My guilty pleasure is an odd one: scrolling through the leading Chinese food review app 大众点评 DaZhongDianPing – otherwise known as Dianping for short – and finding dining venues, only to end up admiring their luxury interior designs and gasping at all the seemingly appetizing food while screaming, “I need to go there now!”

One time, I was drawn to a Korean BBQ restaurant through the app’s recommendation. The dazzling neon lights and marinated meat looked tender and juicy, accompanied by scarlet red seasoning, all of which was perfectly suited to my love for spice and beautiful spaces. So naturally, my friend and I just had to go. Unfortunately when we arrived, the actual restaurant radiated bleak emptiness and poor infrastructure. What’s more, the pork belly, drenched in oil with black spots on the edges indicative of overcooking, was not in my best interest either and definitely didn’t align with the neatly cut, cheery-white pork belly I had seen in the pictures.

Alas, I had been catfished.

Catfish – a common internet term that describes the action of using fake online identities to deceive others – is precisely the word I would use to describe what the restaurant did.

Nowadays, intense market competition has led many restaurants to adopt fake reviews, filtered pictures, forced ratings, and bots commenting on food review apps to boost numbers. 

As a self-proclaimed food expert around Beijing, I have a few tips to help you avoid getting catfished by snazzy internet photos and reviews while saving your wallet from undeserving food.

Tip #1 – Look for unfiltered pictures

If any restaurant was to promote their food through digital media, relentlessly applying filters to beautify their pictures is the go-to method of attracting customers. But don’t be deceived by these official photos posted by the restaurant itself. Be sure to also check out pictures posted by customers, and more specifically, the unfiltered ones. Do the food and overall atmosphere of the restaurant still seem enjoyable without the adornment of filters?

Original image vs. Filtered image

Tip #2 – Origin of the reviews

There’s always a possibility that food app reviews are flat-out paid for by the restaurant. If the positive reviews are predominately generic remarks that lack personal engagement or are written by users without profile pictures and random letter sequences for a username, then warning lights should be flashing. Checking multiple reviews will also help you get a more balanced, not to mention realistic expectation of the restaurant in question. 

Tip #3 – Restaurant history and reputation

Have people around you ever talked about this venue? Is the restaurant well known amongst the general public? Of course, it’s entirely possible that a restaurant hasn’t gained a lot of recognition because it’s new. On Dianping, you can check the date when the restaurant was listed by clicking the arrow shown in the picture below. If the restaurant has been around for a while but no one knows about it, maybe there’s a reason.

Tip #4 – Timing, timing, timing!

It is important to examine the timing of the reviews when determining whether or not they are genuine. If there is a huge influx or spike of comments during a very short period of time, it could indicate a promotion agenda implemented by the restaurant, resulting in a deluge of fake comments all at once. 

Unfiltered image vs. Filtered image

I took both of these photos myself, but the one on the left looks far less appetizing, while that on the right may prompt more comments like “Wow, where is this place?” If I am able to achieve this effect with just a few clicks of a free-to-use photo editing app and a slightly better camera angle, you can be sure that corporate restaurants out to make a buck will go to much greater lengths to lure you in. So, be savvy when relying on reviews!

Happy dining, readers!

KEEP READING: Bite-Size Beijing: Eating Your Way Through the City’s Street Foods

Images: Linda Huang

Do you fancy yourself a Beijing foodie? Put your money where your mouth – not to mention your stomach – is and see how many local snacks you can identify!

KEEP READING: Just How Well Do You Know Beijing’s Landmarks?

Images: Uni You, Pexels

There is so much great food in Beijing, from all over China and all over the world. Word of mouth is an excellent way to learn, and of course, we love our sister site theBeijinger‘s coverage of all the good eats in town. As with most things in Beijing, however, WeChat is our connection to the world outside our compound. Every new addition to a new group brings more joy, opens up to more worlds, new friends, new tastes!

First, an introduction to our new WeChat group FamFriendlyEats !

We’ve long been discussing what really makes a restaurant family friendly around here, and what we really need in a place to eat out. We’ll get into all the bathrooms with a changing table in both the men’s and women’s rooms, who knows enough to bring the kid’s meals out first, stroller-friendly places, and more. Scan the QR code below and let us know your burning questions about where to take the kiddos!

Here are some of our favorites for more grown-up choices, too!

Coffee Co-Lab Community

Although not Beijing-specific, this community of coffee lovers work, play, and networks in cafes all over China. Perfect if you’re the kind of person who likes to choose their working space last minute, but also wants to meet new people regularly.

How: Add WeChat ID heatherlee to join

Foodies in Beijing

This is a very active group where you can ask almost anything about food in Beijing and get five different answers and ten honest opinions. It’s the place for food-related chatter, but not for ads, so don’t spam!

How: Add WeChat ID ana_linanxin to join

Beijing Foodies

This is a Beijing foodie’s group that talks about food, share great food pics, and deals and tips all around the city.

How: Add WeChat ID PROMETHEUS2828 to join

Great Wall My Love (cheese and other delicacies delivery)

Xiaowei ran tours for foreigners to enjoy The Great Wall with delicious food and had to pivot last year because of — you know. Now she works with her quality food sources to deliver within China! Last week there was a sampling of seafood shipped from Dallas, freshly picked fruits from Yunnan and Hainan, plus cheeses, jams, and wines, and a lot more.

How: Add WeChat ID exid_8w21wwzdqs0d21 to join

Sherpa’s Beijing Foodie

Sherpa’s the food delivery app has their own WeChat groups where they share the latest deals and promotions and also weekly lucky draws for Sherpa’s vouchers!

How: Add WeChat ID olivia1209 to join

Steak Promotion

The idea behind this one is fairly simple: Admin Trader Joe tells you what he has in stock (in different packs), you order through him directly, and get delicious frozen meat delivered directly to your door for free in most Chinese main cities. The people in our office who’ve enjoyed his service can’t get enough!

How: Add WeChat ID a664978432 to join

FoodX

This one’s for Beijing’s food lovers’ community where people share tasty discoveries and inspirations.

How: Add WeChat ID jingstel to join

Vegans of Beijing

Here you’ll find a community that aims to make living a plant-based lifestyle as easy and accessible as possible. It may be easier to live as a vegan in Beijing than you think, and this group is a good place to start.

How: Add WeChat ID KatieHamons to join

Beijing Burger Lovers 

Created out of our community’s great love for burgers and the annual Beijinger BurgerFest, this is a really fun group for sharing your favorite burger experiences, memes, and ask burning questions about meat packed inside two buns — family-friendly of course. Veggie/ vegan fans also welcome.

How: Add WeChat ID mwinchina to join

Please note: Jingkids does not run these groups and cannot add you. Please follow the instructions provided to be added to these groups.

KEEP READING: WeChat Groups Parents In Beijing Must Join

Images: Unsplash

Shunyi has a lot going for it; it’s close to Beijing’s top schools, the surrounding neighborhoods are a little quieter than Beijing’s crowded downtown, and there’s convenient access to the airport which is important for the more jet-set families out there. But, there’s one particular criteria on the livability rubric where Shunyi is lacking. It’s not really known for its abundant choice of high-quality dining options.

Recently we received word from one of our readers about a new opening that we had to check out, located in the former spot of Napa, called EATAria. We were immediately impressed by the slick ambiance that wouldn’t be out of place in Sanlitun’s Nali Patio, but we were even more impressed with the wide variety of dishes represented on their menu.

Patatas Bravas

Slightly overwhelmed, we decided to go for some items that came highly recommended. So, the feasting began with the quinoa, kale, and avocado salad (RMB 68), and some small tapas dishes, including their Gambas al Ajillo (RMB 88), and Patatas Bravas (RMB 38).

The quinoa, kale, and avocado salad was perfectly balanced and filled with in-vogue produce, which when combined are hard not to enjoy. When the Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp) came out sizzling in a small cast iron pan, our appetite also began to peak. Also perfect in its simplicity, it’s shrimp cooked with chilies and garlic in virgin olive oil. To carb things up a bit, we were given the Patatas Bravos, or baked potatoes topped with aioli, chili sauce, and spring onion. The manager explained that they were a healthier alternative to your regular french fries and ketchup.

Gambas al Ajillo

The showstopper was definitely the main course. Their seafood paella (RMB 286) consisting of shrimp, squid, scallops, mussels, and saffron rice was flavorful and served at a respectable al dente. It also didn’t skimp on the sea life, which has sometimes been the case in previous Beijing encounters with this Spanish staple.

Seafood Paella

Finally, we couldn’t leave without also sampling their Margherita pizza (RMB 88), which was spot on. EATAria is one of the few places in town where you can find authentic, wood-fired oven Napoli-style pies. This should be a selling point for many families with kids that have a thing for that essential bread, cheese, and sauce combo. They do it right!

Margherita pizza

We honestly barely touched the surface of EATAria’s very long menu. You could likely be going back to this restaurant every week for months before really trying all of the delicious and trendy eats featured on their menu. They could probably scale the menu back a little bit, but as they say fortune favors the bold, and Shunyi families will no doubt love all of the options for brunch, lunch, or dinner at this ambitious eatery.

Eataria
Daily 10am-10pm. 150 meters north of Tian Bei Lu and Yu Feng Lu intersection, Shunyi District (186 1139 7099)顺义区天北路和裕丰路口像北走150米路东边

Photos: Kipp Whittaker

It used to be that you could only get salads the bigger Western-style eateries in Beijing. Nowadays, however, our favorite leafy meal has gone mainstream, with more restaurants opening than pop-ups on a virus-riddled Chinese computer.

In fact, there is now so much salad around, the choice can be overwhelming, even for health nuts like us. And sadly, most of them are sub-par.

Nevertheless, there are some places that are doing it just right and aren’t intent on putting you out of more than RMB 60 for the pleasure. Below we look at some of the less-upscale spots that can satisfy your veggie needs with a delicious bowl at a fair price.

Shubo (蔬小盒)

Shubo is a committed basement-based stall, so if you are not into the subculture of underground eating, we’d recommend ordering via a food app instead. However, the in-store menu includes English while the app doesn’t.

Shubo offers salads from RMB 32 to RMB 44 (the bowl of roasted goodness pictured above would set you back a measly RMB 31.5). The best feature here is the DIY salad: instead of pointing to containers of various vegetables that you’re unlikely to know the names of in Chinese, you simply tick off what you want on the bilingual menu. Shubo also conveniently lists calorific values on their ready-made salads.

You can find Shubo on the lower ground floor of The Place, Topwin Mall in Sanlitun, Le Cheng center of Shuangjing, and four malls around town others.

Califorks

Califorks is another lower-ground floor eatery, but is slightly more welcoming for dine-in customers than Shubo. Otherwise, the experience is pretty much identical; the menu is both carnivore and vegetarian-friendly and has a wider selection of grains and lower prices on nuts and seeds. Our favorite perk is that you can add a generous scoop of hummus to your bowl of choice for RMB 5.

Califorks is located on the ground floor of The Place, and is also available via all waimai apps.

Rollbox

It’s not technically a salad spot, but Rollbox certainly earns its place on this list. One of the few Vietnamese food outlets around town, and perhaps the only one to mix up a Vietnamese salad, there is nothing lacking about Rollbox’s portions, which is proven by how long it takes just to get through them. A balance of pickled vegetables, noodles, a variety of greens, a dripping of sesame sauce, and a smattering of bird’s eye chilies mean that there’s no chance that your tastebuds will get salad fatigue.

The tofu and grilled mushroom (pictured above) or chicken bowls go for RMB 48 whereas the beef satay costs RMB 58. Rollbox is available for delivery on Sherpa’s or JSS delivery platforms.

Poke U (海鲜波奇饭)

Poke bowls have been a big hit around the world for some time now but other than a couple of lukewarm attempts over the past couple of years, have not yet truly broken into the Beijing F&B scene. Besides simply okay Poke Inn, we have found ourselves enjoying a non-pretentious alternative: Poke U.

The Hawaiian tofu dish above costs a mere RMB 32 and comes with a filling selection of ingredients, including rich tofu set on a bed of rice, steamed vegetables, a boiled egg, steamed egg, and a sprinkling of furikake seasoning, which helps impart the aroma of the ocean even if no actual fish is present. Other bowls include salmon, shrimp, tuna, and the less fishy, sirloin steak variety (RMB 43-58).

This article first appeared on our sister site, the Beijinger. See more by this author here.
Photos: Tautvile Daugelaite, courtesy of Rollbox