Panda Brewery's Curious Spicy Eats for the Hot & Spicy Festival

原创 Tautvile D. theBeijinger

Now that our inaugural Hot & Spicy Festival is in full swing this weekend at Galaxy Soho, we're Feeling the Burn with a few of the vendors to see what fiery wares they'll be slinging for attendees.

While Panda Brew is known for their wide variety of craft beers, that's not all that they'll be bringing to this year's Hot & Spicy Fest. When you visit their tent you'll also be able to order up some... hotpot. This got us really scratching our heads and looking forward to their appearance at the event all the more.

The true test for our public munching skills

Besides the hotpot, Panda Brew will be bringing more typical festival fare like pulled pork burgers. To wash the burning spice down, they will also bring a selection of their brews.

Panda Brew started as a tiny space (reportedly one of the tiniest pubs in Beijing at the time, occupying merely 15 square meters) in Wudaoying hutong. From there, they opened a significantly more spacious second location in Beixinqiao. Last time we visited, the second floor was stuffed with giant fluffy pandas, in keeping with their logo and name.

Below, the Panda team tells us more about their unique contribution to the Hot & Spicy Fest.

Panda Brew's Beixinqiao location

Tell us what spicy treats you’ll be bringing to Galaxy Soho this weekend.
We will bring spicy hotpot and pulled pork burgers to the Hot & Spicy Fest. The inspiration for these dishes came from Sichuanese cuisine.

What spicy dishes do you sell in your restaurant? Which are the most popular and why?
We sell burgers and hotpot in Panda Brew. Hotpot is definitely the most popular food here because most of us like to eat spicy food.

What drink do you like to pair with spicy food?
We like to pair spicy food with draft beers.

What’s your go-to spicy comfort food?
Hotpot will always be my go-to comfort food.

In one word, how does eating spicy food make you feel?
Cool.

Panda Brewery, along with 40 more of Beijing’s top purveyors of chili-infused grub, will be in attendance at our inaugural Hot & Spicy Festival at Galaxy Soho on Apr 14-15. If you have yet to grab your RMB 20 presale ticket, do so by scanning the QR code in the poster above or read more on what to expect here.

Images: Panda Brew, Tracy Wang