Dinner and a Show: Entertainment Is on the Menu at These Beijing Restaurants

Admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Feeling a bit of cabin fever but nonetheless committed to hunkering down in the capital? If you’ve exhausted your Netflix playlist and are on a first-name basis with the waimai guys, maybe it’s time to get out of the house. Here are some places to grab a meal with a side of fun.

Pack your gut full of Flaming cheese-covered pork ribs and then hop on the mechanical bull at Rodeo Connection

Special Delivery

Maybe you can’t take a trip around the world, but at Spacelab your food will journey through the dining room on a spiral roller coaster before stopping abruptly at your table. Two thumbs up from parents and teens on the burgers (RMB 58-99); For the younger set there’s a movie room upstairs.

Mask-changing actors, tableside noodle dance, origami folding, free manicures, help with homework, and robots delivering your food? Why would you stay home? Every location is different, but HaiDiLao Hot Pot promises a predictably good time (Avg. RMB 155).

Dining alone? Take a seat at He Lu Revolving Sushi where rolls and sashimi keep you company as they skate by. Just collect the plates and pay when you leave (Avg. RMB 100).

Honestly, no one really goes to Spacelab for the food

Tableside Treatment

At Rodeo Connection, the Flaming Cheese-covered Pork Ribs (RMB 388) have enough firepower to singe your eyebrows. A smaller fire warms the Mulled Wine (RMB 298) tableside, and a bit of magic creates an exotic smoke bubble on the Alice Wonderland cocktail (RMB 108). If the pyrotechnics aren’t enough, you can boost your adrenaline with a ride on the mechanical bull.

With a more subtle flambé, Bistro B’s Crêpe Suzette (RMB 90) prepared tableside with a glass of Prosecco makes date night perfect.

All the best fish are the fish that wear hats

Shunpachi at the Hyatt Regency Wangjing features an exhibition-style kitchen with chefs preparing yakitori, teppanyaki, noodles, robatayaki, and sushi. Choose the all-you-can-eat dinner (RMB 368) and relax Izakaya-style with sake in hand.

Plans for Guilin canceled? Console yourself Yunnan style at Dian Dachi Stone Pot Fish where your fish will steam away under a hat at your table while live folk music lifts your spirits.

The Show Goes On

Gather friends and head to Chaoyang Park’s Mongolia Big Camp Restaurant. Pass the camels to your own private yurt, where a roast sheep and a bottle of Baijiu will ward off winter’s chill. Book the cultural show and musicians and dancers will come to your yurt, transporting you to the grasslands of the North (Avg. RMB 250).

For a more traditional serenade, enjoy a dinner concert on Fridays at O’Steak (Avg. RMB 250) or the weekend jazz brunch at The Peninsula (RMB 488).

Book a private yurt at Mongolia Big Camp Restaurant and enjoy some traditional performance to boot

Book the Wine n’ Dine experience at Black Sesame Kitchen (RMB 350) and enjoy a glass of wine (or two) while watching the chefs chop, flash-fry, and caramelize a ten-course meal onto your plate. Prefer to roll up your sleeves and join the action? Join a cooking class instead or sign up for The Hutong’s Chinese New Year Dumpling Party on Jan 23 (RMB 250/200).

Fancy dinner and a movie? At Cinker Pictures you won’t have to settle for a frozen pizza with your flick. Book movie tickets on their WeChat account (ID: cinker-cinema-space) and settle into a recliner with a Cosmopolitan, upscale nibbles, entrees, and desserts (RMB 38-188). You’ll never reach for a bag of microwave popcorn again.

In these rapidly changing times, it’s best to call ahead to make sure all programs are still on offer.

KEEP READING: EAT: Venetian Cuisine at Frasca, King Cake Continues, New Brunch Dishes at Jing-A Longfusi

Images: Kirsten Harrington

Taking Aunt Flow Out for Lunch – Beijing’s Period Restaurants

Admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 05:00:59 +0000

There’s definitely no shortage of gimmicky restaurants in Beijing. We’ve got Haidilao’s robot restaurant, a penguin-themed restaurant, a poop-themed restaurant, and countless cat cafes. So when I heard about a restaurant just for that time of the month, I thought it was yet another odd gimmicky trend. But as it turns out, period restaurants are a legit thing in Beijing and they’re delicious!

Unlike the poop-themed restaurant that serves food in urinal and toilet-looking bowls, period restaurants aren’t serving up food on sanitary napkin-shaped plates. These restaurants are all about helping you ride out those dreaded cramps.

Go on Dianping and search 大姨妈 (dà yímā) — the Chinese equivalent to Aunt Flow, aka the period. Aside from stores that sell pads and tampons, you’ll pull up restaurants that specialize in making comfort food for your time of the month.

In the US we grew up with the idea that eating chocolate and ice cream helps during your period. And while that might be emotionally comforting, in China it’s believed that if there’s one thing you need to avoid while on your period, it’s cold stuff. Here, it’s all about loading up on warm soups.

Period restaurants in Beijing specialize in making all kinds of soups, from fish soups and chicken soups to sweeter choices like papaya and milk. And when your period cramps hit, having warm soup in your belly is like cozying up with a heating pad.

Is there really such a big demand for period soups that there are multiple restaurants in Beijing catering to it? Yes, there is… You don’t need to be on your period, heck, you don’t even need to have ovaries to like the feeling of a warm soup belly. During these cold winter months, we all crave a big bowl of warm soup for lunch.

KEEP READING: Wok On With These English-Language Chinese Recipe Sites

Images: Pexels, Mina Yan

(306) Dining – Beijing Kids

Dinner and a Show: Entertainment Is on the Menu at These Beijing Restaurants

Special Delivery

Tableside Treatment

The Show Goes On

Taking Aunt Flow Out for Lunch – Beijing’s Period Restaurants