V Rating: Super V
Where: 23 Caoyuan Hutong, Bei Xiaojie, Dongzhimen Nei, Dongcheng District, Beijing.
Tel: 86 10 6405 2082
Price: Entree: 20-30 chinese yuan. Main: 30 - 60 chinese yuan

We only just found Baihe Vegetarian Restaurant. Like many good Beijing restaurants it is hidden down a hutong (alleyway). After our search on bicycles through the busy streets we were happily met by an oasis of calm, soothing background music and Buddhist literature.

We walked through a sunny courtyard and dining room before settling in a comfortable corner in a room at the back of the restaurant. We perused the menu to find a range of beautifully presented Chinese dishes with faux-meat substitutes. The menu is all in mandarin but photos are provided. We weren’t always exactly sure what we were ordering but it was unfailingly tasty each time!

On our first trip to this restaurant we had a light lunch of fresh salad with cucumber, capsicum and mint with a sesame oil dressing and tasty smoked firm tofu served with a chilli and sesame sauce and brown rice noodles with a chilli oil dressing. The tofu dish was a little oily, but still a refreshing change from the usual heavy, oil ladened chinese food I had eaten so far.

On subsequent visits we had more substantial meals with dishes such as faux-deep fried pork ribs (complete with pretend bone made of some soy product!) with a mushroom and pineapple sweet and sour sauce and stir fried pork sausage with fresh beans.

One clear stand-out dish was the somewhat mysterious, but utterly delicious, dish of mushroom chunks with a sweet apple and chilli sauce presented on a hot plate with roasted peanuts, dried chillis and spicy peppercorns. The flavours were strong and contrasted excellently with the burnt taste of the chilli, the sweet sauce and the peppercorns. I am not sure what type of mushroom was used as our mandarin phrasebook stopped short at simply “mushroom”. However, it was a firm textured mushroom that gave the dish a real meaty feel.

Baihe restaurant also serves freshly ground coffee and a large range of organic teas however these are relatively expensive from 20 yuan a cup.

- Anth of Temporary Dwellings

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