Spice It Up: Three Hot & Spicy Dishes to Try in Sanlitun

It was warming up, and now it’s cold again, but if you’re looking for a bit of respite from the cumbersome chill, one way to heat up is to light up your taste buds with some hot and spicy nosh. What follows is three places in the Sanlitun ‘hood where you can find the hottest of the hot for your next chili-laden adventure.

Mutton Vindaloo & Chicken Chukka Varuval at Dastaan

We couldn’t decide what was hotter between these two dishes, which can be found at what’s arguably one of the best Indian restaurants in the capital, Dastaan. The first, a lamb vindaloo (RMB 88), is pretty straightforward: a Goan-style dish featuring tender mutton cooked in a spicy masala curry; the latter (RMB 68) is a South Indian-style dish consisting of spicy chicken with fresh curry leaves. Try these if you’re looking for a kick on your next curry run.

Dastaan Indian Restaurant
3/F, Sanlitun SOHO 5 Shopping Mall, 8 Gongti North Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工体北路8号三里屯SOHO5号上场3层
Phone: 15001358663

Mango Habanero Ribs at Home Plate BBQ

Debuted last year, this rack of pork ribs comes coated in a special treat: a barbecue sauce made with habanero chili pepper – one of the hottest peppers out there, topping out at 100,000 to 350,000 scovilles – tampered down a bit by the addition of a sweet hit of mango. Available at RMB 105 for 250g of meat, this is a flavor combo not to miss. What's more, they'll be dishing out mango habanero ribs at our upcoming Spicy Fest, so you can try it there as well!

Home Plate BBQ (Sanlitun branch)
106, 1F, Bldg 10, Courtyard 4, Gongti North Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工体北路4号10号楼一层106号
Phone: 400-096-7670

Hot Bull Demon King Noodles at Yang’s Beef Noodles

This bowl of noodles (火爆牛魔王拌面 Huǒbào Niúmówáng bànmiàn in Chinese), is as hot as advertised – maybe even hotter than that. Coming topped with fried beef and piled high with dried chili peppers, it’s the kind of hot that cranks it up right away and doesn’t let off for the rest of the meal (we tried it and cried… tears of joy of course). Available in either Explosive Hot (爆辣 Bào là, RMB 36) or Smokey Spicy (冒烟辣 Mào yān là, RMB 38), which is arguably the spiciest of the two.

Yang’s Beef Noodles 杨小涛跷脚牛肉面
1335, B1 Sanlitun SOHO, 8 Gongti North Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工体北路8号三里屯SOHO商场B1

READ: Save the Date! Hot and Spicy Festival 2023 is Heating Things Up Apr 14-16

Images: Unsplash, Dianping, courtesy of the venues