May 27, 2011 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
These days, food editors and reporters exchange first impressions about new restaurants on microblogs before formally reviewing them.
This past week, Beijing Today received leads on two interesting new restaurants on Sina Weibo and followed up.
New Vietnamese in modern courtyard house
Tucked into Qianliang Hutong near the Museum of Fine Arts, a renovated courtyard has given rise to Susu, a spacious restaurant with a terrace seating and Chinese toon tree in the front yard. The decoration is modern, with high ceilings, glass walls, wood tables and a bar area.
While open for fewer than three weeks, the restaurant is already packed with customers during dinnertime.
Susu is the common Vietnamese name of a local dish: alligator pear.
People who have traveled to Vietnam may know that its cuisine is largely divided into three regions: northern, central and southern.
In the north, fewer herbs are used. Most popular Vietnamese restaurants in Beijing cook food in the middle and southern styles, with a variety of ingredients and delicate garnishing such as on spring rolls and shrimp dishes.
In the south, because there are more coconuts and sugarcanes, the food is sweeter. There is lots of Thai and Cambodian influence, so coconut milk and curry are used in abundance.
Herbs are also key. The amount of fresh herbs in a dish can be directly proportional to that dish’s value and authenticity.
At Susu, we ordered the papaya beef salad (36 yuan for vegetables only, 48 yuan for beef) for a starter, sliced green papaya mixed with or without beef and crushed peanuts, with a crisp and sour taste created by a twist of lime.
For main dishes, we recommend La Vong Fish (108 yuan). The dish is served in two parts: snakehead fish fillets sautéed in fennel leaves, turmeric and scallions, served sizzling over a flame; and a plate with vermicelli, fresh herbs like mint and coriander, crushed peanuts, rice crackers and homemade shrimp-fish gravy. (Lime shrimp paste is available on request.)
Fennel leaves are widely used in Vietnamese food. They grow thicker than in Thailand and have a stronger aroma, and go well with fish.
A Vietnamese waitress demonstrates how to eat this dish: first create a bowl of herbs, vermicelli, fillets and rice crackers, then add gravy and sprinkle in crushed peanuts. Mix and enjoy!
We also ordered the tomato fish soup (68 yuan), tomatoes and freshwater bass fillet seared with baby onions and lime over a bed of fennel leaves and green onions.
Unlike Cantonese soup, Vietnamese soup looks clear, with a strong aroma of mixed fresh herbs. The taste is fruity and a bit spicy.
The restaurant offers a few different kinds of red and white wine (40 to 45 yuan per glass). We tried Santa Ana Torrontes from Argentina (40 yuan per glass), refreshing and crisp, paring well with the sour taste of several dishes. The cocktail Saigon Frizz (50 yuan) was good as well, made of Beefeater gin, ginger, lime, Angostura bitters and tonic.
The restaurant has two chefs and a few waitresses from Vietnam. The service is friendly and attentive.
Susu
Where: 10 Qianliang Xi Xiang, off Qianliang Hutong, Dongcheng District
Open: 11 am – 11 pm, closed Mondays
Tel: 8400 2699
Cost: Average 120 yuan per person
Small Yunnan hutong restaurant
Finding the restaurant was a pleasure in and of itself: walking through hutong with the summer breeze and enjoying the sounds of an old neighborhood.
The restaurant is easy enough to find – just one alley south of Fangjia Hutong – but it is a small bungalow house with only four tables. The decor is homey.
One may not realize it, but Midian has been open for three years and just recently began promoting itself on Weibo.
The prices here are lower than at most Yunnan restaurants, and the atmosphere makes it a hidden gem.
A cold tomato dish is 10 yuan; spicy chicken with sauce (26 yuan), jasmine flower salad (18 yuan), special Yunnan fungus in oil (24 yuan), palm flower (28 yuan), sautéed jasmine flower with eggs (32 yuan), sautéed sponge guard (20 yuan), lime-braised fish (58 yuan) and steamed chicken with sticky rice (38 yuan) are all reasonably priced.
We recommend the palm flowers (28 yuan), fried banana tree flowers that taste like bamboo shoots. Banana trees grow easily in southern China.
The lime-braised fish (58 yuan) was also good: steamed bass with a lime juice base, topped with chives and red chilies.
The starchy, traditional Yunnan rice noodle (18 yuan) comes in a big serving, enough for two.
We also ordered papaya water (6 yuan). It is similar to the bitter chilled herbal jelly one eats as dessert at many Cantonese restaurants, but is more sweet and sour. The white jelly is made of papaya powder, and the juice is a mix of squeezed papaya juice and brown sugar.
Southern rice wine starts at 6 yuan.
Most diners are repeat customers, according to a waitress, which explains why prices haven’t increased in the past three years.
Midian
Where: 57 Jiaodaokou Beisantiao, Dongcheng District (walk north to the third alley on your right [east] side from Jiaodaokou crossroad)
Open: 11 am – 2:30 pm, 5 pm – midnight, Closed on Mondays
Tel: 6402 7482
Website: weibo.com/1908915481
Cost: Average 50 yuan per person
By Annie Wei
These days, food editors and reporters exchange first impressions about new restaurants on microblogs before formally reviewing them.
This past week, Beijing Today received leads on two interesting new restaurants on Sina Weibo and followed up.
Two chefs from Vietnam work at Susu. Photos by Gustavo Rugeles
New Vietnamese in modern courtyard house
Tucked into Qianliang Hutong near the Museum of Fine Arts, a renovated courtyard has given rise to Susu, a spacious restaurant with a terrace seating and Chinese toon tree in the front yard. The decoration is modern, with high ceilings, glass walls, wood tables and a bar area.
While open for fewer than three weeks, the restaurant is already packed with customers during dinnertime.
Shrimp salad, 48 yuan
Susu is the common Vietnamese name of a local dish: alligator pear.
People who have traveled to Vietnam may know that its cuisine is largely divided into three regions: northern, central and southern.
In the north, fewer herbs are used. Most popular Vietnamese restaurants in Beijing cook food in the middle and southern styles, with a variety of ingredients and delicate garnishing such as on spring rolls and shrimp dishes.
In the south, because there are more coconuts and sugarcanes, the food is sweeter. There is lots of Thai and Cambodian influence, so coconut milk and curry are used in abundance.
Herbs are also key. The amount of fresh herbs in a dish can be directly proportional to that dish’s value and authenticity.
At Susu, we ordered the papaya beef salad (36 yuan for vegetables only, 48 yuan for beef) for a starter, sliced green papaya mixed with or without beef and crushed peanuts, with a crisp and sour taste created by a twist of lime.
For main dishes, we recommend La Vong Fish (108 yuan). The dish is served in two parts: snakehead fish fillets sautéed in fennel leaves, turmeric and scallions, served sizzling over a flame; and a plate with vermicelli, fresh herbs like mint and coriander, crushed peanuts, rice crackers and homemade shrimp-fish gravy. (Lime shrimp paste is available on request.)
Fennel leaves are widely used in Vietnamese food. They grow thicker than in Thailand and have a stronger aroma, and go well with fish.
A Vietnamese waitress demonstrates how to eat this dish: first create a bowl of herbs, vermicelli, fillets and rice crackers, then add gravy and sprinkle in crushed peanuts. Mix and enjoy!
We also ordered the tomato fish soup (68 yuan), tomatoes and freshwater bass fillet seared with baby onions and lime over a bed of fennel leaves and green onions.
Unlike Cantonese soup, Vietnamese soup looks clear, with a strong aroma of mixed fresh herbs. The taste is fruity and a bit spicy.
The restaurant offers a few different kinds of red and white wine (40 to 45 yuan per glass). We tried Santa Ana Torrontes from Argentina (40 yuan per glass), refreshing and crisp, paring well with the sour taste of several dishes. The cocktail Saigon Frizz (50 yuan) was good as well, made of Beefeater gin, ginger, lime, Angostura bitters and tonic.
The restaurant has two chefs and a few waitresses from Vietnam. The service is friendly and attentive.
Susu
Where: 10 Qianliang Xi Xiang, off Qianliang Hutong, Dongcheng District
Open: 11 am – 11 pm, closed Mondays
Tel: 8400 2699
Cost: Average 120 yuan per person
