Gulou | The Times of the 80s Youth
While this Guijie area restaurant can be hard to find, perseverance pays off with a plateful of succulent wings and a chat with the most charming grandmother/hostess in Beijing. This hutong café serves several types of chicken wings (¥4), all glazed with the perfect amount of sauce. The spicy wings were our particular favorite. While we prefer our arms and elbows cooked a tad crisper, if saucy wings are what you crave, then The Times are for you. Other Granny-recommended dishes include the mashed potatoes with gravy (¥15) and grilled bread (¥1).
Find it: Beixinqiao Jiangfang Dong Jiadao No. 12, 青春年代, 北新桥酱坊东夹道12号, Tel: 6404-0201
Wangfujing | Crescent Moon
Crescent Moon is the ideal compromise for chuan’r-loving foodies whose friends tend to favor more conventional restaurant fare. The wings (¥12) are spiced with the traditional cumin and red pepper seasoning and grilled to form a sinfully crunchy exterior. While the wings may not come from the plumpest of chickens, they are consistently well-roasted and utterly addictive. Other popular choices include the fried bread with lamb pieces (¥28) and the nail sized noodles (¥15) in a savory tomato sauce. Don’t skip the house-made yogurt or the dark Xinjiang beer.
Find it: 16 Dongsi Liutiao, 弯弯月亮, 东四六条16号, Tel: 6400-5281
Gulou | Hot Bean Cooperative
Founded by four young entrepreneurs, Hot Bean Cooperative has a hipster feel that brings trendy locals and in-the-know expats back for the best wings in Beijing. Our rooftop table allowed us to enjoy a refreshing breeze that simply demands big bottles of beer and a bucketful of wings (¥4 per skewer). Though Hot Bean offers different degrees of spicy, it was our moral responsibility to try the “biantai la” version—we highly suggest you order the grilled bread to pair with these “perversely spicy” wings. The tomato-flavored and Korean-style wings were exceptional, but the spicy honey wings were our hands-down favorite.
Find it: Chaodou Hutong, Jiaodaokou Nandajie, 炒豆合作社, 交道口南大街炒豆胡同, Tel: 8401-6165
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What is the address or district, I'm not familiar with 小西天牌楼, but I'd like to get to know these wings better!
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BJP! How could you forget 西门鸡翅?? Located right outside west gate of Peking U. They have great wings, great stir-fried 饼, and a host of other GREAT stuff!
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I admit, the wings are good, but the dirty tables and the saucers they give you in place of plates gets an F- in my book. Why not try out Hot Bean Coop during the break? The Missus could probably stomach the BianTaiLa. The spicy mashers were pretty good too!
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Not to mention the loads of MSG they put on everything, but thats to be expected at most places in China. But you know me, if its not a "at most 20 minutes walk from my house" then it better be some good home-cookin for my lazy a** to leave my house!!! ;)
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#68 on 交道口南大街 is by far the best of the best. i kinda hope you never find out about it though bc its only got 3 tables.
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Check out this NYtimes article on MSG. It's harmless and delicious. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/dining/05glute.html?pagewanted=2&sq=MSG,%20the%20Secret%20Behind%20the%20Savor&st=cse%22&scp=1 excerpt: "In 1995 the Food and Drug Administration issued a large-scale review by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, clearing glutamates as a health risk for the vast majority of consumers. An international research review in 1987 by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations had come to the same conclusion."
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Frankly, I don't really mind MSG, as long its a compliment to food and not a mask for bad ingrediants or poor kitchen skills. Then again, I guess the same can be said of batterfrying--any common technique that makes snickers, squid and bananas taste good can't really be natural, can it?
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@wbnchina--what is your favorite wing flavor there? Do you have any other dishes you would recommend?
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they have 4 flavors 未啦(wei la) which is very good 原味儿 (yuan wei r) is the best, 单面 （ dan mian) which is one side spicy, also very good and 双面 (shuang mian) two side spice which is HOT but yummy. the 拍黄瓜 is great as well. they really dont have anything else ive tried, the wings and beer are enough!
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The best chicken wing in Beijing for me is right down the street where I live. 巷口烤翅，小西天牌楼向西300米。