Beijing Restaurants

1. Da Dong Roast Duck

You won't go wrong with the namesake dish at this world-famous eatery. Dadong's version features crisp, caramel-hued skin (over meat that's less oily than tradition dictates) and is served with crisp sesame pockets in addition to the usual steamed pancakes.

2. Dali Courtyard

This beautiful courtyard restaurant serves refined Yunnan food. What's more, the menu is fixed, so this is an excellent choice for those who don't want to misfire on the ordering.

3. Din Tai Fung

This Taiwanese restaurant specializes in beautifully crafted xiaolong bao—steamed dumplings that are filled with piping hot, aromatic soup. Crab, chicken, and duck are lovely alternatives to the standard pork dumplings, or go wild with the black-truffle option.

4. Made In China

Inside the glassed-in kitchen of this Grand Hyatt restaurant, white-robed chefs artfully twirl floury noodles and efficiently hook beautifully bronzed Peking ducks on poles outside tall brick ovens. Although pricey, it's Chinese dining at its finest.

5. Baijia Dayuan

Staff dressed in richly hued, Qing-dynasty attire welcome you at this grand courtyard house, the Bai family mansion. Featured delicacies (ordered via an iPad) include bird's-nest soup, braised sea cucumber, abalone, and authentic imperial snacks.

6. Baoyuan Dumpling

This cheerful, homey joint offers dozens of creative dumpling fillings alongside classics such as pork and cabbage. The colorful purple, green, or orange dumpling wrappers, made by adding vegetable juice to the dough, are equally delightful.

7. Bellagio

Like other branches in this popular chain of glitzy, see-and-be-seen restaurants, this one dishes up Taiwanese favorites to a largely young, upwardly mobile clientele. A delicious choice is the "three-cup chicken" (sanbeiji), served in a sizzling pot fragrant with ginger, garlic, and basil.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Ding Ding Xiang

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. In and Out

On a tree-lined street in the heart of Beijing's embassy district, this large, Yunnan restaurant, adorned with decorative crafts and paintings from China's southwest, serves as an excellent introduction to the light, fresh, and spicy flavors of the province. Staff in traditional dress dish up crispy potato pancakes, eggs stir-fried with fragrant jasmine flowers, or tilapia folded over lemongrass and lightly grilled.

18. Jing Wei Lou

"House of Beijing Flavors" makes up for its rather isolated location by having one of the widest selections of traditional Beijing fare in town. Dishes range from the austere, such as ma doufu (mung-bean pulp cooked in lamb fat), and zha guanchang (fried starch chips meant to imitate sausage), to more cultivated offerings, including Peking duck or slow-cooked lamb. The Beijing dessert platter is a tasty introduction to the city's long tradition of sweet snacks. The huge, open-plan dining room is bustling and fun, but can get rather smoky.

19. Jing Yaa Tang

In the belly of the Opposite House hotel, this high-end Peking duck restaurant gently guides laowai (foreigners) through the crowd-pleasing hits of Chinese cuisine. A glassed-in kitchen, raised above the main dining room like a stage, reveals chefs slinging bronzed birds out of a blazing brick oven. The molasses-skinned duck is some of the best in town, and the accompaniments, like molecule-thin pancakes and a rich sauce infused with dates, completes a classy package. Accompanying dishes read like a roll call of Chinese family favorites, from mildly spiced kung pao chicken to Cantonese clay-pot fish, though the Taiwanese-style “three-cup” cod with basil ought to wow even the more seasoned palates. Save room for the delectable dan ta—Macau-style mini custard tarts.

20. Jingzun Roast Duck Restaurant

Locals and foreigners alike pack this pleasant restaurant for affordable roast duck and tasty, varied Chinese fare with a Beijing slant. The roadside patio, garlanded by small, twinkling lights, is a lovely spot for warm weather dining.