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Great Chinese by the Police Station
TYPE: Northern Chinese HOURS: Lunch and dinner. But closed for the Chinese New Year which can be one month different from the Mongolian lunar new year. Check with your local lama. FACILITIES AND AMENITIES: One large dining room with functional rectangular tables for four. Capacity about 50 people. The staff would gladly put the tables together for larger groups, but the rectangular tables did seem a little "un-Chinese" to us. (Check the website for the report on the Hunter Hotel restaurant). The restaurant has a back room with a large, traditional round Chinese table for larger groups and special occasions. A stand up bar at one end of the dining room. On holidays (except Chinese new years), the restaurant offers music and dancing on its smooth red-tile floors with a rotating disco ball on the ceiling. They welcome dinner dancing.
ATTENDANCE: There were two people in the main dining hall when we arrived around 7 pm. They left soon, and we were left alone for the rest of the evening. There was a group of Mongolians in the back room with the round table. We suspect the restaurant may be busier at lunch with all the business that goes on in the "hood" at that time. So stop buy when you're getting building materials for your ger or checking in (or out) with the police. Reservations probably not necessary. But go with more than two people. It's more cost-effective simply to eat the food (see Cost below).
SERVICE: Fast and attentive. The manager came out and asked us how we liked each of our dishes. We gave her an honest assessment, saying that one of the soups we had was not very good. They didn't charge us for it when we paid the bill. MENU: Broad selection of dishes, as is expected in a Chinese restaurant. The menu is only in Chinese and Mongolian. There is absolutely no spoken or written English in this establishment, and perhaps for miles around. So bring someone who can speak/read Chinese or Mongolian or who is adept at sign language or contortionism. Or your favorite police officer from next door. It's essential to have communication skills, but it's definitely worth a visit. FOOD AND DRINKS: On the night of our visit, we had sweet and sour chicken, Chinese cabbage with mushrooms, beef with wood ears (a kind of fungus that grows on trees) and vegetables, fish ball soup and mixed vegetable soup along with steamed rice and mantou (steamed bread). The fish balls were made from fresh Mongolian white fish. Very good, according to Shel. The portions were ample, way beyond what we could consume (see Cost below). But your intrepid culinary cavaliers (only two of us with an occasional celebrity diner) feel we must attempt to taste a representative sample of the food in the obscure restaurants we visit, even if it causes a little heart burn or other discomforts the next day. But none on this night. Except for the dishwater soup (which the restuarant did not charge us for), we found the food fresh and very tasty, particularly the sweet and sour chicken and the cabbage/mushroom dishes. We both thought they were excellent. The restaurant does have the fabled Peking Duck. But they need some advance notice to prepare it. The manager says the Duck comes from (where else?) Beijing. But of course. We are not sure if it flies here on its own or takes Air China in a moribund state. But it is worth a try, especially since the migratory season for ducks will soon commence here in UB. For drinks, we had the usual tea and two different beers from China: Snow Beer (regular) and Landmark Beer (dark). Good beer and perhaps the only place in Mongolia you can get them. The nearest place to get Landmark Beer is in Henan Province in China. When we ate all we could eat, we thought it was all over. But then the manager brought us a bottle of Red Star Gaoliang and a ton of fried peanuts. ("Red Star"??---Is this some communist infiltration or distillation?). Gaoliang is basically high octane aviation fuel made from sorghum which will set your jets on fire if anyone is smoking in the vicinity. If not, it will simply fry your brains. Again, your explorers on the culinary frontier dutifully tried it. Actually, it was pretty smooth. Afterward, we took the remainder of the jet fuel to Cafe de France to sabotage some of their customers there, with some success. Doug left the Beijing Restaurant with the remnants of the delcious sweet and sour chicken in a Mongolian doggie bag. And Shel left only with a bag of fried peanuts. Is there any justice in this world? HYGIENE: Overall excellent and certainly in the main dining area. The restrooms were a bit of a minus. They looked clean, but they smelled like restrooms. Only one faucet was working in a sink for both guys and gals. There was a rusting hand drier which, surprisingly, worked. But most interesting was the hybrid toilets: a cross between Russian, Chinese and western approaches to these facilities. In some ways, these utilities reflect the crossroads of Asia and the West which converge in UB. But westerners will probably have to study the toilets a little before figuring out how to approach them. If you're not in a hurry, don't worry. It will come in due course.
RECOMMENDATION: Absolutely worth a try. Or, as the Guide Michelin says, "Ca vaut un detour". Of course, you have to find the place first. But the Beijing restaurant has good food at bargain prices with gracious, lovely hosts. Just brush up on your Chinese and Mongolian. Or, better yet, take some friends along who can deal with these languages and help you eat the food. RATING: 3.5 (getting toward an unreserved recommendation)
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APPEARANCE AND AMBIANCE: The main dining room was clean and bright with white lace curtains on the windows and nice table clothes on functional tables. This is a place to eat, not a place for a candle-light romance. A little bit "institutional" in its atmosphere. More like a canteen, but still very pleasant. Good Chinese restaurants don't worry about dim-lit ambiance. They care about food.
STAFF: One Mongolian waiter. Then, the lovely, leggy, long-haired manager of the restaurant (Ms Wang), who should be walking down a catwalk somewhere in this world. Born and bred in Mongolia. Her charming husband (Mr. Kuo). Their pretty daughter who was studying English at a table behind us. And a cook whom we didn't meet but could taste his presence. In short, charming, polite and gracious. Indeed, they piled things on at the end which we didn't even order. (See Food and Drinks below).
COST: A real bargain for good food. We paid T10,000 including drinks. We reckon 4 or even more people would have been satisfied by the servings we got. So, say $2/person (including drinks), maybe less. A backpackers delight.