Top Beijing restaurants
 

I'm preparing for a trip to Beijing. I have made a booking at Jing in the Peninsula hotel, as a result of a tip from a fellow FT-er.

Conde Nast had Mei Mansion on its hot list for 2005 and I have also seen the Courtyard mentioned.

Has anyone here been to any of those places?

Any others you could recommend?

I would also be interested to get recommendations for nice tea houses to visit.

Many thanks

The other day, I saw someone mention The Aria at the China World Hotel as a good choice. And the current issue of That's Beijing is about restaurants so maybe that will also help out. Apparently, people get tired of all the Chinese food and tend to look for other cuisines.

jing-zing!
 

oh, man, jing...

just let me 'confirm your reservation.' it's so, so, so fabulous. not really chinese, per se, but what a wonderful meal you'll have! the setting is gorgeous, sexy, food is wonderful, ditto service (and you can have ice in your drinks!)

if you want something more traditionally chinese, we had terrific meals at both han kejia (get the fish in paper) and dao jia chang. there are no english menus or speakers at the latter...i think there might be at the former. we don't speak much chinese, and the waitstaff at dao jia chang loved walking around with my husband while he pointed at other's meals saying 'i want that.' both were recommended by frommer's, they'd have info on how to find them.

actually, while i'm parrot-ing frommer's, if you want to do peking duck, you won't be unhappy at Beijing Dadong Kaoya Dian...mmmm.

my mouth is watering--enjoy your trip!

Jing is very good and we really liked the food there.

Haven't tried the other two you mentioned.

I'd also recommend the Green T House. It's sort of trendy Chinese food though if you're staying centrally, you'll need to take a taxi there. It's in the embassy district.

Thanks people, some great tips here! I am getting hungry already!!

when did you go, EEB? i'm pretty sure green t is closed, or it was when we tried to go there last year. sorry to be the bearer of bad news... :(

We went in October last year. Was it later than that when you tried to go? The taxi driver did have some trouble finding it when we went and they do tend to claim that where you want to go is closed if they can't find it!

you know, i just spend half an hour googling this...i think what happened is that we were in beijing at the end of october when the owner, jin, was opening her place in new york, and green t. was closed while she was doing that and renovating the existing space. (i wouldn't necessarily believe a taxi drive either, had we gotten the info from him, but we had the concierge call :))

looks like, from what i see on the 'net, it's open. that's great news, thanks!

Fliar, you'll have to go and report back. ^ it was high on my list of places to eat when we were there last year; i was crushed it was closed.

At your service! :)

http://www.thatsbj.com/blogging/blo...eam_of_the_crop

btw, i didn't like alameda at all, but some of these places, particularly hatsune, are worth checking out

Well, I've got booked so far:
Green T House
Jing
han kejia
and dadong kaoya dian

I'll definitely report back how it all was!

don't expect to walk away from green t full (food isn't bad, just not filling). also, xiao wangfu (near the kerry centre) is my favorite place to eat duck because it is very clean the atmosphere is less chaotic than some of the more famous places.

[QUOTE=moondog]don't expect to walk away from green t full (food isn't bad, just not filling). /QUOTE]

Thanks for the reminder. It'll give me an excuse to indulge in chocolates afterwards! ;)

I have seemingly misplaced a card I picked-up from what is purported to be the best restaurant in all of Beijing for Peking Duck. Sure enough, throughout the restaurant, photos were plastered all over the walls of dignitaries, world leaders, and international stars.

Sorry I can't remember the name, but your hotel concierge will undoubtedly know.

It's a great city in a wonderful country. Enjoy!

that would be the 全聚德at qianmen, which also won the that's bj readers poll. personally, i find that place overcroweded, overpriced, and overhyped, especially during peak times (i met some friends down there at the start of the may holiday; big mistake). made in china (and several others) make better duck imo