Nathan’s New Salad Wraps & Jinshisong Delivery

Most of you who follow LumDimSum.com know that I am always looking for a healthier option (should a healthy option be available) whenever I’m eating out.

So instead of stuffing myself with Nathan’s 100% pure beef hot dogs and chili cheese fries multiple times per week, I am now stoked to be eating (and sharing with you) their newest menu items: 3 New Savory Salad Wraps!

Available in three flavors: Spicy Chicken Tender Salad Wrap, Phillycheese Steak Salad Wrap and a warm, buttery imported Lobster Sensation Wrap (my personal favorite), these are hands-down my new go-to menu items!

Aside from being a healthier choice, these wraps are so freaking good and such great value – priced at RMB 15-25 if ordered alone and if you want to be extra healthy, you can also switch out the side of Nathan’s crinkle cut fries for a bowl of steamed corn (another favorite of mine) and a drink for only RMB 27-37 for a complete combo meal.

For those who prefer to eat in the comfort of your home, Nathan’s is now partnering up with Beijing’s Best Delivery Service - Jinshisong Delivery!

To get Nathan’s delivered straight to your door, just call 4000300517 or you can even order directly online and save the headache of speaking to anyone over the phone: Click here to order Nathan’s on Jinshisong’s website.

Aside from Nathan’s, Jinshisong also delivers many other great restaurant options including:

• Kro’s Nest
• Blue Frog
• Hatsune
• Flamme
• Union Bar & Grill
• Karaiya Spice House
• Kagen Japanese Restaurant
• Colibri Cafe
• Biteapitta
• Crepanini
• La Pizza

And the list of restaurants continues…check out full list of restaurants here.

Nathan’s Famous Contact Details: 

• Dongzhimen Raffles City Branch 

• Address: Raffles City Shopping Mall B1-07, No.1 Dongzhimen South Street, Dong Cheng District, Beijing
• Hours: 8:30AM-10:00PM

• Wanliu BHG Mall

• Address: Beijing Wanliu Shopping Mall, No. 2 BaGou Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing (Located just outside of Ba Gou Subway Stop, the last stop on Line 10)
• Hours: 9:30AM-9:30PM

• Mastercard (Wukesong) Stadium

• Address: No.69 Fuxing Road, Haidian District
• Open for events

Wu Loves Lush

I admit that this was my very  first time to Lush.  And before this weekend, I had only been out to the Wu once in the 5 years I’ve been in Beijing.  I have nothing against Wudaokou, but it is student-central and it’s a RMB 60+ cab ride from my Chaoyang hood.

Before going into Lush, I had pinned it down as something similar to the student hang-outs in Sanlitun like Nanjie, Kai Bar, Shooters…I was not expecting to stumble upon such a cool joint!  Lush is open 24/7 and it is packed 24/7 - mostly with students but the vibe is chill and full of energy at the same time.  I realize these are too opposites, but yet it works.  People are chilled-out while still having a great time because they feel at home when they come to Lush. I even overheard someone telling their friend that they call Lush their second home.

Located up the stairs from a bookstore, the staircase is lined with fun polaroid photos of party people and inside, the tables are full, the vibe is buzzing, the drinks are strong, the food is good, everything is half the price of Sanlitun/CBD and I instantly understand exactly why Lush is a Wu institution that continues to reign supreme in this student-run neighborhood.

Inconspicuous Exterior:

Coffee-drinking study spot by day and lively hangout by night, Lush is known for their great breakfast options, giant burgers, delectable desserts and amazing drink deals like their daily happy hour from 8-10PM with buy 2 get 1 free, bucket of 7 Tsingtao for RMB 70.

LumDimSum Snapshots of Lush’s Food:

Tofu Burger with smoked tofu, sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes and onions (RMB 45)

Lush Original Burger with a thick patty and carmelized red onions (RMB 50)

Check out theBeijinger review of this burger here.

Giant Chicken Caesar Wrap (RMB 30)

The “Cure-All” Hot Drink with Lemon, Ginger and Honey (RMB 20)

There you have it – Lush serves the food better than Blue Frog, Union Bar & Grill and many of the popular Sanlitun hot-spots.  If you agree that you, too, love Lush’s burgers, you can vote for them here on theBeijinger’s Burger Cup.

It really is SUCH a shame they are so freakin far away because I kind of like Lush…a lot. So although I wish it were closer to home, i’ll have to let Wu keep this gem since they had it first.

LumDimSum Snapshots of LUSH:

Review of Lush: 2/F of O2 Sun Bookstore in South East corner of intersection by WuDaoKou Subway Stop- Bldg 1, Huaqing Jiayuan, Chengfu Lu, Wudaokou,五道口华清家园1号楼2层 Tel: 8286 3566

Best Part:

• With Jade Gray and Rich Atkers behind Lush and Pyro Pizza, it’s no wonder this place is packed 24/7. Everything is well done and the places just oozes of their fun, personal and lively personalities.
• Open 24 Hours with Free Wifi and great coffee

• Popular Pub Quiz every Wednesday, Open Mic Night on Sundays and Live Music Every Friday night
• Happy hour daily 8-10pm: buy 2 get 1 free, bucket of 7 Tsingtao for RMB 70
• They offer a great set combo meals
• Cheap drinks and they guarantee nothing they serve behind the bar is fake alcohol (which says a lot!)
• Great tasty burgers that are giant and crazy cheap

Comments:

• It’s in the Wu, which is so far away, it should not still be considered Beijing.
• It’s packed 24/7 so not everyone can be seated straight away.
• I can’t comment much on the service since I had the big man boss take care of my order.  Needless to say, I was well-looked after.

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

• Food: 8
• Atmosphere: 8
• Service: 9
• Overall Experience: 8

Don’t Expect Grandma’s Cooking at Grandma’s Kitchen

Grandma’s Kitchen is definitely one of Beijing’s old timers. Back in the hay day, Grandma’s was the place to go when we got sick of oily, cheap Chinese and craved some hearty American staples from breakfast omelets to pancakes, salads, sandwiches, burgers and a good milkshake. And there’s no denying Grandma’s presence in Beijing with locations all over the city from Jianwai SOHO to Tian An Men and my favorite location at Beixinqiao with its own bed and breakfast guesthouse and an outdoor courtyard in its backyard.

Since as long as I’ve been around, Grandma’s has continued to stay consistent – decent food with decent prices and mediocre service. Four years ago, Grandma’s was considered to be pretty decent for China standards. To me and my gang, Grandma’s was an American restaurant from a Chinese perspective – trying to be, but not quite there.

But clearly today, four years later, Beijing’s dining scene has grown exponentially into a very internationally diverse scene. And now there’s more than just Grandma’s Kitchen and Paul’s Steak & Eggs if you’re craving authentic American grub.  The choices for American food in Beijing is more than you could want -  Blue Frog, Element Fresh, All-Star Sports Bar & Grill, Chef Too, Vineyard Cafe, Union Bar & Grill, Nola, Apothecary, the list continues.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Grandma’s, so it was nice to check out my favorite location at Beixinqiao and enjoy a relaxing lunch in their outside seating.  The menu is just how I remember and although their milkshakes are the highlight of the menu, I chose to order Fresh Squeezed Orange juice (RMB 25) and a Pastrami Sandwich on Rye Bread (RMB 40).

The toast was not the rye bread I was expecting, it was served cold, rye bread was not toasted, there was too much mayo and not enough pastrami -  overall unsatisfying and disappointing.

Pastrami on Rye Sandwich

While I was quite looking forward to my return to Grandma’s, at the end of the meal I remembered why it’s been over three years since my last there – it’s really not that great.

Review of Grandma’s Kitchen: 28 Shique Hutong, Beixinqiao, 石雀胡同28号 , Tel: 8403-9452

Best Part:

• Beixinqiao location’s airy, quaint atmosphere with outdoor seating area and guest house bed & breakfast out back.  Everything about this location is sweet, welcoming and understated.
• It’s consistent and you get what you pay for. You can get a decent American meal under RMB 100, but then again, there are better choices and bargains to be found in Beijing.

Comments:

• Anything you crave on Grandma’s menu, you can find better in Beijing. Everything on the menu is mediocre, there’s nothing particularly unique or extraordinary about any of the food items.  At least Paul’s Steak & Eggs is still the place to go for Poutine (fries covered in mozzarella cheese and gravy – a popular Canadian dish).

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

• Food: 4
• Atmosphere: 7
• Service: 5
• Overall Experience: 5
  

Beijing’s Soup Nazi – Herbal Café

“No soup for you” seems to be the running theme at Herbal Cafe.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to try their herbal, medicinal brewing soups and they are consistently “sold out,” every single time. But it’s not just the soups, at my most recent visit, they were out of half their menu.  And I’m not exaggerating.

I’m starting to think they don’t even make the soups anymore or that it’s all one big conspiracy against LumDimSum.

Ok, seriously, here’s my Review of Herbal Cafe:  Located across from Hatsune and Union Bar & Grill on the 3rd floor of Sanlitun Village. Address: S6-33, 3/F, The Village at Sanlitun, 19 Sanlitun Lu, 朝阳区三里屯路19号三里屯Village3层s6-33  Tel: 6416-0618

Best Part:

• Their menu offers a wide range of herbal teas and soups (so good, they are sold out permanently)
• Range of Cantonese staple dishes and dim sum
• Comfortable booth seating and casual atmosphere makes for a nice, quick meal
• Despite their lack of availability, the restaurant remains consistently full of customers
• Cantonese cuisine is meant to be healthier & MSG free, but seems pretty standard to me

Comments:

• Beijing’s Soup Nazis. The few times I have gone, I am told each and every time that they are literally sold out of every soup. I wouldn’t care so much if I didn’t want their soup as bad as I do.  I guess you always want what you can’t have.
• One time they also said they were sold out of egg tarts, but when I went to pay the bill, they had 3 more egg tarts sitting under a heat lamp next to the cashier.  True fact. And yes, I called them out on it.
• DimSum isn’t the best, but it’s better than Chao Dian (located just behind Herbal Cafe). See review of Chao Dian here.
• For good, healthy soups to cure your winter blues, I recommend Oden & All-Star’s Southwest Tortilla Soup (just added to their new winter menu).

Where oh Where is there Good DimSum?

In case you didn’t notice, I’m all about DimSum.  I love it and not just because it rhymes with my last name.

And yet, I have not been fully satisfied with any DimSum restaurant in Beijing.  Either too pricey, too small in portions, insufficient quality, or all of the above.

So I was pretty stoked to hear that the new addition to Sanlitun Village, Chao Dian, serves up Hong Kong style dim sum, located just behind Hatsune and Herbal Cafe, across from Union Bar & Grill.

Menu at Chao Dian

It’s newly opened, so be warned: they do not take cards and they do not issue fa piaos at this stage.

Presented with a super long, two-sided fold out paper menu with mouth-watering photos and English/Chinese descriptions, I was ready to check all the little boxes.

Everything on the menu looked great – especially the Cha Show Bao (Steamed BBQ Pork Buns), Shao Mai, and shrimp dumplings, so I was happy to see that you could order a combo House Dim Sum Platter inclusive of 4 various pairs of dumplings in one set (RMB 48) -shao mai, ha gao (shrimp dumplings), xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings), and vegetable dumpling. Each item was over-cooked, hard (all dumplings were tough on the outside and the xiao long bao had NO soup, which defeats the entire purple of a xiao long bao).

Eager to try a nice variety, we also ordered a ton of other dishes.

Here’s a breakdown:

• Steamed Veggies – standard
• Pan-Fried Rice Roll with XO Sauce – better than expected
• Steamed Cow Stomach – bright orange in color (NOT normal) and just awful
• Fried White Turnip Cake – pretty good
• Steamed Rice Roll with Shrimp – bland and dry
• Steamed BBQ Pork Buns – standard
• Da Tas (Egg Custard Tarts) for dessert – Best part, served in heart shape and big portioned

Total Bill for Two People: RMB 174

Overall Verdict: Mama-huhu.

Some items were satisfactory/decent, but overall disappointing.  All of the dumplings (which are the essential staples of dim sum) were dry, bland, and tough to chew.  The products did not seem very fresh or high in quality.  But in their defense, I went in with high expectations.

I think the two top dim sum restaurants in Beijing are still Lei Garden & Zen5es (RMB 88 all-you-can-eat-dim-sum lunch special during the week). See here for previous dim sum review.

Review of Chao Dian: 3rd floor of Sanlitun Village (behind Hatsune & Herbal Cafe, across from Union Bar & Grill), No. 19 Sanlitun Road, S6-32, Tower S6  Tel: 010-6413 2998 (M-F 10am-3am, Weekends 9am-3am)

Best Part:

• They offer a pretty extensive menu of dim sum staples (RMB 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 18 each), congee (RMB 19-22), noodles/rice dishes (RMB 18-38 each), Hong Kong style dishes (RMB 28-48 each), and desserts (RMB 10-12 each)
• I like their menu’s little check boxes to mark your order
• They serve organic soybean milk
• Conveniently located in Sanlitun Village & easy to find.
• Good BBQ Pork Steamed Buns & Dan Tas (Baked Egg Custard Tarts)

Comments:

• All dumplings were bland, dry, over-cooked and just not up to par with what HK dim sum should be. Their Xiao Long Bao had NO soup inside, none, nada, zip.
• Staff did not speak English and quite slow
• Not cheap.  I’d rather hit up Zen5es’ all-you-can-eat dimsum lunch special for RMB 88 per person.
• Be warned: they do not yet take credit cards and they do not issue fa piaos at this stage
• I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as they are newly opened, but I won’t be going back until someone tells me they’ve experienced better there.

*Note: I have just been notified that there is an awesome 24-hour DimSum spot in Tuanjiehu.  I’m hitting it up this Sunday and will keep you LumDimSum readers posted.  Fingers crossed it’ll be half-way decent dimsum!