Beijing Restaurants and Cafes

The average bill per person in a restaurant will be 70-100 CNY, in an inn - 20-50 CNY, in a street cafe - 5-15 CNY. So, let's get started on a gastronomic tour of Beijing:

• For a quick and inexpensive meal (within 20-30 CNY) you can eat in international fast-food establishments (Mc'Donalds, KFC, Yoshinoya). A Beijing option is the Xiabu Xiabu (呷哺 呷哺) chain of eateries;
• Most of the inexpensive restaurants in Beijing are small establishments of traditional cuisine. Here you will definitely be offered a specialty of Chinese cuisine - Peking duck (from 40 to 190 CNY depending on the establishment). Other top restaurants in Beijing include King Roast Duck , Made in China, Haidilao Hot Pot, Bianyifang;
• If you don't want to try Chinese cuisine, eat at hotel restaurants where you can order European or American dishes.

• Beijing has many international cafes: Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Pacific Coffee Co. You can find them in malls or on university campuses. Some of the best cafes in Beijing include Austen Kitchen (European cuisine), Oasis Cafe (delicious breakfasts), Xu Xiang Zhai (vegetarian cuisine);
• Don't forget about tea - Beijing has a lot of tea houses where you can try different kinds of tea and watch the tea ceremony (Lao She Teahouse, Liuxianguan Teahouse, Runqiyuan Teahouse and others). Prices in Beijing cafes are very affordable (except for coffee shops, where a cup of coffee with waffles can cost up to 40-70 CNY - for exotic!).

Most places don't have menus in English. When ordering, look at what is being eaten at neighboring tables and just ask for the same. There's no bread - locals substitute it with fried rice or noodles.

Portions tend to be very large, so you can order half portions in Beijing cafes. And make sure you learn how to use chopsticks - a spoon or fork is hard to find here.