Night Snacker
by Mick Jones
Much of Beijing life still moves to the rhythm of an agricultural society -- meaning most things happen during daylight hours. That goes for eating, too, so getting a case of the midnight munchies, or even just feeling peckish after about 9:30 pm, can leave you feeling like it's a long time 'til breakfast.
Relax -- you're just in the wrong part of town.
Following up reader Melloney Boyd's suggestion, your BTM tasting team fasted all day, then strapped on notebook and camera for a night on the tiles down Dongzhimen Neidajie -- the capital's premier 24-hour eat-street.
No 39
Starting at the far east end, just around the corner from the Dongzhimen subway station, our first stop was Jin Ding Jiu Lou at no 39, on the north side of the street. This Cantonese home-style joint is fabulously successful -- so much so it has a sister restaurant of the same name just a few yards away -- and it took a long tour through the interior just to find a free table. If it's late, chances are you're really hungry and don't want too much messing about. Jin Ding Jiu Lou has 62 kinds of dim sum to take care of just such a situation. We checked out: duck spring roll (ya si chun juan), Fried noodles (chi you chao mian), Shanghai-style baozi (shang hai xiao long bao) turnip and seasoned meat cake (la wei luo bu gao) a Beijing-style pancake (jing wei hu ta zi).
Together with a bowl of congee and a bottle of beer, this lot came to 49 yuan. It's all highly recommendable, except for the turnip cake -- give this one a wide berth. Great stuff for soaking up a few beers. Being a Cantonese joint, there's some weird and wonderful stuff on offer, but be warned there is no English menu. Take a better translator than ours, who went through the list of baozi and simply said we could have meat, seafood, and other things I won't mention." If you arrive early (i.e. before 9:30), you may catch some live music in the front dining room as you pass through in search of a table.
No 99
Flagging slightly, we summoned reinforcements to meet us in Dong Fang Yi Yuan (no 99). This home-style place offers the splendid option of eating outdoors in the courtyard behind the main dining room. It also came up trumps with an ideal late-night comfort food ?the King Rib (pai gu wang, 8 yuan each). ItŐs the biggest rib BTM has seen in Beijing, itŐs lightly spiced, and it's a winner. Other dishes, notably spicy fish eggs with celery (gan shao yu zi, 19 yuan), were fine, but all paled next to the Rib. It might encourage you to drink a lot more beer, so please do not be tempted into trying the Harbin Pijiu. It costs 15 yuan a bottle and it's very nearly undrinkable, so stick to Yanjing at 3 yuan a bottle!
Things start to wind down around here; thereŐs a few more restaurants dotted along both sides, but the crowds thin out and the atmosphere dissipates. Far better to stay nearer the east end.
No 87
There's a little bit of most things as you move along the street. A Brazilian roast meat restaurant vies with turtle and snake eateries on the south side, but we plumped for a simple Sichuan option for out next stop. For some reason, the later it gets, the spicier we like it. Tianchu Douhuazhuang (no 87) offers hotpot and standard Sichuan fare, plus an English menu. You could try shui zhu rou pian, the fiery standard that features slices of pork boiled with cabbage and what seems like half the chilis in Sichuan. However, the pork can be substituted by a number of intriguing alternatives at this particular restaurant -- kidney, intestine, throat, brain... Calm
Jin San Jiao
We crossed over to the south side and finished the night in one of a row of small places housed in old-style single-story buildings. They're easy to spot owing to the very red decor.
According to the waitress in Jin San Jiao, "We don't have a street number; just say Jin San Jiao and everybody knows."
Even though it was getting very late, plenty of customers were still coming in to prove her point. There's a diverse and interesting crowd of people out and about after midnight in Beijing, and Jin San Jiao is precisely the kind of place you're likely to see it. Most were getting stuck into another great snack food ?fresh dragon shrimps (long xia), which come either boiled au naturel or with a slightly spicy sauce. Either way, they're excellent eating, and only 1.5 yuan each. You know they're fresh, too, because you'll have seen them just outside the door writhing in a big bucket.