Direct from the grasslands on the back of a lamb

To provide diners good food, the restaurant transports beef and lamb from its Inner Mongolia daily, but sources vegetables from Beijing.[Photo provided to China Daily]

But they are all so fresh and tasty that I ate them without any sauce.

The beef is also flavorsome, and I liked the chest beef most. It is rich in fat, but that turns crunchy after being boiled, and the meat is chewy and has a savory taste.

The menu also features a large selection of special hotpot dishes from Horqin grasslands, such as mushrooms, black fungus, cubes made with potato powder, and nuts.

The frozen tofu chops are made from authentic traditional tofu and can be boiled for a long time without becoming broken. It has an attractive bean flavor and is very delicious.

The restaurant's hazelnut pancakes, of which there are both salty and sweet versions, are distinctively refreshing and mouth-watering.

Also available are spicy hotpot, and there are more than 20 kinds of sauces, from salty Chinese leeks, to spicy chili sauce and sesame paste.

However, Wan Haijuan, the founder, insists that the best hotpots are those that have few spices and seasonings to compromise the flavors of the food ingredients.

The only sauce she recommends is Chinese leek, which is made from wild leeks growing on the Horqin grasslands. This pungently savory sauce is the most common one that people on the grassland have as an accompaniment to lamb dishes.

The restaurant's furnishing and decoration that combine rustic with style are impressive.