Lost Plate Food Tours: Not Just Any Other Hutong Walking Tour

Having lived in Beijing for over five years, and as an avowed food fanatic, I like to think I have a pretty good handle on the city’s dining scene. However, sometimes even I feel like I’m not making the most of everything Beijing has to offer my stomach, especially when it comes to Chinese cuisine. This feeling is exactly what motivated Brian Bergey and his partner Ruixi to start Lost Plate Food Tours in Xi’an two years ago. Having lived in Xi’an for a few years, they frequently heard complaints from visitors and tourists that it was difficult to find truly local dining experiences, especially with no Chinese ability. So, Brian and Ruixi set out on a mission to discover hidden gems and hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and bring them to a wider foodie audience. Now, after two years operating in Xi’an and Chengdu (Ruixi’s hometown), they have brought their tours to Beijing.

I joined Lost Plate’s signature Beijing hutong food tour on a chilly Friday night in October. Tour-goers are met at Yonghegong subway station by one of Lost Plate’s knowledgeable local guides and a fleet of rickshaws (well, more like one or two, since tours are limited to a maximum of nine people), stocked up with coolers of beer. The use of rickshaws is not just a clever gimmick; it allows the tours to cover much more ground than if visitors were on foot. So, during our tour, we zipped around Yongehegong and Zhangzizhong Lu, and as far south as Meishuguan.

The tour takes in four to five restaurants (I won’t name them here so you’ll still be surprised if you take the tour), the kind of down-home places packed with grizzled hutong residents that you always want to pluck up the courage to try but never quite get round to. Trust me though, this is some of the best food you can find in the hutongs. Highlights for me included my first ever plate of “door nail meat buns” (mending roubing), so-named because they resemble the gold door nails that grace the great red doors of the Forbidden City, and some of the best noodles I have ever had the good luck to consume, secreted away down a nameless alleyway in someone’s living room. Throughout each stop, Ruixi provided interesting and informative tidbits about the food and about Beijing in general, and the months they spent researching before launching the tours really show.

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Lost Plate’s new tour may be a great alternative activity to entertain visitors with, but we wouldn’t be surprised if even old Beijing hands find out something new about their adopted city. 

Lost Plate currently offer Beijing hutong food tours (RMB 450 per person) starting at 6.30pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Note that they offer 10 percent discount on your second (or third!) tour, including their Xi’an and Chengdu tours. To book, visit lostplate.com or email info@lostplate.com.

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Photos courtesy of Lost Plate, Robynne Tindall