Craving Yunnan Food? Try the Solid Chain Yunhaiyao at U-Town

Be it Little Yunnan, In and Out, or Middle 8, we Beijingers have more than a few solid options for Yunnan food, which made us wonder how the newly opened branch of Yunnan chain Yunhaiyao (云海肴 云南菜) in Chaoyangmen's U-Town Mall.

Admittedly, we had never tried Yunhaiyao before, despite it having numerous branches across Beijing and China, and while it was quickly evident that Yunhaiyao wouldn't come close to outpacing our aforementioned go-tos, it proved better than most of U-Town's nondescript restaurants (here’s looking at you, Green Tea Restaurant and Wan).

Winning dishes included Yunhaiyao's iteration of barbecued fish (傣味香茅草考罗非鱼, RMB 68), a plateful big enough to satisfy two patrons and featuring a suitably crisp exterior that snugly hemmed luscious white meat. It was a little leaner than we would've liked (more of that fluffy white stuff, please!), and it was by no means as out-of-the-water fresh as others we've tried at higher-end Yunnan restaurants but it certainly did the trick.

And, of course, what would a trip to a Yunnanese restaurant be without a heaping of pineapple rice? Again, this restaurant's take on that time-honored dish (priced at RMB 48) was nothing to write home about, but its sticky sweetness and the run at quality presentation (falling just short of Instagram worthiness) was a firm success. The bowl of soupy Yunnan over the bridge rice noodles (云南过桥米线, RMB 48) comes in a bowl big enough for three customers, or one starving patron. Though not much to look at and not particularly flavorful, its cloudy and soothing hot broth, as well as its abundance of veggies and springy noodles, amounted to a more than satisfying countermeasure to this winter's ongoing cold weather.

Yunhaiyao's atmosphere, meanwhile, was light, bright and colorful, once again putting it well over the dingy dungeon vibe of neighboring Green Tea, but behind the exotic, borderline immersive ambiance of Beijing's more well-known and homestyle Yunnan joints.

In short: we'd recommend stopping by Yunhaiyao if you're in U-Town and feeling peckish for average but reliable regional eats. However, if it's Beijing's best Yunnanese offerings you're after, this mall joint isn't going to satiate your cravings for the tropical south.

Yunhaiyao (云海肴 云南菜) (U-Town branch)
Daily 9am-9pm. 5/F, 501, U-Town Shopping Mall, 2 Sanfeng Beilu, Chaoyang District (8579 4269)
三丰北里2号楼05层501内F5-513号

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Photos: Kyle Mullin