Xiao Wang Fu Restaurant, Beijing

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Well, the LP guide gave this restaurant a gushing review -- totally incomprehensible.

First it wasn't easy to find. Once you're there the service was somewhere between nonchalant and incompetent. When we went, they ran out of their signature dish -- deep fried spicy spare rib. When asked what else they had, they recommended another kind of spare rib dish. (Huh?)

Some of the other so-called signature dishes -- such as the fried tofu in the picture -- were just poorly done. We ordered a shrimp dish and the shrimps tasted like they had just been liberated from a multiple year prison term in the freezer.

It was obviously a rather popular restaurant. But god only knows why.

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I thought I had reviewed Xiao Wang's before, but seemingly not. It is a bit of an institution in Beijing, such that there is clearly "money in the kitty" with spruced up teak chairs and tables replacing the plastic tables and stools in the alleyway outside. The rooms inside are freshly painted, and the waiters are all armed with walkie-talkies. If this all sounds a bit gaudy, do not fret. The food here remains excellent, although a few of us have detected that the menu and style of serving has moved away from its simple roots and is firmly aimed at the tourist and Western business market.

Of course everyone - especially the jaded Beijing expat brigade- think that Xiao Wang's is their little secret. But that is part of the beauty of the place. It pulls in the numbers without becoming an ostentatious or unfriendly place.

The trademark brick oven sits outside in the courtyard, and you can have a nose around the kitchen anytime you like. Even with the high-tech table numbering system and the walkie-talkies, this is still a great, "local" place to eat.

The menu is now in English, and, unusually, includes both the Chinese script and the Pinyin, which is ever so helpful.

Favorite Dish: The roast duck is good, but can be variable: sometmes the skin is a bit greasy and .... well ....smelly. The rubbery seaweed is loved by some, hated by others. Pretty much whatever you choose, it will be well presented, with a beaming smile.

These people really, really enjoy having you round for lunch or dinner!