Mao Buwen Da Jiulou

Description:

• In addition to local specialties and 80 kinds of jiaozi (¥16-¥20/$2.10-$2.60/£1.05-£1.30 for 40), the menu includes Cantonese, Sichuan, and Shandong specialties. The best time to come is between 8pm and 2am, when you'll find the place packed with locals enjoying a late supper of cold dishes and beer topped off by a plate of la mian (you can watch the chef stretch and swing the dough as it is transformed into noodles before your eyes). Highly recommended dishes are suancai rou chao fen (wheat noodles mixed with shredded pork, green pepper, cabbage, and spices); su hezi (fried vegetable pie stuffed with chives, crumbled scrambled egg, carrots, and tree ear fungus); the refreshingly light shenxian baicai tang (immortals' cabbage soup), which includes cabbage, shrimp, mushrooms, and carrots; and tese kao runiu (barbecued marinated veal). Before barbecuing, the veal is soaked for a day in a marinade containing over two dozen herbs and spices, the sum of which are said to balance yin and yang.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010