Restaurants in Beijing
 

I will travel to Beijing next thursday and some people told me the food in Beijing is not good (I was amazed because I expect the opposite!).

If someone can recomend me some restaurants it will be very helpful.

Thanks

Perhaps they meant that the northern cuisine isn't as good as Cantonese? In general that's probably fair comment, but there's still plenty of good food to be had in Beijing, including Cantonese, Sichuanese and other regional restaurants.

We enjoyed the Liqun (pronounced roughly like 'lee-joon') Roast Duck Restaurant (excellent Beijing duck in a noisy and cheerful atmosphere) and also the considerably more refined Noble Restaurant, which is in the Back Lakes area and serves up classy fixed price dinners at 100 and 200 yuan pp (US$12/24). From memory the Liqun also set us back about Y100 each. Your hotel should know of both restaurants and be able to point the cabbie in the right direction.

We never did get to try out the well-known Li Family Restaurant, but I've noticed since that it has its detractors as well as its admirers.

lule, I mean to ask whether you'd checked the restaurant reviews on this site (see tab above) - also, a search on say beijing +restaurants, also at this site?

There's a review of the Liqun which does point out that it can be a challenge to find. We found that it's a good way to work up an appetite, though. I guess we failed the test, as we eventually accepted the kind offer of an enterprising rickshaw guy to take us just around the corner. Needless to say we didn't realise we'd been so close, but we'd already accepted his quote. Live and learn - I wasn't blessed with a sense of direction.

There are tons of great restaurants for all kinds of tastes in Beijing. For typical "lao BJ" fare go to Fu Jia Lou (8403-7831)on "23 dong si shi tiao". (Inside the 2nd ring road, caddy corner from Swiss hotel. No English menu, so bring a phrase book or your cherades skills. Figure 30 Yuan per person, including drinks. Red Captial Club (reservations essential 6402-7150 66 dong si jiu tiao) is expensive, but awesome atmosphere, all in cultural revolution kitch..check out the bomb shelter that has been converted into a wine cellar.
Indian: Tandoor, in the Zhao Long Hotel (6597-2211x2112)
Thai: serve the people 8454-4580 on San Li tun xi wu jie
American: Steak and Eggs or Grandmas Kitchen on Xiu Shui Nan Jie, right behind the Friendship store
Dumplings: Brand new in BJ, world renowned DIN TAI FUNG 6462-4502 on Hu Jian Yuan #22(pricey but worth it). Still hungy, time and cash to spare? The Courtyard, overlooking the Forbidden City. Dressy, pricey, fusion. Best when someone else is paying. cigar lounge upstairs.6526-8883

Don't forget to try some stall food or Chinese fast food like Ma Lan Mian... spicey noodles!!

Pick up a copy of the free english magazine thats beijing or check their accompanying website www.thatsbj.com for even more options.

If someone tells you the food wasn't good, they ate at the wrong places!

And Neil is right, northern food is very different from Cantonese food. (less seafood and domestic animlas up north).

An off-topic question for BChen (sorry, lule) - I found a great snack at a Beijing food stall and was wondering what it's called (actually, what I'd really like is a recipe, but that's probably asking too much of the kitchen god). It's a kind of deep-fried (I think) chicken kebab with a crusty coating, served with a smear of chilli paste. At Y3 each they were a bargain for lunch. From memory the stall was in the street that runs north from the middle of Jingshan Park. Any ideas?
- Neil

Neil and Bchen, do you guys use your Chinese in these restaurants or do they speak English??

Thank you both (Neil and Bchen). I am sure this info will be very useful to me.

With the exception of Fu Jia Lou, all have an English menu and cater to the foreigners living here. But it has another branch near the Temple of Heaven/Pearl Market with an English menu. That one is called Old Beijing noodles or something (lao Beijing Mian tiao)Caddy corner, north and West from the Pearl Market, on that service road near the pedestrian overpass. Entrance faces north.

Neil: I can't be sure, but a generic name would be ji (chicken) chuan/r (meaning a chain. the N is dropped in beijing and an R sound is used).

I am actually leaving on Friday for a HK getaway or I'd offer to lend a hand.

Thanks, BChen - enjoy the getaway.

BigJim, the only Chinese I had were a few painfully-learned and usually mispronounced guide book phrases. I did master 'beer' (pijiu, pronounced something like 'PEE-joe').

At the Liqun, which appeared to be popular with expats and locals, we were able to order in English. We were directed to the Noble House by an English-speaking lady in the adjoining teahouse (same owners, I think) and they had a handwritten English menu.

One approach to ordering is to point at what other patrons are eating (which will provide some free entertainment if nothing else) or the restaurant may have illustrations of their house specialities.

A tip I read somewhere, but forgot to try, was to take a takeaway (takeout) menu from one of your local Chinese restaurants, one that has the dishes listed in both English and Chinese, and point to the items you want. Of course if your local restaurants are Cantonese (as are most in Australia) you wouldn't get exactly the same dish, but hopefully something close-ish. Might be worth a try.

BTW, I found that rice wasn't always provided as a matter of course, so you may have to ask for it - from memory (and happy to be corrected) the word is mifan, pronounced mee-FAHN.

About the rice (yes, pronounced mee fahn!)It is usually served at the end of the meal, as a filler. But us westerners like to have it with the food, so ask for it to be served with the dishes you order (which come out one by one, as they are ready). You will likely have to ask 2 or 3 times, but many places know by now that we like our rice during, not after.

The only great food we can't get here is Mexican, so I will treat myself for dinner tomorrow in HK! (making it at home is never the same.)

hello, i'm remembering to have eaten at the summer palace some of the favorite plate of queen "ci xi" (something like that) houa! it still in my mind better to be 4,5 person to test more dishes, and if you go to xian there is a restaurant really famous for dim sum (it's on the lonely planet) better to be few people too, but the best in the world, no there is one too in hong-kong. bye