Back for More: Hua's Restaurant

As a long-time resident of Beixinqiao, I have often bemoaned raucous, oil-slicked street Guijie, with its over-zealous sales people and cookie cutter crayfish restaurants. Hua’s Restaurant is here to prove me wrong. The flagship courtyard branch of Hua’s Restaurant on the north side of Guijie is a warren of spacious siheyuan and stately private rooms, staffed by courteous, silken-costumed staff. However, for all that potential pomp and circumstance, Hua’s still manages to retain the feeling of a local restaurant.

Hua’s proudly serves “new-style Beijing cuisine", the essence of which is written across many of the dishes. The signature Baye Roast Duck (RMB 168 for a whole duck), whose succulent meat and crisp skin is a match for any of Beijing’s best, is served with sticks of hawthorn jelly and cantaloupe alongside the usual cucumber and spring onions. The Sautéed Crisp Prawn in Savory Sauce (RMB 168), which thankfully comes with more than one prawn, displays a similar level of attention to detail.

Despite my remonstrations, it would be remiss to visit Guijie and not order at least a few ruby-red crayfish. At Hua’s they come in five flavors – boiled, garlic, dry-fried, thirteen spices and the ever-popular mala. Our constitutions not being made of stronger stuff, we plump for the garlic crayfish (RMB 8 each) and are rewarded with a steaming bowlful topped with a heaping mound of fried garlic. The garlic is unexpectedly mellow and dipping the peeled crayfish tails in the accompanying gravy yields a flavor not unlike garlic butter.

Hua’s Restaurant could have fallen into the same trap as other Guijie restaurants, choosing a rowdy, crowdpleasing atmosphere over quality, but instead they have created a refined dining experience that will keep you going back again and again.

Photos: Ken