Dinner in the Hutong

We were utterly exhausted after dragging ourselves round Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Beihei Park, Houhai Lake, and up the Drum Tower… so were delighted to reach the many bars of Nanluogu Xiang in the Dongcheng Hutong area to sit down and partake in a few Tsing Taos.

Once our feet had finally stopped throbbing and our thirst was eventually quenched, we set off down the dark backstreet alley of Banchang Hutong to find our dining destination of the evening – The Source. This cosy little restaurant is housed in a renovated traditional Qing Dynasty courtyard house, where private dining rooms surround the pomegranate trees of the outdoor courtyard area.

It being October, the weather was too cold for us to enjoy any alfresco dining action, so we made ourselves comfortable in the main dining area, where the antique style furnishings and strains of Peking Opera made us feel like guests in the home of some wealthy old Beijing family.



The staff too went out of their way to make us feel at home and showed us round the courtyard on arrival and checked our eating preferences – was there anything we didn’t eat? How spicy could we take our food? This being a Szechuan restaurant, we were slightly cautious but bravely told them it was ok, we enjoy the heat!

There followed a procession of delightful Szechuan specialties (dining is by set menu only at the Source), kicking off with some pickled green beans with chilli and peanuts, and some mushrooms with a spicy dip. These were closely followed by a chicken broth which was perfect for warming the bones on a cold Beijing evening.

Next up was a Cold Spicy Beef salad served with Salad Leaves in Vinegar



And then the main courses – a fiery Duck with Chillis and Beans



The sumptuously sweet and sticky Pretzels with Rolled Bacon



And Green Beans with those tongue numbing Szechuan Peppercorns.



This innovative selection of dishes were all delicious and, as you can see by the dose of chillis and peppercorns in the dishes, pretty darn spicy! But given that there is no heating in the Hutong, we were glad of the internal heat.

The friendly staff attitude didn’t end with the meal either… The chef came out to speak to us once we were finished to check we had enjoyed the meal (we had!) and to ensure us that if there was anything we didn’t like she could adapt the meal to suit us next time. And once we were ready to leave, those helpful folk at the Source insisted on walking us out down the alley to the main road and stayed with us until we’d managed to flag down a cab – now that’s service!

The Source, Beijing - http://www.yanclub.com/wwwsite/source/SOURCE.htm