| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top Restaurants in Beijing - Beijing Dining Guide - Eating out in Beijing
Beijing is China's best city for gastronomes. No other Chinese city provides a greater variety of restaurants. Better standards of
hygiene have erased the biggest barrier to eating out in the past, making it almost criminal to stay in your hotel. And once you
get over the shock of strange flavors, most travelers find the real Chinese food astronomically better than its Western corruption.
Beijing has its native cuisine, but it is by no means the dominant one. While there are entire restaurants devoted to producing
the city's most famous local dish, Beijing roast duck, local diners are fickle and fond of new trends. These sweep through the city
like tornadoes through Kansas. A few years ago it was Cultural Revolution nostalgia dishes, then fish and sweet sauces from
Shanghai, then yuppified minority food from Yunnan, and now the fiery flavors of Sichuan hold sway. Tomorrow it will be
something else. Each leaves its mark on the culinary landscape after it has passed, making it possible for visitors to sample
authentic dishes from nearly every corner of the country.
The choices expand well beyond China's borders. Most of Asia and Europe are well represented at close-to-authentic levels.
Italian, Russian, French, Indian, and Japanese restaurants are numerous, some of superb quality.
American fast-food outlets are ubiquitous. KFC is the most popular among locals and McDonald's is a close second. Subway,
Sizzler, and even A&W are also in the mix. For sandwiches, there are several other choices: Schlotsky's Deli (in the China World
Trade Center), and the Kempi Deli (inside the Kempinski Hotel).
Among sit-down options are Pizza Hut, T.G.I. Friday's, Henry J. Bean's (in the China World complex), the American-owned
Outback Steakhouse, and the Beijing Hard Rock Cafe.
Beijing frequently ranks among the most expensive cities in which to dine for business travelers, according to the Corporate
Travel Index and other sources of such information. While it is possible to spend a lot of money on food in the city, it is also
possible to eat, and eat well, for very little. A typical dinner for two at a relatively upscale Chinese restaurant costs ¥80 to ¥140
($10-$18), but prices can go much lower with little to no drop in quality.
Main courses in almost every non-Western restaurant are placed in the middle of the table and shared between two or more
people. The "meal for two" price estimates in this chapter include two individual bowls of rice and between two and four dishes,
depending on the size of the portions, which tends to decrease as prices rise.
Credit cards are generally accepted in most restaurants above the moderately priced level. Hotels frequently levy a 15% service
charge, but free-standing restaurants seldom do. Tips are not given; waitresses will often come running out into the street to
give your money back if you try to leave one.
Beijing's enthusiasm for the wrecking ball can sometimes take down even the most venerable of eating establishments, but new
worthies inevitably rise to fill the gap. Most restaurants of note, especially those that cater to foreign clientele, are located in
Chaoyang, but excellent establishments exist all over the city. The most picturesque spot to dine in Beijing is around the Back
Lakes, north of Bei Hai Park, an area of well-preserved hutong (narrow lanes) and idyllic man-made lake promenades that is
home to several of the city's most compelling eateries.
Green Dining--Don't let your culinary journey push rare species into extinction: avoid shark's fin and wild animal meats.
Eat locally grown produce and support Beijing's nascent organics industry where possible.
Bring your own chopsticks and avoid disposable chopsticks, -- billions are discarded each year.
The Cuisines
China has between four and ten seminal cooking styles, depending on who you ask, but regional permutations, minority
contributions, and specialty cuisines like Buddhist-influenced vegetarian and medicinal dishes push the number into the dozens.
Most of these have at least passed through Beijing since privately owned restaurants really took off in the 1980s. Below are
summaries of the most consistently popular styles, as well as the cuisines du jour, which may or may not be around next time you
visit:
Beijing -- This ill-defined cuisine was influenced over the centuries by the different eating habits of successive rulers. Emphasis
is on lamb and pork, with strong, salty, and sometimes musky flavors. Staples are heavy noodles and breads rather than rice.
Jiaozi, little morsels of meat and vegetables wrapped in dough and usually boiled, are a favorite local snack.
Cantonese -- The most famous Chinese cooking style, Cantonese tends to be light and crisp, with pleasing combinations of salty
and sweet, elaborate presentations, and a fondness for rare animal ingredients at the high end. As with Sichuanese food, real
Cantonese puts its American version to shame. It's available in swanky and proletarian permutations.
Homestyle (Jiachang Cai) -- The most pervasive style in Beijing, homestyle food consists of simplified dishes from a variety of
regions, primarily Sichuan. It is cheap, fast, and gloriously filling, with straightforward flavors that run the gamut. This is the
Chinese equivalent of down-home American cooking, but far healthier and more colorful.
Huaiyang -- This ancient style from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) is celebrated for delicate knife work
and light, slightly sweet fish dishes. Vegetarian dishes often make interesting use of fruit. The tendency here is to braise and
stew rather than stir-fry.
Shanghai -- These richly sweet, oil-heavy dishes are no longer as trendy as they were a few years ago, but are still easy to find.
Shanghainese food tends to be more expensive than fare from Sichuan or Beijing, but affordable Shanghai-style snack shops
dot the city. Best are the varieties of baozi, or bread dumplings.
Sichuan -- The most popular of the pure cuisines in Beijing, real Sichuanese is far more flavorful than the "Szechuan" food found
in the United States. Main ingredients are vividly hot peppers, numbing black peppercorns, and garlic, as found in classics like
gongbao jiding (diced chicken with chilies and peanuts). Spicy Sichuan-style hot pot is the city's best interactive food experience.
Southern Minority -- Cuisine and rare ingredients from Naxi-dominated regions of Yunnan Province are especially fashionable,
but Hakka, Dai, Miao, and other ethnic traditions are also well represented. This is some of the city's most interesting food right
now, but also its most inconsistent and overpriced.
Uighur -- Uighur cooking is the more distinctive of Beijing's two Muslim styles (the other being Hui), with origins in remote Xinjiang
Province. The cuisine is heavy on lamb and chicken and is justly adored for its variety of thick noodles in spiced tomato-based
sauces. Uighurs produce the city's favorite street snack: yangrou chuan, roasted lamb skewers with cumin and chili powder.
Vegetarian -- An increasingly diverse style, the Beijing version of vegetarian cuisine is moving away from its previous obsession
with soy- and taro-based fake meat dishes. Decor and quality vary from restaurant to restaurant, but none allow smoking or
booze.
Beijing is China's best city for gastronomes. No other Chinese city provides a greater variety of restaurants. Better standards of
hygiene have erased the biggest barrier to eating out in the past, making it almost criminal to stay in your hotel. And once you
get over the shock of strange flavors, most travelers find the real Chinese food astronomically better than its Western corruption.
Beijing has its native cuisine, but it is by no means the dominant one. While there are entire restaurants devoted to producing
the city's most famous local dish, Beijing roast duck, local diners are fickle and fond of new trends. These sweep through the city
like tornadoes through Kansas. A few years ago it was Cultural Revolution nostalgia dishes, then fish and sweet sauces from
Shanghai, then yuppified minority food from Yunnan, and now the fiery flavors of Sichuan hold sway. Tomorrow it will be
something else. Each leaves its mark on the culinary landscape after it has passed, making it possible for visitors to sample
authentic dishes from nearly every corner of the country.
The choices expand well beyond China's borders. Most of Asia and Europe are well represented at close-to-authentic levels.
Italian, Russian, French, Indian, and Japanese restaurants are numerous, some of superb quality.
American fast-food outlets are ubiquitous. KFC is the most popular among locals and McDonald's is a close second. Subway,
Sizzler, and even A&W are also in the mix. For sandwiches, there are several other choices: Schlotsky's Deli (in the China World
Trade Center), and the Kempi Deli (inside the Kempinski Hotel).
Among sit-down options are Pizza Hut, T.G.I. Friday's, Henry J. Bean's (in the China World complex), the American-owned
Outback Steakhouse, and the Beijing Hard Rock Cafe.
Beijing frequently ranks among the most expensive cities in which to dine for business travelers, according to the Corporate
Travel Index and other sources of such information. While it is possible to spend a lot of money on food in the city, it is also
possible to eat, and eat well, for very little. A typical dinner for two at a relatively upscale Chinese restaurant costs ¥80 to ¥140
($10-$18), but prices can go much lower with little to no drop in quality.
Main courses in almost every non-Western restaurant are placed in the middle of the table and shared between two or more
people. The "meal for two" price estimates in this chapter include two individual bowls of rice and between two and four dishes,
depending on the size of the portions, which tends to decrease as prices rise.
Credit cards are generally accepted in most restaurants above the moderately priced level. Hotels frequently levy a 15% service
charge, but free-standing restaurants seldom do. Tips are not given; waitresses will often come running out into the street to
give your money back if you try to leave one.
Beijing's enthusiasm for the wrecking ball can sometimes take down even the most venerable of eating establishments, but new
worthies inevitably rise to fill the gap. Most restaurants of note, especially those that cater to foreign clientele, are located in
Chaoyang, but excellent establishments exist all over the city. The most picturesque spot to dine in Beijing is around the Back
Lakes, north of Bei Hai Park, an area of well-preserved hutong (narrow lanes) and idyllic man-made lake promenades that is
home to several of the city's most compelling eateries.
Green Dining--Don't let your culinary journey push rare species into extinction: avoid shark's fin and wild animal meats.
Eat locally grown produce and support Beijing's nascent organics industry where possible.
Bring your own chopsticks and avoid disposable chopsticks, -- billions are discarded each year.
The Cuisines
China has between four and ten seminal cooking styles, depending on who you ask, but regional permutations, minority
contributions, and specialty cuisines like Buddhist-influenced vegetarian and medicinal dishes push the number into the dozens.
Most of these have at least passed through Beijing since privately owned restaurants really took off in the 1980s. Below are
summaries of the most consistently popular styles, as well as the cuisines du jour, which may or may not be around next time you
visit:
Beijing -- This ill-defined cuisine was influenced over the centuries by the different eating habits of successive rulers. Emphasis
is on lamb and pork, with strong, salty, and sometimes musky flavors. Staples are heavy noodles and breads rather than rice.
Jiaozi, little morsels of meat and vegetables wrapped in dough and usually boiled, are a favorite local snack.
Cantonese -- The most famous Chinese cooking style, Cantonese tends to be light and crisp, with pleasing combinations of salty
and sweet, elaborate presentations, and a fondness for rare animal ingredients at the high end. As with Sichuanese food, real
Cantonese puts its American version to shame. It's available in swanky and proletarian permutations.
Homestyle (Jiachang Cai) -- The most pervasive style in Beijing, homestyle food consists of simplified dishes from a variety of
regions, primarily Sichuan. It is cheap, fast, and gloriously filling, with straightforward flavors that run the gamut. This is the
Chinese equivalent of down-home American cooking, but far healthier and more colorful.
Huaiyang -- This ancient style from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) is celebrated for delicate knife work
and light, slightly sweet fish dishes. Vegetarian dishes often make interesting use of fruit. The tendency here is to braise and
stew rather than stir-fry.
Shanghai -- These richly sweet, oil-heavy dishes are no longer as trendy as they were a few years ago, but are still easy to find.
Shanghainese food tends to be more expensive than fare from Sichuan or Beijing, but affordable Shanghai-style snack shops
dot the city. Best are the varieties of baozi, or bread dumplings.
Sichuan -- The most popular of the pure cuisines in Beijing, real Sichuanese is far more flavorful than the "Szechuan" food found
in the United States. Main ingredients are vividly hot peppers, numbing black peppercorns, and garlic, as found in classics like
gongbao jiding (diced chicken with chilies and peanuts). Spicy Sichuan-style hot pot is the city's best interactive food experience.
Southern Minority -- Cuisine and rare ingredients from Naxi-dominated regions of Yunnan Province are especially fashionable,
but Hakka, Dai, Miao, and other ethnic traditions are also well represented. This is some of the city's most interesting food right
now, but also its most inconsistent and overpriced.
Uighur -- Uighur cooking is the more distinctive of Beijing's two Muslim styles (the other being Hui), with origins in remote Xinjiang
Province. The cuisine is heavy on lamb and chicken and is justly adored for its variety of thick noodles in spiced tomato-based
sauces. Uighurs produce the city's favorite street snack: yangrou chuan, roasted lamb skewers with cumin and chili powder.
Vegetarian -- An increasingly diverse style, the Beijing version of vegetarian cuisine is moving away from its previous obsession
with soy- and taro-based fake meat dishes. Decor and quality vary from restaurant to restaurant, but none allow smoking or
booze.
| Meiguoxing.com, Your Ultimate Guide to Beijing, China |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Beijing Top Restaurants - An Interactive Map of Best Places to Eat in Beijing | Index |
|---|---|
|
北京最佳餐厅
| Beijing Top Restaurants - An Interactive Map of Best Places to Eat in Beijing | Index |
|---|---|