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Depending on who were to be served,
there were two types of imperial cuisines in the history of China.
They are imperial court cuisine and imperial official cuisine.
Imperial Court Cuisine is a style of
food originated in the Imperial Palace. As the foods were served to the
Emperor and his court, Imperial Court Cuisine is well-known for its
strict selections of the raw material and ingredients. The imperial
 court dishes must also be decorated with certain vegetable or fruit
carvings. Each dish in the Imperial court cuisine has a propitious name,
such as Yu Feng Huan Chao, or "jade phoenix returning to the royal" in
translation. Some of the imperial dishes even came with legendary
stories. In today's Beijing, Imperial Court Cuisine has become a
major school of Chinese cooking. Fangshan Restaurant located inside the
Beihai Park and Ting Li Guan in the Summer Palace are
representations of
the Imperial Court Cuisine. This cuisine had not become available until
some 150 years ago.
Imperial official cuisine is particular
to Beijing. In the imperial ages, officials in Beijing were all very
particular about the types of food they ate. The most famous type of the
official food then was the Tan's
Family Food, which is now served in the
Beijing Hotel. This is food that a Qing Dynasty's high ranking official,
Tan Zongling, had favored the most. There was another series of food
seen in a famous novel, Dream of Red Mansions. The author, Cao Xueqin,
described in detail a number of the imperial dishes that now have
appeared in the menus of several restaurants in Beijing. The most famous
place serving this series of foods is the Beijing Grand View Garden
Hotel, located next to the Beijing Grand View Garden that is said to be
where the story in the novel took place. Other restaurants featuring
this fictional type of imperial foods include the Jinglun Hotel and
Laijinyuxuan Restaurant in the Zhongshan Park.
Restaurants of Imperial Cuisine
Fangshan Restaurant
Chinese name:
仿膳饭庄 fǎng shàn fàn zhuāng
Located in Beihai Park, Fangshan Restaurant is the most famous dining
facility exclusively serving the luxurious Imperial Court Cuisine.
The restaurant was opened in 1925 by imperial chefs of the former Qing
Dynasty and caused a great sensation at that time. Fangshan means
"imitation of the imperial court cuisine" in Chinese. The restaurant
consists of three section and can hold up to 500 guests at the same
time. It is decorated completely in the imperial style themed with
dragon and phoenix. It is the best place to experience part of the life
that Chinese emperors had lived. The menu of this restaurant now include
nearly eight hundred different imperial court dishes, among which the
"Man-Han Banquet" is most famous.
Average cost per person: CNY200 - CNY300
Hours: 11:00-13:30 17:00-19:30
Location: 1 Wenjin Jie, inside Beihai Park
Bus Route: 5, 13, 101, 103, 109, 810 get off at Beihai Stop
Li Jia Cai Restaurant
Chinese name: 厉家菜
lì jiā cài
Located in a courtyard of Yangfang Hutong in Beijing, the specialty
restaurant named Li Jia Cai serves various dishes of imperial cuisines.
The original owner of this restaurant is Li Shanlin, a retired professor
of mathematics who also has great interest in cooking genuine Beijing
Imperial Court Food. The restaurant has no outside family employees. The
dinner is served by menu of the day, i..e., a guest has to order
whatever they serve that day. Guests must also make reservations at
least two weeks in advance. All dishes served by this restaurant contain
no artificial ingredients. In the past, this restaurant has served many
celebrities and leaders of many countries, including former U.S.
president Bill Clinton, the World's richest man Bill Gates, former prime
minister of Great Britain John Major and Chinese superstar Jackie Chan.
Professor Li speaks fluent English and will take time to talk with you
about Chinese cultures while you enjoy the dinner.
Address: 11 Yangfang hutong, Denei Dajie
Ting Li Guan Restaurant
Chinese name: 听骊馆
tīng lí guān
The table delicacies in Ting Li Guan Restaurant has extracted the
essence of the Eight Cuisines in China, and combine the Han cuisine with
other cuisines that are popular among several minority groups such as
Man, Mongol and Hui.
Average cost per person: CNY70 - CNY200
Hours: 11:00 - 14:00 16:30 - 19:00 Make your dinner reservations
at least an hour before your dinner time.
Location: at the south of Wanshou Hill, inside the Summer Palace
Bus Route: 332, 374, 716, 817 get off at Xin Jianguomen Stop
Yushan Restaurant
Chinese name:
御膳饭店 yù shàn fàn diàn
The layout of this restaurant has followed the setting of typical
luxuriously decorated imperial palaces. Guests dining in this restaurant
will be served by waitresses dressed up in the traditional imperial
costumes.
Average cost per person: CNY80 - CNY120
Hours: 16:30 - 19:30
Location: 87 Tiantan Lu, Chongwen District
Bus Route: 34, 35, 36, 106, 6 get off at Tiantan North Gate Stop
Yan Yi Shan Zhai Restaurant
Chinese name:
砚逸善斋酒家 yàn yì shàn zhāi
jǐu jiā
The restaurant is located in a compound courtyard that was the residence
of a princess in the Qing Dynasty. The courtyard is commonly called Gege
Fu, or Princess's Mansion. The restaurant serves the best dishes of
imperial cuisine, while imperial stew
is their specialty. Different from
other imperial restaurants, Yan Yi Shan Zhai
Restaurant has modified the
imperial menu to incorporate some elements the Sichuan
cuisine's hotpot.
Hours: 11:00 - 14:00 17:00 - 22:00
Location: 9 Daqudeng Hutong, Backstreet of Art Gallery, Dongcheng
District
Tan Jia Cai Restaurant
Chinese name: 谭家菜
tán jiā cài
Average cost per person: CNY200 - CNY800
Hours: 11:30 - 14:00 17:30 - 21:30
Location: 7/F, Unit C, Beijing Hotel, 33, Dong Chang'an Street,
Dongcheng District
Bus Route: 1, 4, 10, 52, 103 get off at Wangfujing Stop
Guoyao Xiaoju
Chinese name:
国肴小居 guó yáo xiǎo jū
Average cost per person: CNY50 - CNY200
Hours: 09:00 - 22:00
Location: 58 Jiaodaokou Bei Santiao, Dongcheng District
Haitang Ju
Chinese name: 海棠居
hǎi tang jū
Average cost per person: CNY100 - CNY300
Hours: 10:00 - 22:00
Location: 32 West Street, Xuanwumen, Xuanwu District
Tai Shang Gong Restaurant
Chinese name:
太上宫酒楼 tài shàng gōng jǐu
lóu
Hours: 11:00 - 14:30 17:00 - 22:00
Location: 15 Anding Road, Chaoyang District
Hui Zhen Lou Restaurant
Chinese name:
汇珍楼饭庄 huì zhēn lóu fàn
zhuāng
Hours: 11:00 - 14:30 17:00 - 22:00
Location: 8 Beichen Road East |
restaurants available, dining choices in Beijing are practically
unlimited. After a busy schedule of business meetings or a long day
tour of the city, the travelers can either enjoy the luxuries at an
upper class restaurant or dine cost-effectively at the smaller
family-run facilities located all over the city. We have put together
a list of uniquely featured restaurants in Beijing, based on our broad
dining experiences, in an attempt to help the tourists to quickly
located the right dining places.
