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Home > Beijing Dinner
Luxury dinner Civil dinner

Luxury

Huang Ting

  • Address: The Peninsula, 8 Jinyu Hutong, Wangfujing, Dongcheng District, Beijing
  • Phone: 010/6512-8899 Ext. 6707
  • Price range: $$$$
  • Cuisine: Chinese
  • Location: Dongcheng District

Beijing's traditional courtyard houses, which are fast facing extinction as entire neighborhoods are demolished to make way for new high-rises, provide the theme here. This is arguably Beijing's best Cantonese restaurant, serving southern favorites such as braised shark fin with crab meat, seared abalone with seafood, and steamed scallop and bean curd in black-bean sauce. The dim sum is delicately refined, and the deep-fried taro spring rolls and steamed pork buns are not to be missed. The walls are constructed from original hutong bricks taken from centuries-old courtyard houses that have been destroyed.

Lijiacai

  • Address: 11 Yangfang Hutong, Denei Dajie, Xicheng District, Beijing
  • Phone: 010/6618-0107
  • Price range: $$$$
  • Cuisine: Chinese
  • Location: Xicheng District

Owner Li Li established this restaurant in 1985 after winning a cooking contest, using recipes handed down from her great-grandfather, once a Manchu guard and imperial cook in the Qing court. The Li family restaurant serves several set meals, beginning at Y200 per person and going up to Y500. The menus include a combination of imperial and Old Beijing favorites.

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Civil

Hai Wan Ju

  • Address: 36 Songyu Dongli, Chaoyang District, Beijing
  • Phone: 010/8731-3518
  • Price range: $
  • Cuisine: Chinese
  • Location: Chaoyang District

Haiwan means "a bowl as deep as the sea," fitting for this eatery that specializes in large bowls of hand-pulled noodles. The interior is simple, with traditional wooden tables and benches. A xiao er (a "young brother" in a white mandarin-collar shirt and black pants) greets you with a shout, which is then echoed in a thundering chorus by the rest of the staff. The clanking dishes and constant greetings re-create the busy atmosphere of an old teahouse. There are two types of noodles here: guoshui, noodles that have been rinsed and cooled; and guotiao, meaning "straight out of the pot," which is ideal for winter days. Vegetables, including diced celery, radish, green beans, bean sprouts, cucumber, and scallion, are placed on individual small dishes. Unless you specify otherwise, everything will be flipped into your bowl of noodles in one deft motion. Nothing tastes as good as a hand-pulled noodle: it's doughy and chewy, a texture that can only be achieved by strong hands repeatedly stretching the dough.

 

Han Cang

  • Address: Shichahai Dongan, Houhai, across the street from the north gate of Beihai Park, Xicheng District, Beijing
  • Phone: 010/6404-2259
  • Price range: $
  • Cuisine: Chinese
  • Location: Xicheng District

In the mood for something other than the ubiquitous home-style Beijing or Sichuan fare? Try Hakka cuisine. Specialties like sanbei ya (three-cup duck), yanju (salt-baked) shrimp, and zhi bao luyu fish (baked in aluminum foil) are served at this casual restaurant, flanked by the many watering holes around Houhai. If you're in a group, be sure to book one of the tables on the second floor so you enjoy views of the lake.

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