Xiangtianxia: Pots of Gold

Xiangtianxia ranks as one of the most enjoyable hot pot experiences this Beijinger has had for many a winter. Located on the ground floor of the hulking “Dongcheng Cultural Center,” it’s a big, bare room of white tile, made marginally more pleasant by clever use of wooden divider screens.

The soup bases (RMB 45-48) offer various ratios of spicy and non-spicy; you can even order a cauldron with nifty sunken compartments in which to keep ingredients separate, but that takes the fun out of it. When the (very helpful) fuwuyuan first delivered the amber-red broth to our table, whole islands of beef fat were bobbing about, which quickly melted into oily, unctuous slicks peppered with denglong jiao – the stubby, cherry-shaped Sichuan chillis.

This is the only Beijing branch of a Chongqing-based chain, and several of their house specialty ingredients are fantastic. I’m thinking in particular about the shimo heidoufu (RMB 22), Jenga-shaped bricks of dark, smoky and speckled tofu; ya chang (RMB 38), duck intestines that take about 15 seconds to cook into gorgeously chewy spirals; and cow tongue (RMB 45), surprisingly the tastiest meat we tried. The full range of warming root veggies (add them later to thicken the soup), various mushrooms and fungi, and leafy green additions are available on the tick-box menu (Chinese only) and served on little wooden trolleys. Other dishes, like the dandan mian (RMB 10), zhima shaobing (RMB 12) and the chaoshou (RMB 10), were very good indeed.

A final positive (for most diners) – the entire restaurant is a no-smoking zone, and that seems to be enforced.

Standout dishes: Beef tongue, duck intestines

Also try: Haidilao, Chuan Cheng Yuan

Xiangtianxia 香天下 Daily 11am-midnight. 1/F, Dongcheng Cultural Center, 111 Jiaodaokou Dongdajie, Dongcheng District (6406 5996) 东城区交道口东大街111号东城文化馆1层

Click here to see the March issue of the Beijinger in full.

Photos:Sui