[Photo by Mike Peters/China Daily]

We also liked the beef with egg yolk: Customers crack the eggs themselves, mixing them with beef for a dish with an extra level of tenderness. Another fave was the handmade black-bean tofu, which is boiled for a long time for a firm texture without losing its fine, earthy flavor. (These are not the black beans of Mexico: the insides are white, while the resulting tofu is mysteriously green.)

A summer special is litchi tomato salad, a visual treat with the glistening fruits and cherry tomatoes. The fresh hawthorn juice, a sweet-tart sip that's an acquired taste for many foreigners, has a special appeal here: "Drink it and you can keep eating all the spicy food you want," our server confides.

That was good news, since we were happy to linger in this charming space and eat quite a bit. What seemed like an eternal stream of food only costs about 150 yuan ($23) per person.

One last surprise: The restaurant is open until 2 am, making it a great after-theater stop in a city that has too few places for a late-night dinner that's not in a fast-food bag.