Beijing is an epicurean paradise offering a baffling array of Chinese dishes and local delicacies that guarantee to please the palate. Leading the cluster, however, are four major schools of cooking-Cantonese, Shandong, Sichuanese and Huai'an-Yangzhou. The city's major restaurants are in the hands of famous chefs with creative techniques, and the dining environment is elegant and cozy. Ordinary restaurants in the streets are cheap and practical. Credit cards and cheques are accepted in most hotels and restaurants, but you have to pay an additional 10-15% service Charge.
Peking Duck is representative of all exotic food Beijing has to offer. There are so many Peking duck restaurants in the city nowadays, but the Quanjude Peking Duck Restaurant, which has been around for the last 130 years and is running branches at Qianmen, Hepingmen and Wangfujing, is definitely the best.
Imperial dishes, made exquisitely with choice materials, are yet another salient feature of the Beijing school of cooking. In bygone days these dishes were prepared in the kitchen of the imperial palace for the exclusive delight of the emperor. Today, the Fangshan Restaurant in the Beihai Park, the Tingliguan Restaurant in the summer Palace, and the Dashanyuan Restaurant near the Palace Museum, have made these once secret dishes available to the public.
If you happen to be in Beijing in winter, you may choose to enjoy the Beijing style of hot pot with mutton as a major ingredient. Slices of mutton rinsed in a chafing dish are unusually yummy and refreshing. Donglaishun, Nengrenju and Youyishun are among the Beijing restaurants best known for their instant-boiled mutton.
The dishes of the Tan Family Kitchen, now available in the Dining of Beijing Hotel, were typical family fare in old Beijing. Kaorouyuan and Kaorouji restaurants on Xuanwumennei Street are known for their grilled meat.
There are a good variety of local snacks and refreshments in Beijing. These include almond junket, milk curd, tiny corn buns, eight-treasure porridge with lotus seeds, pea flour cakes, Fuling (Poria coccus) cakes, cakes baked in a clay oven and stuffed with minced meat, fermented soy bean milk, sautéed pork liver,
Sausages, odd-odor bean curd, sugarcoated haws, sliced steamed cakes, sesame seed-speckled cakes, and sweet sour plum juice. The best snacks are found at night fairs, where traditional lanterns add a folkloric aura to scene.
Apart from Chinese dishes, Beijing's epicurean scene is also dotted with restaurants and bistros serving French, American, Italian, Russian and other Western cuisine. There is no lack of Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai restaurants as well. Mcdonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and other Western fast food outlets are found all over the city.
Many local bars and cafes deliberately woo patrons with a foreign atmosphere. No street in Beijing has so many bars as Chaoyang Street and Sanlitun Bar Street, which are patronized by those wishing to relax by nursing a cup of coffee or sampling some vintage brews.
REVOLVING RESTAURANTS
NAME |
ADD |
HEIGHT |
TEL |
CCTV Tower Revolving Restaurant | 11 West Third ring road Central | 221 metres | (010) 68437755 |
International Hotel Star Light Revolving Restaurant | 9 Jianguomennei Dajie | 104 metres | (010) 65126688 |
Kunlun Hotel Peak Revolving Restaurant | 2 Xinyuan Road South, Chaoyang District | 102 metres | (010) 65903388 |
Xiyuan Hotel Restaurant | 1 Sanlihe Road, Xicheng District | 93 metres | (010) 68313388 |
GOURMET RESTAURANTS
NAME |
ADD |
TEL |
Quanjude Peking Duck | 14 Qianmen Street | (010) 65112418 |
Quanjude at Wangfujing | 13 Shuaifuyuan Hutong, Dongcheng District |
(010) 65253310 |
Bianyifang Peking Duck | 2 Chongwenmenwai Dajie | (010) 67120505 |
Fangshan Restaurant (Imperial Cuisine) |
Inside Beihai Park | (010) 64011879 |
Tingliguan Restaurant (Imperial Cuisine) |
Inside Summer Palace | (010) 62881955 |
Donglaishun Restaurant (Hot Pot) |
198 Wangfujing Street | (010) 65253562 |
Shunfeng Yucun Restaurant (Cantonese Cuisine) |
34 Dong’an men Street | (010) 65245833 |
Gongdelin Vegetarians | 158 Qianmen Street South | (010) 67020867 |