I just found out tonight that there is a Nathan's (apparently more than 1 in Beijing) at Dongzhimen and took the bus and subway there an hour and a half to satisfy my craving for a hot dog. I had the super burger, chili cheese dog, fried onion dog, french fries, 2 chicken wings and 2 lemonades. It was well worth it. By no means the best hot dog I've ever had, the hot dogs were good, and the burger was actually maybe even better than the dogs. The one weiner in my chili cheese dog actually seemed a bit tough and chewy like it was lying around for a few hours instead of just grilled. The fries were nice, wings were good (really good sauce!) and lemonade was the tops! I'll definitely go back for my next hot dog craving! Thank you Nathan's! All in all 4/5 stars
Hot Diggety Dog: Nathan's Famous in Dongzhimen
This weekend, As New York remembered the momentous events of a decade ago, a tiny corner of Coney Island marked its own, admittedly less monumental, milestone: the opening of the first Nathan’s Famous restaurant in downtown Beijing. If anything, this captures well what the editorials of various newspapers have been reminding us all week ... life goes on.
According to the blurb on the tray mats, Nathan’s Famous was a humble hot dog stand founded by a Polish immigrant in 1916. Today it’s a global fast food empire, shifting half a billion franks last year. The company website claims “Nathan’s has gained reputation for being among the highest quality hot dogs in the world.” Isn't "high quality hot dog" an oxymoron? Forget about it.
The restaurant is in the basement level food court of Raffles City Mall on the south west corner of Dongzhimen Bridge. For the look and feel of the place, think Fatburger, add in a wall photo of the NYC skyline and a photo of the original hot dog stand, and you’ve got it down. How you doin'?
I can confidently claim that the chilli cheese dog I consumed here this very morning is among the highest quality hot dog I have ever eaten … in Beijing. This week. Beginning Monday. Actually it was alright, for a hotdog. Chilli was a little spicy. Oodles of cartoon cheese goo. Wiener reassuringly dark and solid. Bread was a successful blend of flour, yeast, and what-not. Fries are kinda strange - over-sized crinkle-cut sticks of mash potato with a crispy edge. Ketchup is the nasty Chinese sachet variety – they wouldn’t suffer that in Coney Island.
If franks or burgers aren't your thing, there's lots more to choose from on the menu. Philly cheese steak, lobster salad roll, fish and chips, New England clam chowder, and, best of all, even draft beer. Meal deals are well-priced, with the basic hot dog, fries and a drink at RMB 27 – bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink is RMB 40. Badabing.
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Ok, new update. No problems with food quality: still good. But the other day they were passing out delivery menus. We got one, and that menu says they have delivery from 10am to 9:30pm. We called about 8:30pm this evening to see about the delivery, only to get a lecture from one of the staff about how we shouldn't call for dinner...during DINNER TIMES. Apparently, they can MAYBE deliver before lunch and in the middle of the afternoon, but if you want lunch at lunch, or dinner at dinner you're out of luck because they don't have enough people.
So...that attitude of, "yeah, we said 10-9:30, but it's not convenient so we won't" is fairly typical for around here, but something a brand like Nathan's really needs to get worked out fast. Hire more people for busy times, negotiate with a delivery service like jinshisong.com, or stop advertising delivery.
@bluefish: As a representative of Nathan's Famous China, I would like to personally thank you for your support of both our brand and our food! You clearly know the original Nathan's Famous from Coney Island as America’s oldest and most iconic fast food restaurant chain since 1916, you know our hot dogs are made from 100% beef, you know our chili is supposed to have a KICK, and you know that our cheese is imported cheese that is meant to be rich, thick cheesey-goodness! Thank you for coming to our rescue and for telling how it really is! You ROCK!
@jehey: It is our highest priority to immediately resolve the "smokey" issue at Nathan's. As we have just opened a few weeks ago, there have been some technical difficulties we are working on and we hope to resolve this issue ASAP. We apologize for any inconvenience or discomfort caused, but please understand that this is of our highest priority and regards to your "laowai manager" comment, we do not have a manager who is foreigner so perhaps you mistook one of our customers for a manager?
went there yesterday to try the place out. food was ok.
the only bad thing there is the smoke coming from the kitchen. you leave the place smelling , err smoking!.
noticed the laowai manager (maybe) was there, but funny he didn't notice the smoke? too busy impressing on his zhongguoren minions perhaps.
HA. That was funny. No, not Nathan. Just a New Jersey-ian tired of being charged $15 for a "hot dog" that tastes like sewer and leaves you hungry. That No More Bunz place by the Canadian embassy is actually also really good, but with no seating and being closed on the weekend, it leaves some things to be desired.
Today I went to visit Nathan's Famous to see if it really was just ok, or if this reviewer just didn't know what a Coney Island hot dog should be like. The problem seems to be the latter. Many who review pizza, for example, seem to refuse to acknowledge that their are many different types of pizza (Italian, New York, Chicago, Deep dish, etc), and that just because you prefer a wood-fired Italian pizza to a huge, thick pepperoni-covered New York slice doesn't mean that some place's New York style pizza isn't great. The same problem seems to be at work here.
The question (no matter what the restaurant's claims about being the best hot dog in the world) is not whether there's a better hot dog somewhere in Beijing. The question is, does this restaurant serve food that is a reasonable re-creation of the American Northeast boardwalk junk food we remember so fondly and sometimes miss?
I submit that it is. The hot dog is bang on. It's clearly a Nathan's dog, which is quite a different thing from the Hormel garbage most readily available around here. The first and main ingredient is beef (that's what makes it "reassuringly dark"), then water, and then less than 2% of salt, preservatives and natural flavoring like paprika. A health food? Of course not, but it's not supposed to be. (Try to find out what's in other Beijing restaurants' hot dogs) And all for a LOT cheaper, too. (*Ahem* Blue Frog)
The chili is a tad spicy...it's SUPPOSED to be that way. That tasteless paste spread on the "hot dogs" at Dairy Queen or Blue Frog is not chili. And the cheese is boardwalk, Coney Island cheese. It's also supposed to be that way. It's a very specific kind of cheese. You don't eat it on gourmet crackers with wine. You pour it over dogs and chips.
The lemonade is also very good. It tastes just like what you sip as you wander around the boardwalk, trying to decide whether it's worth it to go for that big stuffed bear for your girlfriend.
The fries are also spot on: good fry, just crispy enough, good potato flavor in the soft middle and not too much or too little salt. They're only "strange" if your benchmark for fries is McDonalds.
The plain burger is not what is advertised in the pictures, or what is normal at a Nathan's. Don't expect any onions, lettuce or tomato on it, despite what it looks like on the menu. But considering how you get a minor case of the trots every time you eat lettuce on a Beijing burger, this is probably just as well. The beef itself is decent–tastes like beef. The pickles are good, and it hasn't got too much ketchup (though some mustard would be nice).
The decor is nice, and the booths where you can plug in your own Mp3 player or iPad and entertain yourself is a nice touch, if ultimately fruitless. The service was very good, too, and the packaging for take away will keep things together and warm.
If you like this kind of food: American ballpark, boardwalk, amusement park type food, then go to Nathans. But, even if you want a good hot dog, you can still go to Nathan's. If you're craving a hot dog and want one made from real beef, not mystery meat, and with chili that tastes like something, and for less than 80RMB, go to Nathans.