Beijing Restaurants

EAT

The best way to eat good and cheap in Beijing is to enter one of the ubiquitous restaurants where the locals are eating and pick a few different dishes from the menu. Truth be told, anyone familiar with Western currency and prices will find Beijing a very inexpensive city for food, especially considering that tipping is not practiced in China.

Some of the cheapest and delicious meals can be had on the streets. Jianbing guozi is one of the most popular street snacks, eaten from morning till night. This delicious pancake is cooked with an egg on a griddle, a fried dough crisp is added, and the whole thing is drizzled in scallions and a savory sauce. Hot sauce is optional.

Lamb kebabs (yángròu chuàn ) and other kebabs are grilled on makeshift stands all around Beijing, from the late afternoon to late at night. Wangfujing has a "snack street" selling such mundane fare like lamb, chicken, and beef, but the brave can also sample silkworm, scorpion, and various organs all skewered on a stick and grilled to order.

A winter specialty, candied haw berries (bingtáng húlu) are dipped in sugar and sold on a stick. You can also find variations with oranges, grapes, strawberries, and bananas, or dipped in crumbled peanuts as well as sugar.

This sweet snack can also sometimes be found in the spring and the summer, but the haw berries are often from last season's crop.

BEIJING ROAST DUCK

This famous Beijing specialty is served at many restaurants, but there are quite a few restaurants dedicated to the art of roasting the perfect duck. Expect to pay around ¥40 per whole duck at budget-range establishments, and ¥160-¥190 at high-end restaurants.

Beijing duck (beijing kaoya) is served with thin pancakes, plum sauce (tiánmiàn jiàng),and slivers of scallions and cucumbers.

You dip the duck in the sauce and roll it up in the pancake with a few slivers of scallions and/or cucumbers. The end result is a mouthwatering combination of the cool crunchiness of the cucumber, the sharpness of the scallions, and the rich flavors of the duck.

Quánjùdé 32 Qianmen Dajie

Daily 11:30am-2:30pm and 4:30-8pm. The oldest and most venerable of the roast duck restaurants, Quanjude is slipping these days, but its fame still brings many customers, mostly tourists eager for the "classic" experience. Ducks cost ¥199 each and ¥99 for half a duck; quality varies by location. Subway: Line 2 to Qianmen. Bus: 2, 120, 726, 826, 803 to Qianmen. Official WebSite in English.

The most reputable of Quanjude's 14 branches is the listed Qianmen location. Other branches are at Hepingmen (south of the subway stop), the east side of Tian'anmen Square, and Qinghua Science Park near Wudaokou.

Guolín Restaurant

This well-kept secret among Chinese people has some of the tastiest and most inexpensive ducks in all of Beijing. Half a duck is just ¥28. And all its other delicious, innovative dishes keep customers coming back: be prepared for a bustling, noisy atmosphere, though the interior is often quite nice.

Locations all over Beijing—look for a sign with two little pigs—including at Fangzhuang, Zhongguancun, Wudaokou, Xuanwu, and more.

Dàdong

Chaoyang District, Tuanjiehu Beikou Bldg. 3, East 3rd Rind Road, ? 6582 2892. Daily 11am-10pm. Considered by some to be the best Beijing duck in the city, this upscale restaurant also delivers on a nice atmosphere. Reservations suggested. Also at Dongsi Shitiao 22A, Bldg. 1-2 of the Nanxin Cang International Tower

Biànyìfang Chongwen District 36 Xingfu Dajie

Beijing is also known for its lamb hotpot (??? shuàn yáng ròu), which originally came from the Manchu people and emphasizes lamb over other meats. Like variations of hotpot (general name ?? huo guo) from elsewhere in China and Japan, lamb hotpot is a cook-it-yourself affair in a steaming pot in the center of the table.

Raw ingredients are purchased by the plate. In addition to lamb, beef, and seafood, this also includes a wide variety of vegetables, mushrooms, noodles, and tofu, so it's also perfectly possible to have vegetarian hotpot.

OTHER CHINESE CUISINES

Beijing provides an ideal opportunity to sample food from all over the country. Some of Beijing's best restaurants serve food from Sichuan, Hunan, Canton, Tibet, Yunnan, Xinjiang, and more. Many, such as Makye Ame (11A Xiushui Nanjie Jianguomenwai Beijing Tel: +86 (10) 6506 9616) and Dai Nationality Restaurant feature live dancing and performance, and are not to be missed.

Gesangmedo Chaoyang District, Xindong Lu, Xingfu Ercun Shangye Building, 2nd fl.

Daily 11am-11pm. Tibetan food in a beautifully decorated interior, complete with a shrine in one corner. Attentive staff. Nightly live performance begins at 9pm. Subway: Line 2 to Dongzhimen and walk east on Dongzhimen Wai Dajie. Bus: 110, 117, 120, 813, 815, or 823 to Xìngfú San Cun.

INTERNATIONAL CUISINES

McDonald's has over 100 restaurants in Beijing, followed closely by KFC. As a rule of thumb, whenever there is a McDonalds, a KFC is no further than 100m away. There are also a fair number of Pizza Huts. However, visitors to Pizza Hut should be prepared to take a number and wait in line if they dine around 12:00-13:00 and again from 18:30-19:30 (peak hours), as the restaurant is very popular with young Chinese. You will pay on average ¥60-¥120.

Origus has numerous locations throughout Beijing, and offers an all-you-can-eat pizza/pasta buffet for ¥39, including soft drinks and dessert bar.

Mirch Masala Indian Cuisine (60-2 Nanluogu Xiang) Located on the still-quiet tourist street of Nanluoguxian, Mirch Masala serves delicious North-Indian dishes.

Korean restaurants are also very common in Beijing. A frequent meal is the grill-it-yourself barbeque, including beef, chicken, and seafood items as well as some vegetables including greens and potatoes.

DRINK

Tea, tea, and more tea! Some are in malls, but first ask the price before ordering or else brace yourself for the most expensive egg-sized cup of tea in the world. You can experience different ceremonies of tea at tea houses especially in the Qianman area south of Tiananmen.

These can range in price, and some tea houses are really tourist traps whose main goal is to milk you of your money, so be careful. You can get a free tea demonstration at most Tenrenfu tea houses which are located throughout the city and at some malls.

Good coffee is hard to find in most parts of China, although addicts have a place to retreat now that Starbucks has made huge inroads with the emerging middle class. They have at least 50 Starbucks in the capital, most situated around shopping malls and in commercial districts of the city.

Chinese beer can be quite good. The most preferred beer in China is Tsing Tao (¥10-20, 2-3 if you buy it from a street vendor) which can also be found in the States. Try Yanjing beer (¥10-15 at restaurants, ¥2 on the street), which is main beer brand of Beijing. It comes in very large bottles and has 4% alcohol content. (Yanjing is an antiquated name for Beijing.).

Both Yanjing and Qingdao now come in "standard" (putong) and "pure" (chunsheng) varieties. You'll also find Beijing beer in some establishments and is only served on draught. It's brewed by the Japanese beer company Asahi which probably explains why you don't see it in many places.

Great Wall is the most popular local brand of wine. Wine made in China are considered not drinkable by most foreigners, but this is probably due to the fact that it is not common among local Chinese to drink it. Giving wine as a gift is not a common custom in most places in China and most people will not be accustomed to wine etiquette or appreciation.

Foreign red wines are usually of a much better quality, such as those from France, Germany, Italy, USA, Australia, and Chile, and you will find them at most upscale restaurants.

The most common hard liquor to get drunk from is Bai jiu (??, white liquor). It comes in a large variety everywhere for very cheap prices and should be avoided if you want to have a clear mind for your travels on the next day.

Mao Tai is one of the more famous brands, and costs about as much as an imported bottle of whiskey. A large selection of imported liquor can be found at all bars ranging from tequila to whiskey.

PLACES TO DRINK

Sanlitun

this is the center of nightlife in Beijing, located beside the embassy area in Chaoyang district, it comprises a main "bar street" divided into north and south sections, a side street with more casual (and cheaper) bars, and several large clubs/discotheque at the north gate of the worker's stadium near by. Sanlitun has near legendary status amongst travelers, but you are just as likely to be irritated by pushy bar-owners or DVD sellers as you are to be charmed by its bars.

The Tree 43 Bei Sanlitun Nan

Wood Fired Pizza Oven and over 40 Belgian Beers. It is an independent western fun restaurant/bar that you can eat and drink at. The place is visited by lots of savvy tourists, but also locals can be found there. Official WebSite in English.

Hou Hai

A man-made lake surrounded with trendy restaurants and bars in the central part of Beijing. A great place for a beer, and also to watch local Beijingers (of all ages) enjoying themselves.

Wudaokou

Place where most of the foreign and local University students hang out. There are a number of bars and restaurants which serve a great variety of wine, beer and liquor for cheap. This area is also well known for its huge Korean population and a good place to find Korean food.

Dashanzi

Beijing's new trendy art zone, out North of the Lido hotel, this old warehouse and factory district has been taken over by art galleries, art shops and bars. Well worth the trip to experience the cutting edge of the Beijing art scene. Also known as Factory 798.

Nurenjie

Literally "lady's street", and the streets around. This area is situated off Liang Ma Qiao Lu (????), a short distance north of the Kempinski Hotel and embassies of Israel, Japan, ROK and USA. By day it has some fashion shops, as its name suggests, but it is also home to some interesting new bars, restaurants and clubs.