Beijing: Where to Eat: Overview: Top Tables in Beijing

Top Tables in Beijing

Until a decade ago, Beijing was something of a wasteland for the serious gourmand. The restaurants that reached acceptable international standards of hygiene and service tended to close early. All that has changed in the past five years, with a slew of hotel fine-dining options, and more and more freestanding restaurants that can hold their own. To experience the city’s most famous product—Peking duck—cooked in the authentic manner in a genuinely local setting means forgoing some of the usual niceties. Is it worth it? You bet. Peking duck, slow cooked over wood, and served in thin pancakes and slavered with plum sauce, is an ambrosial culinary treat. At one place it is possible to get a feel for hutong life and sample real Peking duck. Take a good look at the geography before planning any trip out. It is a spread-out city, with crawling traffic, where bar-hopping is not really feasible, except in the Sanlitun district, beloved by foreign students studying Mandarin. There aren’t too many Sanlitun dining places that pass international-standard muster, but it is a lively and fun place for a walk, especially on a summer’s evening, enjoying a cold drink at the outdoor tables. American lawyer Handel Lee has two restaurant in Beijing—and is planning several more later this year, when the former American embassy in Beijing opens as a lifestyle complex. When Lee and his partners have finished converting the century-old building, which was originally designed by American architect Sid H. Nealy, it will contain boutiques, restaurants, cafes, bars and an art gallery. The flagship fine-dining restaurant will be branch of the famous Florence restaurant Enoteca Pinchiorri, which will ship 30,000 of its 180,000-bottle collection to China.