Túmén Cháo Kǎo 图门串烤

From the shadows barbecue hawkers come out with their coal grills and boxes of skewers for late night eats. Some places have a stand outside that will do it for you. At Túmén Cháo Kǎo 图门串烤, you can grill your own barbecue yourself. My Shanghainese colleague informs me that Túmén is in the northeast region of China and that the name of the place means "Túmén a lot of barbecue."

The restaurant is small with little ventilation so it is better to get a table in the front room or by the door. This will help from not coming out of the restaurant smelling like barbecue. Each table has its own grill where fresh coals are places along with a few embers and is then covered to heat up to an appropriate temperature. You place the skewers on top of the grill to start cooking. The restaurant gives you cloth napkins practically soley for the use of protecting yourself from the jumping embers and sparks shooting out of the coal grill whilst cooking.

To order, the server hands you a checklist of all the possible varities of meat and veg you can order and you just note how many you want of each. The price is also included on the menu ranging from .5-6rmb per skewer. If you need it, they have an English menu, but each line does not necessarily match the Chinese-only menu to the exact point, so you have to make sure that the characters match. Also, there were a few items on the menu that are not translated. We chose a selection of beef, spicy beef, lamb, lamb on bone, green beans, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, chicken hearts, chicken wings, bread, aubergine, peppers, and other random items.


At each table is a shaker of salt, cumin, and a spicy powder, which you can sprinkle on your skewer at the desired stage of cooking. In this case, you have control of the entire cooking process. This, however, may be disastrous if you do not pay attention to your skewers causing them to overcook or burn on one side. After cooking on the grill, you can rest the skewers above the flame to keep warm while cooking other skewers at the same time.

Seeing as there were 6 of us, there was a bit of madness. Not enough skewers cooking fast enough for hungry men and all so little. It is however, a very fun and social way of eating. Plus, there is a steady flow of cheap, cold beer to keep everyone happy.

Túmén Cháo Kǎo 图门串烤. 192 Wanhangdu Lu by Wulumuqi Lu. Shanghai, People's Republic of China