soba

tried this "quaint" Soba joint in a local neighborhood. it came with a good review in one of Beijing's english magazines so we decided to give it a shot. the chef was trained in Hokkaido and Kyoto and the specialty was hand-made soba.
the soba was great! Robina's only complain was that the sauce was too salty. the helpful owner/chef promised that he can reduce the saltiness for Robina. we think that the chef had to accomodate to local tastes.
Robina ordered cold soba while I tried the soba with ribs. it was good with a light broth and tender ribs.
the other speciality was "jiaozi", Japanese-styled meat dumplings. actually in Japan it would be considered as Chinese food. I liked the Hokkaido jiaozi the best. gobbled them down too fast to snap a pic. btw, the chicken wings were good as well!

unfortunately the joint took over from a Hong Kong style cafe and retained the name. While we were there, people would wander in and when they discovered that the place was under new management, they would whine and complain. for crying out loud, complaining wouldn't make the owner change their menu in 5 seconds! one group spent 10 mins griping before they dragged their collective asses out of the place. since it was a small joint, Robina decided that it was no fun having a bunch of locals talking at the top of their voices behind our shoulders.

technorati tag:Beijing