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Lao Beijing If
you are longing for great guotie (dumpling) and have failed in
your search, look no more.
Just by looking at the name of this restaurant, you would know that it serves Northern Chinese cuisine. If you are longing for great guotie (dumpling) and have failed in your search, Lao Beijing on Orchard Road may just be the place to satisfy your craving. A literal translation of "Lao Beijing" means old Beijing and so you can expect the restaurant to be reminiscent of the Beijing of yesteryears. The interior of Lao Beijing is styled very much like a simple eatery in Beijing with two private rooms to accommodate for a table of 10 or more. 1920s retro-Chinese posters and calligraphy decorate the walls. Nowadays, Chinese red cut-outs are pasted on the walls too--ching chong (Chinese) like mad! Coupled with the nostalgic music of Zhou Xuan and Bai Kwang (Chinese singers in the 30s), the ambience is as Chinese as it can be. If you can't tahan (tolerate) this type of music, you can still try braving it out for the food. What to eat? Staple food like guotie, jiaozi and xiao longbao (all three are basically Chinese dumplings of different variations) are not to be missed. They are made from the same dough and when cooked, the pastry is thin and light, unlike the usually thick and flour-ish ones that you get from most stalls. When fried, the guotie pastry is lightly crispy while steamed jiaozi and xiao longbao has a soft and moist pastry. The pastry thinly coats the well-seasoned filling which are mostly made of minced pork or seafood with chives or cabbage. Simply dip the dumpling in vinegar and ginger shreds, and when you start chewing, wa! -- the juicy filling just oozes out from the pastry in your mouth. Of course, there's also the usual fried cong yu bing (onion pancake) with onions and chives filling. You can also order the Chinese equivalent of a meat loaf-- Beijing Special Meat Sandwich. For Singaporeans, it looks more like a Chinese murtabak (Indian pancake with stuffing), but eaten without curry. The pastry is baked and stuffed with a tender meat patty. Quite unusual leh!
Another specialty is the handmade noodles cooked in different styles. I normally don't like Northern Chinese noodles as the texture is too starchy, tastes like a whole load of flour in your mouth, unlike the crunchier textures of local noodles. At Lao Beijing, though still starchier than local ones, the noodles are lighter in texture, most probably modified for local tastes. The Dan Dan or Zhajiang noodle is the usual fare but I prefer the soupy and spicy beef version-- adds more punch to the taste. Among the al la carte dishes is the super tasty Sauteed Spicy Da Qian Chicken. The chicken is lightly sauté to retain the tenderness and fried with dried chillies. Worth mentioning is also Chairman Mao Zedong's favourite from his hometown, a Hunan specialty--Fried Shredded Pork with Salted Bean, Chilli & Leek Sprout. It'll be too salty eaten on its own, but when you eat it with rice or buns, you can eat it forever because they're such a superb combination. Feeling indulgent and don't mind paying a little more? Try the Beijing Nobleman's Special Braised Superior Sharksfin-- guarantee you sure won't regret one! Reasonably priced at $28 per bowl, the Makansutra team knew about it from the CEO of a listed company. Used to eating fine food, he told us that:" It's one of the best that I've eaten, good quality fins and great stock." Honestly, sharksfin in itself is tasteless so it's the stock that makes the difference. The superior chicken stock with hints of seafood gives a smooth taste to the braised sharksfin. Crunchy bean sprouts complement the dish perfectly! As for desserts, it's no big deal except the Red Bean Pancake--which is a big, big deal! The shiokest red bean pancake we've tried so far! The oily fried pastry overflows with bean paste that is dark red and smooth and can often be mistaken for being chocolate sauce at first sight. On closer look, you can still see the oil bubbles sizzling on the pancake when served hot. It tastes sinful actually (calorie-wise)--with all that sweet bean paste and the oily pastry in your mouth but it's precisely this feeling that made eating this dessert so desirable! One serving is usually not enough for us. A tip-- be kiasu ( afraid to lose), must chope (reserve) this dessert at the beginning when you order. Sometimes it's sold out by the end of your meal and if you did not order earlier, you'll bang your head and regret--which we did! But warn you first--Northern Chinese cuisine is well known, or rather, notorious for its oiliness. They are so super generous with the oil in the food. If all you ordered are fried stuff, you'll be feeling jer luck (sick and tired) at the end of the meal--imagine a meal with all dishes dripping with oil. So, eat clever--make sure you order some steamed food to balance the oil!
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