Shangri-la Corridor in My Heart

Posted: August 6th, 2010 | Author: LumDimSum | Filed under: Charity, Foodies & Dining Scene | Tags: BCD Beijing Community Dinners, Mark Godfrey and Tzyy, Shangri-la Corridor In My Heart, Tibetan Food | No Comments »

About twice a month, Beijing Community Dinners are organized by Mark Godfrey and Tzyy at different restaurants around Beijing for groups of like-minded individuals to get together, learn about different NGOs/organizations, and are given an opportunity to contribute a donation while enjoying a night out tasting local flavors.

The last community dinner was held at Shangri-la Corridor in My Heart, an extraordinary little Tibetan restaurant on Deshengmen Street. From the ordinary exterior, I did not expect to walk into something so impressive. The restaurant has the set-up of an indoor courtyard with multiple private rooms around the exterior with a main dining space in the center facing a giant Tibetan painting.

As with most community dinners, the ordering is done in advance, so for most of the dinner, I had no idea what the dishes were and to be honest, even after asking the waitstaff to go over the dishes that were served, I am still not sure what some of the vegetables were as there was no written English anywhere and none of the staff could speak any English.  But here are some snapshots of most all the dishes we tried and a list of their Chinese names in Pinyin together with my guess as to what it is in English.

Pickled Radish & Beef – Suan Luo Bo Chao Mao Niu Rou (RMB 48)/Yellow & Brown Bean – Nai You Ren Sheng Guo (RMB 48)

Su You Chao Qing Ke - Brown Barley Dish (RMB 32)

Ji Xiang Su Hui, Mushrooms (RMB 28)/Kao Mao Niu Pai, Beef (RMB 98)

Shou Ba Yang Rou, Lamb (RMB 68), Tu Dou Ni Hui Mao Niu Rou, Mashed Potatoes (RMB 48)

Qing Ke You Mian Yu, Stir-fry Noodles (RMB 28)

At the end of our dinner, the restaurant provided us all with a bonus – some live entertainment aka a guy in Tibetan dress singing traditional songs.

After the in-house performance, BCD introduced the speaker of the evening – Bill Bleish, China Director of the The Bridge Fund (www.bridgefund.org).  Speaking about about The Bridge Fund’s programs and activities in Tibet, Bill is a familiar fixture in China’s environmental circles having served as China program director of Fauna & Flora International, the world’s oldest environmental conservation group, and Science Director of the China Exploration and Research Society.

A record turn-out with 36 people, we raised RMB 1,500 to go towards the Gendun Chophel Foundation for the community museum they are working on in Rebgong.

*The Bridge Fund is an organization dedicated to sustainable economic development, cultural heritage preservation, and environmental conservation on the Tibetan Plateau.

Review of Shangrila Corridor in My Heart 香各里拉走廊 : No 70 Deshengmennei Dajie香各里拉走廊德胜门内大街70号; Tel: 6406 2399.

Best Part:

• A beautiful, traditional indoor courtyard housed within the restaurant made for a very impressive design for a restaurant.
• Serves authentic Tibetan food incorporating staple local dishes and peculiar vegetables that were absolutely delicious.
• Prices are very reasonable (For the Community Dinner with about 40 people, everyone pitched in about RMB 60 each)
• I highly recommend the Suan Luo Bo Chao Mao Niu Rou – Pickled Radish with Beef (RMB 32) & Nai You Ren Sheng Guo – yellow & brown bean dish (RMB 48).
• Tibetan singing performance in traditional Tibetan dress was a treat to witness.

Comments:

• Not only is there is no English on the menu, there are no photos.  Their menu is hand written on script and after taking photos of each dish, I asked them to spell out the pinyin for each dish.  Needless to say, this would be a difficult task for someone who does not speak or read Chinese to order off the menu.  Luckily, the menu was not very lengthy and chances are high that whatever you do order will be really good.
• I recommend going in a group so that you can sample more of a variety.
• We were a massive group (36 people), but still, I did notice that there was no one else in the restaurant and I am certain we did not rent out the space for the BCD…and it was a Saturday night.

Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)

• Food: 9
• Atmosphere: 9
• Service: 7
• Overall Experience: 9

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