Shunxing Chuancai: A Paradise of Sichuan Snacks

This established high-end teahouse-restaurant chain from Chengdu builds on its success in Sichuan by expanding to the capital city. The restaurant is housed in a huge four-floor building east of Shuangjing, with a slate-gray brick facade reaching to the skies and a grand wooden entrance in the style of an ancient Chinese gate leading you to a world of Sichuan culture.

This busy space attracts a local crowd whose expense accounts can absorb the hefty prices of the dishes featured in the first part of the menu – specialties from both land and sea cooked in Sichuanese style. In contrast, the Sichuan snacks presented on the last few pages are real bargains, with down-to-earth prices and up-to-expectation authenticity.

Set menus start at RMB 88, with a collection of over ten kinds of Sichuan snacks including dan dan noodle (担担面), Sichuan sticky rice balls (三大炮), Chengdu egg pancake (蛋烘糕) and rice cake wrapped in banana leaves (叶儿粑) – all must-tries if you’re visiting Chengdu. Natives of the city would tend to order dishes that are perhaps less spicy than you’d expect, but classically Sichuanese in taste. Try the savory steamed rice in bean soup (豆汤饭 RMB 8), the cloud-soft tianfu beancurd (天府豆花 RMB 5) and refreshing spinach salad in ginger sauce (姜汁菠菜 RMB 16). Get familiar with these and you’re truly on the path to becoming a true Chengdu gourmand.

Aside from the traditional Sichuan cuisine, Shunxing also offers Sichuan-style tea, Sichuan opera, face-changing performances and other folklore attractions inherited from its Chengdu ancestors.

Shunxing Chuancai 顺兴川菜
Daily 11am-9.30pm. Bldg 3, Courtyard 16A, Xi Dawang Lu, Chaoyang District (8795 8288)
朝阳区西大望路甲16号院3号楼