Beijing Dining - Beijing Imperial Court Food

City Guide - Beijing - Dining
According to the different people it served, imperial cuisine is divided into imperial court cuisine and imperial official cuisine.

Imperial Court Cuisine is a style of food with origins in the Imperial Palace. Based on foods served to the Emperor and his court, Imperial Court Cuisine is well-known by the original features of the raw material and carefully selected ingredients. Additionally, the dishes are decorated by different colorful vegetables and fruits carved into various shapes. Each dish has a propitious name, such as Yu Feng Huan Chao (jade phoenix returning to the royal). And some of them even have short stories. Today Imperial Court Cuisine has become a major school of Chinese cooking with several places offering this unique flavor. Fang Shan in Beihai Park and Ting Li Guan in the Summer Palace are the best ones. This cuisine was not available 150 years ago. While expensive, it is worth trying.

Imperial official cuisine is particular to Beijing. In the past, Beijing officials were all very picky about what type of food they ate. The most famous type of Official food is Tan Family Food, available in the Beijing Hotel. This is the preferred food of the Qing Dynasty (1644 -1911) official Tan Zongling, and was later introduced into restaurants. Another type of food is described in the classic novel, Dream of Red Mansions. The author, Cao Xueqin, described a number of dishes in the book and now there are several restaurants that serve this style of dish. The most famous place is the Beijing Grand View Garden Hotel next to the Beijing Grand View Garden modeled after the garden described in the Dream of Red Mansions. Other restaurants featuring this novel type of food are the Jinglun Hotel and Laijinyuxuan Restaurant in 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 one offering the luxurious Imperial Court Cuisine. The restaurant was opened in 1925 by imperial chefs of the former Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and caused a great sensation at that time. Fangshan means ‘imitate the imperial court cuisine' in Chinese. The restaurant is made up of three parts and it can hold 500 people eating at the same time. It is decorated in imperial style with the design of dragon and phoenix. Here is the best place to experience the life of the Chinese emperors in former days. Now, it serves nearly 800 kinds of Imperial Court Dishes. Among them, Man-Han Banquet is the most famous.
Average cost per person: CNY200 - CNY300
Hours: 11:00-13:30 17:00-19:30
Location: No.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, there is a special restaurant named Li Jia Cai Restaurant (Li Family Restaurant) which is devoted to Imperial Court food. The initiator of Li Jia Cai is Li Shanlin, a retired professor of mathematics, who also has great interest in cooking genuine Beijing Imperial Court Food. The restaurant has no employees. The Li family are owner and employees of the restaurant; and dinner is by set menu. That is to say, a guest can not order the dishes but must wait for whatever they serve; furthermore, one banquet daily, if you want to have a dinner here, you should make a reservation (at least two weeks ahead of time); finally there are no chemical materials in the dishes, all flavorings are natural. This restaurant has welcomed many celebrities including the former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, the former premier of Britain, John Major, and Chinese superstar Jackie Chan. Professor Li speaks English and can discuss Chinese culture while you enjoy your dinner and good wine. If you are a real gourmand, try to find this restaurant hidden in a Beijing hutong.
Address: No.11, Yangfang hutong, Denei Dajie