Pekoe Peony Prattles: Chuan Jing Ban Canting, Beijing, China

Chuan Ban, as this restaurant is known, is considered by many to have the best Sichuanese food in Beijing since it's operated by the Sichuan provincial government. After taking the subway to the Jiangguomen stop and having quite a bit of troubling finding it (fortunately someone directed us), we walked in, got a number, waited about 15 minutes, and then sat down at this very large but very popular restaurant.

I had more difficulty communicating here with my broken Chinese than any other restaurant in Beijing, but in the end we were able to order a few items recommended by various Chowhounds. As a side note, my husband and I eat regularly at San Francisco area Sichuan restaurants since it's our favorite type of Chinese cuisine, and we have a moderate (me) to high (him) tolerance for spiciness. All the dishes here (as well as at the other three Sichuan restaurants we tried in China during our two week trip) were all very moderate in spicing so that you can really taste the flavor of the food.

Like many restaurants we visited, their menu had English dish names, although there was also a smaller menu (which I couldn't read) all in Chinese with specials.

Steamed Rib with Sticky Rice

(18 RMB)

This was a dim-sum sized serving of steamed pork ribs coated with sticky rice. Although I'm not sure if this is a Sichuanese specialty, it was still very tasty -- the tender rice and very tender pork were complemented by a hearty and slightly sweet soy-based marinade. I could have happily ordered another portion but my husband thought it wasn't as special as I did (though he also enjoyed it).

Vegetable in Chicken Oil

(20 RMB)

We had difficulty communicating with the server on a veggie dish, so finally he recommended this one, and with some hesitation due to the boring appearance, we agreed. Our low expectations were totally blown out of the water -- the "chicken oil" was an extremely rich chicken-based sauce that lent so much flavor to the Napa cabbage. We really enjoyed this, and as a side note, we had the same dish three days later in Shanghai at South Beauty, a famous Sichuanese chain. The version at Chuan Ban was head and shoulders better than the South Beauty one.

Spicy Bacon Fried in Chili (huiguo larou)

(18 RMB, not sure the spicy rating)

We didn't see this item on the English-name menu but since it was highly recommended on a couple of boards, I asked the waiter in Chinese and he was able to (barely) understand. This is a dish that I've had a couple times in the San Francisco area, but the Chuan Ban version was definitely superior, with a more well-rounded and complex flavor. Slices of pork belly were stir-fried with lots of leeks in a spicy chili sauce. Good but not one of the best dishes of the night.

Boiled Fish in Red Oil(68 RMB per kilo, 2* spicy)

The dish we most looked forward to was the boiled fish in spicy oil, another common dish we order in SF. I had the most trouble here since the waiter kept asking me which of four different types of fish I wanted, and honestly as I didn't know what the translations of the types were, we both became a bit frustrated. Finally he was able to understand that I wanted him to decided for us. Not long afterwards, someone came by with the fish for us in a bucket to inspect -- we were happy to know that they were using live fish.

Finally the star of the show arrived in a pot of spicy, numbing oil. I was surprised that there wasn't that much fish meat (the fish shown to us looked larger), but as we were getting a bit full by then, it was fine. The fish was very tender and flavorful -- as with the bacon, the flavors were more complex than SF area renditions, though surprisingly it was less spicy. We both hugely enjoyed this dish.

To go with all the food, we ordered steamed rice. My husband had the ubiquitous local Nanjing beer (green bottle on the left, below), whereas I ordered (by pointing) a jug of the plum/prune juice (on the right) which I saw at many tables around us. This juice seemed to be a Sichuanese specialty since we also saw it at a Sichuan dry pot restaurant the next day, as well as at South Beauty two days after (didn't I say we loved Sichuan food?).