with some history, and this sounds like it has plenty. Unusual food cooked with tea leaves is served in a courtyard house. Click on link for more details and directions (NB UPDATE: this closed down months ago, as I discovered only when I finally tracked down the elusive hutong and asked someone (Nov 2008))

• Yuxiang Renjia – Sichuan restaurant that has been around for 10 years and which has had good reviews. Click on link for more details and directions

I’m still undecided about so many more restaurants, including Jun Qin Hua, Guo Yao Xiao Ju, My Humble House and Wuyutai Neifu Cai, all listed in Beijing restaurant writer Eileen Wen Mooney’s Top 10 places to eat in Beijing Guardian article. They all sound so tempting. I also like the sound of hip Taiwanese eaterie Bellagio, where they do a lovely gongbao tofu (as opposed to gongbao chicken), as well as Shin Yeh, another Taiwanese restaurant.

And browsing through Time Out Beijing, I came across these:

Huanghe Shui Shaanxi Mianguan – for Shanxi-style noodles and dumplings

House By The Park – sister restaurant to My Humble House, serving ‘modern Chinese’

Gugong Yushan – sounds like a unique dining experience, in a section of the Forbidden City. Expensive!

But I still have two months to make up my mind…

Beijing Resources:

• Appetite for China

• Savour Asia
  

• Chowhound China board

• National Geographic: Best of Beijing Restaurants

• chinabites

I came across this useful Time Out article on Taiwanese food and restaurants in Beijing. An article on Beijing street food from Australian Gourmet Traveller is an interesting read too. If you come across Kylie Kwong’s article My Beijing while browsing through the site, take her tips with a large pinch of salt. I was reading through it, and did a double-take when I read the line ‘My family hails from the southern Guangdong province, which has Cantonese influences‘. Guangdong has more than just Cantonese influences. Guangdong and Canton are one and the same, Guangdong being the current name for the province of Canton…

I hope that this has helped you with your planning. If I’ve left out anyone’s recommendations, then apologies, but I’m not in Beijing for that long! And if you’ve been to any of these restaurants, think I’m making a huge mistake or have other suggestions, then please let me know!

• Where To Eat In Hong Kong

• Where To Eat In Macau

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Tags: Beijing, China, Chinese, dining out, food, Olympics 2008, restaurants, traveleating, vegetarian