The Real Beijing Gourmet!

When travelling to a new place, people always want to live like how locals live and eat the ‘most local’ food. And there is no exception for Beijing. What local food do Beijing people like? Here are some tips from a real Beijinger.

Soybean Paste Noodle (Zhajiangmian)
One of Beijingers’ everyday favorite because no one can resist the smell of stir-fried salty sauce made of soybean and pork mince. You can mix cucumber slices, bean sprouts and carrot slices into the noodle bowl.

The restaurant option: Haiwanju has got the waiters that will serve you exactly the way of the old Beijing’s restaurants. Beijing Zhajiangmian Dawang is another option and they have a place near the Temple of Heaven. Both of them serve other traditional Beijing food which is worth trying as well.

Haiwanju
Add. No.11 Zengguang Road, Haidian District, Beijing
Tel. 86-10-88374993

Lao Beijing Zhajiangmian Dawang
Add. No.29 Chongwenmenwai Street, Chongwen District, Beijing
Tel. 86-10-67056705/67055678


Neighborhood nibbles
There are hundreds of nibbles that Beijingers like. Soya drink is milk for Beijing people; stir-fried bread and pancake are very common seen breakfast. Fried lever and boiled tripe are also very welcomed. As for desert, we have Aiwowo (steamed rice cake with sweet stuffing), Wandouhuang (sweet pea purée) and many kinds of yogurt-like stuff.

It will be a challenging job for travelers, even local, to find the most traditional places for these nibbles. They usually hide in the corner of an old Hutong, and only specialize in one type of food. That’s how they name their places: food name plus family name.

Luckily, now we can enjoy many things together in one meal. Restaurants like Jiumenxiaochi and Huguosixiaochi have gathered many of the famous names together. Spend 10-15 yuan, and you will enjoy many of the local Beijing food.

Jiumenxiaochi
Add. No.1 Xiaoyou Hutong, Deshengmennei Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
Tel. 86-10-64026868/64025858

Huguosixiaochi
Add. No.93 Huguosi Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
Tel. 86-10-66181705

Written by Su Meng, our operation manager in Beijing. Sumeng is a history buff, she enjoys reading, sports like swimming and roller skating; and of course, travel!