Having lived and eaten in Beijing for many years, it’s rare to come across a restaurant that surprises me, but it happened recently at a small spot in Shangdi. A friend took me to a tiny, four-table spot next to an auto repair shop in the proverbial middle of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting much, but was blown away by the food and hospitality.

Perfect for the cold weather, the restaurant specializes in a dish that you’ll rarely find in Beijing – yak meat hotpot.

There’s no better dish on a cold day than a warming hotpot, and this offers something different to the common Beijing or Chongqing versions. While eating yak may sound exotic, it’s actually very similar to beef, as yak come from the same family as cows. Some describe the taste as slightly “earthier” than beef, though the meat is leaner than its fellow bovine.

The restaurant is owned by a young Tibetan named Zhaxi and his Han Chinese wife. Zhaxi served in the army and was stationed outside of Beijing. After getting out he considered returning home to the Tibetan region of Sichuan, but the earthquake in 2008 changed his mind.

Zhaxi and his wife are extremely gracious and welcoming, but the show stealer is his mother. When she lost her husband in the Sichuan earthquake, she decided to join her son in Beijing. She is friendly and constantly talking with customers, sometimes even handing out little gifts. She’s like your best friend’s mother when you were a kid – if your best friend was Tibetan. 

The hotpot soup base is also different from the hotpots most of us are used to. The soup uses yak and tofu, cilantro, celery, scallion, and saffron root. If the mother is around, she may even sprinkle a few precious strands of saffron into your pot. The yak meat is served in the pot, in large chunks, instead of the thinly sliced beef or lamb you get at your average hotpot spots.

Another specialty of the restaurant (included in the RMB 88 and 128 set meals) is the “peeing meatballs,” yak meatballs filled with soup that squirts out when you bite into them. Yak meat is also served here as a side dish in something mirroring a zhong zi. There’s a spicy Tibetan dipping sauce on offer as well as a more common Beijing ma jiang (sesame paste) sauce for those who don’t like it spicy.

To wash it all down, barley tea is served, but there are some interesting alcoholic options. Specialty Tibetan beer and bai jiu are available as well as qing ke jiu (青稞酒 or barley wine). This is quite possibly the only spot in Beijing where you’ll find these options. The menu is limited to hotpot and is all in Chinese, and while Zhaxi’s mother knows some basic English, you better have a Chinese speaker in the group.

It’s a bit of a hike out to Shangdi from the eastern side of town, but the trip is worth it if you’re looking to eat something really unique and want to enjoy some genuine Tibetan family hospitality. There aren’t many Tibetan options around the city, but a little closer to many expats, Bazhatong Gacang on Dongzhimenwai Dajie serves up some excellent Tibetan food, including yak meat and Tibetan milk tea. However, Bazhatong Gacang but doesn’t have hotpot.

Zhaxi's Mom 扎西阿妈 Shangdi Huandao Xi Xianghuangqi Donglu Xi ce, Haidian District (The restaurant is a RMB 10 cab ride from the Shangdi Subway Station on line 13 – look for the flags outside the restaurant) 海淀区上地环岛西厢黄旗东路西侧 (139 1189 6082).

Bazha Tongga 巴扎童嘎藏餐吧, southwest corner of Dongzhimenwai Dajie and Xindong Lu intersection, Chaoyang District 北京市朝阳区东直门外大街新东路十字路口西南角 (010 6415 7107)