Kong Yiji is the most famous Hangzhou restaurant in Beijing. The name derives from the title of a short story (also the name of its main character) written by Lu Xun, often referred to as the "father of modern Chinese literature."
This restaurant serves food from Shaoxing, a southern town famous for its wines, bridges and canals. The aniseed-flavored kidney beans and scallion oil yellow fish are good, and the yellow rice wine is sweet.
Diners pass through a small bamboo forest and the first thing you see upon entering the restaurant proper is a bust of Lu Xun himself.
The antique-looking menu, which is bound in traditional style with thread, features some of the dishes made famous in the popular story, such as huixiang dou, aniseed-flavoured broad beans. Other exceptional dishes include youtiao niurou – savoury slices of beef mixed with pieces of fried dough, and dongpo rou – tender braised fatty pork in caramelised sauce. A wide selection of huangjiu, a sweet rice wine, is served in heated silver pots, and sipped from a special ceramic cup with hot water in the bottom to keep the wine warm.
Open 11am-2pm; 5.30-10pm daily
Telephone 6618 4915
English address 2A Deshengmennei Dajie, Xicheng, Houhai district
Chinese address 西城区德胜门内大街后海南岸
