Take your time to dine

Tangyoubing (crisp fried dough with brown sugar) is a traditional Beijing snack often seen at breakfast booths on the street. But it's getting harder to find as street food fades away.

Zhao brought the snack to One Meal after learning the cooking method from Wang. "The key is to use flours with low gluten," says Zhao. "He told me the standard of a tangyoubing is that it has to stay crispy even when it's getting cold."

It's his apprentice, Ju Zelin, the executive chef of One Meal, who controls the dishes' quality, and ensures they are served the same way each day.

Bread soaked in fish-head soup is a highlight of the menu. Fish are delivered alive from Qiandao Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, each day. The soup has to be stewed for hours before serving. Each fish head weighs between 1 and 3 kilograms－ideal for a main course at a family gathering.

Stewed abalone and chicken claws is another of the eatery's signature stewed dishes, as both ingredients are abundant with collagen and their flavors infuse each other. Unlike the southern way of stewing, which uses more sugar, Zhao's northern style employs more soy sauce.