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People often say “eating in Guangdong province "or “eating in 
Hong Kong”. Actually, Beijing is a place of world wide delicious food, where you may taste all kinds of delicious food, with different flavors, such as Beijing local, national and international tastes. At present, Beijing has become a large stage of various kinds of delicacies presented to tourists from all over the world. “Eating in Beijing” is also a miniature of cultural exchange among various regions. Some of the restaurants mentioned below are chosen for their distinguished delicacies or nice environment. In a word，it is pleasant to “eat delicious food", Beijing is the paradise for gourmands.
Beijing is an epicurean paradise offering a baffling array of Chinese dishes and local delicacies that guarantee to please the palate. Leading the cluster, however, are four major schools of cooking —Cantonese, Shandong, Sichuanese and Huai'an-Yangzhou. The city's major restaurants are in the hands of famous chefs with creative techniques, and the dining environment is elegant and cozy. Ordinary restaurants in the streets are cheap and practical.
If you happen to be in Beijing in winter, you may choose to enjoy the Beijing style of hot pot with mutton as a major ingredient. Slices of mutton rinsed in a chafing dish are unusually yummy and refreshing. Donglaishun, Mengrenju and Youyishun are among the Beijing restaurants best known for their instant-boiled mutton.
The dishes of the Tan Family Kitchen, now available in the Dining of Beijing Hotel, were typical family fare in old Beijing,
Apart from Chinese dishes, Beijing's epicurean scene is also dotted with restaurants and bistros serving French, American, Italian, Russian and other Western cuisine. There is no lack of Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai restaurants as well. McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and other Western fast food outlets are found all over the city.
Many local bars and cafes deliberately woo patrons with a foreign atmosphere. Non-street in Beijing has so many bars as Chaoyang Street and Sanlitun Bar Street, which are patronized by those wishing to relax by nursing a cup of coffee or sampling some vintage brews.
Early since Spring and Autumn and Warring States period of ancient China, Beijing has been a important city in northern China. Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing five dynasties established the capital here. 700 years ago, Beijing was the center of politics, economy, culture and diplomatic affairs, with the nationalities Han, Mongolia, Mandrin and Muslin settling down here. The domestic and foreign cultures meet and exchange here, so do cuisine. Thus, Beijing's delicacy forms its distinguished style like a galaxy with hundred varieties, all-embracing, elegant and unique.
The Beijing delicacy is not contained in the four main cuisine systems or eight cuisine systems of China. Actually, its ancestor is Lu cuisine (Shandong province) with a salty and refresh flavor. Many time- honored brand restaurants in Beijing are good at Lu flavor, such as famous Quanjude, Donglaishun, Taifenglou, Cuihualou. Besides, the royal cuisine with complex and delicate noble style, Tanjia cuisine with seafood characteristics, Muslim cuisine with beef-mutton and regional flavor snacks are the four important components.
Shandong (Lu) cuisine influences the formation of Beijing cuisine deeply. There are so many restaurants with shangdong flavor throughout the city. Its main techniques include flash (quick) fried, stir- fried, fried, slippery fried, steamed and soy-braised etc. Its taste is both salty and tender-crisp expanding to a large area of north China: Shandong, Shanxi and North-eastern provinces of China.
Muslim cuisine occupies an important position in Beijing cuisine. Beef and mutton are the main ingredients. For example, the famous "whole mutton banquet” made from different parts of lamb to be able to cook more than a hundred courses, representing one respect of Beijing cuisine. In addition, baked meat, instant boiled and stewed mutton with a long history are favorites of Beijing inhabitants.
Royal cuisine is very distinguished in Beijing cuisine. It is well known by its selection of precious ingredients, careful flavoring and poetic and elegant names. Most of the dishes came from the royal cooking of Ming-Qing Dynasties, for example stir- fried fish slices, Hongniang zipei royal Shrimp and Fish pastry (self-match by lady matchmaker), yellow croaker in white sauce etc.
The typical official cuisine is Tanjiacai cuisine of Tan's, which emphasizes original flavor, moderate salty and sweet, delicate ingredients and exclusive cooking. For example, golden-braised shark's fin is at the top of the shark’s fin dishes.
Conclusively, the Beijing cuisine is mainly composed of four cuisines local, Muslim, royal and official cuisines. Its taste is both salty and tender, multiple tasting and sorts, clearly suitable for four seasons with characteristic cooking methods, good at the following skills: flash (quick) frying, stir-frying, slippery frying, roasting, dip-boiling, braising in pot with slow fire, steam, quick-boiling, boiling. The main reason to form the characteristics of Beijing cuisine is that it is the capital and gathering famous chefs from all over the country.
Beijing Roast Duck falls into two types: "grilled duck" and "braised duck." Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant serves "grilled ducks," and Pianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant, "braised ducks," each having its distinct characteristics. Now the restaurants serving Beijing roast ducks can be found everywhere in Beijing, but if you want to taste genuine Beijing Roast Duck, you are advised to go to the famous restaurants, which are located in Qianmen, Hepingmen and Chongwenmen.
Recommended Restaurant
Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant 全聚德烤鸭
Wangfujing Branch
Address: No. 9, Shuaifuyuan Hutong, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing北京王府井帅府园胡同9号
Da Dong Duck Restaurant 大董烤鸭
Address: F1-F2, Nanxincang Business Building, No. 22 Dongsitiao Jia, Dongcheng District, Beijing 东城区东四十条甲22号南新仓商务大厦1-2楼
Instant-boiled Mutton and Roast Meat, the representatives of the Muslims' food in Beijing, are served by many restaurants in Beijing ail the year round. Some famous restaurants with a long history provide high-quality Muslims' dishes, such as Donglaishun Restaurant, which mainly serves Instant-boiled Donglaishun Head Restaurant Mutton, and Kaorouwan Restaurant, which serves the best Muslims' roast meat.
Recommended Restaurant - Donglaishun Restaurant 东来顺
In Beijing, you can't miss instant boiled mutton. Certainly the first choice is Donglaishu (Come from the East smoothly). Known by foreigners as the Mongolian Restaurant, Donglaishun was opened in 1903. It is located near the Peking Hotel at the north side of Dongfeng Market, off Wang Fu Jing. Although they have an extremely good sliced mutton menu, their specialty is Chinese Islamic cuisine and it serves the best hot-pot in China. If you have time, dinner here will be memorable.
Wangfujing Branch
Address: No. 198 Avenue Wangfujing, Dongcheng District Beijing 北京市东城区王府井大街198号
White Boiled Pork 白煮肉and Stir-fried Pork 烧燎肉served by Shaguoju Restaurant are the representatives of Manchu Cuisine. In the past, the restaurant slaughtered one pig a day, and it would close the door after the pork of a pig was sold out, hence a two-part allegorical saying: Like the shop sign of Shaguoju Restaurant—it won't wait after noontime.
Recommended Restaurant —Shaguoju Restaurant
Address: No. 60 Xisinan Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing 北京市西城区西四南大街60号
Beijing has many restaurants serving the imperial food of the Qing Dynasty, such as Fangshan Restaurant in Beihai Park, Tingliguan (Listening to Orioles Pavilion) Restaurant in Summer Palace and Fangshan Restaurant near the Tiananmen Square. Of all the dishes served by these restaurants, the Manchu-Han Banquet 满汉全席is the most representative, including 108 to 134 dishes, 48 cold dishes and various snacks and fruits. The food served at the banquet is enough for 10 people to eat 10 days in succession. The Longevity Banquet 万寿无疆席of Tingliguan Restaurant contains all kinds of gorgeous dishes, each having a noble and graceful name, plus meticulously prepared snacks. There are several hundred kinds of dishes and snacks in imitation of the Qing court cuisine, such as Stir-fried Fish Slices抓炒鱼片(With slices of mandarin fish or snake headed fish as main materials, and starch, edible oil, soy sauce, cooking wine, onions and ginger as seasonings, the dish is stir fried, with a golden yellow color, a delicious taste and a delicate aroma.); and Fried Lotus Petals and Chicken Meat Slices 荷花鸡片(With chicken meat slices, fresh lotus flowers, dried slices of tender bamboo shoots, hams, pea sprouts, egg white and clear soup as main and supplementary materials, this dish is fried by adding various kinds of seasonings. In white, green and red colors, this dish is palatable and Braised Shark's Fin with Brown Sauce nutritious.). The imperial snacks include Baked Cake Stuffed with Minced Meat肉末烧饼, Small Steamed Corn Bun小窝头, Pea Flour Cake 豌豆黄, Kidney Bean Roll 芸豆卷, and Assorted Longevity Noodles什锦寿面.
Recommended Restaurant
Fangshan Restaurant 仿膳饭庄
This restaurant, specializing in Imperial Cuisine from the Qing Court (known to Westerners as Mandarin Cuisine) is located at the edge of the lake in Beihai Park on Qiong Hua Island. It is likely your visit to Beihai Park will include lunch at Fang Shan.
At the time Beihai Park was opened in 1925 a man by the name of Zhao Runhai, a former food supplier to the Qing Court, gathered a few former chefs from the Imperial kitchen and together they opened the Fang Shan Restaurant. The name means that the food and pastries served here are all imitations of the Imperial Cuisine of the Qing Dynasty. Characteristic of the Fang Shan cuisine, and there are well over two hundred famous dishes, is the exquisite preparation of the meals. Each dish is fastidiously named and beautifully colored. Besides its culinary artistry, the restaurant itself is beautiful as it is situated on the side of the lake and at the foot of the hill.
Address: No.37, Dongjiaminxiang, Dongcheng District, Beijing 北京市东城区东交民巷37号
Tingliguan Restaurant 听鹂馆饭庄
Located within the grounds of the Summer Palace, this restaurant is approximately forty-five minutes by car from Beijing. Your tour of the Summer Palace may include lunch here. The building itself was originally a theater so it is quite spacious. On the expensive side, its specialty is fresh fish.
The Muslim's dishes in Beijing have special characteristics, and the traditional Muslims' dishes alone number several hundred kinds, including the following famous dishes: Whole Sheep Banquet 全羊席 (With all parts of one sheep as main or supplementary materials, plus a wide variety of ingredients, more than 100 kinds of delicious dishes and snacks are prepared, being the ultimate of ail the Muslims' dishes.); Sheep Head Meat in Casseroles砂锅羊头 (Prepared with sheep head meat, Xianggu mushrooms, the heart of a cabbage and a wide variety of seasonings, this braised dish is aromatic, delicious and not greasy.); and Braised Tendons of Beef in Soy Sauce 砂锅羊肉 (With tendons of beef as the main materials, this dish is prepared through complicated processes. It is aromatic, soft, chewy, refreshing and not greasy.)
As the typical official cuisine, the famous Tan Family Cuisine evolved from Guangdong Cuisine, and features high-quality dishes prepared with seafood, edible bird's nests, shark's fins and abalones. The noted dishes of Tan Family Cuisine include Braised Shark's Fin with Brown Sauce 黄焖鱼翅 (With shark's fins as the main material, this dish is prepared with several dozen kinds of ingredients and seasonings through complicated working procedures. It is a famous and precious dish.); and Grilled Large Black Sea Cucumbers 扒大乌参 (This dish is prepared with high-quality sea cucumbers, and Beijing Hotel leads the country in preparing this dish.) Ail the dishes served at the Red Mansion Banquet 红楼宴 are created by some relevant scholars and chefs according to a famous Chinese classical novel A Dream of Red Mansion Laijinyuxuan Restaurant in Zhongshan Park and Red Mansion Restaurant in the Grand View Garden are able to prepare the unique banquet.
Address: On the 7th floor of Tower C at Beijing Restaurant, No. 33 Dongcheng’an Jie东长安街33号北京饭店C座7楼
Now tourists can taste a large variety of famous snacks in Beijing: Shaomai 烧麦 (stuffed steamed dumplings with dough gathered at the top); Yipin Baked Cake 一品烧饼(It refers to the baked sesame cake with sweet stuffing containing some kernels. Such cake originated from the imperial court, hence the name Yipin Baked Cake, meaning the first-class cake.); Baked Cake Stuffed with Sweetened Bean Paste 豆沙烧饼; Meat Pie 馅饼; Wonton 馄饨; Guanchan 灌肠 (It is sausage prepared with starch and red coloring agent for food made from fermented round rice. Before eating, you need to slice it, fry the slices and add some garlic juice and other seasonings.); Condensed Bean Curd 豆腐脑; Fried Small Flour Balls 炒疙瘩; Bean Flour Cake 豆面糕; Glutinous Rice Cake with Bean Paste Stuffing 豆馅切糕; Pea Flower Cake豌豆黄; Tea Broth茶汤; Sweetened Gruel 油茶and Almond Tea 杏仁茶.
Wangfujing Local Delicacy Street
Reproducing town scenery of the Ming-Qing Dynasty style and the life in lanes and alleys (hutong) of Beijing, this area attracts thousands of people or gourmands to enjoy and taste different regional delicious snacks.