Ru Ya, Beijing

My favourite restaurant!!
This place has a strange nick-name: Washing House -Tvättstuga- in swedish, which had been given by Ericsson's managing director who lived at East lake Villas at that time.

This small local restaurant is located at Dongzhimen Wai Avenue close to Tung Hu (East Lake Villas) and was soon-to-become my favourite place -serving delicious dishes such as garlic broccoli, lemon chicken, sweet-and-sour beef,... just to mention a few all washed down with a local white wine: Great wall or beer and at very low prices with an excellent service! Gan bei my friends (= Cheers!!)! No english spoken but after renovation they do have an english menu now!

Beside typical Beijing dishes, I tryed here the hotpot. This mongolian or northern chinese dish is based on two hot spicy waters where you dip cold thin sliced meat, cabbage, shrimps, vermicelli etc. After two hours of self cooking, eating and spice adding, you can spoon the super spicy-hot soup directly from the pot, if your taste buds can take it...lol!

And why is this place called tvättstuga?

Because during wintertime the place was heated by only one centrally located heater so that the center of the house was boiling hot and nearby the windows cold. Needless to add that you needed to eat with your coat on, feeling like being in a steamy bathroom as all windows were covered with moisture..lol!

The picture shows the restaurant before renovation, where it became too classy with white tableclothes. I prefered the *old* one much more typical of a -local- chinese eatery!