Small is beautiful

No 8 Gongti Hot Pot Restaurant (工体8号精品火锅) is named after its location next to Workers' Stadium. Its ordinary entrance does not do much to suggest its fashionable, comfortable indoor ambience. Round patterns on the floor and walls look like eggs but are actually pebbles, say staff.

Kobe beef is a specialty, as well as beautifully presented beef from other cattle. Small individual pots are served to each person, heated by a solidified form of alcohol. There are both spicy and plain-tasting broth-base soups. The restaurant's special Bak Kut Teh sauce is worth trying, apart from the traditional sesame sauce.

Also worth trying is the three-colored noodles made with flour and vegetable juice.

Average cost is 100 yuan per person.

To the east of the north gate of Workers' Stadium, Chaoyang District. 6551-3808.朝阳区工人体育场北门东

Ye Jun

(China Daily 11/01/2008 page8)