Fodor's Expert Review Brian McKenna @ The Courtyard

With its unique perch overlooking the Forbidden City’s moat, the Courtyard made a name for itself as Beijing’s most romantic restaurant. Under the recent stewardship of the British chef Brian McKenna, and after a designer makeover from the team behind New York’s W Hotel, it has emerged as a destination restaurant for Beijing’s jet set. Prix-fixe menus of molecular-inspired cooking woo diners with kitchen tricks inspired by the likes of El Bulli and the Fat Duck. Service and execultion can be hit or miss (often depending on whether Chef McKenna is at the helm or not), but some of the dishes, like the chocolate terra-cotta warrior emerging from edible “soil,” are really quite special.