WHAT’S NEW restaurants Daily 11am-midnight. Bldg 3, 12 Xindong Lu, Chaoyang District (8424 3827) 朝阳区新东路12号院南区3号搂 1.2km northwest of Tuanjiehu (Line 10)
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ust north of Heaven Supermarket a bright, electric blue neon sign flares in sharp gothic script “HackerPschorr Bräuhaus Beijing.” Walk inside and you will be greeted by traditional Bavarian clad servers who encourage you to walk around and explore before choosing a table. Make sure to lay a trail of breadcrumbs down as you venture in because this place is big. Hella big. One almighty cavernous floor is furnished with warm wood and gentle lighting bouncing off gargantuan copper brewing containers, a reminder that beer is the way to go here. With three 4.8-percent leveled house brews to choose from, all available in .3L, .5L, or monstrous 1L glasses (RMB 48/58/108), whetting your tongue is easy. The HackerPschorr Lager went down a lot quicker than intended with its pleasantly gentle fizz dispersing hoppy notes across the taste buds. A complimentary bread basket with generous servings of pâté, butter, and crackling fat started us off, including a perfectly salted pretzel that was a fine match for our beers. Two upturned liter glasses plonked in the middle then became a precarious platform for the cast iron vessel holding a grilled hax’n, surhax’n, schweinebraten, leberkäse mit spiegelei, dunkelbiersoße, sauerkraut und semmelknödel (RMB 188/338). To translate: this was a big bowl of pork knuckle (one boiled and one crispy), dense but slightly off-putting meatloaf, juicy roast pork slices, punchy sauerkraut, crispy fried egg, luscious dark beer sauce, and a token sprinkling of salad garnish. Carving into the platter, the night fell into a daze of pig and beer and more pig and more beer as we filled to the point of bursting. With a menu tailored more for sharing in large groups, come with an army of mouths to take full advantage of their offerings. Erin Strong
29
February 2015