The insider’s guide to eating out in Beijing

Beijing is the spoilt child of China, not least in its cuisine. Its residents love to dine out, with restaurants on virtually every corner. The spicy Sichuan style is popular. But during the icy winters the warming, more substantial home-style dumplings and noodles are favoured. And the cheap, local beer - brewed the German way - is great. The First Post's top five have been chosen for atmosphere and good value as much as for good food. All have been nominated by people who live and work in the city.

£1 = RMB 11.2

Neng Ren Ju5 Taipingqiao, Baitasi, Xicheng District
Introduced by invading Mongolian nomads, a traditional "hot pot" may help you survive the freezing winter. An open kettle is set to boil, diners add thinly sliced mutton, vegetables, seafood, tofu and rice vermicelli. The food flash-boils in the light stock. You then fish it out and dip it into a sesame and peanut sauce flavoured with chilli oil, coriander and garlic.
DIY Sunday lunch for two with beer: RMB60 pp. contact: + 8610 6601 2560

Green T. House6 Gongti Xi Lu, Chaoyang District
Founded by Zhang Jinjie, dubbed Beijing’s Queen of Style, the ultra hip tea house is all about ambience: classical Chinese musicians play; ginko leaves litter the floor; oversized glassware, art books, faux fur couches fill the softly lit space. At table, chopsticks rest on twigs and stones, petals are strewn over the dishes. Try the green tea dumplings.
Dinner for two with tea runs to RMB800+. contact: + 8610 6552 8310, green-t-house.com

The Courtyard95 Donghuamen Lu (East Gate of the Forbidden City),Wang Fu Jing
This elegant, airy restaurant, hung with fine art,has featured in Condé Nast's '50 best restaurants in the world'. Justifiably so. It is one of the few menus to offer genuine Pacific fusion cuisine - try the Alaskan black cod with baby pak choi. It also has the most comprehensive wine list in the capital. But it’s the pre- or post-prandial view across the Forbidden City’s east moat from the leather couches of the upstairs cigar lounge that clinches the romance.
Dinner for two: RMB800. Book ahead. contact: + 8610 6526 8883, courtyardbeijing.com

Li Jia Kai11 Yangfang Hutong, Denei Dajie,
Xicheng Li Li cooks with recipes handed down by her great grandfather, the Empress Dowager Cixi's cook (a dangerous post to hold). In fact, the dishes - fried mung beans, fresh mandarin fish, sweet-and-sour ribs - are more home-style than imperial Manchu, but none the less delicious for that. And the down-home setting - capacity 22 diners - may make it he closest you come to sharing a Chinese family meal. Guests cannot order their dishes but must wait for whatever they serve. Book well in advance.
Dinner for two starts at RMB400. contact: + 8610 6618 0107

Xihe Yaju (Elegant House)
Ritan Dong Lu, Ri Tan Gong Yuan, Chaoyang
On warm summer nights, tiny lights twinkle in the swaying trees of Ritan, a charming park housing a temple to the Sun. Chinese lanterns hang from the rafters of the Qing-dynasty cloisters around the restaurant’s courtyard. Delicious Sichuanese, northeastern, Shanghainese and Cantonese dishes are served. Order the speciality, Hangzhou duck stew with pork, in advance.
Dinner for two with beer: RMB200. contact: + 8610 6506 7643, xhyj.net