Eating: Dali Courtyard, Beijing

Beijing, China — When friends from out of town visit me in Beijing, the host in me lights up during mealtimes. My husband and I send our friends off for long hikes on the Great Wall and walks within the walls of the Forbidden Palace or Summer Palace. Feet tired, desperate for a shower, and with the appetite of an emperor’s warrior, I know just the perfect places to reward them for their power touring.

Often, people journey to China from the United States for a ten day holiday and budget about three days in Beijing, a couple in Shanghai, and a weekend in Xī’ān. Three days in Beijing isn’t enough to satiate a foodie like myself and even less an opportunity to sample all the best restaurants serving cuisines from all over China. My eagerness to further my friends’ palettes past Tomato Chicken Chow Mein leads me to feed them dinner at noon and in the evening.

My cousin and I call Dali Courtyard the perfect date place; one can woo another while tucked into this sìhéyuàn, swooning under a starry sky to classic jazz, and plate after plate of savory Yunnan delights are brought to the table. Recently, my husband and I brought two friends to this oasis for lunch. When eating out, I believe four mouths are better than two; the more mouths there are, more dishes can be ordered. Dali Courtyard serves a set menu and the larger the party, the more dishes are brought.

Our party of four feasted on fried mushrooms, Yunnan cheese, lemongrass roasted Tilapia, rice noodles in pickled vegetable, stir fried medleys of spices and garlic over slices of tender pork, and many others my food coma inhibits me from remembering. My favorite of the dishes were prawns so crispy you could eat them head to tail, served over a bed of deep fried lemon leaves spiced with chili and salt. One after another, I finished the lemon leaves like a football fan polishing off a bowl of crisps during halftime.

Given their short stay, we cheered them on to walk off their meal through the maze of hútóngs, before rendezvousing again for Beijing Roast Duck. I’d continue with teasers of that meal, but first I need to walk off this post.

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