This is not quite a list, as I seem to have missed the season of lists, but rather a brief look at some of the most delicious things I encountered last year. It’s also far from complete or definitive – perhaps a more accurate description would be “delicious things I ate last year that I [...]
Posts under ‘Beijing’
Black sesame yogurt cake 黑芝麻酸奶蛋糕
Recently we’ve started ordering organic yogurt from Green Yard Organic Dairy, based in Yanqing County. Though it’s not as thick and creamy as unsweetened Herun Yogurt ( 和润酸奶), I’ve come to prefer Green Yard because it’s local, organic, and comes in a recyclable paper carton. I loved Herun, which is also local, but it’s sold [...]
High hopes and high views at Grill 79
The distinction of a metropolis’ highest restaurant is usually a proud one, but in Beijing it can be a dubious honor. One step closer to the smog! A better vantage point for admiring the endless gray expanses in every direction! Such a visit would seem to be a guaranteed depressant. So we planned with caution [...]
In which there is pastry love: Shin Yeh 欣叶
Even after five years in Beijing, my boyfriend can never stop reminiscing about the incredible, unbeatable mochi he ate in Taiwan. None of the specimens we tried in Beijing met his lofty expectations – for they were prepackaged, out of a box, while those from Taiwan were made and sold fresh, from the street. Then one day we ate some mochi at Shin Yeh (欣葉) – not surprisingly, a Taiwanese restaurant, and one of the finest in Beijing, too.
Mooncake Review: A little chickpea in your red bean?
Like it or not, mooncake season is upon us: Wednesday, Sept. 22, is Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节), celebrating the roundest, most golden full moon of the year. Westerners may call it the harvest moon, but for China this moon is all about being together with one’s family. The word for being together, 团圆 tuanyuan, literally means [...]
A deep-fried trifecta: the “fried look-back” and more
It isn’t often that I’m surprised with a trio of Beijing snacks I’ve never tried before. But the Longfusi Snack Shop (隆福寺小吃店 Longfusi Xiaochi Dian) lives up to its reputation as one of the best places to sample traditional Beijing foods, with everything from flash-boiled tripe (baodu) to more kinds of fried treats than anyone can reasonably eat in a day. Here’s a very small sample:
All I want this summer: iTea 找茶
Four or five years ago, you used to be able to count with one hand the number of icy-dessert shops in Beijing. And now, in just the past year, we have a number of respectable shops serving refreshing, fruity icy treats. The latest, and my current favorite, is iTea (找茶), which aggressively expanded into Beijing a few months ago with six new locations. iTea seems to have hit upon a rather winning combination of clean, bright aesthetics; high-quality teas, ices, and slushes; and low prices.