Dao
Cuisine
Taoist
Hours
Daily 10am-10pm
Address
Yandai Xiejie 37
Location
Next to the Lotus Bar, Back Lakes & Dong Cheng
Transportation
Walking south from Drum Tower on Di'anmen Wai Dajie, turn onto 1st hutong on right; archway is on northeast side
Phone
010/6404-2778
Prices
Meal for 2 „135 ($17)
Credit Cards
AE, DC, MC, V

Nestled in half of a defunct Daoist prayer hall at the back of a crumbling residential cluster east of the Back Lakes, Dao is Beijing's most unique -- and most obscure -- new restaurant. There's no sign in the hutong outside, only an aged stone archway with the Ming-era temple's name (Guangfu Guan) carved in faded characters at its apex. A narrow path leads from the arch past bemused neighbors to the hall, its beautifully crafted beams and murals brought back to life in early 2003 with help from the people at Nuage .

The restaurant's manager, who was born in the building and recalls the false roof that hid it from Cultural Revolution vandals in the 1960s, has hired chefs from Qing Cheng Shan in Sichuan, where the Zhengyi school of Daoism developed recipes for longevity and virility. The set meal includes fresh jiaozi, accompanied by delicate side dishes like goose liver rolls with hoisin sauce (e'gan juan), deep-fried pork with medicinal herbs (cungu shao), and sweet gourd-shaped red bean rolls with mountain herbs (shanyao hulu). The drink menu features a bracing "immortal's abode" koumiss (dongtian rujiu), made with fermented milk, and the somewhat more appetizing Daoist medicinal tea (gong cha).

Expect options to expand once the chefs have settled in.

Kong Yiji Jiulou
Cuisine
Huaiyang
Hours
Daily 10am-2pm and 4:30-10pm
Location
De Nei Dajie (next to the octagonal Teahouse of Family Fu on the south bank of Hou HaI), Back Lakes & Dong Cheng
Reservations
Reservations strongly recommended
Phone
010/6618-4917
Prices
Meal for 2 „100-„140 ($12-$18)
Credit Cards
AE, DC, MC, V

Named for the alcoholic scholar-bum protagonist of a short story by Luxun, the father of modern Chinese literature, this extremely popular restaurant offers one of Beijing's most thoroughly enjoyable Chinese dining experiences.

A small bamboo forest leads to a traditional space pleasingly outfitted with calligraphy scrolls, traditional bookshelves, and other trappings of Chinese scholarship. Tightly packed tables overflow with enthusiastic diners, who shout and shovel their food in the grandest Chinese tradition.

The menu, written vertically in the old style, features several hair-raising dishes, including the infamous zuixia (drunken shrimp), served still squirming in a small glass bowl filled with wine. Less shocking, and highly recommended, are the mizhi luyu, a whole fish deep-fried then broiled in tin foil with onions in a slightly sweet sauce; and the youtiao niurou, savory slices of beef mixed with pieces of fried dough. Nearly everyone orders a small pot of Dongpo rou, extremely tender braised fatty pork swimming in savory juice.

Fans of Lu's story will appreciate the wide selection of huangjiu, a sweet "yellow" rice wine aged for several years, served in silver pots, and sipped from a special ceramic cup with hot water in the bottom to keep it warm.