Located in the heart of Tianzifang, East is a new ‘Modern Asian’ eatery from Stefan Stiller and his wife Yoshi. Split over two levels, the ground floor is offering up casual dishes, the likes of noodles and gourmet bao, while upstairs is a slightly more formal space dishing up a longer menu of Japanese, Korean and Chinese mash-ups.
From the downstairs bao menu, everything we've tasted to date has been good. Try the signature East bao (25RMB) with slow-cooked pork belly, crushed peanuts and pickled cucumber, and the togarashi (chilli pepper) prawn bao (45RMB) with Asian slaw, mango slices and black garlic.
Upstairs, the menu is separated into izakaya style snacks and appetisers, raw dishes, hot dishes, rice and noodles, and vegetables. Standouts snacks include the crunchy and flavoursome house made pickles (28RMB), the spring rolls (reasonable at 28RMB for two pieces) and the kimchi and seafood pancake (pricey at 75RMB).
From the hot dishes, the ‘East’ Gong Bao chicken (78RMB) is tasty and satisfying despite the peanuts being on the soggy side and the spice level being a touch mild. More worthwhile is the duck breast (135RMB) presented aside a Japanese-inspired dashi daikon topped with seared Rougié duck liver. If you like duck, this dish is a must order.
Tianzifang isn’t always associated with great dining, so it’s nice to see a causal eatery like East upping the flavour factor in this tourist maze. Definitely worth a visit, both downstairs for the tasty bao, and upstairs for the more intricate fusion menu, friendly service and quality food.
