Carmen Tapas Spanish Bar

Place: Carmen Tapas Spanish Bar. Sanlitun. Beijing.
Splurge (top to bottom): Assorted bread, spicy potatoes, anchovy & olives, tuna skewer, pork
liver terrine, beef & blue cheese, arroz de marisco (seafood paella) for two.

Yunnan hotpot

Place: Yunnan restaurant. Beijing.
Soup base: Tomato soup with lemon grass and native herbs (土著木蕃酸湯子母鍋).
Splurge: assorted meatballs (丸類組合), Tofu knot (通海豆腐結), Chashu
mushrooms (茶樹菇、雞腿菇), edible herbs (雲南野菜三拼), fried rice with black
fungi (黑三剁炒飯), Jinghong camellia chicken (景洪茶花雞).

Photo courtesy of: AC.

The most expensive beef noodle I've tasted: Master Kong Chef's Table

Place: Master Kong Chef's Table. Beijing.
Super Tender Beef Ribs Noodles.

These "super" tender beef ribs are simmered for 3+ hours in a
specially prepared beef broth (not stock, according to the restaurant
manager). The beef is soft and flavorful. On the nose, the meat gives
out an intense, burned-rib flavor. Upon mastication, the meat flourishes
with an animated release of multiple flavors, reminding me of melted
butter and grilled skirt steak. At 108 yuan, or 16 USD, a pop, this bowl
is an unusual menu item at Master Kong, which styles itself as a fast-food
joint where the average cost per head is 20 to 25 yuan. This bowl is
probably the most expensive bowl of beef noodle I've tasted. I can't say if
it's worth the money (it'll be difficult to convince me to go for it again out
of my own pocket), but it's worth the price for those who seek pomposity
and a sense of entitlement, if only for a few minutes -- plenty of onlookers
observed with marked curiosity, and envy, as I dug in.

Rating: 1 star to the Super Tender Beef Ribs Noodles.