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Beijing Food and Restaurants

Beijing food takes from a broader category of food known as northern food. This category includes dishes from Hebei, Shandong, the lower Yangzi River, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang.

Northern methods of cooking include barbecuing, deep-boiling, roasting, smoking and braising. Local products such as garlic, ginger, leeks, pork, spring onions, bean sauce, various spices, chilies and vegetables, particularly the northern white cabbage, together with duck, pork, chicken, seafood, beef, and lamb are used to make many varieties of gourmet dishes.

Favorite Beijing Dishes

All of the foods below can be found in Beijing restaurants. Our Beijing tours, almost without exception, include a chance to eat roast duck. You can request to eat any one of these tasty dishes, or anything else you would like to eat, when customizing your tour with our travel advisors.

Beijing Roast Duck – Peking Duck

Beijing Roast Duck is the epitome of Beijing cuisine and is well known both at home and abroad. The dish is mostly prized for the thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat.

Mongolian Hot Pot

Alongside Beijing Roast Duck, Mongolian Hot Pot is another great example of traditional Beijing cooking. Thin slices of various meats are dangled or placed in a boiling pot with various kinds of vegetables until they're done, and then eaten with special sauces and side dishes. This dish is especially favored during the cold season.

Bifengtang Prawns

This dish is prepared by frying prawns in oil until golden red. Then they are cooked with Hong Kong's Bifengtang (wind shelter) restaurant chain's special techniques. This dish is delicious and slightly spicy, with a pungent garlic aroma.

Gong Bao Ji Ding - Palace Chicken Cubes

Gong Bao Ji Ding is a spicy chicken dish with peanuts and other vegetables. For some reason this dish is never the same from one restaurant to another. Perhaps this adds to its appeal, as it is very popular with foreigners.

Tudou Zi - Shredded Potato

This dish is for potato lovers. The potatoes are stir-fried with green peppers and seasoning, and can be served hot or cold.

Beijing Resaurants for Muslims and Vegetarians

Hongbinlou Restaurant
82 West Chang'an Ave.
Hours: 11:00-20:00
Tel: 86-10-6603 8460
Hongyunlou Restaurant
A2 Hujialou Beijie
Hours: 11:00-14:00 17:00-20:30
Tel: 86-10-6506 3291
Kaorouji Restaurant
14, Qianhaidongyan, Di'anmen Dajie
Hours: 9:30-13:30 17:30-20:30
Tel: 86-10-6404 2554
Muslim Baikui Century-old Restaurant
158 Jiaodaokou Dajie, Dongcheng District
Hours: 10:30-14:00 16:30-20:30
Tel: 86-10-6404 0967
Muslim Mansion Restaurant
B5 Dongheyan, Andingmenwai, Dongcheng District
Hours: 10:00-14:00 17:00-22:00
Tel: 86-10-6426 2990
Yongfenglou Restaurant
153 Qianmen Nandajie
Hours: 10:30-14:00 16:30-22:00
Tel: 86-10-6303 0775
Hongyun Restaurant
24 Yongdingmennei Dajie
Hours: 11:00-21:00
Tel: 86-10-67002 4679
Gong De Lin Vegetarian Restaurant
158 Qianmen Nandajie
Hours: 10:30-20:30
Tel: 86-10-6702 0867