Beijing restaurant chain opens in Mountain View

Uploaded: Jul 13, 2016

A franchise of Dong Lai Shun, a Beijing restaurant chain, is now open at The Village at San Antonio Center in Mountain View.

Franchisee Harry Huang, a native of Beijing who has lived in the United States for 30 years, soft opened the first U.S. outpost in mid-June. Huang said he hopes to offer local diners "authentic food from Beijing."

The first Dong Lai Shun opened in 1903, Huang said. The Chinese-Muslim restaurant is known for its mutton hot pot — thin slices of lamb, served raw and then cooked by diners in a boiling pot of soup at their table.

Images of the Mountain View restaurant’s menu posted on Yelp show items like Mapo tofu, braised beef, stir-fried lamb and a wagyu beef pancake. The menu is divided into several sections: soup; "small eat;" poultry; meat; seafood; tofu and vegetables; and rice and pancakes.

Huang said the restaurant is still in the soft-opening phase and is gearing up for a grand opening in about two weeks.

Dong Lai Shun is located 545 San Antonio Road, Suite #32. It joins several other restaurants at the shopping center: Paul Martin's American Grill, Pacific Catch, The Counter, Cocina Central, Sajj and Veggie Grill.

Comments

Posted by Poke Lover, a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood,
on Jul 13, 2016 at 11:58 pm

Was excited about it after seeing this column, but after looking at the Yelp reviews and the pictures I will surely stay away. This place screams terrible overpriced food, and nothing will make up for that. Sadly, it probably won't close down as quickly as it should.

If you want a Chinese restaurant with classy decor that won't break your budget and serves awesome food, Fey in Menlo Park is it. Yum.

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Posted by Ping, a resident of Crescent Park,
on Jul 14, 2016 at 7:51 am

They serve shark fin soup at the Beijing restaurant.

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Posted by Eric, a resident of Old Mountain View,
on Jul 14, 2016 at 11:45 am

Based on its high-rent location next to Pacific Catch and Paul Martin's, I wouldn't have expected it to be reasonably priced.

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Posted by Mike Keenly, a resident of Menlo Park: Allied Arts/Stanford Park,
on Jul 14, 2016 at 12:26 pm

I'll also give a shout out to Hong Kong Restaurant on El Camino in Palo Alto, south of Page Mill.

Excellent quality food that is authentic, reasonably priced, and not too americanized.

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Posted by resident, a resident of Midtown,
on Jul 15, 2016 at 9:28 am

Anyone try this place? How does it compare to the (always crowded) Little Sheep Hotpot restaurant on Castro Street (another restaurant chain from Beijing).

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Posted by Foodie, a resident of Charleston Meadows,
on Jul 15, 2016 at 9:56 am

I tried it when they first soft opened in late June. I was hoping for some (semi-) authentic, regional cuisine, given the history and reputation of Beijing location. Their food reminded me of P.F. Chang, just without pork dishes and more expensive.

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Posted by Steve, a resident of The Crossings,
on Jul 19, 2016 at 7:51 am

Tried it. Nothing remarkable at all and way over priced. Believe it or not, people living around the new San Antonio developments are looking for quality and deals, not to be fleeced along with the high rents and traffic.

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Posted by Poke Lover, a resident of Another Mountain View Neighborhood,
on Jul 20, 2016 at 1:04 am

@resident Having tried LSH Cupertino on Stevens Creek, you're MUCH better off going to their new Castro location than Dong Lai Shun. We have a 4-month old, so we haven't had a chance to verify that the MV location is good yet, but I would bet it is. Also, let's face it, Hot Pot is harder to screw up if you have good broth and quality ingredients.

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