Andingmen's Lan Yue Zhai Kaorou Serves Up Homestyle Xinjiang in a Lively Setting

We've been all about chuan'r lately with the recent openings of slightly upscale chuan'r concept White Tiger Village on Xiang'er Hutong and the increasingly-popular Jianghu Weidao just south of Panda Brew Pub, not to mention our in-depth look at Beijing's non-Xinjiang chuan'r restaurants from all over the world.

But Xinjiang food in Beijing isn't all about chuan'r, as new restaurant Lan Yue Zhai Kaorou proves, bringing the whole shebang: meat-on-sticks as well as cold dishes, hot dishes, lamb hot pot, and even beef dumplings. The restaurant is spacious and clean, with many tables seating large groups of people huddled around hot pots, making for a lively atmosphere.

We stopped by for some dumplings and to try their hot and cold dishes, hoping to add Lan Yue Zhai Kaorou to our list of go-to dinner restaurants with expansive menus. Some of the dishes were selected were excellent, while others were merely average. The doufusi (RMB 12), unfortunately, fell in the average category, with the dressing containing just a little too much salt.

The nangbaorou (RMB 28), however, was as tasty as you can get for the price. That being said, it's pretty hard to mess up crunchy fried bread with Xinjiang-style spices cooked up with slices of lamb to add to the flavor, and thankfully, they didn't mess it up. I don't think I would ever go back to a restaurant that can't fry bread properly.

The egg and tomato (RMB 12) also fell victim to whoever was putting too much salt in the doufusi, but this time, with too much sugar. This staple for any vegetarian, and probably one of your first favorite foods in China, was on the sweet side, and we probably wouldn't order it again here.

As the restaurant is Muslim, the dumplings (choice of meat or vegetarian, RMB 25) don't contain pork but are instead filled with a delicious mix of Chinese chives and beef, and just the right amount of juice.

While not necessarily worth the trek to Andingmen, if this is your hood, get your friends here for your next meal as prices are reasonable and the quality is good. We'll be sure to return to try their lamb hot pot, a steamy winter option for when things get really dark and dreary.

Lan Yue Zhai Kaorou
140 Andingmen Neidajie, Dongcheng District (6404 2187) 
东城区安定门内大街140号

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Photos: Margaux Schreurs