On 13 March I finally made it to discover these two interesting Beijing spots.

China Oriental Zen Tea:
Discover a small, cute and hidden tea house, in Nanluoguxiang, Shajing Hutong No. 13 (walk north from the main avenue on Nanluoguxiang and look for Shajing Hutong down on your left. The tea house is a little further in the hutong, on your right side with a big sign.
Run by Kristin (American), more on http://www.damotea.com/
From there you can walk to Grandma Creative Kitchen going more west but it is a bit tricky if it’s your first time. See the maps for Shajing and Fangzhuanchang Hutongs.

Grandma’s Creative Kitchen:
No. 6 Fangzhuanchang Hutong, Di’anmen Wai Main Street
Directions:
Subway Line 6: Nanluoguxiang Exit A, enter Nanluoguxiang, walk to Heizhima Hutong and follow it down all the way, take a left and walk five meters and take a right onto Fangzhuanchang Hutong, walk 20 meters and Grandma’s Creative Kitchen is on your left.
Or call 189 1137 3718
Great home food, prepared with love and care and friendly service, all in an antique setting.
Good to surprise your loved one for a date.
Thanks Kristin for the warm reception and the guided tour!

For many foreigners the dish might be strange, the least to say. But it is as a matter of fact not that un-European, see the Marseille bouillabaisse (France), where also fish head can be added.
Actually I learned to eat the dish in China. It comes generally speaking in two varieties: the hot and spicy one (e.g. Hunan) or the one here, in a sticky brown sauce.
Normally noodles or pieces of pancakes are added to take up the sauce. The meat of the (large) fish heads is delicious and the bones are rather large, so less tricky to eat than normal Chinese fish, a challenging experience with the millions of annoying bones – not my favorite.

See here the fish head from the restaurant Wang Shun Ge in Fortune Plaza 3^rd floor in CBD. This one is the “brown sauce type”. There was also a special soup that takes hours to boil.
Problem is, I always eat too much… Too tempting…

In this city, you can now find about anything. I had seen Pinotage in Soho Sanlitun and for some reason I thought it was Spanish. I failed to see the flag from … South Africa. Once I knew it, let’s check it out.
On Saturday 1 March I invited my daughter, always a willing participant to eat out. The restaurant was packed so we had to sit in the bar section, pretty comfy actually. They also sell wine from SA.

We had Farmer’s Sausage, Ostrich Hamburger, some vegetables and desert. I took a red from South Africa, RMB 160 and nice to drink. Valerie took the rest of the bottle home as I was heading to my KTV afterwards (where my bottle of Jack Daniels was waiting!).
The verdict: food quality very good, portions relatively small and a bit pricy but overall a good and different experience. And next time I should make a reservation!