Dumpling Restaurant and Much, Much More: Xian Lao Man (馅老满)

Xian Lao Man (馅老满), in my humble opinion, is one of the best restaurants in Beijing. It’s known for dumplings (jiaozi 饺子), which come in dozens and dozens of varieties, from the old standby of pork and cabbage to more unusual combination of carrot and egg. But I digress. Their dumplings are indeed fantastic but it’s really the quality of all of Lao Man’s dishes that make it such a stellar restaurant and a consistent favorite of…well, of all folks that have ever eaten there.

I’ll give three examples. All are  staples of many restaurants in Beijing that are generally pretty tasty. But Lao Man really just knocks them out of the park.

Kung Pao Chicken (gongbao jiding 宫爆鸡丁)

This is a dish I never used to order – a Chinese girl ordering Kung Pao chicken seems about as shameful as ordering lemon chicken or orange beef. However, Lao Man makes the tastiest gongbao jiding I’ve ever eaten, and I pretty much refuse to eat a meal there without getting this dish. For gongbao jiding, it’s all about the sauce, and they manage to get it just right. It’s nicely spicy (with a bit of well-placed Sichuan numbing peppercorn), sweet without being cloying, and salty enough to tie it all together. The whole dish is gooey yet not obviously greasy and the peanuts are so insanely addictive that I sincerely believe it’s impossible not to eat them all. No peanuts shall be left orphaned on the plate when I’m around.

Shallow-fried Green Beans (ganbian sijidou 干扁四季豆)

The next simple yet amazing dish is their ganbian sijidou. It’s a supremely common Sichuanese dish of green beans that are first deep-fried, then stir-fried again with bits of ground pork and chili. Theory is that the deep-fry renders the green beans into a much tastier vegetable, as all things seem to improve in taste after a little bath in boiling oil. Go figure. At most restaurants, this deep-fry then stir-fry process results in a rather disturbing pool of oil at the bottom of the plate. Lao Man, however, manages to keep this dish feeling rather grease-free. How, I know not. I just know that it’s amazingly delicious. Their green beans are perfect, as the deep-fry softens and flavors the skin without making it mushy (as boiling would do). This dish is pretty much a vehicle for salt and MSG, but it’s oh-so-yummy.

Cold Mung Bean Noodles (dongbei lapi 东北拉皮)

And lastly, I would like to wax poetic on the cold mung bean noodles. This is another common dish they simply make better than most restaurants. It’s a cold starter of mung bean noodles tossed with cucumber, pork shreds, and cilantro.  The texture of the noodles make or break the dish – I’ve eaten lapi where the noodles were pasty and made gooey by absorbing too much liquid, and I’ve eaten lapi that was too hard and tasted like silicone matting. Lao Man’s are great. I think they make their own noodles, which are wide and smooth with a nice bit of chew and never mushy. The dish is doused with black vinegar and sesame paste, always a winning combination in my book, and everything is tossed around before slurping. The noodles are wonderfully slippery and well slicked with sauce, the cukes add some fresh crunch, and the bit of pork gives everything a little salty texture. It’s slimy, it’s refreshing, it’s grand.

Address: Xian Lao Man (馅老满), Andingmen nei Dajie (安定门内大街), No. 252