Brusque Bakers Finally Sweeten Their Approach With Dàotián Rìjì
Ordering at Daoxiangcun, a time-honored Beijing local pastry shop, can be scary for expats – the indifferent staff, the bad-tempered customers behind you, the over-the-counter style that really tests your Chinese language level and courage, all make it a hot potato. But ever since fellow popular Chinese bakery chain Wedome launched its first unmanned 24-hour intelligent store at Chaoyangmen, we were left wondering if other long-running brands like Daoxiangcun would adopt slicker stylings, or stick with their tried and true ruggedness.
Despite its famously old-school ambiance, Daoxiangcun is never complacent when it comes to its menu. In fact, it often releases new items, with recent hits being pig shaped mooncake-esque pastries, floss cakes, and even matcha scones. Recently, the company has taken such innovation a step further by opening a brand new sister bakery called Dàotián Rìjì that serves freshly baked pastries, allows customers to pick their favorites from the counters, pair with tea drinks, sit down, and enjoy their sweet treats.
Providing traditional Chinese pastries in a smaller size, Dàotián Rìjì also serves creative desserts, such as durian tarts, and dragon fruit roll cakes (RMB 16). The latter features a smooth and fluffy chiffon-cake with a marble pattern, while the center is brushed in sweet whipped cream with diced dragon fruit and jello. It was not half bad, and certainly exceeded our expectations. They also offer several mooncake like desserts with mung bean fillings and runny coffee, condensed milk, or mango fillings. When you cut them open, their centers will oozy out enticingly.
Among the Chinese pastries, our favorite was the laopo bing (老婆饼, RMB 3.5). Its layers of flakey and buttery pastry and sweet red bean filling make it a decent afternoon snack for your office table. To pair with these decadent pastries, there are several tea drinks, such as jasmine sparkling tea, or rose pu’er cheese tea (RMB 22). The drawback is there’s no choice of sugar content, the default being full sugar. The cheese cover, meanwhile, tasted slightly savory and minty to the point of resembling toothpaste, so we recommend ordering their sour plum drink (suanmeitang, 酸梅汤) or pure tea (RMB 35-45 a pot) instead.
In comparison to the other downtown establishments, Dàotián Rìjì is much more affordable. Maybe that was why it was packed with locals on the weekday afternoon we stopped by. Currently, there’s a daily discount of 20 percent off after 8pm. To make it even better, five or nine pastries will get you a nice package for free, which makes it a decent gift for your friends and family. It all amounts to a fresh twist on Daoxiangcun, while remaining affordable and free of pretense.
Dàotián Rìjì
Daily 10am-9pm. 5/F, Aegean Mall, 12 Qisheng Zhongjie, Chaoyang District (6420 3600)
稻田日记：朝阳区七圣中街12号院爱琴海购物公园5层
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Photos: Tracy Wang
