Beijing Restaurants

21. Café de la Poste

Although good, the French food at this cozy bistro seems beside the point: people come for the nighttime revelry. The bar doesn't close till the last person leaves (even if it's 5 am)!

22. Café Sambal

Inside a cozy traditional courtyard house, this mainstay of Beijing's international dining scene offers some of the city's best Malaysian and Southeast Asian dishes. Sambal refers to the house-made chili sauce that gives an authentic kick to many of the dishes. Best bets include fiery beef rendang, butter prawns, chili crab and the four-sided beans in cashew nut sauce. The antique-furnished interior is stylish and intimate, and a chilled-out vibe makes this a great place to linger over a meal.

23. Cafe Zarah

An old oak tree grows up through both levels of this gorgeous courtyard restaurant. The setting is traditional Chinese, but the menu offerings include good coffee, sandwiches, salads, and other Western comfort foods.

24. Cai Yi Xuan

Asian-style orbs bounce light across the gold and marble furnishings and plush rouge carpets of this dining room at the Four Seasons hotel. The food—billed as Cantonese but covering a range of Chinese cuisines—is equally luxurious with dishes such as crab and truffle spring rolls.

25. Cepe

The Ritz-Carlton's flagship restaurant stands out from the many other high-end Italian restaurants in the city for its focus on mushrooms. A humidor is used here to store seasonal mushrooms that can be transformed into various soups, risottos, and pastas. Taking the fungi theme a step further, about 1,000 mushroom-shaped sculptures are suspended from the ceiling, adding a touch of whimsy to the otherwise unaffected interior.

26. Chef Too

Straightforward American grub is served at this restaurant in a cozy, family-friendly cottage near Chaoyang Park. During the day, diner-style breakfasts, huge burgers, and bottomless cups of coffee bring simple and satisfying comfort to homesick Americans. At night, the ambience is slightly more refined, with imported Australian steaks the main draw, and a wine list focused on America's West Coast. Save room for a scoop (or two) of the homemade ice cream.

27. Comptoirs de France Bakery

Part of a small chain of contemporary French-managed patisseries, this is Beijing's go-to spot for Gallic confections. Goodies here include flaky croissants, sandwiches in crunchy house-made baguettes, and savory croquettes and quiches.

28. Crescent Moon

Heaping platters of grilled-lamb skewers, house-made flatbreads, and other hearty fare feature greatly on the menu here. It's also less flashy than some of Beijing's other Xinjiang establishments.

29. Crystal Jade Palace

At Beijing's only outlet of a successful Singaporean restaurant brand, you'll find some of the city's most reliable Cantonese, a cooking style not particularly well represented this far north. Weekdays see wheeler-dealers closing deals over abalone and sea cucumber, while the weekends bustle with families from Hong Kong and Singapore lingering over dim sum and endless pots of tea. Plenty of pricey seafood dishes are on the menu, but you can opt for the less expensive stir-fry dishes and dim sum.

30. Deyuan Roast Duck

Just because this restaurant offers excellent value for the money, doesn't mean you'll have to forego the celebratory experience of having your Peking duck carved tableside. The service is a bit brusque, but that's all part of its authentic Beijing charm.

31. Ding Ding Xiang

Hotpot restaurants are plentiful in northern China, but few do it better than Ding Ding Xiang, a self-proclaimed "hotpot paradise." Diners order a variety of meats, sliced paper thin, as well as seafood, mushrooms, tofu and vegetables to be cooked at the table in a wide selection of broths (the wild mushroom broth is a must for mycophiles), or, better yet, order a partitioned pot to accommodate multiple soup varieties. The dipping sauces, used in the final stage of eating, are thick and delicious. Despite the surly service and gaudy decor, this place is perennially crowded.

32. Ding Ding Xiang

33. Dong Lai Shun

Founded in 1903, this classic Beijing Hui (Chinese Muslim) restaurant now has branches all over the city. Their specialty is mutton hotpot famous for three attributes: high-quality meat, sliced paper-thin, and served with delicious sesame sauce. Dining here is by dunk and dip, cooking the meat slices (shuan rou) and other accompaniments in a cauldron of bubbling soup at the table. The best part is near the end, when the broth reaches a tongue-tingling climax. Zhima shaobing (small baked sesame bread) is the perfect accompaniment.

34. Feiteng Yuxiang

Be warned: Sichuan spices can be addictive. This restaurant's signature dish is shuizhuyu, sliced fish cooked in an oily broth brimming with scarlet chili peppers and piquant peppercorns. The impossibly delicate fish melts in the mouth like butter, while the chilies and peppercorns tingle the lips. It's a sensory experience that heat-seekers will want to repeat over and over. Red-faced diners test the limits of their spice tolerance over dandan noodles and koushuiji ("mouthwatering") chicken, a salad dish of tender meat tossed with cilantro in spicy oil. The service is unfriendly but efficient.

35. Hai Wan Ju

"Haiwan" means "a bowl as deep as the sea," a fitting name for an eatery that specializes in big bowls of hand-pulled noodles. A xiao er (a "young brother" in a mandarin-collar shirt) greets you with a shout, echoed in thundering chorus by the rest of the staff. The hustle and bustle and rustic decor re-creates the atmosphere of an old teahouse. There are two types of noodles: guoshui, noodles that have been rinsed and cooled; and guotiao, meaning "straight out of the pot," ideal for winter days. Vegetables, including diced celery, radish, green beans, bean sprouts, cucumber, and scallions, are placed on individual small dishes to be mixed in by hand. Hand-pulled noodles are deliciously doughy and chewy, a texture that can only be achieved by strong hands repeatedly stretching the dough.

36. Haidilao

Snacks and various forms of entertainment make the long waits to get into this hotpot restaurant almost enjoyable. Once inside, expect bubbling pots of broth and more sauces and things for dipping than you can count.

37. Hani Geju

More familial than fancy, this cozy restaurant serves Yunnan staples such as Bai-minority goat cheese with bacon (smoked in-house), potato balls (fluffy inside, addictively crisp outside), zingy mint salads, and delicate rice noodle dishes. It's also just a stone's throw from the Bell Tower.

38. Hatsune @ the Village

Fusion-style California rolls are the name of the game at this hip and trendy Japanese eatery in the heart of Sanlitun. At this Beijing institution, the long list of unconventional rolls are made with everything from crab and avocado to imported foie gras. Fresh sashimi, crisp tempura, and tender grilled fish go well with the extensive sake menu; ask the manager for pairing recommendations. A cocktail list and range of imported beers makes this recently renovated spot popular with a well-heeled, pre-party crowd. The original location is on Guanghua Lu in the CBD.

39. Home Plate BBQ

Ground zero for authentic American barbecue in Beijing, this busy joint grills, smokes, and slow-roasts mouthwateringly tender pulled pork, chopped brisket, and sticky ribs alongside wings, fried pickles, corn bread, slaw, chili cheese fries, and a solid cheeseburger. The huge, hipster-friendly Sanlitun location packs in a mixed party crowd, fueled by a wide range of imported American beers and bourbons (they’ve got A&W Root Beer too). If you’ve any appetite remaining after your meal, grab a slice of pecan or cherry pie or carrot cake.

40. Huang Ting

Beijing's traditional courtyard houses provide an exquisite setting at this elegant hotel restaurant. The walls are constructed from gray hutong bricks reclaimed from centuries-old siheyuan that have gone the way of the wrecking ball. Pricey seafood items like abalone and lobster are balanced by affordable and delicious dim sum (especially the dim sum prix-fixe lunch with tea, for RMB 88). The menu is mostly Cantonese, but you can also get a traditional Peking duck. If only the place had a little more atmosphere (and customers), it could be up there with the city's best.