If you want find the best North Korean restaurants in Beijing then I suggest not only going with a North Korean, but even better going to one near the DPRK embassy.
I was to find this latest treat after heading to said embassy for a meeting about the reopening of the DPRK.
To read about North Korean embassies click here.
What the North Korean Restaurant?
The North Korean franchise known as “Pyongyang Restaurant” was formerly a mainstay of much of the Asia and even going as far as Holland. Sadly ones in Cambodia and beyond have closed, although there is still one North Korean restaurant in the capital.
They were closed due to sanctions, but thankfully China take no truck with that! Therefore you can still get great DPRK cuisine served by beautiful Korean ladies with Uriban BBQ being my second new find since the pandemic.
What the Uriban BBQ?
Uriban BBQ is quite literally opposite the DPR Korean embassy and is a continuation of a much simpler and real North Korean restaurant that was formerly opposite the consular section. This is a place a had spent and awful lot of time.
The new Uriban BBQ is much cleaner and is obviously aimed at a larger crowd than just embassy staff and their business associated like myself. You will not find singing and dancing here in the main room, but apparently they do have a karaoke room that I shall at some point check out.
The Uriban BBQ Menu
As with most all North Korean restaurants in Beijing and beyond the menu at Uriban BBQ is big, has pictures and covers a goof lions share of the dishes that you can get in DPR Korea. These of course include the North Korean take on sashimi and Pyongyang Cold Noodles.
We though were there more to chat firstly and ideally to try out the speciality, DPR Korean BBQ. With this in mind I let the Korean order and we got beef BBQ with hot sauce and lettuce, some greta North Korean Kimchi and finished with some duck bbq.
This can be either cooked for you at your table or brought out ready made. We went for ready made. The way Korean BBQ is eaten is by making a pseudo sandwich in lettuce leaves which are then dipped into the Korean hot sauce.
Again we finished with duck BBQ something uniquely North Korean and something I have not had since 2019 when I was in Pyongyang.
Uriban BBQ Drinks
Food is of course nothing without drink, so this was to be an important choice. Thankfully they have a full range of Taedonggang Beer from the DPRK, although it is the export variety that is bottled, if not made in China. I though was not in the mood for beer and went straight for soju.
And it was North Korean Soju which meant it was not only more flavorsome than Jinro but also much stringer at 30% – take that Smirnoff! I actually ended up even taking two bottles with me….
I did see some people drinking very fine whisky, but alas imported rather than the Pyongyang variety.
The Uriban BBQ Vibe
Perhaps what is best about this restaurant is its authenticity of it with most everyone there being from the DPRK, or at least their associates. Much like a Chinese restaurant in the west, if there are no Chinese then it is not authentic.
And the fact that Ukriban is next to the embassy should mean I get to come here fairly often, at least when DPR Korea does finally open up its doors to the workers, farmers and intellectuals of the world.
Uriban BBQ Restaurant Address;
South side of DPRK Embassy around the corner of consular section.