Each time I travel beyond Beijing, namely to the South, folks I meet often ask what Beijing dishes am I fond of. I look at them blankly and they nod in response, looking at me pitifully. It's understandable, they explain, Northern food is oceans and mountains behind the delicate flavors of Southern fare. Then they ask me, "But you must have had some good noodles and dumplings? Doesn't the North specialize in such dishes, besides hot and spicy?" Again, I look at them blankly and say I don't recall any such memorable experiences of dumplings or noodles in Beijing during all of my eight to nine months here. Well, that has now changed... for dumplings at least. This is what happened last night... 

View the SuYa Dumpling Restaurant directory entry for location information.

Yesterday my friends and I went to Carrefour to pick up my new eyeglasses and some cash from the ATM when we decided to try some of the small eateries outside. We exited Carrefour, crossed the skybridge and ended up on a street (Zhongguancun South Road)  that seems more down-to-earth, 'real' Beijing than a lot of places we're used to. We walked a block or two and stopped outside a bustling dumpling restaurant. It was really just a hole-in-the-wall, not the kind of place you'd find listed in That's Beijing or TimeOut next to the pedigree Chaoyang eateries.

We entered the restaurant and sat down to share a table with other clients. They handed us a sheet of paper with a pencil to mark our order. This is definitely a place where you'll need to some Chinese language skills, as I don't think anybody there can speak a word of any foreign language. We ordered two liang (èrliǎng) carrot and beef dumplings, two liang chive and pork dumplings, two liang egg and cucumber dumplings (good for vegetarians), a large bottle of Yanjing, and a small can of Lulu almond juice. The tab came out to be 26 RMB. Easy on the wallet... :)

We waited about 10 minutes as other patrons bustle in and out, and watched the dumpling makers beyond the glass window hand-make each little dumpling. Shortly after, our first two-liang batch of dumplings arrived, piping hot and still steaming.  We poured ourselves some dark vinegar and reached over eagerly with our chopsticks. We dipped our little dumpling victim into the vinegar and took our first bite... then... we were in heaven. Normally, I'm not able to stomach too much food, but I sure scarfed down my share that night.

Each of the dumplings had a sumptuous outer layer with a good amount of fresh filling on the inside. I don't think I've had better flavored or textured dumplings than the ones I had so many years ago at the original Ding Tai Feng in Taiwan. The most notably delicious dumpling flavor that night was the egg and cucumber vegetarian dumpling. Our guess is that they mixed raw egg with cucumber, stuff it into the dumpling skin, and the egg gets cooked inside by the dumpling steaming process, to produce the kind of texture we tasted. The egg inside was very soft, almost like steamed egg jello. Next time I make my own dumplings with egg I'll give that method a try, since I have a thing for those steamed egg dishes.

I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants to try some real, down-to-earth, Beijing style dumplings from a proper hole-in-the-wall. This place is not only easy on the wallet, but sooo very easy on the tastebuds too. This makes for a great dinner stop after shopping at Zhongguancun or Carrefour nearby. Less than a 10 minute walk from Carrefour's skybridge will get you there.

  Pork and Chive Dumplings 猪肉酒菜饺子 (zhūròujiǔcàijiǎozi)

  Beef and Carrot Dumplings 牛肉胡萝卜 (niúròuhúluóbo)

  Egg and Cucumber Dumplings 黄瓜鸡蛋 (huángguājīdàn)

View the SuYa Dumpling Restaurant directory entry for location information.

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