Better Than Buffalo -- Beijing’s Best Wings

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the tastiest part of the chicken is the wing. It is likewise self-evident that Beijing’s most popular wings are based on Chinese recipes, not ones from Buffalo or Kentucky – if you plan to eat in one of these joints, go early or make a reservation because they draw hungry crowds. A few other facts: nothing goes better with barbequed wings than mashed potatoes; wings should be ordered in even numbers; and “BT” (biantai 变态) or “perversion,” means a chicken wing has been loaded with a perverse amount of spicy peppers. Diner beware.

Wu Ge Kaochi

The hardest table to get in the capital is not at a five-star restaurant but at this grubby little barbecue. The walls are peeling and the floors sticky, but the chicken wings are smoky and rich, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. One bite, and you’ll realize why customers throng the alley outside night after night. Internet trolls have painted the no-nonsense owner, Wu Ge, as an ogre-ish Soup Nazi, but he seems quite sweet to us.

5 Nanbanqiao Hutong (between Dongsi Batiao and Jiutiao), Dongcheng District. (6400 1626) 五哥烤翅，东城区南板桥胡同5号(东四八条与九条之间)

Xidan Chiku

Staffed by young Beijingers with boisterous hairstyles, this is perhaps the only other contender to Wu Ge for the best wings in Beijing. Difficult to find: Red lanterns emblazoned with Chiku (翅酷) mark a pair of narrow black doors, which leads to a cluster of rooms around a central courtyard. Their “BT” wings takes the prize for being the spiciest we’ve tried, but a tangy radish salad (liangban xinlimei) will cool you down.

15 Zhongsheng Hutong (alley east of Xidan Books Building), Xicheng District. (6603 2605) 西单翅酷，西城区西单图书大厦东侧钟声胡同15号

Kuan Dian

No matter the season, hip youth spill over onto the rooftop terrace of this Drum Tower-area restaurant. Kuan Dian does a very fine original (yuanwei) wing, juicy and redolent with cumin and peppercorn. Chili-oil mashed potatoes and barbecued scallops and oysters round out the meal.

135 Jiugulou Dajie, Xicheng District. (8404 0523) 宽店，西城区旧鼓楼大街135号

Gui Wei

Only 80 skewers of wings are marinated here everyday, which perhaps shows you how much care goes into the process. It shows, too, in unique flavors like wasabi, garlic, powerfully fragrant black pepper and honey-sweet original The mashed potatoes are rich, fluffy and served with chicken gravy. By barbecue standards, Gui Wei is almost upscale – real furniture, atmospheric lighting and black walls decorated with murals and the chalked graffiti of inspired customers.

20 Heizhima Hutong, Dongcheng District. (6407 5931) 鬼味烤翅，东城区黑芝麻胡同20号

Chi Bang

This clean, brightly lit restaurant pays faux-proletarian homage to crispy, grilled wings, with Socialist-chic posters immortalizing the workers’ zeal and Lei Feng’s diary inscribed with impassioned odes to the sweet mizhi (蜜汁) flavor. The original wing is subtly numbing, while the mildly spicy (wei la) packs a hefty punch – a sign that they are serious indeed about their peppers, and therefore their revolutions as well.

218 Dongsi Beidajie (southeast corner of Zhangzizhong Lu), Dongcheng District. (6401 5710) 翅榜烤翅串吧，东城区东四北大街218号(张自忠路东南口)