Good old lamb soup

There are times the only thing one wants to eat is a bowl of lamb soup. That is when you should head to De Shun Lou, a long-time Muslim eatery in Niujie street, located close to Beijing's Hui ethnic neighborhood.

Start with a delicious small bowl of noodles with sauce, which has black fungus, mushroom and egg in it. Then try a warm bowl of clear-steamed sliced lamb with soup. Both the soup and the lamb made me want to have a second helping.

Bao hu, quick-fried tender lamb with coriander, is a classic Beijing Muslim dish with a story. It is said that Liu Baoquan, a folk artist of old Beijing, always came to a certain street stand at Niujie to eat a bowl of quick-fried lamb after he finished his show. But one night he came late and the cook had to heat the dish several times. Liu insisted on eating the reheated bowl of lamb, only to find it tasted even better than usual because the lamb had absorbed all the sauce.

Stewed aubergine with lamb slices is another flavorsome dish offered by the restaurant. One can find other Beijing classics such as fried mashed bean curd with lamb oil, and sugary fruit roll, made with Chinese yam, date, and white sesame.

For more mundane choices, go for braised ox tail, Peking roast duck, and soft-stewed beef stripes.

One downside is that this place can get quite noisy. Also, some dishes are oily and too salty. Average cost is 60 yuan per person.