Artistic delights

One of the reasons for the fame of Beijing's South Silk Road restaurant is its owner, Fang Lijun, a well-known artist. Therefore it is no surprise to see the latest branch of the eatery at Gongti West Gate decorated with his art works on the walls.

The interior decor doesn't reveal much about the fact the restaurant offers Chinese regional cuisine from Yunnan province, apart from a cabinet displaying pu'er tea and teapots. In fact, it looks more like a Western restaurant.

Apart from Yunnan cuisine with a modern twist, the restaurant's cuisine includes ingredients and cooking methods of several ethnic groups, such as Bai, Naxi, Dai, Yi, and Tibet. There are a variety of wild mushrooms from Yunnan, including boletus, dried ganba fungus, tiger paw, matsutake, morel, and termite mushroom.

Wuding sand-pot chicken is made with free-range chicken from Yunnan's Chuxiong. It is a big pot of chicken boiled along with black truffle, matsutake and termite mushroom for four hours. The result is a tasty pot of soup and chicken good for six people.

Roast Xiaodao (small knife) duck is known for its tender texture. Xishuangbanna citronella roasted fish has crispy skin and very tender flesh. Guoqiao sea bass borrows the cooking method of chicken soup rice noodles, with sea bass to absorb the chicken soup.

Apart from these, one can order grilled snow mountain matsutake, BBQ pork rib with citronella, Xujiadu sausage, and finish with the restaurant's special sour and spicy noodles.

The restaurant has an outdoor space that is pleasant when the weather is good . There is a fashionable bar at the entrance with a large selection of drinks, which one can try either after dinner, or for an afternoon. The average bill is 150 yuan ($22) per person.