Beijing Food

When it comes to eating in Beijing, and in China in general, my favorite approach is to follow the crowds. If a restaurant is packed with locals, I’ll go for it. That said, sometimes you want something something special. I’ve compiled a few of my favorites here. For more recommendations, check out Savour Asia’s Beijing guide.

Restaurants aside, you cannot go to Beijing without sampling at least some of the street food. My favorite is the jian bing (煎饼), a buckwheat crepe filled with a fried egg, scallions, crunchy fried bits, and a spicy sauce. Look for vendors with huge round griddles on their carts, almost like a Parisian crepe stand. (Or check out this amusing tutorial on how to make jian bing at home.)

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Chinese Menu Guide

Xian Lao Man

This jiaozi (dumpling) restaurant will blow your mind. I would make a trip to Beijing just for this restaurant. (OK, only if I were already in China. But still.) They are the freshest-tasting jiaozi I’ve ever had, and the selection of fillings is enormous. My personal favorite is egg-and-carrot, but the seafood dumplings here are also particularly good. Away from the dumpling section of the menu, I highly recommend the laohu cai (老虎菜, “Tiger Salad”), a spicy cilantro salad that will cleanse your palate between dumplings. An English menu is available.

A huge dinner for two, with beer, cost approximately 65 RMB. That includes three types of dumplings and a vegetable dish, which is way too much food for two people. But, uh, we finish it every time.

The restaurant is located in the Dongcheng district, at 252 Andingmennei Dajie (安定门内大姐52号). Walk south from the Andingmen subway station on the east side of the street. The restaurant will be on your right shortly before you reach the first big intersection. [January 2009]

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Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant

I have a confession to make: I’m not crazy about Peking duck. Or I wasn’t until visiting Dadong. This is Peking duck as it’s meant to be done, in a fairly luxurious atmosphere. Unfortunately, plenty of other people are in on the secret, so getting in without reservations is almost impossible. They try to make the wait pleasant (free boxed wine! a window into the duck kitchen!), but if you can make reservations, do so.

Once you’re seated, the challenge is making your choices from the vast menu. The eggplant is outstanding, as is a cold dish of lightly pickled duck. Your duck service (since you’re definitely not skipping that) will come with the usual accompaniments (pancakes, cucumber, hoisin sauce, sugar, etc.), plus duck soup, dessert and fruit.

Dinner for two, including half of a duck (which was plenty), two vegetables, a cold dish, and beer cost approximately 350 RMB, making it a bit of a splurge for China. But are you really going to leave Beijing without eating Peking duck?

The restaurant is located at 22 Dongsishitiao (东四十条22号), west of the Dongsishitiao subway station. It is tucked in the back of a large office building. For reservations, call 010/5169-0328. [November 2008]

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Yisila Restaurant

Located on the grounds of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region’s Beijing compound in Haidian, this restaurant serves the traditional Uighur cuisine found in Xinjiang, in western China. Because Xinjiang is a largely Muslim province, don’t expect to find pork on the menu. Instead, try grilled lamb or a bowl of thick, chewy noodles. We loved a spicy stir-fry of eggplant and peppers. But a warning to vegetarians: There may be meat lurking in seemingly vegetarian dishes. (We found a couple of beef slices in our eggplant.) If you aren’t going to have the chance to travel to Xinjiang yourself, this is a great place to try this delicious food.

A large dinner for four, with beer, cost approximately 180RMB. The restaurant is located at 7 Sanlihe Road (Haidian District), between Xizhimen Nanlu and Chegongzhuang. Enter through the main gate of the Xinjiang compound, and go to the right around the main building. The restaurant entrance is on the side.

It’s at least a half-hour walk from both the Xizhimen and Chegongzhuang subway stations. Bus 103, which you can catch outside the Fuchengmen subway station or from the zoo transport hub, passes right by the compound on Sanlihe. [July 2008]

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Din Tai Fung

The Din Tai Fung restaurant chain is a Taiwan import that specializes in xiaolongbao — the soup dumplings that are a Shanghai specialty. It likes to talk about the time it was named one of the best restaurants in the world by the New York Times, many years ago. Is it that good? Probably not. But the soup dumplings are yummy.

It’s also a good place to try an assortment of Chinese desserts. We had sticky rice packets filled with red bean paste and chunks of almond jelly and almond milk over ice (tastes better than it sounds, I promise).

A dinner for two, with three kinds of dumplings, a vegetable dish and desserts, cost 200RMB. The restaurant is located at 24 Xinyuanxili Zhongjie (新源西里中街24号) in Chaoyang. It’s a 10RMB cab ride from the Dongzhimen subway stop. [July 2008]

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