Every year when I return to Changchun, besides visiting parents and friends, another main mission is to enjoy the nostalgic local cuisine. Aside from the various home-cooked dishes I can have at home, there are a few restaurants I almost always visit on every trip back. These include Papa’s, Datang Shidai, Wendu Teppanyaki, and the following establishments introduced below.
Dongfang Dumpling King
A place for dumplings. It used to be a small triangular single-story house on a triangular plot of land next to Nanhu Park. It has grown larger and larger, and now has over ten branches across the city. I’ve always missed it while in Shanghai—why isn’t there a single dumpling shop in Shanghai that can match this place’s standard? My favorite is the celery filling, 4 yuan per liang (50g). With cold dishes and drinks, the average cost per person is only 20-40 yuan.
My favorite cold dish is the Songhua chicken leg, but for some reason it’s been out of stock all year, so I had to settle for spiced beef instead:
Qiutian Japanese Cuisine
Located on the second floor of the Xinjiliang Grand Hotel, the interior consists of private rooms. Although soundproofing isn’t great, it offers much more privacy compared to other restaurants. Among the Japanese buffets in Changchun, Yingtian, Qiutian, Hongye, Beiguo, and Oedo are quite famous; they are mostly located in star-rated hotels with similar pricing. After trying them one by one, I still find Qiutian the most satisfying. Although it’s not as good as it used to be—the sashimi is far inferior to before, and the drink selection at the buffet is pitifully small—the teppanyaki section remains delicious. It’s much more popular than before, so it’s best to book a table in advance. The buffet is 200 yuan per person.
Sea Urchin Sashimi
Oysters: the quality is pretty good, but for some unknown reason they serve them with ketchup. You need to specify otherwise when ordering…
Grilled Prawns: very satisfying flavor.
Teppanyaki Foie Gras: very rich and fatty, but I don’t dare eat too much, plus it’s limited in quantity…
Teppanyaki Crab: although they use frozen crab, the taste is still excellent.
Dongfang Meat Restaurant
A place for meat lovers, serving Northeastern cuisine. Back in high school, it was already a famous little shop on Guilin Road, always packed with customers. Now it has finally expanded and opened several branches. However, I’m not sure if the taste has changed or if my standards have gotten higher, but I feel it’s not as tasty as the original location. Portions are large, averaging around 50 yuan per person.
Specialty: Braised Pork Ribs
Stir-fried eggs, wood ear mushrooms, cucumber, bamboo shoots, and carrots—basically Moo Shu Pork without the meat.
A gigantic Crispy Chicken. After being roasted/fried, the whole chicken is pressed flat. The skin tastes okay, but the meat is practically flavorless, and the problem with the skin is that it’s overly greasy.
Shijian Steakhouse
Shijian, in my opinion, is the most successful transformation in Changchun’s catering industry. Formerly known as Rhine Coffee & Tea, it operated for many years without much success, becoming a spot for middle-aged people to go on blind dates or play cards. That was until a few years ago when it reinvented itself as Shijian, focusing on Western cuisine with a Japanese minimalist decor style. To me, it looked like a knockoff of Qiong Liu and Ying Qi. It became very popular for a while, easily attracting young people, but because the food was absolutely terrible, it never appealed to me. Later, they opened two Shijian Steakhouses, also focusing on Western cuisine with nice ambiance, primarily targeting the youth demographic. Then they converted the original Shijian into a Cantonese-style Chinese restaurant, which tastes much better than before.
I have to mention Kitchen Creation here, originally a pretty good composite creative restaurant brought over from Shenzhen. Later, Shijian seemed to take it over, or perhaps they partnered up. Because the head chef from Guangzhou left, and in order to promote Shijian Steakhouse, they cut the Western food section of Kitchen Creation, leaving the restaurant in a half-dead state. Shijian then transformed it into a high-end Western restaurant called Lingshi Grill. So now, Shijian has evolved from a chain coffee shop into a dining group owning multiple cafes, two minimalist Chinese restaurants, two Western restaurants, and one high-end Western restaurant. But honestly, while none of their chain stores serve bad food nowadays, there are no surprises either; they still rely mainly on their ambiance.
Now let’s talk specifically about this Shijian Steakhouse on Huxi Road: Reservation by phone, booth seating, great atmosphere. We went in, sat down, and opened the menu. The photos were mediocre; the better ones must be stock images. The graphic design was passable. There was a service bell next to the seat, but maybe due to understaffing during the Spring Festival, we had to press it many times before a server came. After ordering, there was absolutely no sequence to the service. The snack platter arrived first, followed immediately by a steak. After finishing that, the appetizer, salad, and another steak arrived one after another… Also, the blueberry juice was awful.
Let’s review the dishes in proper order anyway:
Appetizer: Pan-seared Foie Gras. Quality and taste were excellent, just slightly lacking in seasoning.
Duck Breast Salad: average taste, and the dressing was shockingly sour.
Premium Ribeye: too little sauce, average taste. They basically achieved medium doneness, but the meat quality wasn’t truly premium.
Veal Steak with Red Wine Sauce: ordered medium, but it arrived closer to medium-well. A bit tough, lots of gristle, just average.
Snack Platter: the ketchup could at least be Heinz.
Chicken Wings: tasted good.
Dessert Platter: the mousse was practically flavorless, and the chocolate items were just average.
All this plus two glasses of fruit juice totaled 446 yuan. I probably won’t be going back anytime soon…
There are also some unfortunate places that didn’t survive, but are still fondly remembered: Tongda Ecological Garden, Hanshe, Kitchen Creation, Bense Coffee, etc…
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