Beijing Cuisine With a Modern Twist Comes to Shuangjing's Shijiu
The name of Shuangjing's latest contemporary Beijing restaurant, Shijiu (拾久), is a play on words. While its respective characters are homonyms of "poetry" and "wine", together they mean "picking up the old taste.” Duan Yu, the talented chef behind Haidian's Bo Jing Xuan (check out our impressions of that venue here), has now opened an industrial-feel restaurant with a Chinese twist. The decor is reminiscent of Sanlitun’s Hidden City given that they both occupy old factory spaces, and features uncovered brick, a spacious interior with high ceilings and large round tables, and white and grey walls. Chandeliers and contemporary paintings save the restaurant from feeling cold and ducks line the open kitchen, ready to be devoured by patrons.
The menu takes a home-style bent to Beijing dining, albeit one spruced-up so as to be fitting for the comparatively lavish setting. Prime examples include the Peking duck, jellyfish in soy sauce, braised pig's feet (RMB 49), tangyoubing (RMB 13, deep-fried pancake), youtiao (RMB 13, deep-fried batter), and traditional sweets.
For the starter, we had the hairtail seasoned with balsamic vinegar (RMB 59), each mouthful and crisp and tart slice rolled up and deep-fried to give a crisp texture. The sweetness of the balsamic finely balanced out the umami of the fish, the nuttiness of sprinkled white sesame and the freshness of cilantro. This dish brought back childhood memories for me; My Nana use to make a variation of this classic, much to my family's delight.
The roast duck (RMB 129 for half) is one of the dishes here that will leave you in awe. The roast duck was sliced with precision tableside and served under a lid with jasmine smokes wafting out. Accompanying the duck was a traditional Chinese wooden box filled with goodies, a rose-infused sugar, soy paste, pickled radish, shallots, and thinly sliced cucumber. The two conventional ways of eating the duck are wrapping it in the pancake or dipping the duck skin in sugar. Another way would be to place fried duck pieces with mushroom and pine seeds on a slice of endive -- the taste was divine. The fatty duck paired well with the light and crunchy leaf. Stir-fried Chinese cabbage with prawn (RMB 66) was also a favorite of ours. It is a simple dish, letting the produce speak for itself.
For those who can still fit in a desert, there is candied durian (RMB 59). Thinly slicing durian, covered in a crust, deep-fried, and coated with piping-hot sugar, served on a wobbly skewer makes this a striking dish. Luckily the durian didn’t have an overpowering flavor; This is Shijiu's take on the famous local snack tanghulu (candied hawthorn, 糖葫芦). Meanwhile, the foie gras with hawthorn (RMB 29) was aesthetically pleasing. The rich foie gras was wrapped in hawthorn sheets, and the two ingredients are an unusual but surprisingly perfecting pairing. If you like to go for something more traditional, try the wandouhuang (豌豆黄, RMB 19). The flakey pastry has a smooth and bean-y mung bean paste filling and is covered in slices of dried persimmon.
No fancy foams or techniques bog down the proceedings here, just beautiful-cooked local dishes to enjoy. Better still, it doesn't burn a hole in your pocket. No wonder it was packed after a soft opening a week before our visit. So make sure you make a reservation before going to this Shuangjing gem.
Poetry. Wine (Shijiu)
Daily 10am-10pm. 61 Dongsanhuan Zhonglu, Chaoyang District (Opposite Melody KTV) (8777 4388)
拾久：朝阳区东三环中路61号（麦乐迪对面）
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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang, Dianping
