A "Hunan taco" with stir-fried pork, onion, garlic and herbs piled on a cracker. [Photo by Mike Peters/China Daily]

The two sister restaurants are part of a lovely resort complex: Two hotels, a small lake alive with carp, and a lotus pond in the center－now stripped bare of foliage for the winter－that offers a pleasant spot for one of Windy City chef Dustin Merritt's hip cocktails before dinner when the weather is nice. In fact, English is thin on the ground at the Hunan restaurant, so if you don't have a Mandarin speaker in your party, it's easier to start with a drink at Windy City and let the staff there steer you over to the Chinese side.

The resort is a fair distance from our home－expats may be more familiar with the Mongolian restaurant 99 Yurts, an unrelated eatery that's right next door. After our pleasant, leisurely Hunan feast, it was great to know that the hotel rooms start at 300 yuan ($47) a night to pricier suites in a courtyard-style wing. That made it easy to slide over to our snug siheyuan (courtyard house) replica for a good night's sleep and an easy commute to work the next morning.

If you go

Xiaoxiang Jiayu Cun

9 Yongtaizhuang North Road, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6299-3777.

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