Beijing Restaurant Review: Sarcosarus or Big Sarcosarus?

By Oscar Holland

Images by Holly Li

We’ve all been there: It’s Sunday afternoon, you’re hungover and you can’t choose between a meaty snack and a coelophysoid ceratosaur. So, as a new branch of Big Sarcosaurus opens in Dongzhimen, it’s time to put this age-old dilemma to rest.

Appearance

Big Sarcosaurus: Pleasant wood panelling elevates this place above your average fast-food joint. Plus, the food is visible through the glass cabinet, so you needn’t rely on unrealistic menu photos. Windows and walls feature the catchy slogan ‘Rolling In The Steam.’

Sarcosaurus: No-one’s quite sure. Incomplete fossils only show the creature’s (positively thrusting) pelvic region. The rest of Sarcosaurus’ alleged appearance is the result of paleontological guesswork. But mystery is part of this sexy beast’s appeal.

Size

Big Sarcosaurus: As wide as a Sarcosaurus is long, but significantly deeper. Dinosaur bodies only needed room for internal organs, but snack stores require space for cooking equipment, seating and administrative functions.

Sarcosaurus: About 3.5 meters long – big by early Jurassic standards. If you find one much larger, it’s most likely a Megalosaurus. (Does this undermine the very concept of a ‘Big’ Sarcosaurus?)

Diet

Big Sarcosaurus: Unashamedly carnivorous. This place is best known for lan long (‘meat dragon’), a long burrito-sized wrap of dough and meat that comes in two varieties, pork (RMB12) or beef (RMB16). Roujiamo and other snacks also available.

Sarcosaurus: Unashamedly carnivorous. In fact, this beast was so carnivorous they called it Sarcosarus (from the Greek sarx – ‘flesh’ – obvs). It may have lived in a forest, but it shunned vegetarian options. Little regard for sustainable or ethically-sourced meat.

Location

Big Sarcosaurus: Big Sarcosaurus can be found dotted around Beijing, but this branch is just behind the Raffles City mall in Dongzhimen. Good for the lunchtime work crowd and those unwilling to succumb to the full Gui Jie experience.

Sarcosaurus: England may today be populated by woodland creatures and xenophobic homo sapiens, but back in the Jurassic period, all sorts of interesting creatures roamed there. Among them was the original Sarc, whose remains were first found in Leicestershire.

Existence

Big Sarcosaurus: This is one of Big Sarcosaurus’s key selling points. Not only does it exist, but it also appears to be expanding around the city – a species on the up, with no immediate threat of extinction. If you’re looking for something in the here-and-now, Big Sarc’s the one.

Sarcosaurus: This is where Sarc falls short – it’s been gone for almost 200 million years. And even if this rascal had outlasted its epoch, it wouldn’t have survived a mass extinction that wiped out all non-avian dinosaur species on Earth. A big ask.

Gossip-worthiness

Big Sarcosaurus: Not exactly the talk of the town. Caused a minor tremble in the That’s Beijing office when our designer Holly ordered a ‘meat dragon’ to the office on deadline.

Sarcosaurus: People have been talking about this guy since 1921. Caused minor confusion due to taxonomic similarities with the aforementioned Megalosaurus. So hot right now.

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