Authentic Halal Chinese Food Beijing: Xinjiang Restaurant, Yunnan Dishes & Niujie Snacks

Reposted from the web

Summary: A Beijing halal food guide focused on Xinjiang restaurants, Yunnan Muslim dishes, Niujie snacks, beef noodles, and other local qingzhen (halal) finds, keeping the original restaurant names, addresses, and photos in order.

[Beijing Special Halal Dining Guide (Including the Most Complete List of Foreign Restaurants)] (Part 1)

[Beijing Special Halal Dining Guide (Including the Most Complete List of Foreign Restaurants)] (Part 2)

[Beijing Special Halal Dining Guide (Including the Most Complete List of Foreign Restaurants)] (Part 3)

A Guide to Halal Dining in Beijing (Part 4)

1. Jinjiang Western Regions Restaurant

This is a high-end Xinjiang restaurant very close to Olympic Forest Park.

The space is quite large with a nice dining atmosphere, making it suitable for banquets and group meals.

The lamb chops are a bit gamey, but the overall taste of the dishes is decent, costing about 100 yuan per person.

Address: No. 411, Zone 4, Huizhong Beili, Asian Games Village, Chaoyang District.

1. Ayidian Chang Halal Yunnan Cuisine

It is not easy to find authentic halal Yunnan food in Beijing, but this restaurant, which opened recently, is quite genuine.

The decor is fresh and elegant, and the owner is a young woman from Yunnan.

Tamarind (suanjiao) is a local specialty of Yunnan, so I chose to try the tamarind juice.

Beef wrapped in mint leaves; mint is as common in Yunnan as cilantro and is delicious even when eaten raw.

This is fried grasshopper.

Ibn Abi Awfa narrated: We went on seven expeditions with the Prophet, and we ate locusts. Sunan an-Nasa’i, Hadith 37;

The Prophet described the sea, saying: ‘Its water is pure, and its dead creatures are halal.’ He also said: ‘We are permitted two types of dead creatures: fish and locusts;’ and two types of blood: liver and spleen.’ (Musnad Ahmad)

Sour soup beef jerky (niuganba); you must eat beef jerky in Yunnan cuisine because the most famous beef jerky in Yunnan is made by Hui Muslims.

It happened to be just before the Dragon Boat Festival, and the restaurant was developing beef rice dumplings (zongzi). The manager gave me two; I had only eaten sweet ones before, so this was my first time trying a meat version.

Yunnan cold rice noodles (mixian); the broth is rich and fragrant, and the noodles are chewy.

Address: First floor, north commercial section, axes 19-21, west side of Fengyayuan Zone 2, Huilongguan Town.

1. Dai Family Savory Crepe (jianbing) on Niujie Street.

This savory crepe is made by Hui Muslims from Niujie, and the neighbors all say it tastes great.

The savory crepe is a breakfast item, sold only in the morning, and they are closed on Mondays.

Address: Niujie Xili, in front of the barbershop.

1. Old Neighborhood Beef Noodles (laojiefang niuroumian).

The row of snack shops on Jiaozihu Hutong in Niujie has been mostly cleared out due to wall-breaking renovations. Only this Old Neighborhood Beef Noodles remains. The owner, Uncle Ma, is a true old neighbor who lived on the same Shouliu Hutong as my family. His beef noodles and small bowls of beef are excellent. It is not easy to find an authentic bowl of Beijing-style beef noodles these days.

Address: Ground floor shops on the west side of Jiaozihu Hutong.

1. Old Ma Halal Lamb Spine Potstickers (guotie).

Halal lamb spine is easy to find, but halal potstickers are rare these days. This shop makes pretty good ones.

Beef and green onion potstickers were my childhood favorite. There used to be a tent in Xuanwu District that sold halal snacks, but after it was torn down, I never found good potstickers again. I later heard the old man who made them passed away (wuchang), so that authentic skill is likely lost forever.

I was surprised to find they also sell spicy hot pot (maocai), a Chengdu snack similar to spicy soup (malatang), but you can drink the broth.

Address: South entrance of Hongju Street, Xicheng District.

1. Noodles at the Drum Tower.

I found this popular restaurant on Dazhong Dianping. At first, I thought it was categorized incorrectly because it had no obvious halal sign. I learned from the reviews that it is a halal shop owned by a Beijing Hui Muslim, and the halal sign is in a very inconspicuous spot inside.

This is a Western-style rock music restaurant.

They have mushrooms with foie gras.

Roasted chicken leg, but it is named Eight Hammers (badachui).

It is called Gold Medal Meat Sauce Noodles, but when it arrived, it was just soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian).

Vegetable salad. Overall, the taste suits women, and the environment is good for dates.

Address: No. 25 Gongjie, Gulou East Street.

1. Old Yang’s Halal Restaurant.

This is the highest-rated restaurant in the Changping area and is highly recommended.

Let’s start with the environment: they have small semicircular tables that make it easy to chat.

I told the owner I came here specifically to break my fast. He recommended the house-made sour plum drink (suanmeitang). It was very thirst-quenching, sweet, and tart. I ordered two pitchers and took the second one to go.

I ordered the restaurant’s signature dishes, starting with the cold shredded bottle gourd with sesame paste (majiang liangban hulusi), which was crisp and refreshing.

Fairy tofu (shenxian doufu) is another popular delicacy, and the tofu is made in-house.

Old Yang’s beef pie (lao yangjia niuroubing) is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. You have to eat it with raw garlic.

The dry-pot duck heads (ganguo yatou) are spicy, numbing, and fragrant.

The stir-fried radish sprouts (qingchao luobomiao) were great. Another feature of Old Yang’s restaurant is the attentive service. They greet you with a smile and check in on how you like the food. It is rare to see such good service in a place that is so busy. I didn’t get to eat the fish head with flatbread (yutou paobing) at Old Yang’s today, so I will have to try it next time.

Address: No. 30, West Lane 1, Xiguanshi Village, Yangfang Town, Changping District.

1. Cheng’s Shan County Lamb Soup Restaurant (Chengji Shanxian Yangtangguan).

I didn’t expect to find such good lamb soup in Beijing. Shan County is a place in Shandong famous for its lamb soup.

The oil and salt flatbread (yousuan shaobing) is hollow inside, perfect for soaking in lamb soup or stuffing with spiced beef.

The soup is milky white, a natural color from boiling lamb bones.

Large starch noodles (dalapi).

Half a jin of spiced beef (jiang niurou) stuffed into a freshly baked flatbread is delicious.

I also had some grilled fish tofu and seafood skewers.

Address: Sanzhong Lane (near Xingfeng Street), about 525 meters from Huangcun West Street Station.

1. Huguosi Snack Shop (Airport Branch).

I found a Huguosi Snack Shop at Terminal 2 of Capital Airport. Many traveling friends (dostis) are used to eating hand-pulled noodles (lamian) at the airport, but now with Huguosi, there are more options.

The prices are relatively cheap compared to noodles, and most importantly, there is a wider variety of dishes.

Address: B1, Terminal 2, Capital Airport.

1. Northwest Muslim Restaurant.

There are not many restaurants in the Niujie area that don’t have a line. This Northwest Muslim Restaurant has become even more popular after a renovation, and it is still packed every day since switching to 24-hour service.

Summer is the season for skewers. There are all kinds of large skewers to choose from. Since the small alley shops were cleared out, you have to choose these mid-range restaurants for skewers in Niujie, but at least the meat quality is guaranteed.

It is popular because everyone comes for the skewers. What annoys me is that I used to be able to eat without waiting, but now I have to wait at least half an hour.

Address: Nanheng West Street, ground floor shops on the north side

[Beijing Special Halal Dining Guide (Including the Most Complete List of Foreign Restaurants)] (Part 1)

[Beijing Special Halal Dining Guide (Including the Most Complete List of Foreign Restaurants)] (Part 2)

[Beijing Special Halal Dining Guide (Including the Most Complete List of Foreign Restaurants)] (Part 3)

A Guide to Halal Dining in Beijing (Part 4)