Mi Xun Teahouse
What’s it like? Part of The Temple House, Swire’s latest boutique hotel in mainland China, Mi Xun is both
a teahouse and a spa with four standard treatment rooms and seven luxurious suites.
What’s on the menu? Both spa and teahouse take their heritage links seriously. Traditional vegetarian offerings include marinated tofu cubes with mushrooms and nuts, iced cherry tomatoes, lotus soy sauce fried rice, and Sichuan-style cold noodles, complemented by fragrant Chinese teas. Guests at the spa can indulge in infra-red saunas, herbal bath rituals and steam baths, as well as the Mi Xun Autograph massage which incorporates specially designed bamboo instruments which are sourced from Chengdu.
Atmosphere Mi Xun stands on the site of what was once the nearby Daci Temple’s mulberry garden, and looks out over a tranquil, secluded courtyard which separates the old and new parts of the hotel.
Tel: +86 (028) 6297 4161 – thetemplehousehotel.com
Din Tai Fung
What’s it like? Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese chain restaurant, and one of the prime tenants in the shopping and dining plaza of Taikoo Li, whose low-rise buildings and wide lanes make it one of the most amenable outdoor spaces in Chengdu.
What’s on the menu? Grabbing the headlines are the soup pork dumplings variously known as xiaolongbao or tang bao, but always containing a minor explosion in the flavour department. Two variations well worth trying are the dumplings with hairy crab roe, and black truffle. Other dishes include Taiwanese interpretations of traditional Sichuan fare, such as dry-fried green beans which are topped with shrimp.
Atmosphere Every day is a party day at Din Tai Fung with large groups – whether gatherings of family, friends or business colleagues – clustered around the tables and not afraid to express their enjoyment at the tops of their voices.
Tel: +86 (028) 8658 6878
Ciguo at Congde Alley
What’s it like? Ciguo is not so much a restaurant as a private dining club, and not so much somewhere to just fill up on food as “an experience”.
What’s on the menu? Menu – what menu? There is no menu. Instead, the chef simply decides on what’s going to be cooked – according to personal inclination and what’s freshest in the market – and serves up half-a-dozen or more courses, some spicy (this is Sichuan), some less so, some extremely spicy indeed. Meat balls in soup, pork spare ribs with sweet potato, beef brisket, and chilli tofu are typical offerings.
Atmosphere This is a fun place to eat, partly because of the mildly eccentric food choices, and also because of the crisp, modern design, but mostly because of the “alternative” ambience. Ciguo is different, inspiring and very satisfying.
Tel: +86 (028) 8600 2200
Da Miao
What’s it like? First Lady Michelle Obama and assorted pals dropped by Da Miao back in 2014, and the hotpot restaurant has rarely had a free seat since. Fame aside, it deserves plenty of custom, as its food is top-notch. There’s no shortage of hotpot joints in Chengdu, but – regardless of celebrity visitors – Da Miao has got the recipe down pat.
What’s on the menu? Mrs O dined on meatballs with cilantro, beef, tofu, quail eggs, potatoes, dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pickles, and noodles, together with a bottle of Jacob’s Creek, which is a pretty good gustatory
snapshot of Da Miao’s menu.
Atmosphere “It’s hard to go wrong with a hotpot” could almost be a Chinese proverb. As a group-oriented meal, it’s nigh perfect, as the chopsticks rattle and the hotpot fizzles and everybody gets into the swing of things.
Tel: +86 (028) 8625 1111
Yue Hin
What’s it like? Yue Hin is the signature Chinese restaurant at the Niccolo hotel, which occupies part of the massive “city within a city” mixed-use complex that is International Finance Square in the very centre of town.
What’s on the menu? The chefs are dab hands at dishing up classic Cantonese, Sichuan, and Huaiyang cuisine which is best known for “Lion’s Head” – braised pork meatballs stewed with vegetables. Yue Hin can also call on the Niccolo’s superbly curated cellar, and the chief sommelier is only too happy to advise on pairing wines with any of the restaurant’s signature cuisines.
Atmosphere There’s seating for 200, including the seven private rooms, while the inspiring, colourful décor combines traditional and modern elements. The hotel can also organise outside events at IFS’s rooftop Sky Garden, which is decorated with numerous avant-garde sculptures.
Tel: +86 (028) 8220 8888
marcopolohotels.com/niccolo/hotels/china
