Dessert Memory is a small dessert joint near tuan jie hu, chao yang district. they specialize in this dessert called shuang pi nai which means ‘double-skin milk’. it has a very creamy but yet light texture. it goes well with all kinds of toppings such as mango and red beans.
zhi shi qing nian is a cheesecake joint near gu lou beijing china. the cheesecakes are pretty legit and and drinks are pretty good too. nice spot to hang out.
address: dong cheng district, 141 east gu lou street.
东城区鼓楼东大街141号(南锣鼓巷北口西)
phone:13910604420
went to yotsuba when i was in beijing last month, often referred as one of the best sushi restaurant in town. this was my second visit to yotsuba, ive been there once couple years ago.
reservation is required due to their small size.
we sat in a private room instead of the counter.
sushi was very well made but i was disappointed on the fish itself. they tasted like they been frozen.
altho this was my 2nd time visiting yotsuba, i dont think i will return in the future. the food was well made, but i dont think the quality of the ingredient was top notch. they advertise that their fish is flown in daily from tsukiji market in tokyo which i highly doubted. on top of that, the service was unprofessional and rude. i enjoyed the private room tho, it is a nice place to have a quiet conversation while sipping on some sake.
i ate so much when i was in china. the meal at shanghai xiao nan guo wasnt my most expensive or fanciest meal I had when i was in beijing, but it was def my FAVE one!
decoration is on minimalistic side. i liked the ambience a lot, very clean, spacious, elegant, and quiet. shanghai xiao nan guo offers shanghai classics. its a very well managed chain from shanghai and consistently delivers fresh and delicious Shanghai cuisine and quick friendly professional service. one of my fave spots in town for shanghai cuisine.
we ordered a lot for just 2 people cuz i freaking wanted EVERYTHING!
soup made from lotus roots
lotus roots
fish – so tasty
tofu with hairy crab cream roe in casserole – made of fresh hand-picked crab meat with topgrade tofu.
real chicken soup
noodles with scallion flavored oil, loved it
soup dumplings
meatball soup
English address Third Floor, Building 1, Sanlitun SOHO, 8 Gongti Bei Lu, Chaoyang district
Chinese address 朝阳区工体北路8号三里屯SOHO1号楼3层
010-85900338
i read about the noodle bar on a few blogs but wasnt planning to visit at all because it looked like one of these mysterious/pretentious places that draw all the foreigners in beijing who wouldnt know better. i was only in china for a week i didnt want to waste one of my already limited meals on something i wasnt sure about.
i was meeting up with a friend for lunch @ shi zi shan xia near sanli tun. we placed our order and waited about 50 mins and food still wasnt served. we noticed all the people came after us were already served with food so we called our waitress over and asked whats going on. turned out that she didnt submit our order so our order wasnt being prepared at all.
we were PISSSSSED and left immediately.
my friend had to return to work soon so we had to grab something really quick. the noodle bar came to my mind cuz it’s close to where we were and it wouldve been a quick lunch so we decided to pay a visit.
its been mentioned on a few blogs that the location of the noodle bar is confusing because it is located in the 1949 hidden city complex. it’s called ‘hidden’, so it cant be easily found perhaps.
i know where exactly it is cuz i live near there.
so here it is.
so this noodle bar is behind this big wood door.
very small, about 12 seats.
my friend and i were the only a few asians in the noodle bar. somehow i found that foreigners LOVEEE watching food being prepared in front of them. almost all the restaurants like this are popular, for example hibachi restaurants.
very simple menus which i love. they only offer the beef hand pulled noodles, a veggie hand pulled noodles, the november lamb hand pulled noodles, and a few other small plates.
specials
my friend got the house special beef hand pulled noodles which has all the beef brisket, tendon, and tripe.
i dont like tendon and tripe so i just got the one with the brisket.
sure it did not taste bad. BUT HEY we are in china right now, so we cant have low standards for chinese food like we are in the states. this is NOTHING special. if you walk into ANY noodle places in china you can easily get something like this and most likely something WAYYYYY BETTER.
yea this is ALL HYPE. i was right. hyped up by foreigners in beijing that wouldnt know any better. my friend was very disappointed with my choice of restaurant and said to me sarcastically ’what have u been eating in the states?!’
Address:
At 1949- The Hidden City. Courtyard 4, Gong Ti Bei Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
eating peking duck is a must whenever im in beijing, the home of peking duck and me, duh. i usually go to quan ju de peking duck if im eating with the fam; its the most legit and traditional place to eat peking duck period. when i eat peking duck with friends, i tend to go to da dong because it offers a lot more other than the traditional duck related dishes.
da dong is super popular, so be prepared to wait.
they give u a number (pic on the right) and your name will be called when ur table is ready.
yes. i really meant ‘popular’. look at all these rewards and titles.
sea cucumber
one thing you dont see at chinese restuarants in the states: novel-thick menus.
these novel-thick menus are super popular in china. very detailed with descriptions and pictures. you can order food without knowing one chinese word. how awesome.
tofu with crab roe, red beans, and chestnut
duck liver with black peppers.
they slice up ur duck right in front of you.
first thing you wanna do when your duck is served is to dip a piece of the skin in the sugar.
it melts right in your mouth.
the wraps
then you wanna wrap everything up and eat!
duck head, i personally dont eat it.
here is another wrap. nom nom nom nom
you have a choice of taking the leftover duck home after they slice it up or ask them to make the duck soup.
we usually take the duck home and feed our dogs, but today i didnt feel like to so here is the duck soup
another reason we take the duck home instead of getting the soup is because i dont like the duck soup. its pretty tasteless and too ducky.
as i mentioned in my previous post, i was stuffed with all kinds food throughout the day everyday so i never felt hungry and didnt have a good appetite.
i dont know its because of that or the duck wasnt just too good today. i was never disappointed when i came to da dong, but today the duck didnt too yum and the meat was a lil dry.
the service is not good as usually, jus like any other restaruants in beijing. in general, dont expect any kinda service when you dine in beijing cuz service is non-existent in china. you are not tipping them either so i wont compalin.
the best thing i had from this meal is this tea drink.
its basically a milk tea drink with chinese red dates – jujubes
i love jujubes, i def loved this tea drink. im gonna have to try to make my own
orange on dried ice. really? very interesting presentation.
we had the entire 10-person table to ourselves (just me and another friend). we couldnt finish the duck and i was in a serious food coma and had to take a nap on my paul frank neck pillow. and no. i dont usually carry this around with me.
yes, da dong is a little bit pricey compare to average chinese restaurants. be ready to drop $100 USD a head for a decent meal.
isnt it the same oranges we jus ate? jk
Address: Bldg 3, Tuanjiehu Beikou, Dongsanhuan Lu, SE corner of Changhong Qiao, Chaoyang district
Tel: 86-01-65822892/65824003
i was chatting with pork belly yesterday and he showed me this website that teaches you how to order chinese food. it shows the name, pictures, and pronunciation of popular dishes. he said it’s extremely helpful when he was in china. i thought i’d share with you guys.
http://www.howtoorderchinesefood.com/
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haiiii, i just got back from my china trip. i was there for a week visiting the fam and friends. i rarely eat chinese food here in the states cuz they are all not authentic and full of MSG. i was soooo stuffed with all kinds asian food while i was in beijing. i ate from the morning to night, countless meals and snacks everyday. there was not a moment that i felt hungry cuz i was constantly eating. it wasnt really a good feeling tho but my fam and friends just kept feeding me because it’s a way to show hospitality in china and i couldnt resist.
without further ado, lets see what i ate in beijing.
honestly, im not a big fan of korean food. even korean bbq, it doesnt get me excited. i crave soondubu (soft tofu stew) every now and then, but thats pretty much it. samgyetang is what i love the most outta all, but unfortunately i cannot find one decent samgyetang place in the states.
mr. zhang’s samgyetang is the bomb! it is located in wangjing where has a huge korean population.
mr. zhang’s doesnt offer any other dishes except for ginseng chicken soup ranging from $10 to $150.
the soups are made of 20+ herbs including ginseng. ginseng has a lot health benefits such as stimulating immune system, treating diabetes, preventing cancer, lowering cholesterol levels, etc.
i got there super early and the girls were cutting up daikon.
not only Samgyetang is extremely healthy for you, but also super super tasty. the chicken is really tender and tasty. its been cooked for hours in low heat so all the flavors of the herbs can get into the chicken. there is sticky rice inside the chicken which is also tasty.
the ginseng inside the chicken
this place is super popular. it fills up quickly around 11:30 during lunch time. highly recommended!! i have to come here at least once whenever im in beijing!
address: 朝阳区阜通西大街望京西园四区412号楼底商(近望京街) 公交/驾车
Phone: 010-64745062
i was born in beijing, china, so i have been eating all kinds of beijing roast duck all throughout my life. peking duck has been around since the imperial era and now its considered one of china’a national food. you can find roast duck everywhere in china; prices ranging from as lil as $9 to $50 per duck.
quanjude is a most famous restaurant for the peking roast duck. it was established in 1864 during the Qing Dynasty. i believe there are only about real 8 quanjudes in beijing, but just like other knocked off things in china, you probably can find hundreds of fake quanjudes in town.
the first quanjude is located in qianmen which i have been to couple times when i was little. this quanjude that we went to is located in wangjing.
we ordered a set of meal for 10 people which includes their signature dishes. most of the dishes are made from parts of a duck (liver, stomach, heart, meat, head, etc.).
we had a private room which was well decorated.
i forgot what this is. perhaps duck meat with duck egg yolk.
sweet ribs.
duck liver.
sweet and spicy duck shredded meat?
mushrooms
duck heart?
tofu w/shrimp and mushroom
here comes the duck. the duck is meant to be eaten with sweet bean sauce and spring onions (as pictures) wrapped in pancake.
sea cucumber
chicken (pork belly loves this stuff)
beef
the duck is carved in front of us and served in 3 stages. 1. the skin is served dipped in sugar. it just melts in your mouth. 2. the meat is served with steamed pancakes, spring onions and sweet bean sause. 3. the bone and other leftover on the duck can be made into soup or stir fried. you are also welcomed to take it food to feed your pets if you wish. there is usually a lot of meat left on the duck.
traditional desserts of beijing.
quanjude is very clean and serves traditional peking duck. although their duck is amazing and one of the best, i wouldnt say there is no other place can beat them. i go to da dong a lot for peking duck. da dong’s ducks are jus as fantastic if not better. they also serve a lot of other food which are more interesting than quanju de. if you are looking for a traditional peking duck experience i would recommend you this place, otherwise da dong is also worth to check out!
