Sichuan Food and Sweet Booze on the Cheap at Drum Tower-Adjacent Kujin

It is a commonly held belief that Beijing university students rarely venture outside of Wudaokou for a night out, but as a former Beijing student myself, I know that a good portion of these young scholars are willing to travel at least as far east as that awkward intersection in front of the drum tower – the one that seems to form an arrow pointing southward toward Houhai, and is always bustling with a mixture of tourists and hutong dwellers. That is exactly where you will find Kujin, filled with a youthful crowd who have come for an enjoyable Sichuan dinner and drinks that won’t break the bank.

Kujin was opened by a small group of friends from Sichuan who managed to put together a pretty impressive menu of surprisingly cheap dishes, most of which are unsurprisingly spiced-up to the heavens. Yet while nothing we tried was all that bad, there is a definite feeling of you get what you pay for when the food hits the table. Take, for instance, the bullfrog (RMB 48), which you'd find practically melting off of the bone at a pricier restaurant like the Sichuan chain Yuxiang, but here remains chewy and requires a bit of gnawing.

It is a bit harder to get a classic roast chicken wrong, however, and at RMB 58 for half a bird, this is perhaps the best value in the joint, complete with vinegar and spices for dipping. If that sounds a bit boring, perhaps it might stimulate your cerebellum to eat that very part of a pig – braised pork brain goes for RMB 26. If you've never been brave enough to try it, brain is like a very soft tofu and here comes topped with chives.

A separate drink menu attempts to push what it calls fruit sake, which is not actually the Japanese liquor but rather the bar’s own variant: Chinese fruit wine. Kept on tap and beautifully presented, these little bottles look tempting, but unless you're accustomed to drinking half-pints of melted Starburst, you may find some of the flavors rather on the sweet side. There are plans to clear some of the taps for beer in the summertime, though for now, the only beer option is Great Leap’s Silver Needle, which isn’t a bad choice at all.

The restaurant itself is quite spacious, with upstairs seating for group dinners and diner bar-style tables downstairs, ideal for lunching on the dry noodles (RMB 18-28), which are another dish that we can recommend in good faith.

Overall, if you happen to find yourself at the drum tower, Kujin will provide a more than satisfactory meal, as long as you are careful to order the right choices.

Kujin
Daily, 11.30am-2pm; 5-10.30pm. 12 Di'anmenwai Dajie, Dongcheng District (8401 0243)
苦尽酒馆：东城区地安门外大街12号

READ: The Ultimate Guide on Where to Eat Dumplings in Beijing

Images: Dianping, Joey Knotts