Best Halal Food in Beijing: Authentic Hui Muslim Street Eats and Traditional Beef Noodles Guide
[Internet Repost]
I’ve rounded up 65 high-res photos for the 65th installment of my Beijing Halal food guide. We’re deep-diving into local spots like Linfen Beef Meatball Noodles, the Xuanwu Culture-themed restaurant, and Gansu-style barbecue sandwiches to give you the lowdown on the best eats and dining vibes in the city.
Here is the list of Halal restaurants featured in this episode:
1. Linfen Beef Meatball Noodles
2. Zai Xuanwu Cultural Theme Restaurant
3. Gansu Barbecue Sandwich
4. Beijing-style Hot Pot Buffet
5. Ules Kazakh Grassland Flavor Restaurant
6. Yilan Liyuan Angus Beef Noodles
7. RABIUL'S KITCHEN Indian Restaurant
8. Khyber Restaurant
9. Culture Indian & Pakistani Restaurant
10. Cao's Beef Zhaobing (Crushed Pancake)
1. Linfen Beef Meatball Noodles
I finally found authentic Halal Linfen beef meatball noodles in Beijing, and it’s actually run by the famous Bai brand from Linfen. It’s a stall located at the night market right by the Xingong subway station entrance, open from noon until night.
Linfen-style beef meatball noodles use a beef tallow spicy broth. It’s super spicy, kind of like a Sichuan hot pot base.
The noodles are yellow, quickly blanched in the broth, and served—similar to how banmian (flat noodles) are prepared. You can add extra beef, meatballs, mahua (fried dough twists), and veggies. I personally love adding the mahua, meatballs, and beef.
The weather has been pretty cold lately and the night market is empty. I’m not sure how long this stall can hang on, but I really hope they can open a permanent brick-and-mortar shop in Beijing.
2. Zai Xuanwu Cultural Theme Restaurant
Ever since the old Xuanwu District was merged into Xicheng, a lot of locals have been really nostalgic about the past, which is how this restaurant themed around old Xuanwu culture came to be.
Xuanwu Yongcun (Xuanwu Forever) is the title of a popular underground hip-hop track from 2011. I used to have that song on repeat back in the day; the lyrics are great and always bring back a ton of childhood memories.
The message on the chopstick packaging is actually a snippet of those lyrics. 110104 is the old prefix for residents' ID cards in Xuanwu. I’m an 110104, but by my son’s generation, the ID prefix has changed to 110102, with 102 standing for the Xicheng District.
The wall mural in the restaurant depicts the Islamic Scripture Institute of Niujie.
They’ve got old-school Nintendo consoles and black Sega consoles on display, totally capturing the vibe of 80s kids' childhoods.
The restaurant specializes in shuanrou (instant-boiled mutton/hot pot) and yangxiezi (lamb spine hot pot), plus skewers and zhizi kaorou (iron-plate grilled meat). The grill is done in the kitchen and brought to your table. The meat quality is solid, though old-school Xuanwu locals definitely prefer things on the saltier side.
The grilled potato slices and enoki mushrooms in the two-person grill combo are great. The set only costs 92 yuan and comes with two plates of meat—one beef and one lamb—which is a total bargain.
3. Gansu-Style Meat Skewer Sandwiches
There’s a little takeout window at the Jingyaju Hotpot spot in Guangwai where a lady from Gansu sells grilled meat skewers tucked into flatbread. It’s strictly takeout, but I’m a huge fan of these Gansu-style sandwiches where you can pick whatever fillings you want.
She also makes spicy latiao (spicy gluten sticks) and potato-filled steamed buns, and the youxuan bing (layered scallion oil pancakes) at the bottom are super tasty too.
4. Beijing All-You-Can-Eat Halal Hotpot and BBQ
A new halal AYCE (all-you-can-eat) hotpot and BBQ place just opened by the South Gate of Olympic Forest Park. It’s perfect for grabbing a meal after hanging out at the park with the kids all day, plus kids under a meter tall eat for free.
The dinner buffet is 113 per person and it’s loaded with options, with the real highlights being the seafood, crab, and grilled durian.
Here you’ve got two types of slushies where you can add your own toppings, and there’s an ice cream machine right next to them.
The crabs are served live, and since it’s in season, they’re packed with roe.
The grilled durian pieces might be on the smaller side, but you can eat as much as you want, which makes it a win.
You grab your own hotpot ingredients and beef or lamb, while the raw skewers for the grill are set out for you to pick, then you hand them to the kitchen to get them cooked up.
The ingredients are pretty fresh, the variety is solid, and the drinks are all-you-can-drink too.
5. Ules Kazakh Grassland Flavors
A restaurant serving authentic Kazakh cuisine recently opened near the Beijing Institute of Technology’s Liangxiang campus, run by three sisters from the Kazakh community.
Their specialty dishes include naryn (horse meat noodles), baursak (fried dough balls), potato slices, and kuirdak (a traditional meat stew). Since the space is tiny, they don't prep huge batches, so it’s best to call ahead and order what you want, otherwise you might miss out.
The shop only has three and a half tables, so their capacity is limited—by 7 PM, most of the food is usually sold out.
You can tell just by looking at them that these ladies are definitely Kazakh, and the food they put out is genuinely delicious.
I got the veggie pilaf because all the meat versions were already gone.
Baursak is a classic Kazakh snack people usually have with milk tea for breakfast; the texture is a lot like youxiang (savory deep-fried dough).
Their homemade noodles with diced meat are incredible—the noodles have a great chew, and you get one free refill, with any extra refills only costing three yuan.
The Kazakh-style potato slices are pretty spicy, and they’re cooked down until they’re super tender.
They also serve Kazakh-style salty milk tea, which usually comes with naipizi (milk skin), though they were all out that day.
The dish I had to wait the longest for was the horse meat naryn. The horse meat is firmer than beef with a coarser texture, and the 'naryn' refers to the way it’s tossed with the noodles.
6. Yilan Liyuan Beef Noodles
Yilan Liyuan just opened a new beef noodle shop in Baizhifang, featuring their signature Angus bone broth beef noodles.
Yilan Liyuan is originally a famous beef and mutton shop on Niujie Street that’s turned into a major viral hit, and now they’re even serving electric-grilled skewers and American-style burgers.
Their electric-grilled skewers and burgers are pretty good, but the beef noodles and rice bowls with grilled meat are just so-so.
7. RABIUL'S KITCHEN Indian Restaurant
Run by Indians, this Kolkata-style Indian restaurant features an owner who used to work as a head chef in many hotel restaurants.
Kolkata Indian cuisine blends Hakka Chinese elements, and their curry has a really rich and mellow flavor.
8. Khyber Restaurant
Khyber is a Pakistani restaurant located in Liangxiang. There's another Pakistani brother restaurant nearby, but I feel this one has a more authentic taste.
Beijing has recently seen quite a few new Pakistani restaurants open up close together. Each spot has its own vibe, and once you try enough of them, you can really tell the difference.
The grilled meat here is also solid. Pakistani folks are basically like the northwestern Chinese of the international scene, opening restaurants all over the world.
Remember that Pakistani biryani rice is always spicy—that's how you tell it apart from Arab rice dishes.
The taste of the naan bread can also totally show off the chef's skill level.
9. Culture Pakistani and Indian Restaurant
This spot is in Sanlitun right next to Han Baba Pakistani Restaurant. I've never really understood why they love clustering their shops together, but it doesn't seem to hurt their business. Honestly, very few Pakistani and Indian restaurants in Beijing go out of business these days.
The interior setup feels more like a lounge bar and even has a stage for live music.
The dish prices are super cheap, and you can usually eat here for under 100 RMB per person.
These kebab skewers have a bit of a kick to them, whereas Turkish kebabs are non-spicy.
Comparatively speaking, this place offers a wider variety of dishes and has a much more spacious setup. Plenty of people show up for lunch.
Their naan bread is extra fragrant, but the pani puri (crispy hollow spheres filled with spiced water and potatoes) shown in the picture below wasn't great. My son doesn't like the fillings inside them and only wanted to eat the empty shells, but even the empty shells here weren't crispy.
10. Cao Family Beef Zhaobing
Cao Yunjin has opened a bunch of new restaurants lately—some Halal and some not—mostly clustered over in Wangsiying. I thought it was too far and didn't want to wait in long lines, so I skipped those. However, this Cao Family Beef Zhaobing (pan-cured flatbread shredded and stir-fried with beef) opened a new branch in You'anmen, and since it's close by, I came to check it out.
The new location is pretty big, and with it being the opening period, it's super busy. Even if you come for dinner, you still have to wait for a table.
However, the staff's service is prompt and keeps up with the crowd, and the zhaobing tastes pretty authentic. Having tried beef zhaobing in Baoding before, I'd say the flavor here is pretty standard—the ingredients are clean and fresh, and it tastes much like any other good spot.
Their beef steamed dumplings and Governor tofu are both delicious too. The steamed dumplings are genuinely awesome, and they're only 18 RMB a portion.
After the meal, I randomly ordered two little desserts: one was peach gum soup, and the other was mung bean paste soup. They were super generous with the ingredients, and the total bill for this whole spread came out to under 100 RMB. The value for money is seriously high.
I’ve rounded up 65 high-res photos for the 65th installment of my Beijing Halal food guide. We’re deep-diving into local spots like Linfen Beef Meatball Noodles, the Xuanwu Culture-themed restaurant, and Gansu-style barbecue sandwiches to give you the lowdown on the best eats and dining vibes in the city.
Here is the list of Halal restaurants featured in this episode:
1. Linfen Beef Meatball Noodles
2. Zai Xuanwu Cultural Theme Restaurant
3. Gansu Barbecue Sandwich
4. Beijing-style Hot Pot Buffet
5. Ules Kazakh Grassland Flavor Restaurant
6. Yilan Liyuan Angus Beef Noodles
7. RABIUL'S KITCHEN Indian Restaurant
8. Khyber Restaurant
9. Culture Indian & Pakistani Restaurant
10. Cao's Beef Zhaobing (Crushed Pancake)
1. Linfen Beef Meatball Noodles
I finally found authentic Halal Linfen beef meatball noodles in Beijing, and it’s actually run by the famous Bai brand from Linfen. It’s a stall located at the night market right by the Xingong subway station entrance, open from noon until night.
Linfen-style beef meatball noodles use a beef tallow spicy broth. It’s super spicy, kind of like a Sichuan hot pot base.
The noodles are yellow, quickly blanched in the broth, and served—similar to how banmian (flat noodles) are prepared. You can add extra beef, meatballs, mahua (fried dough twists), and veggies. I personally love adding the mahua, meatballs, and beef.
The weather has been pretty cold lately and the night market is empty. I’m not sure how long this stall can hang on, but I really hope they can open a permanent brick-and-mortar shop in Beijing.
2. Zai Xuanwu Cultural Theme Restaurant
Ever since the old Xuanwu District was merged into Xicheng, a lot of locals have been really nostalgic about the past, which is how this restaurant themed around old Xuanwu culture came to be.
Xuanwu Yongcun (Xuanwu Forever) is the title of a popular underground hip-hop track from 2011. I used to have that song on repeat back in the day; the lyrics are great and always bring back a ton of childhood memories.
The message on the chopstick packaging is actually a snippet of those lyrics. 110104 is the old prefix for residents' ID cards in Xuanwu. I’m an 110104, but by my son’s generation, the ID prefix has changed to 110102, with 102 standing for the Xicheng District.
The wall mural in the restaurant depicts the Islamic Scripture Institute of Niujie.
They’ve got old-school Nintendo consoles and black Sega consoles on display, totally capturing the vibe of 80s kids' childhoods.
The restaurant specializes in shuanrou (instant-boiled mutton/hot pot) and yangxiezi (lamb spine hot pot), plus skewers and zhizi kaorou (iron-plate grilled meat). The grill is done in the kitchen and brought to your table. The meat quality is solid, though old-school Xuanwu locals definitely prefer things on the saltier side.
The grilled potato slices and enoki mushrooms in the two-person grill combo are great. The set only costs 92 yuan and comes with two plates of meat—one beef and one lamb—which is a total bargain.
3. Gansu-Style Meat Skewer Sandwiches
There’s a little takeout window at the Jingyaju Hotpot spot in Guangwai where a lady from Gansu sells grilled meat skewers tucked into flatbread. It’s strictly takeout, but I’m a huge fan of these Gansu-style sandwiches where you can pick whatever fillings you want.
She also makes spicy latiao (spicy gluten sticks) and potato-filled steamed buns, and the youxuan bing (layered scallion oil pancakes) at the bottom are super tasty too.
4. Beijing All-You-Can-Eat Halal Hotpot and BBQ
A new halal AYCE (all-you-can-eat) hotpot and BBQ place just opened by the South Gate of Olympic Forest Park. It’s perfect for grabbing a meal after hanging out at the park with the kids all day, plus kids under a meter tall eat for free.
The dinner buffet is 113 per person and it’s loaded with options, with the real highlights being the seafood, crab, and grilled durian.
Here you’ve got two types of slushies where you can add your own toppings, and there’s an ice cream machine right next to them.
The crabs are served live, and since it’s in season, they’re packed with roe.
The grilled durian pieces might be on the smaller side, but you can eat as much as you want, which makes it a win.
You grab your own hotpot ingredients and beef or lamb, while the raw skewers for the grill are set out for you to pick, then you hand them to the kitchen to get them cooked up.
The ingredients are pretty fresh, the variety is solid, and the drinks are all-you-can-drink too.
5. Ules Kazakh Grassland Flavors
A restaurant serving authentic Kazakh cuisine recently opened near the Beijing Institute of Technology’s Liangxiang campus, run by three sisters from the Kazakh community.
Their specialty dishes include naryn (horse meat noodles), baursak (fried dough balls), potato slices, and kuirdak (a traditional meat stew). Since the space is tiny, they don't prep huge batches, so it’s best to call ahead and order what you want, otherwise you might miss out.
The shop only has three and a half tables, so their capacity is limited—by 7 PM, most of the food is usually sold out.
You can tell just by looking at them that these ladies are definitely Kazakh, and the food they put out is genuinely delicious.
I got the veggie pilaf because all the meat versions were already gone.
Baursak is a classic Kazakh snack people usually have with milk tea for breakfast; the texture is a lot like youxiang (savory deep-fried dough).
Their homemade noodles with diced meat are incredible—the noodles have a great chew, and you get one free refill, with any extra refills only costing three yuan.
The Kazakh-style potato slices are pretty spicy, and they’re cooked down until they’re super tender.
They also serve Kazakh-style salty milk tea, which usually comes with naipizi (milk skin), though they were all out that day.
The dish I had to wait the longest for was the horse meat naryn. The horse meat is firmer than beef with a coarser texture, and the 'naryn' refers to the way it’s tossed with the noodles.
6. Yilan Liyuan Beef Noodles
Yilan Liyuan just opened a new beef noodle shop in Baizhifang, featuring their signature Angus bone broth beef noodles.
Yilan Liyuan is originally a famous beef and mutton shop on Niujie Street that’s turned into a major viral hit, and now they’re even serving electric-grilled skewers and American-style burgers.
Their electric-grilled skewers and burgers are pretty good, but the beef noodles and rice bowls with grilled meat are just so-so.
7. RABIUL'S KITCHEN Indian Restaurant
Run by Indians, this Kolkata-style Indian restaurant features an owner who used to work as a head chef in many hotel restaurants.
Kolkata Indian cuisine blends Hakka Chinese elements, and their curry has a really rich and mellow flavor.
8. Khyber Restaurant
Khyber is a Pakistani restaurant located in Liangxiang. There's another Pakistani brother restaurant nearby, but I feel this one has a more authentic taste.
Beijing has recently seen quite a few new Pakistani restaurants open up close together. Each spot has its own vibe, and once you try enough of them, you can really tell the difference.
The grilled meat here is also solid. Pakistani folks are basically like the northwestern Chinese of the international scene, opening restaurants all over the world.
Remember that Pakistani biryani rice is always spicy—that's how you tell it apart from Arab rice dishes.
The taste of the naan bread can also totally show off the chef's skill level.
9. Culture Pakistani and Indian Restaurant
This spot is in Sanlitun right next to Han Baba Pakistani Restaurant. I've never really understood why they love clustering their shops together, but it doesn't seem to hurt their business. Honestly, very few Pakistani and Indian restaurants in Beijing go out of business these days.
The interior setup feels more like a lounge bar and even has a stage for live music.
The dish prices are super cheap, and you can usually eat here for under 100 RMB per person.
These kebab skewers have a bit of a kick to them, whereas Turkish kebabs are non-spicy.
Comparatively speaking, this place offers a wider variety of dishes and has a much more spacious setup. Plenty of people show up for lunch.
Their naan bread is extra fragrant, but the pani puri (crispy hollow spheres filled with spiced water and potatoes) shown in the picture below wasn't great. My son doesn't like the fillings inside them and only wanted to eat the empty shells, but even the empty shells here weren't crispy.
10. Cao Family Beef Zhaobing
Cao Yunjin has opened a bunch of new restaurants lately—some Halal and some not—mostly clustered over in Wangsiying. I thought it was too far and didn't want to wait in long lines, so I skipped those. However, this Cao Family Beef Zhaobing (pan-cured flatbread shredded and stir-fried with beef) opened a new branch in You'anmen, and since it's close by, I came to check it out.
The new location is pretty big, and with it being the opening period, it's super busy. Even if you come for dinner, you still have to wait for a table.
However, the staff's service is prompt and keeps up with the crowd, and the zhaobing tastes pretty authentic. Having tried beef zhaobing in Baoding before, I'd say the flavor here is pretty standard—the ingredients are clean and fresh, and it tastes much like any other good spot.
Their beef steamed dumplings and Governor tofu are both delicious too. The steamed dumplings are genuinely awesome, and they're only 18 RMB a portion.
After the meal, I randomly ordered two little desserts: one was peach gum soup, and the other was mung bean paste soup. They were super generous with the ingredients, and the total bill for this whole spread came out to under 100 RMB. The value for money is seriously high.
