Eating in China- any tips?
I'm going to China and will be in Beijing, Xian, Guilin and Shanghai-- anyone have tips on must go to places? I want to eat as authentic as possible- street food, restaurants, whatever is good.
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8 Comments:
In Beijing I recommend:
Baihe Vegetarian Restaurant
Haidan District
Kunming hu Lu (Kunming Lake Road), 100 meters south of the Xinjian Gongmen, Summer Palace
+86-10-64052081
This place actually has several branches in Beijing, but I've only been to this branch, and it has lots to recommend it. For one, its one of the few genuinely vegetarian places in Beijing, where even the "vegetarian" dishes often have finely minced meat in them. Vegan, ovo-lacto vegetarian friendly.
Two, the ambiance is amazing. The entire restaurant is set a ways back from the road (so it might take a little poking around to find) and is bordered by a large lotus pond...gorgeous in summer! You can eat in either the main area or one of the beautiful private rooms lining the pond.
The servers are knowledgeable and very attentive. This branch holds classes like tea tastings on occasion.
Not to mention the food...they do amazing and creative things with soy, but their hot pot is to die for. Try the incendiary Sichuan style! Their desserts are also hand made as you order them, so seemingly simple treats like sesame balls with red bean paste might take a little while to get out to you, but they are well worth the wait.
fuuchan at 2:02AM on 06/21/07
There's more, but I don't want to scare anybody with a post they have to scroll through...
Li Qun Kao Ya Dian (Li Quin Roast Duck Restaurant)
No 11 Bei Xiang Feng, Zheng Yi Road
+86 (10) 6702 5781
Located a few blocks south of Tianamen Square and recently voted best Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing by TIMEasia.
It might take a little looking to find this place...it is (was) located in the middle of central Beijing's old and maze-like historical neighborhood called hutong.
The way my friends and I found it was to walk through blocks of these quiet neighborhoods, much of it in the process of being demolished in Beijing's mad race to renovate before the 2008 Olympic games. People were still living in houses with the Chinese word for "DEMOLISH" spray painted across their front doors, it was really both an interesting and unsettling sight.
I don't know how much things have changed since I was there last year, but most likely a friendly rickshaw driver eager to pick up some business will be able to show you there as there are constantly droves of them parked outside this place waiting to pick up diners.
Despite being so off the beaten path and being so low key (there is only one oven in which all the dishes are prepared. The dishes are done in the same room the cashier is.), Presidents, dignitaries and celebrities have dined at Li Qun, and their photos are on walls to prove it.
Tourists have found this place (hence the rickshaws), but this hasn't done much to the place itself besides make the wait for a seat longer.
The food is unadorned but delicious...besides their Peking Duck, try the duck feet in mustard sauce or the theatrical roasted duck heart, served in a tin foil packet and still on fire.
fuuchan at 2:03AM on 06/21/07
Last one, I promise, but it's a doozy...
Da Dong Roast Peking Duck Restaurant
Bldg. 3, Tuanjie Lake, Chaoyang District
Another Peking Duck place, but decidedly more upscale in atmosphere than Li Qun. The prices are still fabulous though, you can have a great meal for two for around 30-40 USD.
The roast duck here is also great, its served with a colorful palette of condiments including salt, sugar, thin sticks of beet or daikon radish, minced garlic, etc. Your server will be happy to show you the different ways to dress your duck with these condiments.
However, Da Dong also has a massive range of other dishes to try, all helpfully laid out in a weighty, full-colored illustrated menu from artfully prepared "squirrel tail" fish (a whole fish whose flesh has been scored and deep fried until it resembles a pine cone...) to amazing seasonal vegetables.
A dish I had a few times there was duck tongue in crystal clear aspic. Its savory, refreshing with a pleasing crunchy texture.
Restaurant dining aside, Beijing always has something good to eat no matter what the hour. Walk out into the streets a ways from your hotel, especially at night and you're likely to find a food stand selling something interesting and tasty.
For instance, Beijing is famous for dan dan mien, rice noodles served hot or cold with sesame paste and those fiery, addictive, mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns. IMO, anything with these potent little guys is good, but that's just me.
Also, try and find dao xiao mien (roughly translated to "knife-shaved noodles"), fresh, wafer-thin noodles sliced from a huge chunk of dough by hand.
Beijing style kebabs called chuanr are also popular and easy to find. You can pretty much find anything grilled on a stick from herbed lamb, chicken and beef to chicken innards, quail eggs, veggies, candied fruit, or the more exotic like scorpions, cicada pupa and sea horses (believed to have medicinal purposes, I don't know of anyone who snacks on these just because).
Beijing also plays host to a large Muslim Chinese population, and an entire street is dedicated to them called Niu Jie or Ox Street. You can get the distinctive cuisine of the XinJiang Muslim ethnic minority here which capitalizes on roast meats, noodles and bread.
There's so much more, but this post is already too long as is, and this is only in Beijing!
fuuchan at 2:08AM on 06/21/07
Don't miss the persimmon cakes sold on the street in the Muslim district of Xian. They are amazingly yummy. (They look like palm-sized orange disks.) I had some of the best food of my life in China last year, you are in for a treat.
alexb at 2:20AM on 06/21/07
read chubby hubby's blog http://www.chubbyhubby.net/blog/
he should have all sorts of recommendations for you
ceforrester at 10:48AM on 06/21/07
Wow- please keep them coming! I have been jotting down notes and will check out hubby's blog too!
Thank you- Fuuchan, feel free to scare us more with more posts if you have them!
shaofan at 5:25PM on 06/21/07
Go to E-Gullet and read the (extremely long and extremely entertaining) thread entitled "Across Asia with the Vermin" -- the "vermin," in this case, being the writer's children. Fabulous food recommendations for all the cities you mention. Plus it's a great read and will make you ravenous.
maggiesara at 5:53PM on 06/21/07
i spent a summer in beijing and found that almost all the food i ate was delicious! just avoid really touristy places and take a walk around. if you see lots of locals eating somewhere, that's always a good sign. but i found most of the quieter restaurants were still really tasty. my favorite dishes in beijing were actually all the eggplant dishes. they are oh so oily, but oh so soft and delicious. just as a side note, it took me a few weeks to adjust to the amount of oil the people in beijing cook with. i mean, i'm chinese and eat chinese food everyday, but never with so much oil in the U.S. my stomach wasn't so happy at first, so you might have to be prepared for that!
wing at 4:20PM on 06/25/07