Alleyway Gourmet: Qixun Bazhao Hutong Cai, Yonghegong

With over 726 comments on Dianping.com, Qixunbazhao Hutong Cai is racking up the reviews for its unique offerings of lao Beijing-style food. It partially tastes like a mom and pop version of Panda Express on performance-enhancing drugs. We mean this in the best way possible because if we had to choose between the grease-laden offerings on Guijie and the homemade items here, we would no doubt choose the latter.

Many of the comments on Dianping say that the restaurant is very hard to find. This is true if walking 100m into Xilou Hutong off of Yonghegong Dajie is difficult, so don’t let that put you off. Upon entering you’ll notice an abundance of antique communist regalia and family photos that give this quaint eatery some comforting flair.

We started our culinary adventure with the wandouhuang (豌豆黄), a cool cube of soft pea starch tofu soaking in a savory soy sauce. Next we tried another popular item called jilibeng (鸡里蹦), a mix of fried chicken and shrimp in a piquant, slightly sweet sauce, like a refined version of sweet and sour. We chose the daniufan (大牛饭), a bed of white rice and cornmeal topped with thinly sliced beef, peppers and onions, as a meaty accompaniment to the jilibeng and it didn’t disappoint. A well-rounded meal by any definition.

Qixun Bazhao Hutong Cai
Sun-Thu 9am-midnight, Fri-Sat 9am-1am. 1a Xilou, Hutong Erxiang, Yonghegong Dajie, Dongcheng District (8780 7080)
七寻八找胡同菜：东城区雍和宫大街戏楼胡同二巷甲1号

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Email: danielkippwhittaker@thebeijinger.com
 

Photo: Kipp Whittaker