Summer loving, had me a blast, summer loving, happened so fast…
And we know what happens next. Girl meets boy. (Or boy meets boy, or girl meets girl). They fall in love over tangerine bottles of fizzy Beibingyang and bowls of cold noodles soaked in spicy, sesame sauce. L’amour, Beijing style.
Cold noodles in Beijing are the feel-good snack of the summer – cheap, ubiquitous and mouth-watering even when the mercury maxes out past 100. From now until beyond the late August rains, roving street carts, road-side booths and mom ‘n pop eateries will be selling their spicy, salty, tangy, chewy offerings to all-comers, rich and poor.
Neighbouring Shaanxi province is the origin of Beijing’s beloved liangpi (literally ‘cold skin’, pictured above), sheets of wheat noodles (and less commonly rice noodles) sliced and served with chilli, sesame paste, vinegar, garlic, julienned cucumber and mianjin, a spongy wheat gluten. But there are other varieties of cold noodle dishes available too. Here’s some of our favourite nibbles, just for you.
Tang Ci Chongqing Xiao Mian 唐瓷 重庆小面
The CND du jour here is jisi liang mian (shredded chicken cold noodles) and boy she’s a humdinger. A tangle of chewy noodles is topped with sesame paste, chilli (the default is HEAPS so ask the friendly English-speaking proprietor to tone it down) and shredded chicken meat off the bone. It’s a light and summery plateful, served in retro ceramic bowls, perfectly washed down with a bottle of ice cold Beibingyang, the orangeade of long lost summers.
Best of all, this humble hutong eatery has commandeered a large chunk of pavement with rows of shaded white tables that wouldn’t look out of place on the beachfront promenades of the Cote d’Azur. Well, almost.
16 Xiang’er Hutong, 100 yards east of Beixinqiao subway station
Xiao Shan Wa 小陕娃
One of the best Shanxi eateries this side of the Taihang mountains, this busy joint near Meishuguan dishes up noodles and roujiaomo 24-hours a day. This unique, seasonal take on cold noodles is a beaut: wheat noodles (choose thick or thin), served with stewed pork, potatoes, carrots and crunchy soy beans, and topped with sesame paste, chilli oil and tangy dark vinegar, for your mixing pleasure.
21 Meishuguan Dong Dajie, 010 6402 9799
Huatian Yanji Restaurant 华天延吉餐厅
The locals have been cooling off with Korean-style cold noodles at this retro canteen since the days of the Japanese occupation. Opened by choaxian zu (Chinese of Korean origin) in 1943, the signature is Yanji-style cold noodles, slippery buckwheat noodles in an ice-cold savoury-sweet broth, topped with pork, apple slices and a boiled egg. Beloved by Beijing cabbies, it’s down-to-earth, noisy, smoky and great for people-watching.
181 Xisi Bei Dajie (close to Xisi subway stop, line 4), 010 6615 3293
Wei Jia Liang Pi 魏家凉皮
This fast-food chain from Shanxi province specialises in the region’s liang pi cold noodles. Its 20 or so branches in Beijing serve a trio of cold noodle options (our fave is the spicy variety topped with fresh red chillis and broccoli) as well as a frankly delicious roujiaomo.
The cheapest of the bunch, with all the ambience of a KFC. Get it to go!
24 Chunxiu Lu, 010 5123 3779
Hani Geju 哈尼个旧
One of our favourite summer treats at this MSG-free Yunnan restaurant is the liang mi xian, a cold dish of rice noodles dressed in a spicy soup topped with Yunnan pickles, sesame paste (and seeds), peanuts, garlic chives, chilli oil and garlic. Mix it yourself and scoff it down.
48 Zhonglou Wan Hutong (just southeast of the Bell Tower in Gulou), 010 6401 3318
About the author: Tom O’Malley is Propaganda Secretary at Bespoke Beijing. A lifestyle journalist, guidebook author, glutton and bon vivant, Tom is a tireless crusader for fine food, hospitality and tourist experiences in China’s capital.