That lively strip called Nanluoguxiang might as well be called Hutong Main Street. The little offshoots are often worth a meander, with delightful finds such as Suzuki Kitchen, a bright, clean wooden little space with symmetrically arranged tables and a simple open kitchen. Folks here do the Japanese student thing in a demure cool way, with do-rag get-ups covering the scalps of goatee-spor ting dudes with black framed glasses, T-shirts and baggy jeans – a sort of Asian Where’s Waldo uniform – while the girls have giggly fun when this joint gets jumping.

Suzuki Kitchen is what happens when a former Japanese teacher called Suzuki and his Chinese student, with a bizarre obsession for bunnies (it’s not just because of the lunar year), develop a fondness for student Japanese staples.

Choose your weapon from a choice including a curry of chicken, beef or vegetables. Whatever your star, the brown gravy sauce is the same (20/30RMB), and it’s good Japanese curry, albeit a little bland in the spice. This is neither Thai nor Indian, but the Japanese take on curry that has become legendary in its own right despite the fact that it’s no looker – a bumpy brown land map with tiny vegetable or meat mountains beneath a thick, gloopy cloud of sauce.

Sizzling hamburger steak platters (28/38RMB) are grill-marked patties that are perfectly shaped with that earnest practice so well taught in Japan. Each comes wearing different outfits of sauciness, from teriyaki to demi-glace or cheese, but with the same ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes and vegetable accessories sold as solo acts or as parts of the well-priced set. An additional few RMBs on most mains turn your dish into a combo of salad, pickles, rice and miso soup – which, though a strange choice, makes more sense than the combination of fruit juices that seems to be a singular selection of orange (Really? With a saucy burger?).

Karaage (28RMB), Japan’s excellent version of fried chicken, is good dark meat with the crunch that it should have. Iron kettles of steaming sukiyaki (30/38RMB) are adorable edible play sets. Also available are the necessary rice bowls with fried pork cutlet or toppings of kimchi or chicken or both (20/25RMB).

Fishbowl-sized salads meant for sharing, or as a main, float about the room causing envy. This is where seeing isn’t tasting – when the Suzuki salad (25RMB) arrives, we find the nubby bits of pork are a salt lick among the eggs, iceberg and cucumbers. Bad enough to send back, it’s happily replaced with a green salad (22RMB) that hits the opposite end of the flavour scale with barely enough dressing to enliven it, and watery iceberg that adds little.

Suzuki Kitchen is a cosy haven of comfort away from the busy main drag. For those wanting a little sit-down quiet, stick with the front court garden. Alternatively, climb up to the roof and take in the relaxing surroundings.

Located inside Aman at Summer Palace Beijing, Naoki Japanese Restaurant features quite an amiable dining environment. As one of the most expensive Japanese restaurants in Beijing, Naoki Japanese Restaurant serves diners with delicately selected dishes in reasonable portions and all ingredients are guaranteed to be fresh. 

The traditional Chinese roof, monthly changed layout, comfortable lights and seat arrangement look comfortable. With considerate service, all staffs will make diners feel at home. Recommended dishes are goose liver, egg custard with tricholoma matsutake, Beef Steak, Teriyaki chicken, grilled South African lobster with charcoal and homemade anisette.

This museum is devoted to dynastic dining. The actual museum part is rather small compared to the acres of dining halls. However, the dynasty-by-dynasty exhibition of imperial food is utterly fascinating (even more so if you can read Chinese). Curiously, the collection begins with China’s so-called ‘ancestor’ the Peking Man, a few of recreations of whom are huddled around a fire, barbequing some titbits.

The remainder of the multi-floor complex is a restaurant. Every evening, an extravaganza of on-stage performances starring emperors and empresses aim to give diners an ‘Imperial Banquet’ experience. Dishes are reasonably priced; royal set menus are also available. It’s worth snooping through the private banquet suites on the top floor–some are so enormous and ostentatious the king himself would be impressed.

Starting at 6am every morning, you'll notice a motley crew of schoolchildren, middle-aged office workers and grandparents collected around the red doorway of 7 Daxing Hutong, just off Jiaodaokou Nan Dajie. Everyone has a bowl in hand and is attentively sipping on miancha (面茶) or 'flour tea' – a traditional old Beijing millet and rice flour porridge topped with a thick layer of sesame paste and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. 

Wander back into the hutong courtyard to the husband-and-wife team's tiny kitchen (they've been running this breakfast operation out of their home since 1994) and make your order (3RMB per bowl, pay after).

Located along an avenue known more for groups of tourists wandering between the National Art Museum and the Forbidden City than its dining options, Beijing Pie is serving up plates of comfort food superstars like gongbao chicken (36RMB) and beef stir-fry platters (62RMB).

The sign above the door doesn’t say ‘Beijing stir-fry’, however, so as we find a seat in the clean, brightly lit dining room, all eyes are on the pies, or, more precisely – pancakes. The Chinese language doesn’t make much of a distinction between the two; the restaurant’s English translation is ‘pie’, but what Beijing Pie actually serves up, bing (饼), looks more like a pancake.

At Beijing Pie, the ‘pies’ come stuffed with beef, pork or duck. We opt for the more traditional beef and pork (both 28RMB) and a selection of the home-style side dishes. The sides arrive first, which is reassuring in a town where the speed at which some kitchens pump out ‘freshly made’ dishes is dubious at best. 

Our sides, fresh tofu with scallion (16RMB), century egg with ginger (18RMB) and ‘loofah tips with dried chilli’ (a salad of squash greens with mild spice, 22RMB), are all plated with a care and an attention to detail we wouldn’t normally expect of an establishment this casual and this cheap. The vinyl tabletops belie the presence in the kitchen of someone who takes real pride in their work. 

The flavours are also on point: fresh, clean with a good balance of salt, sugar and heat. The loofah greens are particularly good (despite the silly name) while the tofu manages to make an impression in spite of its impossibly simple preparation. The handful of freshly chopped scallion is aromatic and provides all the sharpness a dish of humble bean curd really needs.

When the meat pies (well, ‘rou bing’) arrive, piping hot from the iron, the lack of oil is obvious. The hot greasy mess that we’re used to encountering at hole-in-the-wall stalls has been dressed up; it’s defiantly light and complex. The golden flaky crust, and glistening minced meat and scallion filling, take a long draw from a shallow bowl of black vinegar and go down smooth. The savoury filling is well seasoned and in good ratio with the breading – no skimping here.

Beijing Pie serves up classic northern dishes that both wandering tourists and Beijingers will enjoy. It’s a boon to an area lacking in culinary pedigree, and a style of place we hope becomes more common in the area.

Serving one of our favorite styles of dumplings, dalian huoshao (pictured above), and sporting the remarkably original and spontaneous name Dalian Huoshao, this casual eatery is a hotbed of elderly activity by day (can you say free unlimited porridge?) and host to the occasional debauched dumpling fueled romp by night.

Service is as curt as it is indifferent but we swear they could beat us every time we walk in the door and we would still be back for more. The speciality of the house is the main attraction but fried sweet prawns, shredded pork in green onion wraps and myriad other Beijing-styled region specialities deliver surprising flavour and outstanding value at this neighborhood greasy spoon.

Sanlitun’s skyline has been forever changed by the arrival of the InterContinental. The technicolour display blazes indifferently into the night’s reverie, a beacon of the continuing gentrification of the area – and the rising price point for a good time in general. Everything about the InterCon seems like it was designed with high-class partying in mind, from the marble decor to the crimson fedoras worn by uniformed staff.

The playfully opulent design of this steakhouse moderne combines elements of commercial pop art and trinkets from a gentleman of leisure’s world travels – the thick buckles and studded suitcases pair nicely with tones of brushed bronze patina and the smell of real leather. It smacks in part of Parkview Green’s high-design boutique property, Hotel Eclat. A waitress approaches, drinks are ordered and the menu is cracked.

You can tell a lot about a restaurant by the first few menu items. At Char you get a 180g Blackmore fillet mignon with half a grilled lobster, foie gras and shaved truffles – all of which are mindbendingly excellent – clocking in at a cool 2,188RMB. That’s right, Char is not for the faint of heart of light of wallet.

We regain our composure over an assortment of freshly shucked oysters (335RMB), briny and delicious in their cool baths of rich ocean liquor; fat Kumamotos and meaty Tia Maraas are a welcome surprise. Next a slightly flat, monotone, lobster bisque (138RMB) cries out for a splash of vermouth or sherry to wake it up, but dies a quiet lonely heat death, without enough sea flavour to stand up to the raw shellfish. A Caesar salad (128RMB) does a better job, with a delicious sous-vide egg supplying richness that the dressing lacks and crispy wisps of fried ham doing the rest.

For any steakhouse the main event is the meat, and Char does flaunt some impressive offerings. The famous Australian-raised wagyu from producer David Blackmore (1,288RMB per 180g) is exquisitely rich, with ripples of flavour-laden beef fat across the palate. We find the Jack’s Creek grain-fed ribeye (438RMB per 250g) to be a more toothsome, if comparably flavourful, alternative. Pair it with a glass of Tempranillo Rioja (218RMB).

Vegetarian options exist but seeking them would raise more questions than it would answer – Char is for carnal indulgences of the highest order. We end the meal with a trio of pineapple ravioli, a tart finish with a zippy lime mousse that helps cut some of the residual fat from the palate. For high-fashion beefy indulgence in the centre of the city, look no further than Char. Just be sure to bring that platinum credit card.

For a city of its size and regional importance, Beijing’s streets should be teeming with the bright, halcyon flavours of Southeast Asia. Yet we are locked in a constant search for good Thai, Vietnamese and Singaporean. A recent arrival from San Francisco via Shanghai, Saigon Mama looks set to fill the void. The Vietnamese fast-casual joint has swooped in with a line-up of greatest hits, hip digs and an everyday price point.

From its Taikoo Li South perch, midday sun floods the lofty space populated with well-dressed office types. A retro-style graffiti sign telling us to 'Get your pho on' and references to the street scenes of Saigon set the vibe here. The walls are packed full of Vietnamese foodstuffs: sacks of coffee beans, cans of sweetened condensed milk and bottles of hot sauce paint a picture of the offerings, as wafts of anise and beef stock whet our appetite.

The menu is as polished and well put together as the rest of the place. Stunning matte photography of staple fare tempt ever more cruelly with each page until we cave and order one of each. Service is cheery, attentive and eager to please, guiding us through the finer points of the menu as if in an attempt to curb our zeal. We compromise and settle for only half the menu as the Vietnamese-style coffee arrives.

The starters are served just in time to save us from over-caffeinating. The portions are generous and despite the lightness of nearly all the dishes, the ingredients have a way of filling you up quick. The fried egg rolls arrive first and vanish with a flourish of sweetened chilli and fish sauce; the crisp rice wrapping adding a pleasing crunch to juicy minced pork, savoury mushrooms and tender veggies. Fried cuttlefish cakes are a more mild choice, with the spongy interior offering not much by way of seafood flavour but a pleasing chomp nonetheless, and any vessel for the house-made hoisin and chilli sauces is welcomed.

Cafe Zarah is the king of all Gulou cafes -- no small feat considering that it's a neighborhood full of them. Basically, when you move into Gulou, they just give you a cafe right off the bat as like a signer's incentive. They just give you one for free. That and a free Bob Dylan poster to hang on the wall. And a curated Velvet Underground playlist. 

But Cafe Zarah yeah... let's see... Cafe Zarah combines a hip minimalist concrete industrial space with carefully home-spun Euro cafe fare. A few months back, they shuttered the venue up and underwent some pretty expansive renovations, thereby launching this massive diaspora of Macbook owners who wandered off vaguely in the direction of Alba and Amilal. They opened back up just a few weeks ago, and the diaspora's been wandering back since. 

For renovations, they opened up the courtyard in the back and redid the surrounding rooftop space overlooking said courtyard. It's still a skeleton of what it purportedly will become, but, goddamn, it's looking pretty beautiful. It manages to be coolly modern-ish and minimal, while at the same time offering a peaceful and airy natural environment. Fresh coat of paint on all that Gulou history. It's 2014, let's do this. 

Currently, they're hosting a soft launch menu, which is a very paired down selection of European cafe standards: a few snacks, sandwiches, salads, pastas, deserts, variations on continental breakfast, juice, coffee, wine, and cocktails. There's definitely room to expand on that though if they can get the service and kitchen in gear. It's this beautiful and large outdoor space now, just crying out for someone to create some sort of classy, classy, classy pan-Euro-Mediterranean-Asian high-end restaurant & cocktail bar out of it's hitherto humble cafe focus. 

Atmosphere: Cool and sunny concrete cafe by day, intimate, flickering candles and shadows at night. As I say, the renovations are still an ongoing thing -- looks like they're planning a 20-year slow burn on that front -- but despite how bare it all is, it's a pretty big range in terms of atmosphere. It's a decent enough snacks, wifi, and coffee space in the daytime, and it's still chic, chic, chic enough to make you feel like your out doing wonderful things if you're drinking alcohol there at night. 

But, yeah, the courtyard and roof are pretty bitchin' as far as those go...

Damage: Sort of cheap but sort of not really. The menu relies heavily on imports across the board and it's reflected in prices at the higher end. Coffee 25rmb to 45rmb. Iced coffee 38rmb. Salad, 35rmb to 50rmb. Pasta, 45rmb. Sandwiches, 50rmb. Breakfast, 45 to 95rmb. Wine at 35 or 50rmb a glass. 

“Indian Cuisine In Beijing”

We were staying in the Russian district of Beijing and the variety of food in the area was amazing. Our dinner at Mo Di Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant was exceptional, with personalised service from the owner. Suggestions were made abut the different items on the menu and it was perfect service and food service. Recommended.

"Tasty food, good service”

I was introduced to this restaurant by my cousin who is very regular at this place and I think it's a good place to have decent Indian food in China. This restaurant is among a bunch of other restaurants so could be difficult to locate. We ordered a lot of food like Lamb, Butter chicken, Dal tadka, Tandoori chicken, varieties of naan and what not. All the dishes were done right especially Dal tadka was super delicious. Although Butter chicken was good but there is a room for them to improve it. You can find Kingfisher beer and authentic real Indian Chai (Offered to us twice by the owner (Jay) since it was raining). I gave excellent rating to this restaurant because it serves the purpose of your visit,food is tasty and priced reasonable. I saw many Chinese and expats visiting the place to eat plus management seems to be friendly.

“Had a great time at Moti Mahal !”

Recommended by a friend went to Motion Mahal. After long time had a delicious Indian food. dal tarka and butter chicken with garlic naan was yummy ..... Had a great time.