haonowshaokao

<– part 2

Our second trip was much more pleasant – for once the traffic was acceptable, and we managed to get to Yonganli for a bit of brunch.

#7 – 阿文汤包 A Wen Shanghai Restaurant: No surprises here.

When we were planning the trip, this restaurant was one of the first that came to mind, and for good reason. We must’ve been here perhaps ten times, and while we’ve never really strayed far beyond the xiaolongbao we’ve never felt we’ve needed to either.

Price: ¥20 for 8
Location: Yonganli junction north, down a hutong opposite Silk Street.

James – Two options here – pork, or pork with crab roe. Both are equally good, so we opted for the cheaper pork ones. These are the gold standard for xiaolongbao – a slightly thicker skin which holds the soup well, excellent savoury soup with a slight sweetness, the meat tender and succulent. As near to perfect as you can get in Beijing. 9/10

V – Very good indeed. 9/10

Total score: 9/10

#8 – 7 Eleven: The horror, the horror

In order to experience the true quality range Beijing has to offer the baozi connoisseur, we took a stroll underground, to the 7 Eleven I used to buy my lunch from every day. These may be the most commonly eaten baozi in China.

Price: ¥2.5 each
Location: Pretty much everywhere

James – Though other options are available (the chashaobao are perhaps the most edible) we went for the standard pork and bok choi bun. Unwrapping the bag it seemed to be made of plastic, and biting into the thing did little to dispel this idea. The bread was chewy and nasty, like the worst quality mantou, and the inside smelled like chemicals and tasted like cardboard – utterly dry and flavourless. Their competitor KuaiKe can produce perfectly reasonable baozi for half a kuai more, so it’s a mystery why 7 Eleven don’t up their game a bit. 1/10

V – I need paying to eat this shit (after which she dumped the remains in the nearest bin) 0/10

Total score: 0.5/10

#9 – 唐宫海鲜舫: Back to the good stuff

It was time for a bit of late lunch now, so we took the subway down to Chongwenmen to get a bit of dim sum. The restaurant was well-hidden – inside a Novotel, on the second floor – and emptier than it should’ve been by rights. The TV was showing an expose of slaughterhouses – not a great thing to watch while you eat, but thankfully the programme finished before our food arrived. The dim sum here is surprisingly cheap, but when we returned the next time we found their dinner menu was much more expensive – and these dishes were entirely unavailable.

Price: ¥11 for 4 xiaolongbao, ¥9 for 3 chashaobao
Location: Above the Novotel XinQiao, Chongwenmen Subway Station

James – The pork xiaolongbao are (amazingly) almost as good as the ones at A Wen, and at a better price too. The meat is great quality, the soup has that savoury taste. The only criticism I have is that the meat could be separated a little more, but that’s a minor quibble. 8/10
The chashaobao are even better – fluffy, slightly sweet bread, juicy barbecue pork with just enough fat, and a sweet, rich sauce. A little too filling, perhaps, but that wouldn’t be a problem under normal circumstances. 8.5/10

V – xiaolongbao 8/10 – chashaobao 8.5/10

Total score: xiaolongbao 8/10 – chashaobao 8.5/10

There followed an abortive trip to Qianmen, where we failed to find a restaurant, briefly lost each-other, realised V had lost her phone and had to use the tourist information woman’s phone to check where it was (in the A Wen Shanghai Restaurant) as mine was out of power.
A subway journey and a bus, and a wander around some back-streets later, we were on our way again.

#10 – 江南大包: Silver standard

A little stall on the side of the road, this is more like the kind of place you more commonly buy baozi from. Without anywhere to sit down, we went round the corner to a street restaurant, and ordered some traditional Beijing bottles of fizzy orange drink.

Price: 1¥ each
Location: CuiWei Building North, Fuxinglu, Gongzhufen

James – These are proper street baozi, the standard according to my (limited) experience. There’s a pleasantly bready bun, good quality juicy meat inside, and that’s enough really. Nothing too special, but worth the price. 6.5/10

V – For normal baozi these are quite fresh. The meat is good quality – that’s the most important thing. 7.5/10

Total score: 7/10

–> Part 4

<– part 1

#4 – 古槐宝鼎天津包子店 – GuHuai BaoDing: Feel a bit sick just thinking about this one.

The first part of this journey was an overwhelmingly positive experience, but things were about to take a turn for the worse. We took a bus up the road one stop, then crossed the road and walked half the way back before we found it – a small, very much standard-looking restaurant, with little or nothing in the way of decoration or atmosphere, plastic tables and the like. Still, we were there for the baozi, not the atmosphere, and ordered three of these standard-looking buns, alongside a watery bowl of liver soup which I wasn’t particularly keen on eating. The liver came straight away, and there was a fifteen minute wait for the baozi.

Price: ¥3.5 for three
Location: Xisi BeidaJie, Xisi

James – The bread on the outside is completely standard, the sort of thing you can find in any little restaurant or convenience store. The meat inside, though, is grey and slimy and tastes of absolutely nothing. A little grease came out when I first bit it, but I’d hardly call this a feature. 3/10

V – The meat is really normal, but there’s also some soup. maybe that’s why people say they’re good. Compared to normal baozi these are quite special. 5/10

Total score: 4

#5 – Wangpanzi Lurou Huoshao: Donkey’s years

It took us an age to find the next place – a couple of walks and a couple of subway trains, then we managed to walk straight past the place. It was a miracle we found the place, and by this point it was dark outside. At this point we were on a strange street – a kind of Nanluoguxiang, but for Chinese tourists rather than foreigners. The restaurant featured pictures of happy donkeys in fields, a bit off-putting when you’re eating the things, but Chinese people aren’t so squeamish. Again, these aren’t baozi at all, but we’ll return to things which are definitely baozi again soon.

Price: ¥7 each
Location: 西城区护国寺街113号 – Hukousi Temple

James – Much like our first stop again, and the cases are reassuringly crispy. Standards seem to be rising. The meat inside is a bit cold, but pretty good. My only real complaint is that they put chopped green peppers inside, never a good move. 6/10

V – The meat is really good compared to the other donkey meat restaurants. I’d like to go back. 7/10

Total score: 6½

#6 – Baorui Mending Roubing: This is what we’ve been looking for

Our final journey of the day was by far the longest, as we first took a long and difficult journey during rush hour, then proceeded to get completely lost, even though this was the one place we’d been to before. In the end we realised we’d done a complete circle of the restaurant, it was that easy to miss. Opening the door we entered a smokey box room with nondescript chairs and tables, locals drinking baijiu, the floor littered with debris, and sat down to start our 20 minute wait for our food. But it was all worth it.

Price: ¥5 for two (!)
Location: 东城区东四六条东口

James – What we have here is fundamentally just a beef bun – chopped beef in a tallow sauce, in an oily pastry shell – but that description can’t really do it any justice. The meat is fresh, juicy and tastes like it’s mixed with fresh herbs, the sauce is smooth and the skin is magnificently crispy and flaky. I’m only not giving it a ten because it’s so ridiculously unhealthy that it congealed into solid puddles onto my plate. A once-a-year thing, if that, but a real find nonetheless. 9/10

V – I like it – a little salty, but very fresh and tastes great. 8/10

Total score: 8½

It was dark and cold outside now, and our friend was waiting for us in the pub up the road. The rest of the trip would have to be postponed until the next weekend.

Part 3 –>