Eating China :: All Things Andy Gavin

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Eating Shanghai – Jade Mansion

Oct12

Restaurant: Jade Mansion

Location: No.8 Century Ave, IFC, 4/F, Room L4-13, near YIncheng Zhong Lu / 世纪大道8号国金中心4楼L4-13，近银城中路

Date: August 11, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Solid slightly modern Chinese

After another great day trip to Hangzhou, famous capital of the Southern Song Dynasty…

With its glorious Westlake and…

famous Lingyin temple we return to Pudong for our final dinner in China. Sigh.

Back by the hotel is Jade Mansion, a medium/high-end chain with several different branch styles.

Including the horse wearing a lamp style.

And the horses galloping on plates.

Anyway, for only the second time on this trip I ordered some wine. NV Torrevilla Oltrepò Pavese La Genisia Cruasé. An inexpensive (by Chinese standards) and decent Italian pink sparkler.

Vegetable spring rolls.

Mushrooms, beansprouts, and tiny little shrimp. Interesting.

Foie gras cups. Like a passing appetizer at a cocktail party.

Shrimp jellies. Totally savory, and actually quite enjoyable for the jello-like texture.

Spongey fungus. The sneaky meat is back, little ham bits or something floating in this vegetable dish.

Salt and pepper shrimp. Shells on.

Boiled chicken with garlic. Like Hainan chicken. Soy dipping sauce. Very nice straight up chicken. Delicate, but with a LOT of garlic.

Sea cucumber and pork belly. Not as good as the cucumber at Shanghai Tang, but still good, with a similar rich Chinese Bordelaise sauce. The pork was incredible too.

Crispy beef with aromatic peppers. As usual, I enjoyed this dish.

Pork belly with fire-exploded kidneys. And cute pig buns! The pork belly and the rich (kidney?) sauce were great. Kidney was good for kidney. Not my favorite meat.

We ordered this cute little fellow. I felt so sad looking at him in the bucket.

Red rock fish. Nice fish, just lots of bones.

Don’t kill me! Too late 🙁

Greens.

Shanghai style vegetable noodles. Classic soy sauce stir fried noodles. Very nice.

Weird tea/bean sweet soup. Yep, these are never any good.

Fruit. Much better.

Overall, Jade Mansion was interesting. They feature a lot of high end ingredients with very contemporary plating and Chinese sensibility. For the most part I maybe prefer slightly more traditional, but this was very tasty and the service was great too.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Champagne, China, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, IFC, Jade Mansion, pork, pudong, sea cucumber, Shanghai

Eating Shanghai – Xie Wang Fu

Oct10

Restaurant: Cheng Long Xing Xie WangFu

Location: Pudong

Date: August 10, 2018

Cuisine: Hairy Crab

Rating: Amazing crab

We spent a hot day but fun day in Suzhou.
A city often called the “Venice of China” before returning to Shanghai and Pudong.

Our friend in Shanghai again offered to take us out, this time for some of the famed Shanghai Hairy Crab from Yangcheng Lake.

This lead us into the huge side lobby of an even huger Pudong tower.

And up to Cheng Long Xing Xie WangFu and…

It grandiose gates.

And even grander interior surrounded by semi-private and private dining rooms.

This is actually INSIDE the restaurant!

They had traditional musicians performing as well.

We had our own private room with a view of the atrium.

When we first sat, they showed us some of the bundled up crabs. For those not in the know, during the 9th and 10th months of the lunar calendar, autumn to you and I, Shanghai’s culinary scene is all about hairy crab. Hailing (supposedly, if not fake), only from Yangcheng Lake the crab has been famous for 2000 years!

But before that, we began with some cold appetizers like this wood ear mushroom and pearl onions.

This peanuts and other mushrooms.

A section of shrimp, pork, peanuts, and pickled vegetables.

Vegetarian abalone. Some kind of mushroom, but it was really delicious.

Crunchy pickled carrot. Sweet and absolutely delicious.

Nut cake. A bit like a peanut brittle.

Bean curd.

The simple Shanghai shrimp are everywhere! You pour a bit of vinegar over them.

Spicy crispy beef. Delicious. I really loved this dish.

Now the crab dishes invade. First some sesame buns that you stuff…

To make hairy crab stuffed buns.

Here is the meat from the hairy crab, mixed with “crab brains” (which is really crab liver).

The staff showed us the whole steamed crabs after cooking.

More smoked sweet fish.

And the crab main event. Steamed Shanghai Hairy Crab. The guts proudly in the shell, the meat to the right, and the legs carefully prepared so that you can get every morsel out without any work. Love it when it’s easy!

A close up of the crab itself.

Steamed crab meat.

Super crab cake. The meat and some kind of breading in a shell. Scrumptious.

Crab XLB. Best Crab XLB I’ve every had. Crab and crab guts inside the delicate wrapper.

A bit of lemon juice (slightly sweet) to cleanse the taste.

Crab noodles.

With more crab guts.

For topping. This was some awesome umami crabby pasta.

And fried rice cakes.

Then sweet sesame balls. Like cute little eyeballs.

Special tea.

And a kind of wonton soup to close.

Overall, a unique meal I’ve never had before. Really fabulous crab and like a fancy Chinese version of one of the crab shacks from my youth.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: China, crab, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Hairy Crab, Shanghai, Xie Wang Fu

Eating Shanghai – Xinrongji

Oct08

Restaurant: Xinrongji

Location: Location near the Bund

Date: August 9, 2018

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Excellent High end Chinese

Our Shanghai friend really spoiled us today, first with a lunch at Shanghai Tang and then heading (after lots of stops) to…

The Shanghai Bund with its classic older European buildings.

And it’s new hypermodern skyline across the river in Pudong.

Then upstairs to Xingrongji for a second epic meal of the day.

t
The space is extensive and beautiful.

With all sorts of cooking stations including a roast duck oven.

Fish station.

Open kitchen, etc.

Our table had a gorgeous view of Pudong and the Shanghai Tower (second tallest building in the world).

I ordered the only “real” bottle of wine we had on the trip. Price wasn’t bad either considering the setting.

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. VM 92. The Cuvée de Réserve (2013 base) is rich to the point of being almost tropical in profile. Then again, that is 2013, a vintage that produced wines with both elevated ripeness and acidity, especially in the Côte des Blancs. Sweet floral notes add to an impression of exoticism. The 2013 finishes with notable depth and definition.

Honey pumpkin. Again, for the second time today. This version was more pumpkin focused.

Foie gras with fruit sauce. Second time for this too today. Not quite as good as the Shanghai Tang version as the foie itself was drier.

Roast Pigeon. Excellent rendition of this classic Cantonese dish. Rich gamey bird and perfectly crispy skin.

Roast Pork. Amazing super fatty succulent pork. Like pig candy. Just awesome.

Fish and charcoal tofu boiled in chili oil. This Szechuan dish was not nearly as spicy as in Chengdu, although it did have some Szechuan peppercorns piled in. Fish and “tofu pudding” is very common in this dish, but the charcoal tofu was unique and had a very smoky quality.

Braised beef. Another meaty rich meat dish but extremely tender and delicious.

Kung Pao Chicken. The classic.

Mapo Tofu. I always love this dish, although again it wasn’t as spicy or numbing as in Szechuan.

Peking Roast Duck. Our last duck of the trip. Cry.

The slice it table-side as they should.

Served with pancakes.

Here is the meat itself. This was a very good roast duck. Not quite as good as in Beijing, but better than we get here in California by a touch.

The condiments were extensive.

Duck soup, which I never love.

Glass noodles.

Meat pies. Pork and scallion quesadilla sans cheese.

Rolled rice and red bean rolls for dessert.

Our table.

Overall, Xinrongji was another amazing high-end Shanghai restaurant. The kitchen didn’t feel quite as perfect at execution as Shanghai Tang, but the menu was larger, offering dishes from a broad area of China, and everything we had was very good. Service was top notch and the atmosphere was fabulous.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Bund, Champagne, China, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Peking Duck, Shanghai, Xinrongji

Eating Shanghai – Shanghai Tang

Oct05

Restaurant: Shanghai Tang

Location: 373 Huangpi S Rd, XinTianDi, Huangpu Qu, Shanghai Shi, China, 200000. +86 21 6377 3333

Date: August 9, 2018

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Really fabulous and complex flavors

In Shanghai we met up with a friend who lives in the city and she took us around to all sorts of fabulous places — really showing us the best of the best in the city.

This included the trendy XinTianDi area and a stunning lunch at:

Shanghai Tang.

Which, while we didn’t drink at lunch has a huge cellar of first growth Bordeaux and other trophy wines.

And an elaborate build out, here showing the main room.

And the snazzy corridor to our…

private room.

Drunken shrimp. Fortunately for the kids, we didn’t have to drown or kill them ourselves, this happened out of view. These extremely fresh, pretty much raw shrimp have a touch of alcohol flavor from their “drowning.”

Bean curd with vegetables. Very delicate dish with thin bean curd.

Honey pumpkin. Shanghai cuisine is sweet for Chinese, and this pumpkin was crispy but covered in a light syrup. Delicious actually.

Foie gras with rice crackers.

They cut the foie cubes and put them on the toasts for us. The liver was covered in a red wine reduction jelly and was really quite superlative.

Salad. The rarest of Chinese creatures: the salad!

Shanghai style smoked fish. This kind of almost candied smoked fish is a delicious staple of Shanghai cuisine and this version was the best I’ve ever had. The texture was both crispy and sticky and the flavor complex, sweet, and smoky.

Sea cucumber noodle soup. Sea cucumber is a weird textured (and expensive creature) and really doesn’t have a lot of taste by itself but this dish was amazing.

You add the noodles, like a Tsukemen ramen. The cucumber itself was incredibly soft and tender and the broth was insanely delicious.

Steamed shrimp with vinegar. A simple dish and one of the weaker ones, partially because the small tails were annoying.

Grandmother style braised pork belly and egg. To die for cubes of succulent pork skin, fat, and meat perfectly braised in a very Shanghai-style sweet soy reduction.

Shanghai beef ribs. Another of these reduced sugar-soy dishes, but super tender meat.

Conch soup. In a light and flavorful broth.

Scallops and vegetables.

Shrimp noodles. It’s very Shanghai style to pan fry noodles with soy sauce like this.

Bean cakes. Lovely presentation and texture.

Pan fried Shanghai pork soup dumplings. This is the classic Shanghai pan fried “thick” bun. These were some of the best versions of this I’ve had.

Shanghai Tang was at another level. The decor was amazing, the service refined, the plating elegant, and the food delivered on (mostly) Shanghai classics with a level of depth and sophistication I hadn’t experienced before. Bravo!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: China, Chinese cuisine, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Shanghai, Shanghai Tang

Eating Shanghai – Paradise Dynasty

Oct03

Restaurant: Paradise Dynasty

Location: 3/F, 8 Shiji Dadao, near Lujiazui Huan Lu 世纪大道8号3楼, 近陆家嘴环路

Date: August 8, 2018

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Great XLB, everything else is just ok

We got in late to Shanghai and so we just popped over from our hotel into the IFC mall…

Which is like a giant high end Beverly Center, in search of dumplings!

Fortunately for us, the mall’s many restaurants include Paradise Dynasty, which is like Din Tai Fung’s more colorful cousin.

See what I mean?

Big contemporary space.

And a glassed in kitchen.

Salad rolls. Yeah, some kind of spinach-like green rolled up — you dip it in the sesame dressing!

Plain noodles for Mr. Picky.

Steamed baby shrimp. The Shanghai classic, a bit bland.

Vinegar, ginger, and chili sauce for the dumplings.

Paradise special mixed flavor Xao Lao Bao (XLB). These were fabulous with very thin skins and eight different flavors.
You can see these listed below. My favorites were original, garlic, crab roe and Szechuan.

Steamed garlic greens.

Pork noodles. A lot like ramen.

Vegetable potstickers. Not the most exiting.

Steamed vegetable buns. Breadier versions.

Crispy vegetable spring rolls. Quite light and crispy. Delicious.

Pan fried Shanghai pork soup dumplings. Heavier than the XLB. Still delicious, but I prefer the light-weight classic XLB.

Wontons in chili sauce. Not particularly hot but delicious.

Pork pot stickers. Just fine. Not nearly as good as the XLB.

Crispy fried red bean pancakes.

Deep fried buns. Just Chinese buns, fried.

Mysterious light Asian fruity jelly. Loved it. I always like this stuff. Might have been like hyacinth and lychee.

Sesame mochi balls in syrup. A lot of the kids (and many of the adults) love this dessert.

Rolled mochi dough with red beans and peanut dust.

Overall, the XLB here at Paradise Dynasty were really good. I enjoyed the different flavors and the light wrappers were great. The other items, also pretty similar to Din Tai Fung were just fine.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: China, dumplings, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Paradise Dynasty, Shanghai, XLB

Eating Yangshuo – Amys on the Li

Oct01

Restaurant: Amys on the Li

Location: 1 Shuangtan Village, Guilin, Guangxi, China, 541900

Date: August 7 & 8, 2018

Cuisine: Mostly Chinese

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

Our stay in the Guilin area took us down the Li River to Yangshuo and the…

Li River Resort.

Which has this terrible view.

It’s restaurant is Amys on the Li and we had dinner and breakfast there. The owner is Australian and it hybridizes east and west.

Western style interior.

The menu.

Some Belgian beer that was too bitter to pair well.

A Mango Milkshake that was “meh” because of the wierd Chinese ultra pasteurized milk.

Simple pasta for my son.

A veggie burger and fries!

Veggie spring rolls.

Now here’s something real, snails stuffed with pork! Not bad, although there wasn’t much snail under the ground pig.

Beerfish again. Less spicy this time.

Sautéed vegetables.

Tofu stuffed with pork. I liked these.

Yangchow Fried Rice. Basically with the works.

Mushrooms and peppers.

The food at Amys was just okay, but the atmosphere was fun.

We also had breakfast the next morning.

Orange “juice.” More like Sunny Delight.

Banana crepe.

Boiled pork dumplings of a packed type feel.

Thin French toast.

Stir fried noodles.

They do a better dinner than breakfast.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

We saw a show in Yangshuo on the water with this view!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Amys on the Li, China, Eating China, Eating Yangshuo, Yangshuo

Eating Guilin – Chunji

Sep28

Restaurant: Chunji Roasted Goose Restaurant

Location: No. 12, Jiangan Road, Qixing District, Guilin, China / No. 21, Qixing Road, Qixing District, Guilin, China / 1/F, Nanxi Square, Chongxin Road, Xiangshan District, Guilin, China / 2/F, Jinshuiwan International Restaurant, Jinshui Road, Lingui County, Guilin, China / No.2 Middle Zhongshan Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin, China / No.1, North Zhongshan Road, Diecai District, Guilin, China

Date: August 6 & 8, 2018

Cuisine: Guangzhou Chinese

Rating: Big menu, great service, good food

The Guangzhou province city of Guilin is famous for its unusual and beautiful mountains.

Like Elephant Trunk Hill (above).

While staying here, we went twice to Chunji Roast Goose, at two different locations — like most successful Chinese restaurants there are several locations in the same city.

This location’s spacious interior.

The kitchen was impressive to see.

Look at the army of wok cooks!

This is the second location frontage.

And here we had a private room.

Both shared the same Guangzhou style menu.

Chinese beer, local I think.

Chunji brings an hour glass to the table. If it runs out (30 min) before all your food has come your meal is free! I don’t think it ever happens with that army of cooks.

Egg pudding/custard, soy sauce, salted steamed pork. A delicious dish we ordered twice. The egg has a lovely soft texture and the pork adds savory flavor.

BBQ pork (char siu). This is the kind of sweet “candied” pork I really love. It was soft, rich, and delectably flavored.

Glass noodles with mushrooms and egg. Pleasant.

Beef of some sort with chilies.

Pork and green peppers.

Cauliflower. This was the second “version” of this dish they made. The first had bits of pork in it and was delicious. This was properly vegetarian but flavored mostly with soy sauce and was a bit salty.

Bamboo shoots with spring onions and pork. This wasn’t supposed to have meat either, but they included more of the “sneaky meat.” I do have to say, it improved the flavor.

Shredded potatoes and vinegar. I love the slightly sour quality of this dish.

Cabbage.

Stewed tofu (with sneaky pork). The kind of pan fried tofu in a light broth.

Bean curd. Not my favorite version of this dish as it was a bit dry, but I do like the texture of this scum from the soy bucket bean curd.

Beer fish. This is a local specialty. Fish braised in a sauce of tomatoes, beer, and chilies.

Steamed fish. Blander.

Vegetable fried rice. Always a favorite. Meat version is better, but any fried rice is good.

Toffee taro. Chunks of taro deep fried and coated in syrup. They tasted just like glazed donut balls. Delicious and rapidly stick together.

Toffee water chestnuts. Same think, different “filling.” I liked the crunch of the water chestnuts. Tasted very slightly less desserty.

Durian puffs. Flakey buttery dough filled with durian paste. These had a very strong durian (petrol) flavor. I find it really delicious at first but the aftertaste wears on me.

Fruit plate.

Chunji does a very good job. Service was solid and they have a big menu that seems well executed as most dishes were delicious. I don’t have that much experience with Guangzhou fare although certain dishes are familiar to me from Cantonese.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Observe the city’s iconic mountains

By: agavin
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Tagged as: China, Chinese Food, Eating China, Eating Guilin, Guangzhou cuisine, Guilin

Eating Chengdu – Szechuan

Sep26

Restaurant: ? in Chengdu

Location: ? in Chengdu

Date: August 5, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Solid Szechuan, but not the best we had

After our day baking in the 100deg heat at Leshan it was late enough that we didn’t have time to go back to the hotel before dinner — Chinese restaurants all closing quite early.

So instead we headed to another of Chengdu’s many lovely restored alley streets for more crowds and dinner.

Again, if any of my Chinese reading friends can translate this name so I know where we ate, I’d be grateful.

Cute interior.

More beer to sooth the heat.

Plain noodles for my son.

Plain noodle soup for another kid wary of the red.

A Szechuan pupu platter of sorts — or a selection of (mostly) cold plates.

Spicy vegetable.

Smoked beef or ham, again like pastrami.

Spicy beef. I get this cold dish all the time in LA and love it.

Another (delicious) kind of spicy vegetable.

Mysterious sauce.

Mung bean noodle with spicy sauce. One of two variants. I think this one was hot.

Cold Mung bean noodle with tangy/spicy sauce. I love this one.

Sweet rice cake. One of those weird chewy-sweet Chinese desserts.

A single hot wonton.

Two slightly less lonely non-spicy wontons.

Baby dan dan mein.

A few random dim sum.

Mapo tofu. How could we not order it again? This one was saltier, not as spicy, and with less depth than the one we had our first night in Chengdu. It was fine, but not nearly as good.

Rice for the mapo.

Pork belly with preserved vegetables. I really enjoyed this dish. Rich fatty meat offset by the salty/funky vegetables underneath.

Weird spongy mushrooms and bock choy. Not bad for a vegetable.

Cabbage and lotus seeds in egg yolk sauce. Pretty good actually. This is a combo I’ve only had once, at Duck House in the form of a crab, egg yolk, and cabbage dish.

Crispy beef with crispy rice and a whole lotta-chilies. I loved this dish. The beef was nice and chewy with a delightful hot aromatic quality. Not actually that spicy.

Fresh flounder in chili oil. Lots of oil. Lots of chilies. Lots of bones. But tasty.

Pan fried rice cakes with Szechuan peppercorns. The peppercorns were a surprise to the kids who otherwise wanted the rice cakes. Gave it a bit of a tingle!

Sesame eyeballs. Gooey rice with sesame inside. Actually one of the best Chinese desserts.

Overall, this place was solid. Flavors weren’t as complex as at Chen Mapo Tofu but we had some interesting dishes and they were quite good.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Afterward we took a walk done the large and deserted alley — not, it was the usual Chinese mob scene.

There was all sorts of street snacks, and pretty much only traditional Chinese snacks like these mooncakes and jellies.

Fruit with dry ice.

More ear cleaning.

And even panda dumplings!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chengdu, China Cuisine, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, mapo tofu, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan cuisine

Eating Leshan – Noodle Shack

Sep24

Restaurant: Noodle Shack

Location: ? Leshan China

Date: August 5, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Noodles

Rating: Solid

We drove t the small city (1 million, a Chinese small) from Chengdu to check out the world’s largest premodern statue:

The Great Buddha of Leshan, carved into the cliffside of the river 1200-1300 years ago!

And so we caught a quick lunch between tourist stops.

At this anonymous (unless you read Chinese) noodle shop our guide took us to. He has a penchant (apparently) for hole-in-the-wall noodles.

We sat outside so as not to broil in the 100deg heat.

Non spicy pork noodles. Pork “ribs” similar to what you sometimes get at dimsum places.

Plain noodles for my picky son. Chinese don’t actually like to make plain noodles, and in this case they felt compelled to at least stick some green onion on top.

I had the spicy pork noodles. Not bad, some kind of pork broth with a ton of chili and the same pork nuggets.

Not the greatest meal ever but it hit the spot.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

The fiery line to view the Buddha was 2.5 hours in 100deg heat just to START climbing down the stairs!

Leshan has it’s modern side too (just across from the Buddha)

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, Eating Leshan, Leshan, Leshan Buddha, noodles

Eating Chengdu – Fiery Hot Pot

Sep22

Restaurant: ? Hot Pot

Location: ? read the Chinese card below

Date: August 4, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Hot Pot

Rating: Stomach of Ox in Chili Oil says it all

A visit to Chengdu wouldn’t be right without some fiery Chengdu Hot Pot to cleanse the GI.

Nearby was another of those restored streets that looks like the China you wish was still around.

Replete with pole toting vendors.

And giant gates.

This is our hot pot. It was recommended to us because they have individual pots and actual vegetarian broth — something we needed with our diverse party.

Now the actual name remains a mystery to me. Maybe one of my Chinese reading friends will translate and tell me.

Inside.

And our private room equipped with individual inductive pots.

Some actual alcoholic beverage — almost a week into the trip!

Steamed buns with condensed milk — guilty pleasure.

Scallion pancake.

Meanwhile we have the hot pot sauces. I think there might have been a sauce bar downstairs which I would have liked, but I made due with the fixed sauces.

And some condiments to jazz them up like chilies, garlic (my favorite), and green onion.

Then the spicy hot pot. I forgot to photo the kid’s tomato broth, the non-spicy chicken broth, and the vegan mushroom broth.

The spicy one is an ass busting mix of rendered ox fat, chili oil, chilies, and Szechuan peppercorns!

All of the following stuff is intended to go into the pots, cook to your personal taste, then be sauced and eaten.

Homemade meat balls, not frozen like you usually find in the states.

Tomatoes.

Wontons.

Mixed mushrooms.

Sliced potatoes.

Fish (mackerel?).

Glass noodles.

Green colored wheat noodles.

Greens.

Beef slices.

Lamb slices.

Stomach of ox. Yep, ox tripe. Only for those with strong stomachs! This stuff was so chewy — with a texture exactly like a really thick water balloon — that I was chewing it for 3-4 minutes straight before I thought it was safe to swallow.

Fresh bamboo.

Fish balls stuffed with pork. Yummy!

Lotus root. I love this stuff for the nice crunch.

Tofu.

For those of you who dream of making this kind of Szechuan hot pot at home, I saw the above home starter kit in many Chengdu stores. You take this brick of chillies and ox fat and plop it into the chicken or pork broth of your choice and melt, therefore rendering it all into a fiery pit of stomach hell.

This was a fine hot pot place, and we had to do it — and definitely I prefer the spicy Chengdu style to any other. It’s just that hot pot isn’t my favorite Chinese meal as it’s sort of monotone. You only really have one “sauce” / style of prep for the night. Just lots of ingredients. We do have pretty good hot pot in LA — and it’s very popular.

All I can say is that it’s a good thing that the Chengdu Ritz Carlton bathrooms come equipped with state of the art Toto “auto washing” toilets!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Szechuan face changing at the Chengdu Opera

Acres of Lotus at a nearby public park

By: agavin
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Tagged as: beer, Chengdu, China, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, hot pot, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan cuisine

Eating Chengdu – Alley Noodles

Sep19

Restaurant: Somewhere near the Kuanxiangzi Alley

Location: ? Central Chengdu

Date: August 4, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Noodle House

Rating: OG dan dan

Chengdu has a couple areas now of older style buildings that have been restored and turned into pedestrian streets filled with different mixes of stores, restaurants, and vendors.

This one, apparently Kuanxiangzi Alley (someone who reads Chinese can confirm), is very popular and upscale.

And crowded!

Among other Szechuan delicacies they offer spicy fried rabbit heads!

And ear cleaning!

We asked our guide to bring us to the most authentic dan dan mein possible and he took us here. I have no idea what it’s called.

They double as a vendor out front. Or maybe there just is a vendor out front.

The food appears to be made right in the lobby.

And the decor is definitely not aimed at the western crowd.

We split into two tables and ordered everything on the menu.

Like non-spicy pork (spam?) and mushroom and bamboo noodles (thin).

Or the same thing with thick noodles.

And the main event, dan dan mein, one of the world’s greatest noodle dishes — which I even make at home.

This is Chengdu-style where it’s not very soupy, has less sesame/peanut and is spicer. You mix it up to experience the really complex savory/spicy/numbing flavor. There was a good bit of preserved mustard greens in here for that unusual umami crunch. Excellent!

And the spicy (beef?) and bamboo noodle.

Plus two kinds of dumplings. This numb taste dumpling which was awesome — not that you can really taste what’s inside under that chili sauce.

And the same non-spicy pork dumpling in the non-spicy broth (same as above with the non-spicy noodles).

Chopsticks you help yourself to.

Good place. Not a big menu, but I could certainly lunch off top notch Chengdu style dan dan mein and numb taste dumplings often enough!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

New and old – east and west!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: China, Chinese Food, Dan Dan Mein, Dan Dan Noodles, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan cuisine

Eating Chengdu – Chen Mapo Tofu

Sep14

Restaurant: Chen Mapo Tofu

Location: 197 W Yulong St, LuoMaShi, Qingyang Qu, Chengdu Shi, Sichuan Sheng, China, 610000. +86 28 8675 4512

Date: August 3, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Most balanced Szechuan I’ve had

Being an obsessive lover of Szechuan food I’ve been wanting to go to Chengdu for years.

It’s really quite a neat city with both modern…

And “antique” buildings — something you don’t see as much of in many Chinese towns. It also has A LOT of crowds having grown in the last 20 years from about 3 million to over 16 million people!

For our first night we arrived late from the train and rushed around the corner from our hotel to this recommended classic Szechuan place named Chen Mapo Tofu. The downstairs part looked hipped and was MOBBED. The guy at the front barely talked to us but basically told us that there were more people waiting than were going to eat tonight so he sent us upstairs to their less crowded area — we think.

The upstairs was through this portal.

And here is the menu.

I took a picture of the first page of the huge menu. Wish I had the patience to photo 20 pages, but alas I did not.

Signature mapo tofu. I’ve had a lot of “pocked marked old lady face tofu” and even make it myself. This might have been the best I’ve had, certain was great. Look at all that Szechuan peppercorn on top for the extra numb effect — love it!

We had to get some rice, of course, for the quintessential combo.

Mapo over rice.

Had to try some Kung Pao Chicken at the source. Really nice. Not too spicy, but with a complex savory/sour kind of flavor that was really good and much more lively than the bland American versions.

Tofu and mushrooms. Very nice mild yellow broth type of tofu. The chewier more fried kind.

Clams and chicken with chiles. The chicken had all the bones, beak, feet etc. Very tasty sauce though with all the pepper. I really enjoyed this dish.

Fresh whole fish boiled with chilies. Really nice version of this Szechuan classic soaked in chili oil and oozing with peppercorns and chilies. The only problem was all the bones.

Greens.

Overall, this was a great meal, best we had in Chengdu. I’ll have to go back because I know the city has so much good stuff to offer. I really enjoyed the complex spicy, numb, tangy, sour flavors.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

The face of a (bamboo eating) angel

By: agavin
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Eating Xi’an – De Fa Cheng

Sep10

Restaurant: De Fa Cheng

Location: 28 Pingan Market, Bell Tower Square, Xi’an, China. +86 29 8767 6615

Date: August 2, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese Dumpling House

Rating: Really interesting if a bit “big”

When I came to China in 2008 I ate at De Fa Cheng and enjoyed it tremendously. That trip, it was one of my favorite meals and I always regretted only taking a photo or two (it wasn’t until 2010 that I started photoing every meal I ate). It claims to offer “authentic” Tang Dynasty dumpling feasts. I have my doubts as to the historicity of the food, but it’s sure good.

The place is located right across from the central Ming Dynasty Bell Tower and is at least 3 stories!

I remember this golden dumpling from last time and used it to locate the restaurant again this trip (by some creative googling).

Last time we had a big group and therefore some private rooms upstairs but this time we were in the “grand hall” on the first floor.

They have plastic models of dumplings.

There is a sauce bar you can make up your dumpling sauces at — unfortunately I only noticed after the meal!

We got tea, plum juice (which I love), and some weird herbal/fruit dark brown juice with a highly intriguing and not entirely pleasant flavor.

Cold dishes to start, including the world’s largest dates.

Wood ear mushroom with onions. Loved it.

Spinach, egg, and garlic.

Pickled veggies and meats.

Shrimp and cucumbers.

And super spicy crawfish.

There are many levels of dumpling banquet, varying from about $10 a person to several hundred! We got level 2 or 3, it was about $15, and was a staggering amount of food. There was even a custom veggie version for my wife.

The normal course we ordered came with what seemed to be “all you can eat” boiled pork dumplings, a comfort food I always enjoy. Each time our plate got low they just brought another.

The veggie course likewise had a plate of boiled veggie dumplings. She level got it low but I’m sure they would have replaced it too.

Each person then got one of each type of specialty dumpling. I’m going to have to guess for most what was in them because I couldn’t read Chinese. The brown ones were walnut dumplings. I dunno about the other.

There were duck dumplings and something else here.

A whole selection of veggie dumplings here.

And a second round of different veggie dumplings here.

Then some veggie and some other type here for us.

The orange ones were a touch sweet and really good. Maybe pumpkin.

These dumplings were in a soup with Szechuan peppercorns and hence had a nice numbing bite.

Fried pork dumplings.

Baked dumplings.

More rounds. I can’t remember what they were but the ones with the green edge were really good. Like meatball dumplings.

The middle ones were a strong tomato dumpling and I can’t remember about the outside.

Finally there was a wonton soup.

We got this whole story about the Empress Cixi and how this was made for her. It contained little wontons and the random number in your bowl denotes your fortune somehow.

Watermelon.

This was a fun meal and a great deal at $15 a head for an epic gut bursting feast. Light eaters could split a course. In fact we ordered 4 for 3 adults and the kids. The dumplings were interesting and flavorful. My only complaint was that sometimes the skins were a bit chewy/thick. I wonder what the hell is in the expensive banquets? I think they go up to 100 dumpling types!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

De Fa Cheng is right across the street from the iconic Bell Tower

By: agavin
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Eating Xi’an – Warrior Lunch

Sep07

Restaurant: ? near Terracotta Warriors

Location: ? near Terracotta Warriors

Date: August 2, 2018

Cuisine: Shaanxi Chinese

Rating: hearty and tasty

After a nice hot (100 deg) morning visiting the vast terracotta army of Qin Shi Huang it was time for lunch.

The human version of this army most have eaten a lot of noodles!

We stopped at a local place just outside the grounds. The name wasn’t in English but anyone who reads Chinese can feel free to zoom in and translate for me. Please message me and I’ll update the post.

The inside is simple.

They had pomegranate juice which is a speciality of the region. It’s pretty sweet.

Scallion pancake.

These are some plain knife cut, hand pulled, noodles. Thick and almost like lasagna sheets they are a staple of Shaanxi cooking.

Preserved beef noodles. This classic local dish is hearty peasant fare and delicious. Thick noodles are covered in sauce, potatoes, celery, etc and then topped with “preserved beef” which turns out to basically be pastrami. Quite lovely.

Noodle pull!

Sprinkle chicken. I don’t know what to call this interesting and presumably non traditional dish. It was deep fried boneless chicken strips in a sweet and sour sauce and covered in rice sprinkles! While the taste was a bit like a more homestyle Panda Express dish it was actually quite addictive. The soft/sweet chicken was nicely offset in a textural since by the mild crunch of the sprinkles.

Chicken noodle plate. We finished the noodles and pastrami in our first big plate and so ordered another, this time with chicken. We didn’t realize it would be fried (just like the sprinkle chicken). It was still tasty though.

Greens. So all those noodles don’t cause a blockage.

This place was simple and hearty but a solid example of homestyle Shaanxi cooking. Actually something I wanted because on this trip I’ve been trying to eat regionally and experience the character of each area.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese Food, Eating China, Eating Xi'an, noodles, pasta, pomegrante juice, Shaanxi, Terracotta Warriors

Eating Xi’an – Jia San Soup Pau

Sep03

Restaurant: Jia San Soup Pau

Location: 93 Bei Yuan Men, Xi’an, China. +86 29 8725 7507

Date: August 1, 2018

Cuisine: Halal Chinese

Rating: Tasty!

After Beijing we move on to Xi’an, the oldest of China’s great capitals and the eastern terminus of the silk road. Xi’an, now a city of roughly 15 million, has been an important city for perhaps 5000 years! It’s the capital of Shaanxi province and of course home to Shaanxi cuisine.

In it’s western position in China it’s home to many Chinese muslims and a vibrant “muslim street” filled with restaurants and snacks.

Like random kabobs!

Or what the Chinese call “naan breads” (puffier muslim breads).

Somewhat afraid of the street meats we decided to have dinner here at this recommended, popular, and very colorful spot.

As far as I can tell, it’s name is Jia San Soup Pau.

It was so popular we had to go up to the 3rd floor to get a table.

Lazy susan etc.

They specialize in these western XLB, which are somewhat more akin to Afghan Muntoo. These were vegetable filled muntoo.

And mutton muntoo — no pork at this place, it’s halal. The lamb ones were delicious with a very delicate pasta, a nice pronounced lamb-quality, and tons of juice.

Sesame noodles. Had a bit of mustardy punch too.

Spicy Tripe. I’m not sure which animal’s stomach we ate here. Lamb? Maybe ox? It had that tripe texture and was a bit firm and not crazy chewy. The sauce was STRONG. An intense smack in the face of chili and sesame. Really good sauce. I could only eat so much tripe but I would love this sauce on noodles.

Ox tail soup muntoo. Amazingly good juice meat dumplings.

Steamed greens with a bit of soy and ginger flavor. Quite nice.

Fried chicken. With a bit of spicy powder.

Lamb, garlic, celery, poatoes, and pepper hand pulled noodles. Underneath this very homestyle dish was a pile of excellent hand pulled noodles. This is a very Shaanxi style dish.

Jia San Soup Pau was an excellent place. Good rustic food and hearty flavors.

Back out on the street time for snacks and dessert like this “spicy lamb burger” which in Chinese might be 肉夹馍, a name that sounds like “Rodger Moore” (maybe Rho jaa mo or something like that). This one was lamby, very salty, and liberally greased with chili oil.

My eye was drawn to this very interesting looking dry ice dessert steaming in the cauldron. I called them dragon balls.

It’s handed to you steaming too. Turns out they are just puffed rice balls, with no flavor, frozen in liquid nitrogen. You crunch on the ball, trying vainly not to freezer burn your mouth and exhale like this:

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: dumplings, Eating China, Eating Xi'an, Halal, Jia San Soup Pau, lamb, Shaanxi, spicy, tripe, Xi'an

Eating Beijing – Country Kitchen

Aug31

Restaurant: Country Kitchen (at the Rosewood Beijing)

Location: China, Beijing, Fengtai, Chaoyangmen Outer St, 1号京广中心邮政编码: 100020. +86 10 6597 8888

Date: July 31, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Kitschy kitchen but really good

My research into best restaurants in general (in Beijing) and best Peking Duck in particular brought me (via the web) to Country Kitchen.

Located inside the Rosewood hotel (which looked very nice).

It’s sort of a modern fashionable Chinese take on their own “rustic” kitchen. Sort of like a large “rustic” Italian place here. It’s not really a country kitchen in any way, just the Kitsch of it. As they say on their webpage:

For an exquisite taste of Beijing, Country Kitchen presents an array of Northern Chinese specialties. With an open show kitchen and a wood-roasting oven, chefs demonstrate their culinary art with dishes such as hand-pulled Chinese noodles, Beijing duck and a variety of dumplings. A fine selection of local Beijing and Chinese drinks are also available to perfect the dining experience.

Country Kitchen is a modern tribute to traditional Chinese dining in a sophisticated, yet casual environment that includes an outdoor terrace. The integrated décor features granite, wood, soft red tones, terracotta and oil paintings to embody the charm and simplicity of a village restaurant.

lol. But the food is great. At the helm is Chef Leo Chai.

They have the wood fire oven (BBQ) for duck.

A noodle making station.

And a lovely dining room.

This is actually a “small” menu by Chinese standards so I photographed it. Many are so big that I can’t handle the task.

Attractive sauces on the table.

We preordered our Peking Duck, and so they brought it first. You can see the “raw” ducks aging in the larder.

Then the duck chef moves it to the hook and dresses it.

Notice the drippings bowl. After that they go in the oven where he moves them around perfectly to achieve that golden brown doneness.

At the table our chef gets to work with the carving.

See the crispy skin. Drool.

A bit of skin comes out first for dipping in sugar and eating straight.

Then plates of the meat and skin, sliced in an interesting scallop pattern here.

Some with heads or legs.

The condiment tray is more classic and a bit simpler than at Dadong.

They have just pancakes.

My duck pancake, before rolling. This was seriously good. Maybe the best I’ve had? Hard to say, but really really good.

Young Dylan manned up and sucked the brain from the duck!

Clay Pot Roasted Pork Belly, Sour Cabbage, Glass Noodle. From the “lost recipes” section of the menu. This was like Chinese/German pork and cabbage soup! It was a touch sour and very rich. Quite delicious actually, but did keep reminding me of a German dish.

Because lunch didn’t have enough dumplings. Some pork dumplings.

And a few more veggie dumplings. Not as popular, of course. They had cabbage, glass noodle, fungus, and mushroom.

Zha Jiang Mian. Hand cut noodle, pork belly, fried soy bean paste.

Here is the soy bean pate.

Then you mix it all up. These look better than they taste. The bean tends to be flat in taste and yet dominate. I’m thinking after many tries at many places that Zha Jiang Mian is just not my favorite Chinese noodle (and I love a LOT of them).

Wok fried market vegetables. Pretty good actually — for vegetables.

Clay pot with braised tofu and crab roe. Ordered this dish. Loved it! Really nice savory umami crab roe broth with silken tofu.

Cabbage with pork.

They have a bunch of skewers on the menu, robotoyaki style. In this case mushroom and eggplant.

Pulled thin noodles with egg and tomato. Very Beijing comfort food. We had a lot of kids with us, which is why we end up with so many noodle dishes.

Pulled thin noodles with eggplant and string-beans.

Plain “cat ear shape” noodles.

Country Kitchen was good. Very good in fact. We didn’t have the most balanced order due to our group composition (vegetarian, a bunch of kids, etc), but everything we had was quite good for what it was — and the duck was amazing. We also liked the high production quality kitsch and the service was top notch. Sure it was more than most Chinese restaurants, but it still wasn’t bad (maybe $35 a head).

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese Food, Country Kitchen, Eating Beijing, Eating China, Rosewood Hotels

Eating Beijing – Xian Lao Man

Aug27

Restaurant: Xianlaoman

Location: 252 Andingmen Inner St, Dongcheng Qu, Beijing Shi, China, 100007

Date: July 31, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: You can never go wrong with dumplings!

Xianlaoman apparently translates as “our fillings are big” or something like that, referring to the apple stuffing of their dumplings.

Located not far from the Forbidden City, it’s a small chain of very Beijing style food.

The frontage is just across the street from an old Hutong area.

They pickle garlic!

The interior is typical of contemporary mid-level Chinese places, with a bit of actual decor, but not over the top.

Nice wood chairs.

Our guide in Beijing, Dana, was vegetarian (unusual for a Chinese) and kept — to my annoyance — taking over the orders and trying to make them all vegetarian. Boring! Although we did have 1-2 in our party who needed it, but the rest of us wanted the meat.

In any case, this spicy cauliflower was actually very good. Nice crispy texture to the plant and a salty heat.

Vegetarian egg noodles with celery. The noodles didn’t have egg, but instead there is egg in the dish.

Fish flavored pork. I managed to get this one in, although she tried to cross it out. It isn’t actually “flavored with fish” but instead “fish flavored” means something (like pork or eggplant) cooked in a prep traditionally used for fish. In this case a sort of tangy/spicy/oily sauce I love. This was a great fish flavored pork with good textures and lots of subtlety.

Steamed broccoli. Why, Dana, why?

Boiled Fish dumplings, I think. These were okay.

Pork and shrimp dumplings. Excellent, and the only one I was “allowed.” It was finished in 2 seconds and half the table was complaining that there were no other meat dumplings.

Vegetable dumplings. 2 X double order. Notice there are twice as many — and she ordered 2 plates. Stuffed with spinach and garlic. They were ok for vegetable dumplings but they are still kind of like spinach balls and we had lots uneaten at the end.

Vegetable pies. I ordered the classic Beijing pork pie but Dana switched it to vegetarian in Mandarin. More spinach. Just not as good as a nice steamed pork ball!

Xianlaoman was good, particularly the meat dishes (wish we had more). This is well done Beijing comfort food and pretty similar (but better executed) to the fare in Northern Cafe here in west LA.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Beijing, Chinese Food, dumplings, Eating Beijing, Eating China, Xianlaoman

Eating Beijing – 3.3 Noodles

Aug24

Restaurant: Noodles at 3.3

Location: No.33 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China +86 10 6417 3333

Date: July 30, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Noodle fast casual

I’m not sure what this place is actually called, but it’s the noodle joint at the top of this building (nearly 90% sure).

If any of you read Chinese you can tell me the actual name. We stopped in here for a quick late night bite.

It’s popular. A little like a fast casual noodle bar that might be found on Sawtelle or something, just more Chinese. And actually the waiters take your orders — China has no labor problem — but it’s still sort of fast casual.

The menu is simple. Basically stuff on the same noodles.

Plum juice. I love these Chinese plum juices, but this one wasn’t very good. Not very sweet.

Spicy pork and egg noodles. Red and green chilies, shredded pork, omelet, and a bunch of thick noodles underneath. Not bad. Not complex or anything, but greasy and excellent post drinking food.

Pork and mushroom noodles. Same, but less spice, more shroom.

Spicy chicken noodles. Cleaver-ed chicken (with bones, and feet, and beak) with the peppers and the noodles. I’m sure you are sensing a theme.

Shrimp noodles. Shrimp and well… noodles. There seamed to only be one type.

Pea tendrils. In case noodles don’t leave you regular.

This place was quick and had a sort of greasy yummy factor. Not bad for a quick stop but fairly one note — definitely for the youngish crowd.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Doing it Gavin Style!

By: agavin
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Eating Beijing – Xiao Long Pu

Aug20

Restaurant: 晓龙瀑

Location: Near the Mutianyu Great Wall, Huairou District (近郊怀柔区慕田峪长城环岛南). Tel: 010-61621322, 61621922

Date: July 30, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Just ok — near the Great Wall

Our guide, Dana, took us here on the way to the Mutianyu Great Wall.

She described it as “fancy.”

Not the words I would use, particularly with regard to the 2 star bathroom and the in-corner AC.

Dana, unusually, is actually a vegetarian Chinese. Now this was convenient because my wife, who is also a vegetarian and determined to avoid the “sneaky meat” (which you will hear about many times in these reports) but for me, Dana’s passive aggressive tendency to order up too many vegetables and ignore the meats was a mild bummer. As a Mandarin speaker, she had the upper hand too (in ordering).

Anyway, string beans. Better with pork, but we had to live with the essentially soy prep. Not too bad actually.

Mixed peppers. I’m not used to seeing these type of peppers in China.

Eggplant. A bit mushy, but nice sauce.

Kung Pao Chicken. A bit of a white boy Beijing version. No bones, minor heat, and only a touch of the sour quality it should have. Not bad though.

Grilled trout with sweet and sour sauce.Nicely cooked and pretty tasty.

Sadly, my son is very picky. He went for mein. Yeah, plane noodles. These are actually kinda hard to order. The Chinese don’t want to bring something so plane.

They had to include some tomato and egg sauce (on the side).

Scallion pancake. Heavy, but fine.

Mean pie. Very salty and (temperature hot). Could have used more savory pork flavor.

Xiao Long Pu was fine for lunch but it’s nothing special. I’ve had much better Chinese food in the SGV. Flavors were a bit monotone.

For my catalog of more Chinese food in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Beijing, Chinese Food, Eating Beijing, Eating China, Xiao Long Pu

Eating Beijing – Dadong

Aug17

Restaurant: Dadong Roast Duck (Nanxincang)

Location: 1-2 Nanxincang Guoji Dasha, 22A Dongsishitiao, Dongcheng district, Beijing 100007, China. +86 10 5169 0329

Date: July 29, 2018

Cuisine: Beijing Chinese, specializing in roast duck

Rating: Superior (and lean) duck

Our 15 day trip to China begins auspiciously (in Beijing) with a trip to a branch of the granddaddy of serious Beijing Roast Duck places, Dadong.

This is the Nanxicang branch. I was at Dadong in 2008, but it was definitely a different (less modern) branch. Or they redid considerably.

The decor is very contemporary and everything is “fancy.”

Down to the duck chopstick holders!

Salad. Not sure I’ve ever had a salad in China before, and this one was some kind of dandelion leaf and radishes. No dressing really too. Sort of bracing.

Asparagus. Pretty much what it looks like.

Then comes the duck, along with the professional duck carver. He even had an assistant in tow.

Close up on the lovely bird which was puffed with air, lovingly basted, and fire roasted.

The guy knows how to carve.

Beijing duck. We got 2 platter of meat and skin.

And heads and legs (not pictured).

At Dadong, everyone gets their own condiment tray.

Plus there are pancakes.

And sesame buns. They showed us how to dip the skin in sugar and which condiments to put in which carbohydrate. Although the bun is good, I prefer the pancake, as it distracts less from the duck/hoison awesomeness. Dadong’s duck is crispy and ultra lean. Really perfectly cooked and delicious, but not fatty.

Duck soup. Not the biggest thrill. It never is. Just a bone broth.

Bean sprouts. Looks boring, but these were actually excellent. Must have been the perfect amount of oil.

This trip included A LOT of dumplings, so we had to get started right away with some steamed vegetable dumplings.

And cabbage and egg fried rice.

Plus a fresh whole fish in brown sauce with garlic and mushrooms. I’ve never had this exact sauce before and it was a little like a tangy gravy. Quite good actually but unexpected.

Mysterious bland sweet Chinese dessert soup. No thanks.

Dry ice fruit plate looked cool.

Beijing embraces the 21st century

Now-a-days in Beijing and Shanghai there are a lot of restaurants that have modernized their look and feel while staying fundamentally Chinese. This is certainly the case with Dadong and its lavish plating and epic sized picture menu. But the execution was also very good — particularly on the standout item, the Beijing Duck. This and Country Kitchen set my new standard for Peking/Beijing duck. If these are now a 10, the best places in the SGV are mere 7s. I wish I’d had a few more days in Beijing just so I could try 1949, Duck de Chine and a few other top duck places. We managed 2 in 3 days.

For my catalog of more Chinese in China, click here.