Mongolian-Themed 99 Yurts Offers the Perfect Destination for Birthdays and Other Celebrations

You may think you have to go all the way to Mongolia to feast on some truly excellent lamb, but in fact you only need to travel to the North Fifth Ring Road – although that may feel just as far for some. Set just north of the Olympic Forest Park is 99 Yurts, a Mongolian-themed restaurant serving, you guessed it, lamb, lamb, and more lamb.

Less of a restaurant and more of a theme park, 99 Yurts is populated by, if not actually 99 yurts, then certainly more than 50 individual Mongolian-style tents. Go in a big group – around 10 or more – and you can dine in your own private yurt, otherwise you may be assigned one to share. Our yurt even had a KTV machine should we have wanted to take things up a notch after dinner. 

Spit roast lamb is the name of the game on the menu and can be purchased as a whole lamb or a half lamb (RMB 1,999 whole, RMB 1,199 half). We found a half lamb was just about enough for 15 hungry diners, although you may want to supplement it with a few chuan'r (from RMB 6 per skewer). The lamb is served with pita-style breads, hot sauce, and a little dish of chili, cumin, and Sichuan pepper. Pro tip: grab a piece of the crispy skin as soon as the lamb hits the table and be sure to dip it in the accompanying spice mix. Once you've grabbed the choicest bits of meat a waiter will don disposable gloves and break down the bones so you can get every last morsel. 

Lamb aside, 99 Yurts offers a fairly wide range of Mongolian and northern Chinese dishes including cold appetizers, soups, and carbohydrates. Most of the dishes we ordered, in particular an interesting salad made with a type of wild onion (沙葱 shā cōng) native to Mongolia and hand-pulled noodles in a highly flavorful lamb broth, were tasty and well-executed. 

Drinks-wise, it's the standard range of Yanjing, baijiu, and soda, although they let us bring our own wine and spirits for a nominal surcharge.

Excellent lamb and other general merriment aside, a word must be said here for the truly fantastic service staff. They were truly helpful from the start, carting our (not insignificant amount of) booze from our car to our yurt, offering menu suggestions, and promptly dealing with requests to clear plates, add side dishes, etc. All the staff wear a badge with a QR code for you to scan and give them a tip – do it.

In sum, 99 Yurts should most definitely be your new favorite destination for birthdays, weddings, company parties, heck, anything that can justify a celebration. Go with a big appetite – for food and hijinks – and you won't leave disappointed.

99 Yurts
Daily 9.30am-10pm. 9 Yongtaizhuang Beilu, Mafang Cun, Dongsheng Xiang, Chaoyang District (6299 1888/6299 5888)
朝阳区东升乡马坊村永泰庄北路9号

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Photos: Robynne Tindall, Dazong Dianping