Where (and what) to feast in Beijing? (at night markets or food courts/stalls)

[Ruben von Zwack]

大家好!

I was wondering where, in the afternoons and evenings, to feast in Beijing. Trying dishes at the night markets in Thailand is one of my most cherished holiday memories ever.

I enjoy strolling by the food stands and being able to see the food, and just the whole informal and relaxed atmosphere.

And what do you recommend I try? I know 烤鴨 is the famous dish of Beijing, but I gather that is more for high-end dining. What are some of the "small man's" dishes?

The topic I found was from 2006 and I imagine a lot must have changed since:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/7649-food-stalls-markets

[langxia]

Here is some of the stuff my Gf suggested which are what old Beijinger consider as Beijing food :

炸酱面，豆汁儿+焦圈儿+咸菜，面茶，卤煮火烧，西红柿打卤面

甜的： 豌豆黄，糖火烧， 驴打滚， 蜜三刀

[Demonic_Duck]

蜜三刀 is also the name of a band, but whenever I've mentioned that to Chinese people they seem to think the name is nonsense (even if I give the characters). Where can one find this delicacy in Beijing?

As for Beijing specialities, Beijing has lots of food and most of it, I believe, is inspired by cuisines from elsewhere in China. For instance, Sichuan food, or variations thereof, are very popular here. I can also recommend 烤串儿, which is extremely commonplace in Beijing but I believe originated in Xinjiang. Langxia sounds like s/he knows what s/he's talking about as far as more 本地的北京菜 is concerned, but to be honest I haven't encountered most of those foods having lived here for a year. I'd be interested to know specifically where to find some of this stuff, though.

[Ruben von Zwack]

Let's go on a Beijing 本地的北京菜 quest!

Do you have favourite streets or areas? Is there a street that is particularly good?

Or vice versa, is there an area to avoid? I guess the area with the "art students" and "tea houses" is to avoid.

[Botterli]

I'm going to Beijing in 10 days, so I'm interested in this as well.

Don't have much to offer, but I definitely want to try 煎饼, which is a thin breakfast pancake with egg, 辣酱, spring onions and something which I think is a piece of fried bread. Lot's of interesting videos on YouTube on how they make it. Also I'd like to sample 皮蛋.

My non-Beijinger teacher recommended 王府井, but I've also heard it's a place to avoid because of "art students" and "tea houses". If they are anything like the ones by 天安门广场，they are pretty easy to avoid (just avoid anyone with good English that approach you for practice).

[Demonic_Duck]

I go to 王府井 semi-frequently in order to browse the gigantic bookstore and buy more Chinese books to gather dust on my bookshelves until such a time as I can realistically make a stab at reading them (Q_Q) and I always get girls saying "hello, do you speak English?" It's a minor annoyance, but I just ignore them (I have half a mind to brush up my Russian just so I can bark something at them to the effect of "no I don't speak English, now crawl back into the hole you came from and stop bothering me"). I wouldn't say it's a big problem, if you're wary.

煎饼 are freakin' delicious, although you're best off trying a few different street vendors (if you dare to play the "food poisoning lottery", although I've never heard of anyone getting ill from a 煎饼) as some make them a lot better than others.

[gato]

馅老满 for dumplings is a must, I think. It has the best dumplings in China, I think.

http://www.timeoutbeijing.com/venue/Food__Drink-Chinese-Chinese-_Food__Drink-Chinese-Beijing/Beijing_Duck-_Food__Drink-Chinese-Dumplings-_Food__Drink-Chinese-Dumplings/10650/Xian-Lao-Man.html

[Ruben von Zwack]

I heard about that book store and want to go there, too. I'm a girl, so I think I will go totally un-bothered even without growling Russian, yay ! Unless they have very 帅 male art or English students too, then I'll be doomed...

I will definitely try the 煎饼 from the street vendors! Have back-packed in India and survived, so what can possibly happen? I'll stay clear of sea food and cold things (Western stuff like salads and sandwiches, basically) and open milk products. But I'll munch everything that has been cooked or fried before my eyes.

[海外来客]

煎饼 'jian1 bing' is a must, believe me.

豆汁儿+焦圈儿 this is not for human. I honestly never heard of any local who enjoys it. STAY AWAY FROM IT.

西红柿打卤面 'xi1 hong2 shi4 da2 lu 3 mian4' a fairly Italian style dish, you will like it.

Plus,you could always go to a university like PKU or Tsinghua, find a canteen then start sampling. Students are always happy to help you pay with their ID. Fodd there are nice and clean.

[tysond]

I wasn't impressed by Wangfujing "snack street".  Food is not as good as real street vendors.  The marked prices are high.  Vendors lie about the prices to foreigners (they point to a more expensive item on the menu) because you can't read Chinese.  I have had to argue with the guy who ripped off my father.  The wife jumped in and started lying to protect the husband.  Afterwards I discovered they ripped him off even further by packing less food than they promised. I try to avoid Wangfujing whenever possible it is a tourist trap.

 

Recently, I was quite impressed by the food on 留学路 (at least I think that's the name) - it's a hutong I found while wandering around the Beijing Natural History Museum (not a good museum on a world scale). Had lots of food vendors up and down the street, friendly atmosphere, great food, low prices. When wandering hutongs keep an eye out for streets that have quite a few people wandering around and you'll often stumble into a food area.

 

My favorite street foods:

肉夹馍 - made fresh is best. The vendor should take the meat out of a hotpot, chop it up in front of you.  Add spicy fresh chilli if you like, it's great.

新疆羊肉串儿 - preferably cooked to order from a place doing them fresh (not sitting on the bench of a street vendor for hours), or a small restaurant.  Although it's not authentic, get it with 麻辣 flavoring with is popular in Beijing.

香河肉饼 - it's meat in thin bread, just buy a little of it, quite filling

包子 - with a variety of flavorings - I like spicy tofu, beef with onion, and cabbage. 

驴肉火烧 - sometimes called "donkey burgers" for obvious reasons.  Get them sliced fresh, with hot bread, where they sell fast and they are great.  I have these for lunch quite often with a 驴肉汤.  You can get 2 burgers, a soup and a beer for 20元.  Now that's a happy meal.

 

Avoid eating on 南锣鼓巷, it's all bad 串儿 now and crowds of people buying Churros and fairy floss and fruit flavored drinks.  Good restaurants in surrounding hutongs in the area though (or go north to 北锣鼓巷 which is much nicer and far quieter).

[skylee]

Also take a look at the thread on Chinese breakfast where different types of 餅 got mentioned. I liked 雞蛋灌餅, and have tasted in Pingyao a weird version of 月餅 as breakfast.

[Lu]

Try the little pots of yoghurt, sold at many 小賣部. The price varies by location, from about 2 to 5 yuan. You drink it on the spot so that you can give the pot back. It's really tasty and in years of drinking it I only ever had one that was off.

[Ruben von Zwack]

Oh I noticed the trays with those little pot-like cups and wondered what it was. Will try!

So glad I finally found an internet that seems to be working (tonight, at least) so I can put it all to practice!

Avoid Wangfujing, noted. Which brings me to 南锣鼓巷, oh dear. Accidentally landed there when looking for a youth hostel.

The Hutong I'm in right now has got a lot of little food stalls, some I've tried have been too oily in my opinion, but the niurou baozi today was just what I was craving for.

I'm surprised that cake and pastries seem quite popular. Today I had something very tasty that looked like a Portuguese pastry, whose name unfortunately escaped me. I have no idea if it's a Chinese pastry or their recreation of the Portuguese one.

[skylee]

Did you mean pastel de nata (蛋塔 or 葡撻 in Hong Kong)?  It was brought back from Portugal by Lord Stow in Macau and has spread widely in this part of the world.

 

I have tasted some in Belem, Portugal. They were nice too.

[Ruben von Zwack]

Exactly those skylee!