Hot on Dianping: Baked Lamb Leg, Curry Chicken, and Crab Fat Rice

We're bringing back Hot on Dianping, a semi-regular blog series where we introduce the restaurants that are whipping up hype on China’s favorite review app: Dazhong Dianping.

Baked lamb leg at Shi Liu Hong Le

This Xinjiang specialty has been making the rounds on Dianping lately – lamb leg baked in thin traditional flatbread with a large bone sticking out of it, making the whole thing look like a big foot. The roof of the bread is cut open, revealing the juicy meat slices within and allowing diners to pick at it and dip it in Xinjiang spice powder (RMB 218).

This dish is available at a few places in Beijing, but netizens are really digging the variation at Shi Liu Hong Le, a restaurant in Haidian not far from Mudanyuan. Another dish of theirs that caught some traction on Dianping is the beef and crystal shrimp balls served on clam shells (RMB 79).

Curry chicken bun at Wei Lai

Xicheng restaurant Wei Lai is a hot spot for spicy food, particularly fish covered in peppers, but recently it’s Curry Chicken Bun (RMB 68) has caught the eye of netizens for its updated breading. Previously, the curry was served in a standard bread bowl, but that’s now been revamped to a flakier bowl that breaks apart easily, transforming the dish into a veritable finger food as diners tear it apart and eat it piece by piece.

Crab fat rice at Hing Tai HK Café

Netizens have praised this café for its authentic Hong Kong flavor, thanks to the head chef who studied there. It’s known for well-executed delicacies like the spilling cream cake (RMB 28) and drunken oysters (RMB 48). One of the most fun to be watched served, netizens agree, is the crab fat rice (RMB 48) with the sauce poured flat over the white rice, allowing to absorb its juices. The flavor is on the bitter side, though, and may be more reminiscent of fish than crab.

Sweet potato bread at Dotcom Bakery

It seems that Dotcom bakery at Sanyuanqiao has been keeping things interesting with seasonal twists on their loaves. Most popular among netizens recently has been the sweet potato bread (RMB 22), which rather than flavoring the whole dough with sweet potato offers large chunks of the tuber along with bits of seeds and cream cheese.

READ: Mosto Daily Lunch Returns, Fondue Party, New Winter Dishes at Daruma and Qu Lang Yuan

Images: Dianping