Stone Kitchen Brings Classic Guilin Rice Noodles and More to The Crib

Sometimes we wonder how many more restaurants will be able to fit in the Crib, the fancy food court perched on Chunxiu Lu. The answer is more, many many more, and after having heard waves of positive chatter, it seems like Stone Kitchen, located on the first floor, is the complex's hottest new restaurant.

Specializing in Guilin mifen (米粉), or rice noodles, Stone Kitchen offers an upgraded version of the 10 kuai kind often found at cheap eateries around Beijing. Mifen, much like the iteration found at Stone Kitchen, is traditionally made with rice noodles, paired with brine made with fennel, bay leaves, star anise, cloves, orange peel, peppercorns, and other herbs, and topped with marinated beef, sausage, deep-fried soybeans, and pickled beans. Here, they also provide a subpar bowl of lukewarm soup, which unfortunately only distracted from the otherwise flavorful, sour, and spicy bowl of noodles at hand.

The set (RMB 50) includes a bowl of noodles and a plate of pig's feet (what a match!), which proved quite boney and chewy and were just about saved by the rich layers of flavor courtesy of Stone Kitchen's special marinating process.

Just like at a legit mifen eatery that you might find in Guilin, Stone Kitchen also has an onion oil rice set, sticks of deep-fried beancurd, marinated chicken feet, marinated pig's ears, and chicken wings. All in all, Stone Kitchen didn’t fail to meet the expectations we'd place on a classic Guilin rice noodle joint and although the price of RMB 25 for a bowl might be slightly higher than what you'd find down south, it’s worth the extra spend for those wanting to save the trip.

Stone Kitchen
Daily 10am-10pm. 1/F, The Crib, 1 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District (150 1095 0695)
石头食堂 · 石匠私厨：朝阳区工体北路1号育膳房1楼

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Photos: Tracy Wang