When Homo Sapiens Discovered Fire

First night in Shenyang we went to a themed restaurant called “Savage Barbecue” that served Dongbei-style BBQ 东北烧烤.

Shenyang is the capital and largest city of China’s northeast Liaoning Province. It was the site of the 17th-century Manchu capital Mukden, and barbecue is so loved that people jokingly refer to the Dongbei diet as “three barbecues a day.” 

When it comes to BBQ in Shenyang, there’s Xita 西塔, a neighbourhood in Shenyang that is known for having the largest Koreatown in northeast China. A Shenyang-style KBBQ menu typically features a large selection of grilled meats, often with flavourful marinades, alongside other popular dishes like Korean-style cold noodles, fried chicken, and various cold appetisers. But I digressed; tonight’s about Dongbei BBQ.

Dongbei-style BBQ is a hearty northeastern Chinese barbecue known for its savoury flavours and wide variety of grilled skewers. It features diverse ingredients like meat, seafood, vegetables, and even unique items like silkworm pupae, often seasoned with garlic, chilli, cumin, and herbs. The grilling process emphasises flavour from charcoal, and dishes often combine sweet, sour, spicy, and savoury tastes. 

As the largest city in the northeast, Shenyang naturally brings together the barbecue methods of various schools (namely Jinzhou, Changchun and Qiqihar) in the three provinces of northeast China. Of course many would argue that the best BBQ in Shenyang is the run-down, smoky husband-and-wife joint below your residential block. Savage Barbecue is something totally different, as the overall dining experience is key.

Savage Barbecue in the Taiyuan commercial district of Shenyang has earned the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest barbecue restaurant, with a total area of 7,606 square meters.

The brand is not known outside of Shenyang, but it is a local favourite and one that locals will bring to entertain their out-of-town friends.

Dongbei BBQ 东北烧烤 is always charcoal grilled. Why are barbecues so popular in northeast China? Many people may think that in the late 1990s, a wave of unemployment came as a result of the privatisation of the nationalised industries. Using discarded metal equipment and coke from factories to build barbecue stalls was a means of earning a living for these retrenched workers.

Once we placed our order, we were served some Dongbei fries 空心薯条 as an appetiser. Imagine French fries but hollowed out and extremely crispy, these were seasoned with the special chilli garlic powder.

A trolley pushed around the store served complimentary Dazhazi porridge 大渣子粥, a Dongbei staple made up of grains like chickpeas, kidney beans, barley and millet boiled to a gooey consistency. You can then add different pickled vegetables to enhance the taste.

And besides the porridge and fries, there is a complimentary buffet snack bar that you can take unlimited servings of grilled sweet potatoes, tea-infused boiled eggs, and other snacks like popcorn and breadsticks. You are almost full from all these snacks even before the first skewer arrives.

First up, the renowned roasted pig trotters 小野烤猪手 that was voted the best in Shenyang. The pig trotters were braised before they were returned onto the charcoal grill to crisp up the skin.

The meat and skin simply slipped off the bones. While the crispy skin picked up all the flavours of the spices, the juicy and tender collagen came with bits of the crunchy soft bones that only people who love pig trotters would appreciate.

Grilled dried fish 棒鱼干 is one of Darling’s favourite snack growing up. A bit like the ones we used to get from the Mamak store at the tuck shop for 5¢

It seems that Dongbei didn’t stop the invasion of Szechuan flavours. Darling ordered another of her favourite dish, the spicy deep-fried shrimps 香辣小河虾. These mini river shrimps were coated with flour and deep fried to a crisp and then tossed in dry spices for the flavours. Very good with cold beer so I happily obliged.

Sichuan wasn’t the only thing that made its way to Dongbei. Lamb kebab on a willow branch 红柳烤羊肉串 originally came from Xinjiang, and they became a staple of BBQs in Dongbei. I used to be able to destroy 10 of these, but I have to watch it these days.

And at this point, some salad would be nice, but Manchurian diet is not about balance. Old Style Salad 老式拌花菜 is a toss salad with roasted peanuts, tofu skin, cucumbers, black woodear mushroom in a spicy Szechuan dressing. Again, we can’t escape from Sichuan taste.

I ordered a single order of grilled lamb kidney 烤羊腰, one of my favourite BBQ skewer bar none. The whole kidney was served in a single serving, sliced into three slices for easier cooking and seasoning.

I was impressed by the presentation of the food so far, and the roast pigeon did not disappoint. Like what they did in 3-star fine dining, the roast pigeon 老厨烧鸽子 was placed in a smoker and revealed at the table.

But it’s all smoke(less) and mirrors, the reveal showed a dry piece of cooked pigeon. They offered to tear it up of you so that it was easier to consume.

Not sure about this last bit of service, but the pigeon was well-seasoned and tasty. An amber piece of charcoal on the bottom provided some heat to maintain the temperature. Just that it dried out the bird in the process.

Must try if you are in Shenyang, but I would not recommend this if you want the authentic Dongbei BBQ experience. For that you would need to go to your shop downstairs.

Savage Barbecue 野人部落
Floors 1-2-3-4-5, Zhengda Plaza, No. 14 Tongze South Street, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province
辽宁省沈阳市同泽南街14号正大广场1-2-3-4-5层

Visited Sep 2025