Monday 25 August 2008

Eating out in Wudaokou

To put it simply….you never have to worry about food in China. OK,
you may not exactly want to have Chinese food everyday, and miss food
from home…you don't even have to worry about that – there are so
many foreigners in Wudaokou that there are lots of different
restaurants from different countries – most notably, Korean, but
there are also Pizza, Italian restaurants, Japanese food, an American
restaurant, Hot pot, etc, etc

Here are some of my favourites in Wudaokou

Pyro Pizza – in a basement of a building just opposite the railway
line next to 7eleven. Really nice pizza, thin crust, plus a great
dessert – if you do order the freshly baked chocolate cookie with ice
cream, make sure you tell the waiters to bring it out last, otherwise,
you'll be having your dessert before your pizza. Their Caesar salad
is also very nice.

Hotpot – sorry, as with a lot of Chinese and Korean restaurants, I
don't really know the name! Anyway, it's on the second floor on top
of Pyro Pizza and 7eleven. Each person cook their own "meal" in
your own hotpot. The nicest sauce is the sesame sauce. Very yummy, and
price reasonable.

Tafi Italian Restaurant – on the same block as the big Lotus
supermarket (but on the other side of the block from the entrance to
the Lotus Centre. Very nice pasta and ice cream!! I think on the
weekends they have a lunch buffet – don't remember the price now,
but it was good value.

Korean BBQ – my favourite place is on the road just on the BLCU side
of the railway line, several shops just past the Xijiao Binguan
(Hotel)'s entrance. Also, if you keep walking right to the end of the
road, and cross the main street, (may be 20mins?) there is a complex
of several Korean restaurants – there is also a really nice BBQ place
there! There is also a nice Korean restaurant in the Xijiao Binguan.

Japanese –Issin Restaurant, just opposite the railway lines on the
Wudaokou side, in an alley not too far from Tous Les Jours. There is
also a Japanese Restaurant in BLCU, but Issin is a lot better (and a
bit more expensive!), but still, due to the quality, Issin is still
good value for money.

Bakery /Cakes – I like Tous Les Jours (opp Wudaokou station) and
Paris Baguette (in the Hualian / U-centre). Paris Baguette also has
nice Japanese style cheesecake. Yum!!

Dumplings – If you walk down the West gate and cross the road into
the other university, walk a few minutes, there is a popular
restaurant that sells local food, plus very cheap and nice dumplings
(饺子). The restaurant itself isn't very flashy, and not so
"clean" looking, but the food is good and is usually full of people.

"Beijing Pancake" – well, that's what I called it. It makes a
nice night time snack – street vendors can be found just outside the
BLCU South gate at night – only 2 RMB! You can also get them outside
Chaoshifa Supermarket and in the Hualian Supermarket.

Thai – there is a Thai restaurant just before Wudaokou station on the
BLCU side. The curries there are pretty good, and I heard that the Tom
Yum soup is quite good, although I haven't tried it. There is a
selection of Thai & Chinese food. The best Thai restaurant, though, is
in Chaoyang, called "非常泰" – "Very Thai" – fantastic
food, but also not cheap!

Grandma's Kitchen – in the Hualian / U-centre. This seems to be a
popular place for burgers, pizzas, and nice salads etc. A couple of
friends of mine are addicted to their milkshake, which is very thick,
a bit like melted ice cream. A little pricey though, but the food is
good.

A nice snack that I really like are these little fishes that you can
get from a stall just opposite the Lotus supermarket cash registers. I
think it's about 6 RMB for a bag of may be 12. They're sort of like
little fish waffles with creamy centres. Really yummy when they are
hot! I prefer these to the famed chocolate fishes that you can get
outside the Wudaokou Station at night.

What's your favourite restaurant in Wudaokou?

1 comment:

Kate said...

This post has made me nostalgic for the hot pot place above the 7-11. Yummy. :/