Recently in Food and Drink Category

Mexican food is nearly impossible to find in Beijing. As of August 2007, Taco Bell hadn't opened a single store closer than Shanghai. This made El Fogoncito something of a culinary oasis in Beijing.

Four weeks into my most recent trip to China I was sick of noodles and rice and had a craving for Mexican food. Lucky for me, one of the members of my travel group was a Mexican national, who contacted a friend she knew through the Mexican Embassy, who turned us on to El Fogoncito. The restaurant is part of a chain based in Mexico City, with remarkably authentic food. Tacos, burritos, and even the fajita dish are all lightly seasoned, with various salsas and guacamole available to garnish your dish and spice it up. Tortilla chips are heavier than anything I've sampled in either the U.S. or Mexico, but a welcome change. The guacamole is a bit unusual, consisting of something closer to a sauce, but it's apparently hard to track down avocados anywhere in China. Several Mexican beers and many tequilas are available from the bar.

This video is in Spanish, but shows the inside of the Beijing El Fogoncito:

1-01, Bldg. 19, Wanda Guangchang, 93 Jianguo Lu, Chaoyang district (phone: 5820 6551). Open 10am-2pm, 4:30-9:30pm.
富宫喜多西餐厅 朝阳区建国路93号万达广场19号楼1－01

Roast duck tastes better in Beijing. I've had it several times in the United States, but Peking Duck is always better in its birthplace. My favorite place to eat Peking Duck is hole-in-the-wall restaurant, Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant, located in the rapidly shrinking Hutong east of Tiananmen Square. The experience of visiting Li Qun has changed in the past couple of years - you used to wind through the roads of the hutong, pursued by pedicab drivers on your way to the restaurant. With Beijing rapidly tearing down portions of the hutong, replacing narrow streets with roads and housing with updated apartment living, there's a direct path to get to Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant.

Some of the old signs still remain.

Once inside, the feel of the restaurant has changed very little. The first thing you see is the brick oven where ducks are roasting. A narrow corridor leads either to the main dining area or to a private dining room if your party is too large for the 4-top seating that makes up most of the cramped dining space.

There are two ways to order (both require calling ahead to let the restaurant know how many ducks you need). You can either order a complete meal, including ducks, pancakes, hoisin sauce and fixings, along with some additional dishes; or you can order a duck and sample things from the menu ala carte. If you're brave, you can try things like duck feet in mustard sauce and fried duck gizzards, or stick with things more familiar to a Western palette.

For assistance in getting to Li Qun Roast Duck Restaurant, I highly recommend calling to have a cab driver get directions in Chinese. The staff speaks reasonably good English, so you'll be able to hand off the phone (and call ahead for ducks) even if you don't speak any Chinese. You can also print this card for additional help in getting to the restaurant.

A Fun Ti Carnival is best described as the Chinese equivalent of dinner theater. As the wait staff brings endless dishes to your enormous beer hall style table, the stage provides belly dancers, musicians, and enthusiastic crowd participation for entertainment. The restaurant is run by native Ulghur people from the Xinjiang province, which is located in the northwest part of China on the old Silk Road. The food is good but not amazing, with everything from potato salad, to curry, to gigantic skewers of meat, to traditional Chinese fare filling the table with more food than you can possibly eat. By evenings end, you'll likely not remember what you ate because you've had too much fun watching the stage show. The restaurant is famous for closing the evening with everyone dancing on the tables. While I don't know I'd go so far as to agree with the restuarant's own claim to being as famous as the Great Wall, if you have a group of people looking for an entertaining dining experience, A Fun Ti Carnival is an experience you won't soon forget.

A Fun Ti Carnival