If you have friends coming to town and you want to show them a true Beijing dining experience, look no further. A reservation at this hidden courtyard restaurant is all you need.

The set menus change depending on the day and number of visitors, but you can always expect to leave with a full belly. Our starters began with a cucumber, the green rind shaved off and drizzled with numbing Sichuan pepper oil and the fresh interior placed along the side. A long plate of pig trotters arrived topped with a garlic relish that is sharp as knives and cuts through the fatty meat.

‘Coffee chicken’, which tastes nothing like coffee, has a thin, crispy, slight caramel-sweet flavoured skin that crunches in contrast to the tender meat underneath. A pairing of fresh green salad, topped with soft feta cheese, works well as a palate refresher. The main event was an enormous whitefish, imported from Taiwan and cooked in a full-bodied sauce of chillies and ginger. The thick layer of beautifully prepared fish was thankfully lacking in those little bones that get caught in your throat – giving us more room for conversation.

Little touches like providing lemonade instead of water, and halfway through delivering a pitcher of fruity red-wine sangria, make this courtyard your secret gem, one to unabashedly show off to your friends. You’ll be alone with them, unfortunately; getting the attention of the waiter outside of the three-table room is a pain. Yet, like the hutongs themselves, this is a restaurant that should be taken slowly and succinctly, while cherishing the company as if they were family.

Address: 66 Beiluoguxiang Dongcheng 东城区北锣鼓巷66号

Source: timeoutbeijing.com