Just a street or two away from the main shopping district of Wangfujing (王府井) in Beijing, lies a street which comes alive at night with whole row of street food stalls. This is precisely what dimsumdolly’s playground is about.


So the line of stalls spanning about 200 metres sell all sort of street snacks (小吃). Pieces of smelly beancurds, muttons, prawns, silkworms are skewered and grilled, emanating a myriad of smells that tease and flirt with one’s nostrils. Sea urchins, sparrows and all sorts of innards are also available for the more adventurous eaters.


I had my first deep-fried sea urchin. The black globs didn’t taste very good and I threw it away after having a scoop of it. It’s a far cry from eating it raw as I adore eating it that way. Or maybe Japanese uni is just different. Who knows?


Always a sucker for crepes, pancakes and the likes, I had to try this Shandong spring onion pancake. Unfortunately it didn’t taste as good as it looked. It was very bland.


I’m still not sure what this really is. The shop owner told me it’s dog’s penis. I don’t know if he was lying or not??? Of course I didn’t try it. Dimsumdolly has her limits, thank you very much. But if there’s anyone who can tell me if the shopowner was telling the truth or not, please let me know!!!


This was some steamed dessert made from glutinous rice. It looked very cute and pretty that’s why I bought it. There’s a slightly sweet taste to it but I was a little disappointed with the taste as it didn’t taste as good as it looked. Too bland.
Other foodstuff sold were pan-fried dumplings (锅贴), boiled dumplings (饺子) and steamed soup dumplings (小笼包). Desserts like sweet soup and caramelized fruits were also available.
My conclusion is that the food isn’t fantastic, but it’s worth a short visit just to have a look at the food and soak in the bustling energy that runs through the market.