Beijing trip 2026 day 4: barbecue by the lake

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Our last morning in Beijing, and we still didn't have much of an appetite for breakfast. We did, however, need some caffeine this morning, so we walked around and stopped at CITIC Bookstore (中信书店) next to our hotel. It's a nice little space where one could have coffee and hang out, and there are even books I could read while chillin'.

We checked out of our hotel and brought our luggage to lunch. Our taxi didn't want to make the long loop to the restaurant entrance, so we dragged our suitcase a short distance along the shores of Houhai (后海) to Kaorouji (烤肉季). Having done traditional Pekinese lamb hotpot for our first meal, it is somewhat fitting that our last meal of the trip should be old school lamb barbecue.

A special room upstairs had been arranged for us, with an adjoining barbecue room affording us a lovely view of both the Drum Tower (钟楼) and Bell Tower (鼓楼).

The real attraction, though, was the big wood fire griddle (炙子) made by welding strips of iron together. The intention is for the fat to drip down the gaps between the iron strips, although I do wonder if that still happens with this particular griddle that reportedly has been in use for some 60 years.

Beijing trip 2026 day 3: no referral

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There was a short and awkward period between the end of our sightseeing and our appointed dinner time. We had planned to park ourselves somewhere for a quick drink, but the bar below the restaurant at Taikoo Li Sanlitun (太古里三里屯) wasn't open yet, so we decided to just show up early to Old Tower for our dinner.

I'm not familiar with the dining scene in Beijing, and I never knew about this restaurant's existence until it came up on our itinerary. Truth be told, I was not familiar Chef Talib Hudda. Well, I have heard of his previous restaurant Refer, because it showed up on Asia's Top 50 Restaurants one year and registered in the back of my mind. I didn't really have an idea what Talib's cuisine is like, and certainly didn't know that his new restaurant is so named because of his nickname in Chinese, but like the rest of this trip... I just follow loh.

We were seated in the "private" area, which was just outside the entrance to the kitchen, and separation with the main dining room was by means of a drawn curtain. This arrangement felt kinda awkward, as staff must pass by our table every time they go in and out of the kitchen, and they also have to navigate the nearly floor-length curtains drawn for privacy.

Well, we did tell Talib that we came early to have a drink, and he very kindly comped us a bottle of bubbly to start...

Krug Grande Cuvée, 173ème Édition, ID 124007 - this has got that classic toasty brioche nose of Grande Cuvée, while the acidity on the palate was on the high side.

Pistachio chips - made with scraps, and meant to be something one can snack on with drinks. A little on the spicy side.

Beijing trip 2026 day 3: 3 ducks with Da Dong

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Another day, another morning with no appetite for breakfast. Knowing we have another big lunch coming up, I decided to give up my search for that jianbing (煎饼) breakkie I have so longed to have.

I've always enjoyed my meals at restaurants bearing the Da Dong (大董) name. While Mr. Dong is famous for his newer style, "crispy not greasy (酥不腻)" roast Peking ducks, it's a style I don't particularly care for. I like my ducks juicy and greasy, and nothing excites me more than seeing the juices run down as a chef slices up a bird. However, I am a BIG fan of his other dishes - from the more traditional Shandong cuisine to even his "creative" work involving molecular gastronomy.

I was really happy that Gastro Esthetics at DaDong (美•大董海参店) was included on our itinerary. It's been too long since my last visit to DaDong, and I still think about the sea cucumber I enjoyed 9 years ago...

Foursheets noticed the Maybach SUV parked right outside the restaurant entrance, but we quickly went upstairs to our private dining room. Chef Dee from Chef 1996 Restaurant (1996川菜•主厨餐厅) was our hostess today, and there was a spread of little snacks for us to enjoy while we waited for everyone to arrive.

The menu at DaDong's restaurants have always seemed like literary works. I still recall the big, à la carte menus looking like traditional Chinese texts, and our custom menu today read like a scroll. The title was Banquet Postlude to Winter (冬趣).

We started with some Champagne. Since I don't have to work today, I don't mind a little light drinking at lunch...

Perrier-Jouët Blanc de Blancs, dégorgée le 31 Juillet 2023 - good acidity balance on the palate.

Finger food: 4 Pekinese snacks (手指餐：北京小吃四款): I guess we got a little extra since I counted 6...

Pickled celtuce cubes (泡莴苣丁) - in chili oil.

Beijing trip 2026 day 2: Sichuan in Beijing

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When I signed up for this trip to Beijing, I knew there would inevitably be meals which showcased northern Chinese cuisine such as Pekinese (京菜) and Shandong (鲁菜). I did not expect a stop at a Sichuanese restaurant to be part of our itinerary. Having said that, I do remember Mr. Chichi posting about Chef 1996 Restaurant (1996川菜•主厨餐厅), so I guess I wasn't too surprised to see this name pop up.

Foursheets and I arrived about half an hour before the appointed time for dinner, and the crowd that had gathered was already bigger than our lunch group today. The Man in White T-shirt Lightly-buzzed Chef (微醺大廚) and Dada had arrived in the city, and we were treated to the sight of him walking around in shorts in freezing temperatures.

The guest of honor tonight was the famed director of the popular TV series A Bite of China (舌尖上的中国) - someone who possesses an incredible amount of knowledge about various Chinese cuisines - and after he arrived, it was time to begin the feast. I didn't realize until later that tonight would include the "feast of the preserved meats", which was why the tonight's menu was inscribed with the title "Winter Sichuan banquet (腊珍宴)". I knew I was in trouble when I saw that the printed menu was 4 pages long... Chef owner Liang Di (梁棣) was really pulling out all the stops for our guest of honor, and Foursheets and I were so lucky to have been the the fly on the wall...

Sichuanese cuisine has categorized 24 different types of flavors (二十四味型), and the menu tonight clearly specified which flavor category each dish belonged to. Each chapter of the menu was also named after specific Song ci (宋詞).

Xing Xiang Zi • Opening (行香子 • 启品)

We were presented with the seasonal produce being used tonight, which we had seen on display while touring the main restaurant earlier.

Beijing trip 2026 day 2: plant-based lunch

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Considerating that I went to bed around 3 a.m. this morning, I definitely woke up too early. I had spent a little time yesterday researching for potential breakfast spots around Conrad Beiing, but I simply had zero appetite this morning. My dream of an authentic jianbing (煎饼) breakfast would have to wait until tomorrow, then...

One of the reasons why I chose our hotel was that it was only a short walk to our lunch venue today - and I would be able to avoid sitting in the notorious Beijing traffic. With the sun being out and it not being a windy day and all, the 20-minute walk to lunch was leisurely and nice. We even passed by one of the breakfast spots I had found on Dianping (大众点评).

I was kinda excited when our tour guide announced Lamdre (兰斋) as our lunch venue for today. Having earned a couple of Michelin stars as well as a place on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Chef Dai Jun (戴军) must be doing some seriously good plant-based cuisine. Foursheets and I are always happy to explore restaurants that offer fine dining experiences in this genre, and the lighter nature of this meal would be a welcome break from our packed dining schedule.

Since we're in China and it is lunch, Mr. Chichi suggested that we take the restaurant's tea pairing.

Sweet osmanthus Oolong, Anxi (桂花乌龙, 安溪), 1996 - this was pretty nice and elegant. Very soft and very fragrant.

The first course of our tasting menu - entitled Rooted in the Autumn (京归秋根) - came with a trio of bites:

Beijing trip 2026 day 1: back in Strong country

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I'm spending a few days in Beijing, joining an eating tour organized by Mr. Chichi (吃吃君). It's been YEARS since I last went to a decent restaurant in Beijing - 9 years to be exact, and I haven't been back in the city since that short business trip 2 months before the pandemic started. With someone who's in the know doing all the planning, Foursheets and I just needed to tag along with the gang and bring our appetites. Sweet!

We took an evening flight that landed 10ish, and went straight to meet up with the rest of the gang for late supper. Our tour leader initially asked whether we would be up for mutton hotpot, then arranged for a table at Bistro Strong (壮壮酒馆). Having not done any homework ourselves and just blindly following (and trusting) our friend, we didn't realize how interesting this place would be until we arrived with our luggage in tow.

A long table had been set up in the middle of the floor for us, and the boss himself - whose nickname is "Strong Strong (壮壮)" - joined us for our late night feast.

I was so happy to see a plate of kumquats (金桔). These are so clean-tasting, so sweet and refreshing... without the strong acidity that I eschew in some citrus fruits. I had trouble stopping myself and, in the end, pretty much took most the plate.

Weekend in Guangzhou: a Gem in Shenzhen

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After a ride of nearly 2 hours on the high speed rail, we got off at Futian Station (福田站) and grabbed a taxi to dinner. I had been wanting to check out Gem Garden (珍庭) ever since my first trip to Shenzhen after the pandemic ended, and finally got my chance tonight.

As was the case with lunch, we had pre-ordered a few dishes for this dinner, then added more after we arrived. Our private dining room had a TV that played a video of the restaurant's signature dishes on repeat, and we ended up ordering some items which looked tantalizing.

Service started with a plate of kumquats (金桔), which was how our lunch ended hours earlier. These were bigger in size, and just as delicious as the ones I enjoyed at lunch. Served together with some wax apples (蓮霧).

Weekend in Guangzhou: lunch at the river

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For someone who didn't get enough sleep the night before, I woke up much earlier than I had wanted this morning. Unfortunately it didn't seem like I would be able to go back to sleep this morning, so we got up for breakfast. While I normally would have preferred to leave the hotel and grab something local like steamed rice flour rolls (腸粉), the most popular places on Dianping (大众点评) seemed to have sanitary issues like having mysterious black spots in their food. That definitey does not work for Foursheets...

Our room at the Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou included breakfast, and we dutifuly rolled down to Tang (堂) so Foursheets could at least get some coffee. It was still before 9 a.m. so there were still empty tables.

There was a whole selection of dim sum available for us to order, so I kinda ordered up a storm. We've got the charsiubao (叉燒包)...

Weekend in Guangzhou: not too spicy

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One of the main reasons of coming to Guangzhou this weekend was to give Foursheets an opportunity to try the cuisine from Chef Zeng Huaijun (曾怀君), who was one of The Man in White T-shirt's partners on Chef of China (一饭封神). We had the opportunity to get a taste of Chef Zeng's cooking at her collaboration dinner at Neighborhood a few months ago, and that really piqued Foursheets' interest. Since her restaurant Song (宋・川菜) is located in Guangzhou, this gave us to impetus to come check it out.

I told Sporty Cousin about this place a few weeks ago, and he actually went on a scouting mission for us. He managed to give it a big "thumbs up", and he was more than happy to come join us tonight so that he could try out more dishes.

The restaurant is inside the Winter Plaza (冬广场) of GT Land Plaza (高德置地广场), and as soon as we walked through the front doors, we were faced with a 7-story high LED display - and it happened to cycle through the point where it advertised about the restaurant. We rode the escalator up and, as Sporty Cousin had booked us a table at 6 p.m., walked in without having to wait in line for more than an hour.

Weekend in Guangzhou: all crows are black

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I've organized an eating trip to Guangzhou this weekend, with the primary aim of hitting 2 restaurants I wanted to tick off my list. Luckily I have managed to rope in a few others to join me, so that we can do some proper ordering at Chinese restaurants. This would be my first time back in the city since I spent an unscheduled day in 1998 on account of missing a connecting flight...

The trip on the high speed rail was pretty uneventful, as it should be. After getting off at Guangzhou East Station (广州东站), we grabbed a 6-seater van to Mandarin Oriental Guangzhou (广州文华东方酒店). Our rooms weren't ready yet, so we dropped off our bags and walked across the street to BingSheng Private Kitchen (炳胜私厨).

The manager had actually messaged me while we were still at the hotel, and warned me that most of the dim sum items had already sold out. By 12:30 p.m. I'm wondering if they share the dim sum supply with the sister restaurant a few doors down, and they have been taking customer orders since 11:00 a.m. So when we arrived and shown to our private room, we were literally asking for the last portion(s) of less than a handful items still left...

Homemade sachima with olive kernel (超級欖仁沙琪玛) - we did ask for them to serve us the dim sum items first, but HELLO? You serve us the dessert first?! Well, we waited until all the savory dishes had been finished, and this thing had gotten kinda limp. In any case, the flavors weren't very interesting.

Avant voyage

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I must admit to being a little surprised when I received an invitation to a "6-hands collaboration" in Shenzhen. Chef Alessio Durante of Opus 388 at the Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen and Chef Jerry Tian of Avant were taking turns hosting dinners at their respective restaurants, and they've invited Chef Paul Marcon - son of Regis and the latest winner of Bocus d'Or - to come all the way from Restaurant Marcon. I've never had the pleasure of visiting Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, and I thought this would be an opportunity to get a glimpse of what one could expect at the mothership. Similarly, I was also a little curious about Avant.

Everyone else was already in Shenzhen eating their way around town, so only two of us got picked up by the car at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. The trip across the border was quicker than expected, and we arrived at Avant with plenty of time before our dinner was due to start.

Well... the others did eventually show up, and I got to hear all about the drama from someone's trip to Yunnan with the three chefs...

We started with the sourdough bread from Avant and a tomato and rosemary focaccia from Opus 388.

Mushroom butter - made with a variety of mushrooms the chefs had brought back from their trip to Yunnan.

Smoked with delicious fat

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One of the restaurants in Shenzhen that I had heard good things about is Fumée (拂鳴). I had yet to pay them a visit as I'm still in the discovery stage with regard to the city across the border, and I have naturally focused on restaurants serving various schools of Chinese cuisine. I figured I'd get around to it eventually. When Mr. Chichi asked whether I'd be interested in joining a group tasting on a Sunday night, it didn't take me long to say 'Yes'.

After taking a detour on account of my stupidity, we arrived at the restaurant just before the appointed time. Our group was seating along the counter facing the kitchen, and I had the good fortune to keep the Kitchen Nazi company. He's always fun with eat with.

Our evening started with some Champagne...

Christophe Mignon ADN de Meunier Brut Nature, dégorgée le 20 Mai 2020 - initially this was served much too cold, a common mistake, so there wasn't much showing on the nose except for a little minerals. Got a little better once it warmed up with a little more depth on the palate.

Chef Reina Chen explained that she was serving us a spring menu, with ingredients reflecting the flavors she associates with the season. We would start with something refreshing:

We were shown some of the 9 ingredients used to make our welcome drink, including cardamom and "leaves from the forest".

This smelled of guava and pine or cypress... definitely very green. Nice and refreshing.

Shenzhen tour day 3: yellow croaker for lunch

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It's our last day in Shenzhen, and for breakfast I decided to stay in the hotel room and finish the fruit I bought yesterday. I figured that I'd already consumed enough calories over the last few days and could use a break...

My Favorite Cousin wanted to take her parents to Xinrongji (新荣记), and it's much better to do this in Shenzhen compared to Hong Kong. So for second day in a row, we walked over to the Ping An Financial Center Mall (平安金融中心商场) to one of the restaurants on a high floor. The only problem was that, once again, we had to get ourselves into a private dining room with a much higher minimum spending limit. As a result I pre-ordered a couple of things last night.

A meal at Xinrongji usually starts with some seasonal fruits, and today was no exception:

These big blueberries from Yunnan were as tasty as I have come to expect.

These Indian jujubes (牛奶棗) tasted a little less sweet and, dare I say, slightly "bland" than ones I'm used to buying in Taiwan and Hong Kong. I guess these particular ones did live up to their moniker of being "milky".

Shenzhen tour day 2: Fujian chic

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After napping for a few hours in my hotel room, it was time to head out and explore the area nearby a little more. Foursheets had recommended that we check out Freshippo (盒马鲜生) while in town as it's part of Alibaba, and there happened to be an outlet inside Wong Tree Plaza (皇庭广场) near Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen. We spent a decent amount of time strolling inside the shopping mall and checking out all the shops and stalls selling a wide variety of food, then eventually made our way to the supermarket and picked up some fresh fruits.

For dinner My Favorite Cousin had, for some reason, wanted to try a restaurant serving Hokkien cuisine. Unable to rely on recommendations from friends on this, she ended up choosing Chic 1699 (远洋私厨) inside Ping An Financial Center Mall (平安金融中心商场) after scrolling through Diaping. We ended up taking one of the smaller private dining rooms that came with a minimum spending limit.

Our tea tonight was loquat flower tea (枇杷花茶).

Shenzhen tour day 2: the tide is high

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I decided to do a little bit of work in my hotel room after getting up this morning, which was why I missed grabbing breakfast with the family. Funnily enough, I ended up going to the same shop they visited nearby to have some Cantonese-style steamed riceflour rolls (腸粉). My Favorite Cousin and I had done some research on breakfast joints near the hotel while we were sipping on our whiskies last night, and Hong Li Cun (红荔村肠粉) in Times Square Excellence (卓越时代广场) seemed like a good idea.

Steamed riceflour roll with mixed vegetables with egg (罗汉斋肠粉加蛋) - once in a while I enjoy having the classic dish of mixed vegetables and fungus known as 羅漢齋, and it's not common for me to see it as the filling of steamed riceflour rolls. This would have qualified as a vegan breakfast... until I decided to add some egg to it. Pretty big portion for breakfast, and I didn't have reason to complain.

Shenzhen tour day 1: third time is the charm

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I'm in Shenzhen for a couple of days, tagging along with My Favorite Cousin and her parents as they explore the city a little bit. Having gotten a tiny little taste of the city's dining scene in the last 2 years, I'm actually eager to expand my horizons.

Thanks to a prior engagement, I missed out on lunch at a restaurant I was curious about. I did make sure that I arrived at Futian Station (福田站) via the High Speed Rail by late afternoon, and from there it was just a short walk for me to check into the Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen minutes later.

We took a short stroll around the mall at UpperHills (深业上城), mainly for me to show the elders all the EV makers displaying their models at just one corner. There were lots of people strolling around at dinner time, but My Favorite Cousin noticed that there were very few people browsing inside the stores.

For dinner tonight, I took the family to a place I've become somewhat familiar with. I have dined at The Bay by Chef Fei (东湾 - 由辉师傅主理) at Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen on two previous occasions, and I'm happy to return any time for their refined Chiuchow cuisine. Given that the others had already dined at a Chiuchow restaurant for lunch, this would be their second Chiuchow meal today...

As usual, there was a welcome drink.

My worst meal of 2025

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Yes, I'm well aware that only 3 months of the year has passed... but I very much doubt that any meal I will have during the rest of 2025 will be as bad as my dinner tonight.

Sporty Cousin has been working in Foshan (佛山) for a few years now, and used to visit 102 House (壹零貳小館) during the initial pandemic years when they still operated solely out of Foshan. As he was a frequent guest of the restaurant, I was planning to go and visit him 2 years ago, just after the borders reopened between Hong Kong and the rest of Mainland China. But before I had the chance to do so, it was announced that the original restaurant would cease operations - apparently due to the village house being scheduled for demolition.

I first heard about the restaurant in January 2018, when they did their first collaboration with The Chairman (大班樓). I remember being so impressed with the passion shown by Chef Xu Jingye (徐泾业)  as we were told stories about their research into classic Cantonese recipes. Everything at that meal was new and tasty, so I had a really good impression of the team.

While a number of friends subsequently took the trip to Foshan during the following 2 years - before China's borders closed in January 2020 - I never made the effort. I also missed some opportunities to check out their Shanghai location, which by now has 2 Michelin stars and had just taken the No.29 spot on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. So when Sporty Cousin messaged me a few days ago and asked whether I'd be up for dinner in Foshan tonight, during the week-long "private kitchen" stint when Xu Jingye and manager Yao Min are back in town, I didn't hesitate. I immediately booked my train tickets, and even arranged to buy a few bottles from a wine shop in Guangdong to be shipped to Foshan for this dinner - given that Foursheets and I could only carry 2 bottles of wine across the border without paying duty.

But... I did had some reservations in the back of my mind. V has been a regular over the last few years in Shanghai, and told me that the cooking has gotten significantly worse in recent days. Apparently it has been so poor that he was bitching out Chef Xu during his visits, and then stopped going altogether. Another fellow foodie has also warned me that the kitchen in Shanghai is on a downward trajectory, has also bitched out Chef Xu during their visits, but didn't think that I would have a bad meal in Foshan.

Unfortunately for the six of us, we all left the restaurant fuming. I had heard from my friends that Chef Xu no longer cooks in the kitchen - which isn't a problem if the kitchen team can deliver. Saffron Bae a.k.a. Hairy LS is often galloping around the world taking after his idol Monsieur LS, but the kitchen team at Caprice still delivers impeccable dishes without him. Well... I saw Chef Xu out and about in the courtyard, so it's doubtful he spent much time in the kitchen tonight.

Pan-fried Chinese white shrimp (干煎大明蝦) - we were all a little surprised that there were no "starters" and the meal began with these giant shrimp. The use of tomato ketchup in the preparation is a familiar one, if not quite traditional Cantonese.

Shenzhen with MO day 2: elevation 388

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After a much-needed and restorative massage at The Spa at the Mandarin Oriental, the team took us on a tour of the Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen to show off some of the facilities and fantastic views. This included taking us up to the rooftop helipad at a height of 388 meters, where we got a 360° view of the city as the sun was setting.

As night fell, we settled into our seats at the counter facing the open kitchen of OPUS 388 for dinner. Chef Alessio Durante is relatively new to Shenzhen, having recently joined from Alain Ducasse at The Morpheus in Macau. I would imagine he's still learning the peculiarities of this market, although the menu that had been prepared had a few interesting things that piqued my interest.

Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut, dégorgée le 22 Janvier 2024 - a little mineral and flint on the nose, and good acidity on the palate.

The dinner started by having our napkins sprayed with a perfume that was meant to smell of bread...

Then came some grissini along with other breads.

A coral from the sea - the amuses bouches were presented on a ceramic coral stand, which certainly made an impression...

Shenzhen with MO day 2: Up the Hill

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Woke up to another beautiful day in Shenzhen, although I didn't get to sleep until very late while watching events unfold in Korea. I finally rolled down (or actually up) to breakfast at Bazaar, the café where guests at the Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen take their morning meal. This is buffet-style but one could also order up some noodles, eggs, or even beef noodle soup for something a little more substantial. I opted for a lighter breakfast so chose none of those.

I was really intrigued by how cheese names are translated in China. Gruyère into "古老也" is a phonetic and slightly funny take, while Emmental being called "大孔芝士" - literally "big hole cheese" had me sideways.

Shenzhen with MO day 1: tapas night

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Believe it or not, after my delicioius lunch earlier today, I actually went to the gym at the Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen for my usual quick run. I can't remember the last time I worked out in a hotel gym while traveling, but it was good to get back to it.

I desperately needed to rehydrate after running, and fortunately the hotel provided me with a bottle of pear with white fungus (银耳雪梨汤), which was very helpful.

After watching the sunset in my room, I headed up to dinner at Tapas 77, with commanding views of the Shenzhen skyline. Chef Ivan Arroyo has had an interesting journey in his culinary career, but now focuses on introducing the local clientele to classic Spanish fare.