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A taste of Pingyao

Yaogongguan Restaurant

遥公馆饭店

One of the courtyard-house restaurants on the main old-town circuit, doing Shanxi home cooking in a restored merchant courtyard. Honestly: it is one of a dozen similar places inside the walls and the food is good rather than remarkable, but the setting is pleasant and the prices are not a tourist mark-up.

About ¥57 per person≈ US$8.49No. 9 on Dianping's Pingyao county local-flavour restaurant list (平遥县当地风味餐厅榜), rated 5.0Inside the walls, Pingyao old town
Plan your meal Open map

Why come here

A place worth making time for

Listed among Pingyao's local-flavour restaurants on Ctrip for Shanxi cooking in a traditional courtyard setting; no verifiable award.

The house favourites

What to order

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

  • Pingyao beef (平遥牛肉)
  • Shanxi pork with aged vinegar (过油肉)
  • Cat's-ear pasta (猫耳朵)
  • Wantuo (碗托)

What it actually tastes like

Strong vinegar, and a lot of lamb and offal options on the menu if you go looking.

Allergens in this kitchen

gluten/wheatsoysesame

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

Pingyao Beef 平遥牛肉Deeply savoury and salty with a faint sweetness, extremely tender — it genuinely falls apart in the mouth.Wantuo Buckwheat Jelly 碗托Earthy buckwheat under a punchy garlic-vinegar-chilli dressing; springy and bouncy to bite.Guoyourou Sliced Pork 过油肉Savoury and glossy with a sharp vinegar tang that cuts the oil; the meat is velvety rather than crisp.