Alleyway Gourmet: Bei 27 Hao

UPDATE: BEI 27 HAO HAS SINCE MOVED TO NALI PATIO. CLICK HERE FOR THE UPDATED DIRECTORY.

There is much to be said for home cooking, but we all can accept that there are those dishes where the effort belies the outcome. Gansu province’s famous niangpi is one such dish. The procedure for making niangpi aims to extract two different starches (one a gluten rich spongy dough, one a slippery noodle) from one ball of wheat-flour dough, through a lengthy process of washing, straining, separating and steaming. It’s all far too much to accomplish within the confines of a tiny Beijing kitchen.

Thankfully, you can instead head to Bei 27 Hao. Sequestered in a quiet lane behind trendy Taikoo Li North, the deceptively simple storefront conceals a well thought-out concept within a fashionably minimalist interior. A step above the usual alleyway dining it might be, but thankfully the prices haven’t followed the upward trend. A plate of Lanzhou niangpi (兰州酿皮, RMB 18) initially looks too small to satisfy, but the thick noodles and sesame-chili dressing quickly fill you up. Ask for the noodles lightly spiced or cool down your taste buds with a chilled Beibingyang orange soda (RMB 6). The prodigious portion of saozi noodles (姥姥家臊子面, RMB 26), studded with chunks of carrot, potato and pork, is too hot to handle in the sticky summer heat. Better to huddle over a bowlful in the depths of winter.

Don’t expect to find many vegetables on the menu here. Instead, accessorize your carbs with carbs, and order a fragrant slice of glutinous rice cake (香糯年糕, RMB 16) dripping with honeyed syrup, which manages to find the perfect balance between sickly and refreshing. Who says less is more?

Bei 27 Hao
Tue-Sun 11.30am-10pm. Bldg 27, 1/F Sanlitun Beilu, Chaoyang District (8418 5849)
北27号: 朝阳区三里屯北27号楼1层
1km northwest of Tuanjiehu station (Line 10)

Photo: Ken