Restaurants in Beijing offer a window to Africa

From different corners of Africa, the flavors of dishes from the continent are tempting tastebuds in Beijing.  

In recent years, African-themed restaurants have set up shop, bringing tastes from the continent closer to explorative foodies in China's capital.

A trip around the city reveals African food styles and cuisines that are as rich as they are varied, covering food from West African countries, South Africa, Ethiopia and Eritrea.  

Scattered across the city, they are fostering cultural exchanges as the curious trickle in for new dining experiences. 

Nestled in the northern district of Shunyi is Pinotage, which takes its name from a signature South African red wine grape.

Bobotie, a beef mince curry casserole topped with egg custard, fried dough balls known as "vetkoek," and boerewors sausage rolls are among the dishes you can try here.

Vetkoek bears some resemblance to the Chinese youtiao, or fried dough sticks, but Pinotage chef and owner Toby Cao says the texture of vetkoek is closer to that of cake.

Boerewors sausage is a common sight in South Africa and its neighboring countries, sold by street grill vendors and barbecue restaurants and enjoyed at outdoor barbecues, known as braais.

Cao says they make their own hot dog rolls for the dish and produce the sausage in two types: one with a beef and pork filling wrapped in a pork casing, and another with a beef filling wrapped in a lamb casing. Most of their ingredients are sourced locally, but some are imported, such as a type of chili they use that comes from Africa.

The restaurant has an outdoor space a few kilometers away where customers can try grilling the boerewors and meat themselves.  

In Sanlitun, a popular shopping and entertainment area in downtown Beijing's Chaoyang District, is Tribe Garden, a destination for West African cooking in the city. Dishes associated with Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire pour out of its kitchen as customers prepare to tuck in.

Chefs at the restaurant say the more popular dishes include chicken with jollof rice, egusi (a dish of fish, meat, palm oil and spices), plantains, beans and starches like eba – made from grated cassava flakes – and fufu, which they make with rice and semolina flour. A glance around the restaurant will show you many customers eating the food, especially fufu and eba, with their hands.

Tribe Garden chef Benjamin Appiah said that they have noted Chinese customers coming in to try fufu.

"Thanks to social media, fufu is becoming popular. Food content creators pop up online with fufu. People are curious to try it, especially because it is eaten using hands. We are not only serving food; we are also trying to educate people and pass on culture. We are trying to do some culture exchange."

"We've made videos available to all the waiters and those who work here. Anytime someone comes in and is having challenges with the menu, we take them through every meal, explaining what goes into it and giving extra information about taste," said Appiah.

For him, the key features of West African cooking include chili, seafood like shrimp and combining proteins in one dish, as seen in the egusi.

"We do eat a lot of shrimp. Our food needs a particular aroma, and you get that from ingredients like shrimp and bay leaves. This restaurant's kitchen is halal. But in West Africa you would find people eating goat meat with pork, with chicken, a bit of dried fish, so we do mix proteins," he said.

And to try the food of Ethiopia and Eritrea, there's Coded in the Liangmaqiao neighborhood of Chaoyang. This restaurant has a rotation of African menus for different nights of the week, including an offering called Habesha Kitchen for Wednesday and Friday evenings. Habesha is a term used by some to describe cultures of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The highlight of this dining experience is its plating: the dishes can be served on injera, a traditional flatbread.

This presents another opportunity to eat with your hands. Diners tear off pieces of the spongy bread from the edges and dip them into the stews and salads on the bread. 

African restaurants in Beijing present an opportunity to sample tastes from different corners of Africa when going out for a meal. Drawing curious customers, they also offer cultural exchanges as people try flavors and ingredients that may be new to them, and learn how to eat dishes as they are eaten in their countries of origin. For some, they offer a taste of home, while for others, it's a bridge to other cultures and a window to Africa.