Skip to content
A little preparation. A much better adventure.Independent travel advice · Made for China
Save your trip
Menu
Book your trip

A taste of Chengdu

Ma Lu Bian Bian (Zhimin Road)

马路边边串串香 (致民路店)

The best-known chuan chuan xiang chain in Chengdu and consistently the top-ranked skewer house on Chinese review sites, done up as a deliberate 1980s-90s streetside flashback: grey brick, red tiles, a fake corner shop, low tables and little wooden stools under yellow lamps. You walk to the chilled racks with a basket, pick raw ingredients already threaded onto bamboo skewers, hand them over to be cooked in the mala broth, and eat. Open until 01:00, so it doubles as the late-night option.

¥40-70 per person≈ US$5.96Jinjiang, 48 Zhimin Road (致民路48号), about 170m from Xinnanmen metro station (新南门, Line 3), Exit B
Plan your meal Open map

Why come here

A place worth making time for

No MICHELIN or Black Pearl listing. It is known as the single most popular chuan chuan xiang house in Chengdu on Chinese review platforms and the reference example of the format

The house favourites

What to order

Point at the Chinese. Staff will understand it even where the menu has no English at all.

  • Poached pig brain (冒脑花)
  • Spicy beef skewers (麻辣牛肉)
  • Little sweet sausages (小香肠)
  • Brown-sugar bing fen jelly (红糖冰粉)

What it actually tastes like

Heavily 麻辣 málà, and because everything is poached in the same communal broth the numbing 花椒 oil clings to every skewer - you cannot order this mild. Pig brain is a genuine house signature and is soft and custard-like. Bing fen, a cold wobbly jelly in brown-sugar syrup, is the standard fire extinguisher at the end.

Allergens in this kitchen

soysesamepeanutgluten/wheatfishshellfish

This is the kitchen, not one dish. Woks, fryers, blanching water and utensils are shared in almost every Chinese restaurant, so for a serious allergy treat the whole premises as the unit rather than ordering around it.

Get to know the menu

Local specialities to try here

Ice jelly 冰粉Light, cool, sweet and caramelly; the standard antidote to a mouthful of chilli