88 Best Restaurants in Beijing, China

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.

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.

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.

The miracle-worker chef transforms tofu, wheat gluten, mushrooms, and other vegetarian ingredients into delectable "fake meat" dishes at this upscale courtyard restaurant. The views of the Lama Temple across the street seem equally miraculous.

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.

Migas is a whirlwind adventure in rustic Spanish gastronomy. The setting is glitzy, and the atmosphere is spirited, especially after 9 pm, when the bar and sprawling terrace really spring to life.

Beijing’s best all-round Japanese izakaya-style restaurant is the place to go for frothy mugs of Asahi draft, sublime soba noodles, and some of the best sushi and sashimi in the city for the price. The slow-cooked pork belly in miso broth with a poached egg gets rave reviews.

Worship at the altar of Epicureanism, and surround yourself with serenity at the city's best international fine-dining restaurant, nestled in the heart of Old Beijing. TRB (as it's also known) serves high-end European cuisine in a spacious, minimalist dining room within a fabulously restored Ming Dynasty Buddhist temple complex.

Serving contemporary European fare with a Brazilian twist, Alameda is housed in a funky outdoor mall behind the hubbub of Sanlitun's bar street. Though most lauded for its good value weekday prix-fixe lunch (88 RMB for two courses), which often features filet mignon or codfish, on weekends the restaurant slow cooks a big batch of authentic feijoada—Brazil's national dish—a hearty black-bean stew with pork and rice. The glass walls and ceiling make it a bright, pleasant place, but they do magnify the din of the crowded room.

Enjoy deluxe hotel dining amid murals and paintings of cheerful Italian Renaissance characters at Aria. Choose from three settings: the posh dining and bar area on the first floor, intimate private rooms upstairs, or alfresco on a terrace, protected by the din of downtown by neatly manicured bushes and roses. A decadent meal here would include foie gras and seafood bisque, followed by one of the excellent steaks, with a playful deconstructed cheesecake for dessert. The best deal at this elegant restaurant is the three-course weekday business lunch with coffee or tea for Y188.

Your mood brightens the minute you walk up the sunny spiral staircase to the rooftop patio, which includes glassed-in and open-air sections and overlooks the wide, tree-lined streets of the surrounding embassy district. It's a fine setting in which to enjoy a few glasses of wine accompanied by parma ham or one of the pastas on offer. Check out the reasonable prix-fixe business lunches for around Y100.

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.

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.

Well executed Italian food in plush surroundings makes this luxury hotel restaurant as appropriate for a power lunch as for a romantic dinner. Wine is clearly the inspiration, from the burgundy hues of the decor to the long list of Italian vintages to the use of the restaurant's namesake in dishes such as tagliolini with sea urchin, suckling pig, and wagyu beef cheek.

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.

Located upstairs in a dive behind Sanlitun's bar street, this bright and spacious kosher falafel joint is a breath of fresh air. Biteapitta has been filling Beijing tummies for over a decade with quick and tasty Mediterranean fare such as baba ghanoush, roasted chicken, and pita sandwiches brimming with yogurt, tahini, cucumbers, and tomatoes. The cheerful room encourages diners to linger over a lemonade or mint tea, with plenty of power outlets to help them catch up on emails.

Teutonic timbers frame the facade of this two-story restaurant and bakery that serves specialties and all-day brunch fare from southern Germany. Downstairs, find excellent breads, pastries, prepared sandwiches, and an authentic Sacher torte, for take away or eating at one of the café's tables. For more filling fare, head upstairs, where a hearty menu of sausages, schnitzels, and dumplings awaits, along with a selection of imported beers.

Although good, the French food at this cozy bistro seems beside the point: people come for the nighttime revelry. The bar doesn't close till the last person leaves (even if it's 5 am)!

Inside a cozy traditional courtyard house, this mainstay of Beijing's international dining scene offers some of the city's best Malaysian and Southeast Asian dishes. Sambal refers to the house-made chili sauce that gives an authentic kick to many of the dishes. Best bets include fiery beef rendang, butter prawns, chili crab and the four-sided beans in cashew nut sauce. The antique-furnished interior is stylish and intimate, and a chilled-out vibe makes this a great place to linger over a meal.

The Ritz-Carlton's flagship restaurant stands out from the many other high-end Italian restaurants in the city for its focus on mushrooms. A humidor is used here to store seasonal mushrooms that can be transformed into various soups, risottos, and pastas. Taking the fungi theme a step further, about 1,000 mushroom-shaped sculptures are suspended from the ceiling, adding a touch of whimsy to the otherwise unaffected interior.

Straightforward American grub is served at this restaurant in a cozy, family-friendly cottage near Chaoyang Park. During the day, diner-style breakfasts, huge burgers, and bottomless cups of coffee bring simple and satisfying comfort to homesick Americans. At night, the ambience is slightly more refined, with imported Australian steaks the main draw, and a wine list focused on America's West Coast. Save room for a scoop (or two) of the homemade ice cream.

Part of a small chain of contemporary French-managed patisseries, this is Beijing's go-to spot for Gallic confections. Goodies here include flaky croissants, sandwiches in crunchy house-made baguettes, and savory croquettes and quiches.

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.

At Beijing's only outlet of a successful Singaporean restaurant brand, you'll find some of the city's most reliable Cantonese, a cooking style not particularly well represented this far north. Weekdays see wheeler-dealers closing deals over abalone and sea cucumber, while the weekends bustle with families from Hong Kong and Singapore lingering over dim sum and endless pots of tea. Plenty of pricey seafood dishes are on the menu, but you can opt for the less expensive stir-fry dishes and dim sum.

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.

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.