36 Best Restaurants in Dongcheng District, Beijing

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Beijing's traditional courtyard houses provide an exquisite setting at this elegant hotel restaurant. The walls are constructed from gray hutong bricks reclaimed from centuries-old siheyuan that have gone the way of the wrecking ball. Pricey seafood items like abalone and lobster are balanced by affordable and delicious dim sum (especially the dim sum prix-fixe lunch with tea, for RMB 88). The menu is mostly Cantonese, but you can also get a traditional Peking duck. If only the place had a little more atmosphere (and customers), it could be up there with the city's best.

If you're looking for old-world elegance, this is the place. You'll be transported back to the 1920s, complete with antique piano, graceful French windows and a wooden dance floor on which Mao Zedong took a turn during the building's brief tenure as the Communist Party's HQ (the Great Hall of the People was still being built). French-influenced dishes include steaks, soups, black cod, and foie gras. The wine list is staggeringly long and befits a place that's been around since 1917.

A gloriously gaudy atmosphere is the main draw of this 24-hour dim sum restaurant. It serves all the classics as well as a "pollution menu" featuring dishes that supposedly counteract the effects of Beijing's smog.

East–West fusion cuisine is served in an ultramodern setting: there are polished red wooden floors, gauzy curtain dividers, and theatrical open kitchens. For dinner, a concise à la carte menu is available but the main draw is the lavish international buffet, with over a dozen stations serving up lobster, foie gras, prime rib, and delectable desserts. There's also an excellent selection of international wines.

A convenient pit stop when visitng Nanluoguxiang, this modest little eatery really offers only one option: a set meal of tasty Taiwanese-style lurou fan—rice with an aromatic ground pork topping complemented by a flavorful boiled egg, mixed pickled vegetables, and a simple clear soup, for less than $4. A vegetarian stew and rice set is also available. The home-brewed teas and chilled custard desserts are worth a try, too.

The area just south of Qianmen was once the nightlife hub of imperial China. Visit this old teahouse for a taste of Chinese performing arts along with your cuppa.

Bright and bustling on any day of the week, Lei Garden really packs them in on Sunday afternoons for dim sum amid glamorous surroundings. The pan-fried turnip cake is juicy and topped with generous amounts of grated veggies, and the shrimp dumplings are bursting with sweet plump shrimp and crunchy bamboo shoots. A platter of roast pork, with bite-size pieces laced with buttery fat and capped with crisp, crunchy skin, hits the spot. Private dining rooms offer sanctuary from the crowd.

Juicy, whole ducks roasting over fragrant pear wood greet you upon entering this simple courtyard restaurant in a ramshackle hutong neighborhood. This family-run affair, far from the crowds and commercialism of Quanjude, offers a more austere setting for Beijing's signature dish, though the place might be a little too rustic for some. It's also a little tricky to find: it's about a five-minute walk east from Qianmen Donglu, and you may have to stop to ask for directions until you start seeing duck graffiti and arrows pointing the way.

The city’s finest Yunnan restaurant is in an elegant compound just east of Tiananmen Square that was once used by the former U.S. legation. With impeccable service and a serious wine list, this Shanghai export, named after the vast and little-known "Mountain Mekong" region that straddles Yunnan, Burma, and Laos, is out to impress. Recommended dishes include crisp Dali-style chicken tumbled with green onions and chilis, “Miao” hot-and-sour shrimp, and steamed cod with Yunnan black truffle. Fun fact: the walls on the first and second floor are made of bricks of pu-ehr tea, a kind of fermented tea from Yunnan.

Bologna-based chef Omar Maseroli and his Chinese partner are the proprietors of Mercante, a slow-food-inspired slice of Italy in a tumble-down hutong alleyway. This miniscule eatery keeps it simple, with rustic dishes like homemade pasta with an earthy ragù of duck or rabbit, plump ravioli, platters of imported cold cuts, and cheese served with fresh-baked focaccia. Rich, boozy tiramisu and a well-priced list of Italian wines makes this a fine place to linger, or you could pop around the corner for a craft-beer nightcap at Great Leap Brewing. Brunch is served on weekends.

A peaceful hutong is the setting for this welcoming Hunan restaurant, whose signature dish is Chairman Mao's favorite: hong shao rou (braised pork belly). The food is almost unrelentingly spicy; if you can handle the heat, though, it's worth it.

A lively, old-time atmosphere and hand-pulled noodles are the hallmarks of this chain. Try the classic zhajiang noodle, served in a ground-meat sauce with accompaniments of celery, bean sprouts, green beans, soybeans, slivers of cucumber, and red radish.

"Farm to table" is the creed at this peaceful Guizhou-style restaurant west of Houhai Lake. Dishes like braised pork ribs and sticky rice wrapped in bamboo, stir-fried "country-style" vegetables rich with the sour-sharp tang of fermented bamboo, and even the house-made ice cream all use ingredients from the owner's own farms and small holdings on the outskirts of the city. Beyond an admirable commitment to sourcing, it's the little touches that make this eatery shine, such as complimentary tastings of homemade rice-wine tasters infused with rose petals and organic honey.

Pull up a tiny stool for stick-to-your-ribs goodness at this rustic haven for Shaanxi fare. Hearty wheat-based specialities include roujia mo (unleavened bread stuffed with tender braised pork, aka "Chinese hamburger"), and chewy hand-pulled noodles flavored with chili oil and dark vinegar. Lending a bit of charm are the framed paper cuts (a form of Chinese folk art in which red paper is cut into animal, flower, or human shapes), traditional handicrafts, and large woven baskets (you can use them to store your purse or bags while you eat).

Occupying a restored courtyard home, and hiding a Cold War–era bomb shelter down below, the Red Capital Club oozes nostalgia for the early days of revolutionary China. Kitschy Cultural Revolution memorabilia and books dating from the Great Leap Forward era adorn every nook of the small bar. It's worth visiting just to browse the artifacts, having a drink in one of the old leather armchairs (supposedly lifted from the Great Hall of the People), and peek into the bomb shelter. The fancifully written menu still serves old favorites of Communist leaders, though this place fell off the restaurant radar some years ago.

An early pioneer in the uber-chic Wudaoying Hutong, Saffron is still going strong, with refined Mediterranean food served in a romantic courtyard house with outside terrace. Tapas, paella, sangria, and desserts (displayed in a glass case), served with warmth, provide the makings for a fine evening. If it's busy, head to a small place opposite called Chi. Sharing the same globe-trotting Chinese owners, it specializes in organic prix-fixe menus of European-inspired contemporary cooking. You won't go wrong.