Aimo Town: Sour Spice and Rowdy Crowds, Yunnan Style

It’s certainly a healthy sign when a new restaurant has you waiting for a table on a Saturday night. We were just one group among a raucous mix of Chinese families, foreigners and arty types all munching merrily on affordable Yunnan dishes in this cozy Fangjia 46 restaurant. The colossal menu is geared towards groups; a big wooden bucket of fried rice gratin (RMB 15) was the ideal starchy partner to our tender suanla quanyu (酸辣全鱼, RMB 42) – a whole fish in a sour and spicy sauce. No meal should begin here without a dish of palate-cleansing bohe ye (pictured), crunchy mint leaves dressed in sesame oil (RMB 16). The staff struggled a bit under the weight of orders, but we were kept entertained by a table of tipsy opera students breaking into song at regular intervals.

Daily 11am-10pm. Bldg G, 46 Fangjia Hutong (just south of Guozijian Jie), Dongcheng District. (6400 1725) 埃蒙小镇. 东城区方家胡同46号艺术园区(国子监南临)G座

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