Inner Mongolia Provincial Government Restaurant: Mary Had a Lotta Lamb

Margaux Schreurs | Feb 1, 2017 9:00 am | Add a comment | 1964 reads

Following an intense debate over whether Inner Mongolia should fall under “I” for Inner Mongolia or “N” for Nei Menggu, we decided to stop procrastinating and just head over to Meishuguan Houjie one lunch time.

The menu consists mostly of hot pot (RMB 18 per individual pot of broth, with a choice of spicy, clear, mushroom or tomato) and the standard additions, with, as you might expect, a heavy focus on lamb. Diving straight in, we ordered two types: lamb meat from the hind legs and one meat from near the ribs. Both were of good quality and flavorful. Portions, which range in price from RMB 58 to 138, depending on the cut you are after, are also suitably sizeable.

Other hot pot trimmings offer the usual selection: fresh spinach, crispy cabbage, tofu, noodles, frozen dumplings, and large crispy slices of lotus root (RMB 8-28), paired with a sauce buffet which was nothing out of the ordinary except for a huge bowl of Bugles (the American potato chips kind). We happily dug in, only to find one of the Bugles was a little soggy, steering us clear of the snack section for the remainder of the meal.

Exploring the menu further, we found traditional Inner Mongolian shaomai (RMB 38 per basket), a lamb-filled variety as opposed to the usual pork. Larger than their southern Chinese cousins, the dough on these was thin and flaky at the top, and the lamb filling was juicy and tender. Even for someone who isn’t the biggest fan of lamb’s distinct taste (“what on earth are you doing at the Inner Mongolian Provincial Government Restaurant?” I hear you say – it’s all part of the job, folks) these were delicious, especially when dunked in a side helping of chili flakes and oil.

I hesitate to say that we were pleasantly surprised because that suggests that the food was actually good, when in reality, we had just heard and read so many terrible things that our expectations had been lowered to a point where it was almost impossible to still be disappointed. Would we really, really hate eating here again? No. But would we go back especially? No. Unless we had a sudden hankering for good meat and soggy Bugles.

Inner Mongolia Provincial Government Restaurant
Daily 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30-9pm. 2/F, Inner Mongolia Hotel, 71 Meishuguan Houjie, Dongcheng District (6401 4499)
内蒙古宾馆：东城区美术馆后街71号内蒙古宾馆二层

This article first appeared in the Jan/Feb 2017 issue of the Beijinger.