Beijing Restaurant Review: Xinjiang Red Rose

A few friends told me that they stumbled on a neat Xinjiang restaurant in the Sanlitun area of Beijing not too long ago, saying that they had a nice meal along with some great entertainment. On Friday, they called Catherine and I up and asked if we wanted to tag along. Sure we said, but they must really like this place if they were going again so soon after the initial discovery. Well, turns out this would be their third visit in about as many weeks. So what's the deal?

Well if the photos here are any indication, the entertainment may have some thing to do with the enthusiasm of my friends (two men, one woman - yay for democracy?). We entered the place at around 7pm and got ourselves seated without a reservation. I'm not sure if it fills up more on other nights, but I would note that if you do show up later, you will be seated farther away from the stage area.

This was only my second Xinjiang food experience so I am no expert, but for those of you who do not know, be prepared for a lot of lamb! The five of us ordered twenty lamb skewers, a pancake type dish with stewed lamb and onions on top, two orders of cold garlic cucumbers, two order of stringy fried potatoes (like Hickory Sticks for those Canadian readers) and a noodle dish. The cucumber dish is your typical Beijing cucumber dish, very garlicky and yummy. The stringy fried potatoes were flavourful and had a bit of kick. The main course, the lamb skewers were meaty and well seasoned, and not as fatty as the Xinjiang place across the street from the U.S. embassy (at least this batch wasn't). The tomatoey cut noodle dish should be avoided. All in all, a pleasant meal that was elevated by the Red Rose's atmosphere and its signature on-stage performances.

The entertainment consisted of a great three-person band (pictured above), a singer and a couple dancers, including the belly dancer pictured above. Good fun was had by the audience as we enjoyed our meal and watched the show. Loud music and interactive performances made sure that the place was hopping and festive. One of the highlights came near the end of the show (entertainment ends around 9) when the band played What's Up by the one-hit wonders 4 Non Blondes. Okay, it was a highlight for the five expats sitting on the left side of the restaurant. Oh, and the belly dancer was pretty hot too, hot enough that my friend flirted with the idea of going to 1001 Nights to check her other show (I've seen this particular dancer perform there too).

The bill came to about 90 kuai each, and that's with a half dozen tall beers thrown in. Not bad for an evening meal and entertainment. This place is worth a visit, especially during the weekend when you have a big crowd to add to the atmosphere. Just make sure to call ahead or go early to get a good seat!

Out of 5...
Food: 3.5 - food was simple and solid
Service: 3.5 - nothing out of the ordinary
Ambiance: 5 - when the show is on, this place is fun, just don't expect to impress a date with a romantic candle-lit dinner
Value: 4 - not the cheapest, but I guess you're paying for the show too

Xinjiang Red Rose
Inside 7 Xingfu Yicun alley, opposite Workers' Stadium North Gate, Chaoyang District (next door to Alfa in the same alley)
Daily 11am-11pm
6415 5741

Beijing Restaurant Review: Noodle Loft

For those of you who may be interested in how I am nourishing myself...

Found this restaurant in That's Beijing, winning a 'Best Value' award in their annual round-up. There are two locations in Beijing and don't ask me how or why, but I have already been to both. The major Noodle Loft draw is the fact that you can go and watch the Shanxi chefs make the noodles right in front of you. They are stretching it, rolling it and beating it at the bar which makes for great entertainment as you await your noodles.

The menu is nice in that it has photos. The appetizers are extensive and I especially enjoyed the cold spicy noodles and the cold carrot shavings. The sliced beef wasn't bad, but nothing special. As for the noodles themselves, they are nice and chewy, and come in a variety of shapes/forms. The "you mein" come in a dim sum dish and are shaped like little cones - you dip the noodles into three different sauces provided. The 'you mein' was neat to experience but I don't think the sauces provided enough bang.

The beef brisket and noodle soup was good, though the broth could have used a bit more flavour. Finally, the chow mein was very nice, being not too oily.

If you have to pick a location, go to the one by Soho New Town since you can actually sit and dine at the noodle bar.

Overall, a great place to take guests and friends to have an inexpensive meal in a nice environment and built-in entertainment. Just make sure you go around peek times or just before peek times to catch all the noodle-making.

Let's try a rating system out of 5...
Food: 3.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4.5 (when the chefs are making their noodles)
Value: 4

Noodle Loft Daily 11am-10pm 3 Heping Xijie (in a back alley just after exit E at Hepingxiqiao metro stop) Chaoyang District (5130 9655) 20 Xi Dawang Lu Chaoyang North East (6774 9950/5372)

Purple Haze

Before I left for Beijing, my Director General gave me a copy of That's Beijing, a local magazine that targets the expat community. The issue he gave me covered the best restaurants of Beijing, so this has been an invaluable guide for us while we have been in Beijing in our quest for good food. But of course these restaurants reviewed/recommended by these expat magazines are completely geared towards foreigners and wealthy locals. When I ask some locals where to find these places, or ask about certain expat areas, they just shrug and say that they don't frequent these places since they are so expensive. And they are, given that a typical expat meal out can range from 100-300 yuan, whereas a local Chinese eatery will run you about 35-50 yuan (exchange rate is about 7:1).

And if there was ever any doubt about the expatness of these recommendations, the restaurant we tried the other night was completely full of foreigners. Purple Haze, a Thai restaurant, served excellent Thai food as well as not-too-expensive drinks. The five of us ordered a dish each and everything was pretty good. It wasn't the most authentic Thai but it was still very good. The red coconut curry was especially good, as were the chicken skewers and spicy eggplant. This place is definitely worth a re-visit, and we will look to check out their other location which also hosts a live jazz band on Wednesday evenings.

Oh yeah, when we left the restaurant we found ourselves stuck looking for a cab in a Beijing torrential downpour. We were running through ankle deep puddles and standing around trying to wave down a cab while avoiding flying walls of water from passing cars. We eventually got back to the hotel in time to watch team China get outplayed by the more talented and more skilled team USA in basketball. BTW, check out this great article on Yao Ming.

Purple Haze
www.purplehaze.com.cn

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