non-smoking restaurants in Beijing?

[Mengxin]

Ben, Your comment about San Diego being paradice was meant sarcastically...the way I read it. (anyway don't sweat it dude, everyone is intitled to there own opinion, like it or not.) Most people don't realize that San Diego has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Sorry, had I to throw that log on the fire. On the other hand, "If everyone could afford to live in CA, everybody would." but it ain't any easier making a living here than anywhere else, that's for sure.

 

As for the vacinations, it's simple. - "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." Takes all of about 5 minutes to get it...after 1 hr. waiting in the lobby. B)

 

I have had food poisoning in China before, believe me it's unforgetable. (I had it from eating beef in a 5 star, western style hotel in Pudong.) I think you have every reason to be concerned about it. I am too. There is always so much food and it's so cheap, to pass on a dish you would consider questionable is a non-issue. The food won't feel bad if you don't eat it. The rules are easy...1. Only drink bottled water. 2. Stay away from beef that isn't completely cooked. 3. No Dairy, especially milk. I think you'll be Ok.

 

One of my favorite clichies when it comes to safety is...."Buy a $10 helmet; if you have a $10 head."

 

I'll be in Peking around the same time as you. Never been there before. My wife isn't very familiar with the city either. It doesn't matter too much where I go in China, my wife and I always have a great time together. I always enjoy going there and never like to leave. Relax, have fun and be safe.

[Chinese Wife!!!]

Thanks for letting me know about the Pizza Huts! I just found a Pizza Hut in Beijing on the web!

 

Pizza Hut Phone: +86 (0)10 6532 4121

Open Hours: 10.30am-10.30pm daily.

Neighborhood: Jian Guo Men

Nearest Train: Jian Guo Men Station.

Category: American & Caribbean, Specialty

We accept: None accepted

 

Like I said, most nights Fiona will be cooking for me (or I for her) in her apartment. I only need a couple of places for when we feel like going out. Pizza Hut may work for one, anyone else have any other suggestions? Or should I just pay the money to eat in a fancy hotel?

Hey Ben,

I believe you will find at least 50 or so Pizza Huts in and around BJ. I should have pointed out that they have a very large menu well beyond just pizza. "Kinda" like a Chinese Denny's.

Also I don't recall anyone smoking in the 2 KFC's in Shanghai or Qing dao I've been too. BTW their menu is quite different and varied over the US version also. Here, though, it is more on the line of burgers, fries and ice cream. (It's the wife that drags me in here).

Have you tried an advanced search on restaurants in BJ with non smoking? Richard

[oregonknl]

Ben,

 

You can count me among those scratching his head, and wondering why anyone would go to a city as exciting as Beijing to dine at Pizza Hut.....

 

But like you said basicly, to each his own... (I went to graduate school for two years at UC-Irvine, and I couldn't get out of SoCal soon enough!)

 

I hope Fionas has a clear understanding how you feel about China. Seems only fair that she knows in advance that she will probably be returning to her ancestral home mostly by herself in the future, and even if you accompany her, (perhaps with your children?) that she should not expect you to be open and accepting of her culture, and particularly, food culture...

 

I do get the impression that you are open minded enough to allow any offspring to embrace Chinese culture if they so chose ... that much is refreshing, given some of the most recent political posts in the RR from the Right...

 

It has been nearly two years since I was last in Beijing, and of course, restaurant turn-over is great throughout China, but there was a Thai restaurant that I really enjoyed in the Sanlitun Bar district: Wei Renmin Fuwu (Serve the People) --- Everything was very fresh and quite inexpensive..

 

Also, I don't recall the place being smokey, and I also am a nonsmoker who greatly prefers nonsmoking restaurants ---- just that I would never pass up a great Chinese dining experience because the restaurant allowed smoking..

 

My advice would be to give Beijing a chance... Like any of the world's great capitals it has much variety. Take Fionas for a stroll around the back lakes ... very romantic, in my opinion.... Wish I could be there with my Fei..

 

Good Luck Ben!

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

Most people don't realize that San Diego has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Sorry, had I to throw that log on the fire. .

 

Let me try to douse the fire completely. :-)

 

Everybody, please forget everything I said about living in Paradise. Please assume it is HELL here. Assume people are dropping like flies, living in misery, and cursing the day they ever set foot here. And by all means, tell all of your friends to NEVER visit San Diego in general, and Del Mar in particular. This is very important. DON'T EVER GO NEAR SAN DIEGO. It is *NOT* a good place to visit. It is gross and disgusting and basically has nothing to offer. OK? Thanks.

 

Cool. I'm glad we have that settled.

 

Now, can anyone give me recommendations for cool places to go and things to do in Beijing? Any city that size I'm sure has plenty to offer. Fiona will have the first week off that I'm there, and is already planning on taking me to the Great Wall and several historical sites and museums. So for the first week there we will probably do a lot of touristy things. After that I think she said something about dragging me to a ballet, and I may drag her to an opera. We going to try to get tickets to watch the Houston Rockets (with Yao Ming) play the Sacramento Kings. She has lined up an exercise club for us to go work out at. Any other ideas?

 

Thanks for all the input and comments so far,

 

- Ben

 

ps. remember, "San Diego Sucks!" Let it be your mantra.

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

Ben,

 

Also,  I don't recall the place being smokey, and I also am a nonsmoker who greatly prefers nonsmoking restaurants ---- just that I would never pass up a great Chinese dining experience because the restaurant allowed smoking..

 

As I have said earlier, Fiona is a great cook, and she has said several times that she wants to cook for me every night. Anything that I would want to eat at a Chinese restaurant she can make for me. I doubt that I will miss a thing. But I don't want her to have to cook every night, so I was trying to locate restaurants where I can tolerate the smoke.

 

I CANNOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT I AM ALLERGIC TO CIGARETTE SMOKE.

I have always had the reaction that when exposed to cigarette smoke, my eyes water and turn red, and I get nauseous. These are PHYSICAL reactions. Maybe I got a bad gene or something. There is nothing I can do about it. I have been this way my entire life.

 

Some people seem to have lept to the conclusion that my aim is to go to china and not eat any local food, not go anywhere, not do anything. This is pure nonsense. I expect to eat exactly what Fiona eats 99% of the time, with the exception that I am a vegetarian so I'm going to skip the meat dishes, period. Please try to respect this and don't tell me I'm not "open minded" just because I don't want to eat beef, chicken, or - in the case of that delicacy I was referring to in Shenzhen - spiders.

 

Ok, maybe I am closed minded about eating spiders. But if you want to dig in and have a heaping plateful, I'm not going to criticize you for making this choice. Please don't criticize me for wanting to pass.

 

As i have said MANY times on this topic, the main reason I want to find a non-smoking restaurant is to be able to give Fiona a break from cooking. If Fiona looks tired, I want to be able to say "Honey, you really need a break, let's go out somewhere." On one such night, Pizza Hut might actually not be such a horrible choice! IT'S NOT ABOUT ME. it's about her. She has mentioned to me before that she actually likes pizza, but rarely eats it. For her, it might be a fun and unusual choice.

[Mengxin]

Most people don't realize that San Diego has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Sorry, had I to throw that log on the fire. .

 

Let me try to douse the fire completely. :-)

 

Everybody, please forget everything I said about living in Paradise. DON'T EVER GO NEAR SAN DIEGO. It is *NOT* a good place to visit.

Cool. I'm glad we have that settled.

 

Thanks for all the input and comments so far,

 

- Ben

 

ps. remember, "San Diego Sucks!" Let it be your mantra.

Ya yer right again Ben. If I were contemplating hurting myself or anyone asked me for a recommendation for bridges to jump off of, I would have to point them to the Golden Gate, than the Coronado. Coronado is a nice bridge and all... but the Golden Gate is really much more famous.

 

Chargers? Padres? Navy base? ...These are also very valid reasons to dislike the city. I'm with you brother. Suddenly all those smoke filled restaurants in China don't seem so bad anymore. Think of your happy place. Pizza Hut.

 

Maybe if you considered smoking, your alergies wouldn't bother you so bad. It's never too late to get started.

 

Peace and Love http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_6_110.gif

[Martytb]

Now, can anyone give me recommendations for cool places to go and things to do in Beijing?  Any city that size I'm sure has plenty to offer. Fiona will have the first week off that I'm there, and is already planning on taking me to the Great Wall and several historical sites and museums. So for the first week there we will probably do a lot of touristy things. After that I think she said something about dragging me to a ballet, and I may drag her to an opera. We going to try to get tickets to watch the Houston Rockets (with Yao Ming) play the Sacramento Kings. She has lined up an exercise club for us to go work out at.  Any other ideas?

 

Thanks for all the input and comments so far,

 

  - Ben

 

ps. remember, "San Diego Sucks!"  Let it be your mantra.

Don't miss the summer palace. Plan a whole day there. It's fantastic

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

Ben,

 

I hope Fionas has a clear understanding how you feel about China.  Seems only fair that she knows in advance that she will probably be returning to her ancestral home mostly by herself in the future, and even if you accompany her, (perhaps with your children?) that she should not expect you to be open and accepting of her culture, and particularly, food culture...    

 

Again, people seem to have lept to some pretty bizarre conclusions about "how I feel about China." Let me try to clarify by giving a brief

travelog of some of my experiences in China in July:

 

Hong Kong: not bad. Liked the airport. Found many nice people who spoke English and were exceptionally helpful. There is a great bus from the airport to the Sheng Shui KCR train station. Get on the train station for one stop and you land in Lo Wu, and are filtered into mainland customs. I was warned by countless number of people, including Fiona and some people in Hong Kong, to be careful of thieves, but I had no problem.

 

Shenzhen: Fiona and her Dad met me on the other side of customs. Fiona was beautiful and her Dad was such an incredibly nice guy. There were lots of people who were aggressively trying to sell us things but we just walked past them. A friend of Fiona's met us near the ShangriLa hotel and drove us to Fiona's parents house. This was my first experience with the way people drive in China. My brother had warned me that the lanes don't matter, traffic lights don't really matter, even direction of traffic doesn't always matter. All I could do is laugh.

 

Shenzhen reminded me of New York - so busy! So many people! Building going on everywhere. Traffic was bad but I would expect this in any big city. The buses were wonderful. No smoking and air conditioned, every beautiful last one of them! Still, getting around is a little difficult in general. The buses run long and often but it still took a long time to get from where Fiona's parents lived to the places we usually wound up going. Twice we were in a cab and got stuck in a traffic jam and the cab driver refused to go on, so we got out and took a bus. But like I said, I liked the buses, so this wasn't such a bad thing.

 

Downtown Shenzhen is mostly very modern. You can find department stores that are as fancy as anything you can find in La Jolla. The financial district is impressive. I got some pictures of the skyline at night in some spots that I think are quite beautiful. Shenzhen doesn't have much natural beauty and it seems like most Chinese people deride it for not having any culture. But i saw it as a fairly vibrant place where capitalism had taken hold and they were trying to figure out what to do with it. Fiona said they are building an opera house and will have a symphony and all that before long. Didn't see many parks. Mostly you just see high-rise buildings, tons of them, much more than you'd ever see in San Diego.

 

The first night there I was taken to a restaurant that has live animals of all kinds that you can select and eat. Since I'm a vegetarian I pretty much just stuck to vegetables, though I tried some fish just to be polite. It was pretty good. Nothing special, although I said "hen how" when asked. They offered me a chance to eat a real delicacy, some kind of spider. I passed. The smoke was pretty bad but I kept my mouth shut about it.

 

The next day Fiona's dad took us to the ocean on one side of Shenzhen. It has these bizarre, incredibly ugly 50-foot tall sculptures of "bird people" painted all kinds of garish colors. I couldn't understand why they would mar the beautiful scenery with such ugly sculptures. It actually would have been quite beautiful if someone had dynamited these monstronsities. Oh well. Someone must think they are really cool.

 

I was amazed at the ubiquitous presence of McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken everywhere. We went inside a McDonald's and had a shake because it was REALLY hot and humid. As I recall the smoke was not too bad, it was a time of day that there weren't many people there. It was here that I hatched the idea of eating at restaurants at off hours. We used that trick all over LiJiang and Guilin later.

 

That night Fiona's mom cooked for us. I genuinely thought that her food was much better than at the restaurants. She made me 3 or 4 different vegetables to try, I didn't know what they were but they tasted good to me. I also had a little more fish and shrimp, even though I normally don't eat fish that often. We went to bed fairly early. The next day we had to get up early to go to LiJiang.

 

Lijiang: The first thing that impressed me about LiJiang was how much open space there is. It's very beautiful and I had to ask why everybody lived so close together in the city. Why not spread out a bit? Fiona said people liked to live in the city for the convenience.

 

We took a bus from the airport to the bus station, where we got in a cab for a short cab drive to our hotel. I was amazed at how beautiful the taxi cabs were! Most of the cab drivers in LiJiang are women and they seem to compete on the basis of decorating their cars. The one we got into was pratically a work of art, particularly the blanket covering the back seat. I actually felt a bit guilty sitting on it.

 

Downtown LiJiang has a "native village" where there are 90 million shops for the Naxis to sell you stuff, and tons of good restaurants. Smoke was a bit of a problem for me. Most places, it would not have been possible for me to make it through a meal indoors. But it was quite warm and pleasant outside, so we usually ate outdoors. The smoke was still pretty bad but tolerable. Our first day there we went to Snow Mountain and rode horses allllllll the way to the top. It was very beautiful. I felt sorry for my poor horse though. They tried to find a big one for me but... I'm a lot bigger than the average Chinese person, that's for sure. The poor guy got a tough break when they threw my carcass on his back... When we came back that night we had to rush to catch a show. I liked it a lot - lots of interesting costumes, and a very amusing fellow pretending to be a frog who I particularly enjoyed. Fiona didn't like it that much. The next night we went to a different show that I found boring (there was some guy who did a lot of monologs in Chinese) but that Fiona and the rest of the audience loved. I mostly just leaned against Fiona and that was pleasant enough for me, I was pretty tired anyway.

 

I should perhaps point out that neither of these theaters allowed smoking inside, which was a very pleasant surprise. In the second theater i did smell some smoke during the performance because some people were smoking near the doorway outside. It bothered me a little but I just closed my eyes and cuddled my girl and tried to just let her enjoy herself.

 

The next day we discovered a nice four star hotel and switched out of our three star. I don't even remember what the four star cost but my impression was that it was dirt cheap and we loved it. I would never bother staying at anything less than a four star again if there is any choice in the matter. The hotel had a very nice dining area that we liked just for the ambience. We ate there a couple of times when the smoke got to be too much for me at other restaurants. The food at the hotel wasn't as good as the restaurants, and was more expensive, which is probably why it was usually pretty sparsely occupied when we were there. The way I looked at it, i was paying a surcharge to avoid the smoke and it was well worth it. Fiona liked the ambience and loved the breakfast buffet.

 

I think we were in LiJiang for four days or so. By the last day we felt we had seen everything we needed to see and were happy to move on. We got tired of people trying to sell us things. We went to some place that was supposed to have cool wall drawings but we weren't very impressed. The most interesting part was we walked into this one room and a whole band started playing, just for us! For a small donation they would give you an instrument and you could play with them. Tourist trap to the max, I know, but we still enjoyed it.

 

Qimming/Kunming?:

 

I still don't know what this city is called. Fiona pronounces it way different from how I think it is spelled. Anyway, i think it is the capital of Hunan province. We only had half a day there, we were mostly using it as a stopover between LiJiang and Guilin. The air in LiJiang had been very fresh and pleasant. In contrast, the air in Kunming(?) was UNBELIEVABLY polluted, the worst I had ever seen in my life by far. I dubbed Kunming the "ugliest city in the world" with much fanfare and Fiona just laughed. We went to the Horticulture Gardens, which is on the outskirts of the city, and which is much less smoggy. It was relatively ok, definitely had some pretty areas. The American exhibit, incidentally, was a real joke. they had a couple of cactus and mostly tried to sell you blue jeans and T-shirts. I took a picture of Fiona in front of it.

 

Kunming (Qimming?) has an enormous green lake. You go there and you say to yourself "that is an enormous green lake!" Then you have about had your fill and you go home. (keep in mind though that we were rushed, it could be that there was stuff there that we didn't have time to find).

 

Guilin: WE LOVED GUILIN. We stayed at this terrific hotel that was also dirt cheap and was rated four stars but we think might have passed for five. The city was clean and the river tour was very fun and enjoyable. It was funny because all of Fiona's friends had told her Guilin was no big deal and there was no real reason to go there. But she liked it better than LiJiang. This was where I encountered my first non-smoking restaurant in China. We had a room all to ourselves, actually. The food was great and we loved it. I think we ordered like seven different dishes. We left gorged like pigs.

 

We liked Guilin so much that we delayed our flight back to Shenzhen and stayed an extra day. I proposed to Fiona our third night, along the river. We already knew that we were going to get married by then, it was just up to me to come up with a proposal she could remember and tell our kids about. It was challenging because nobody spoke English! So how can I surprise her with a zillion roses? At one point I was trying to ask the manager of the restaurant to help me but he couldn't understand me well enough to help arrange anything. Fiona apparently observed me doing this and later said she was very touched. But I was really feeling the pressure because after all, you only get engaged once, right? And I knew that for the rest of our lives, people would ask her how it happened, and i wanted her to be able to remember it fondly and proudly.

 

What i finally did was, I had Fiona take me to a supermarket, and I bought all kinds of seemingly random stuff that bewildered her - why are you buying THAT? Then when she was asleep later that day, i stayed up and composed a poem about how since I met her, even the most everyday items reminded me of her, and of how much I loved her. When i was with her, all the world made me feel romantic, as if the entire universe were built out of roses. And in the poem I described how each seemingly random item reminded me of something special about her or our relationship, or of the life we looked forward to sharing together. When she woke up I took her for a walk in the moonlight along the river, carrying my mysterious "bag of stuff." When we found a nice spot, I sat her down, went down on one knee, and started reading my poem. (or should I say "her poem") As I read the poem and it would refer to some object, I would take it out of the bag and show it to her as I read about its significance. The poem talked about how we met, how we excitedly discovered things about each other, how we fell in love, some of our experiences in LiJiang and Guilin, and our future life together, including raising children and old age. I guess I did a good job, we were both crying by the end of it, when I asked her to marry me. She said some very nice things to me, some startlingly wonderful things that I won't share here, and then she said "yes." That was our last night in Guilin, and a very good night it was. As far as I'm concerned, anytime she wants to go back to Guilin, I'm up for it.

 

This all occured in July, and I'm going back to be there almost all October. I expect to go back again for 2-3 months in early 2005, and all told I expect to visit her 4-5 times before we get the VISA. When we are married and living here, of course I expect her to want to go back to China, often. I expect to go with her, and when we have kids, I would expect to bring our kids. After all, it is half of what they are (although they probably won't care while they are young).

 

Incidentally, Fiona and I have also agreed that when she speaks to the Children, she should always try to speak to them in Chinese. That way they will grow up being at least bi-lingual without having to make any special effort. It will also encourage/help me to learn Chinese.

 

There are things that I don't like about China, and there are things that I do like about China, which I'm sure I could say about any other place on earth. As could anyone else. Just because I mention a couple of the bad things that I'm trying to avoid, in order to make the most of my time there, people shouldn't jump to the conclusion that I hate China and find nothing good about it. That isn't true.

 

I'm a vegetarian, and I'm allergic to cigarette smoke. Those are two inconveniences I have to be realistic about and deal with. I appreciate all the helpful advice i've received so far. All these comments about how much I hate China (I don't) made me think that perhaps i have been too quick or too straightforward in describing the problems of China without showing enough appreciation for the good parts of China. Hence this (voluminous) posting.

 

Hopefully I can recycle portions of this for Fiona to study in preparation for the interview. I've heard some of the questions include: "What did your fiance like about your country? What did he or she dislike?" This should give her plenty of material....!

[mari]

There's a nice italian restaurant called Gino's Cafe, the food is great, and I would highly recommend you to try the Pekin duck, there's a nice restaurant close to the Forbidden City which is just great, I think they allow the people to smoke but the ceilings are high enough to prevent the smoke to bother you. I'm very allergic to cigarette smoke also and did not bothered me at all. Beijing has much to offer and I know you"ll enjoy it very much.

[Jeikun]

Yeah, I have to agree with the Peking duck thing... are you a strict vegetarian? For dietary, health (as in food allergies) or moral reasons? If it's just dietary... I'd say set it aside long enough to try it... I mean To try Peking duck IN Peking... how could you pass it up? If it's health... well sorry, I guess you can't get around it. If it's moral *slap!* Eat the duck!!!

[oregonknl]

Ah Ben,

 

Thanks for telling us more about your story, I am very touched by your method of proposing!

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

I believe you will find at least 50 or so Pizza Huts in and around BJ. I should have pointed out that they have a very large menu well beyond just pizza. "Kinda" like a Chinese Denny's.

 

Ah ha. Good to know, thanks.

 

 

Have you tried an advanced search on restaurants in BJ with non smoking?

 

Hey, this was a good idea! Look, I found a non-smoking restaurant

that specializes in duck:

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/beiji...ing/D31145.html

 

Anybody ever heard of this one?

 

===============================================

Beijing Dadong Kaoya Dian

 

No hundred years of history or obscure hutong location here, just a crispy-skinned and pleasing roast duck that many say is the best in town. The restaurant claims to use a special method to reduce the amount of fat in its birds, although it seems unlikely that duck this flavorful could possibly be good for you. The birds come in either whole (¥98/$12) or half (¥49/$5) portions and are served in slices with a wide assortment of condiments (garlic, green onion, radish). Place the duck on a pancake with plum sauce and your choice of ingredients, and then roll and eat. An excellent plain broth soup, made from the rest of the duck, is included in the price. The menu, with English and pictures, offers a wide range of other dishes, everything from mustard duck webs to duck tongue in aspic, plus a number of excellent doufu (tofu) dishes with thick, tangy sauces. Every meal comes with a free fruit plate and walnut sago pudding for desert. This is one of the few restaurants in Beijing with a nonsmoking room.

================================================

 

In answer to Jeikun's question, I'm a veggie first for health, second for taste, third for conscience. I don't like to eat cows because they are so cute. I have no qualms about eating chickens, ethically - what else are they good for? (oh yes, they lay eggs). My favorite cartoon character growing up was Daffy Duck so it might be a bit traumatic to consume one of his ilk... Generally speaking, if I slipped one night, I wouldn't explode. But one also must take it into account that I *LOVE* veggies! Eating brocolli or asparagus isn't a sacrifice for me. It's heaven! :-)

 

My main goal in finding a non-smoking restaurant is so I can treat Fiona to a night out on the town instead of her having to cook. So to me, the issue is less about whether I would like the restaurant and more about whether she would like it. If people highly recommend duck and this is a good place to get it and it's non-smoking, that's great as far as I'm concerned. I'll be happy as long as I like the air and she likes the food.

 

Of course, if they also happen to have good veggies, that would be a nice bonus.

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

Has anyone ever heard of or been to this one?

 

Thanks,

 

Ben

 

=============================================

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2760..._cafe_beijing-i

 

Overview of Be There or Be Square Cafe

This is a contemporary and stylish Hong Kong-style eatery located in the Henderson Centre. This bustling restaurant consists of a non-smoking zone and a larger smoking area. Yellow booths and trendy metal tables and chairs add to the funk factor. The menu includes Cantonese cuisine with a variety of popular Hong Kong dishes. Prices are cheap, and recommended are the Soya Chicken on Rice or the Shrimp Dumplings and Wontons with Noodles (CNY20-30). There is a daily Hong Kong-style tea with teatime sets. Try the Hong Kong-style coffee (enriched with condensed milk) and the barbequed pork bun or egg tart.

===============================================

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

There's a nice italian restaurant called Gino's Cafe, the food is great, and I would highly recommend you to try the Pekin duck, there's a nice restaurant close to the Forbidden City which is just great, I think they allow the people to smoke but the ceilings are high enough to prevent the smoke to bother you.  I'm very allergic to cigarette smoke also and did not bothered me at all.  Beijing has much to offer and I know you"ll enjoy it very much.

 

Thanks!

 

Hey! Check out what I found on ChinaPulse.com while searching for Gino's Cafe!

 

Unfortunately, most/all of the info is about Shanghai. Dang, I thought I'd hit gold.

 

http://www.chinapulse.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=67

[Guest Fionas_Fiance]

Found a couple of more with non-smoking sections, at least:

 

http://www.sino.net/Restaurants/Holiday-In...wntown1021.html

 

Has anyone tried either of these?

 

Thanks

 

Ben

 

==============================================

Restaurants of Holiday Inn Downtown Hotel

 

Guan Yuan Chinese Restaurant

 

Serves: Lunch | Dinner Guan Yuan Chinese Restaurant pampers you with the finest Cantonese cuisine. Our master chef delights you with his creative menu which is perfect for business entertainment.

Open from 11.30am to 2.30pm for Lunch and 5.30pm to 10.00pm for Dinner daily.Sits 160 diners.(144 in smoking section and 16 in non smoking section)

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Robatayaki 36

 

Serves: Lunch | Dinner The first restaurant to introduce Robatayaki cuisine in Beijing. The first open kitchen concept restaurant in Beijing and the first pub concept restaurant in Beijing.

Robatayaki originated from Yakitori, which stands for skewered chicken. It is gradually transformed into different varieties of barbecue and grill cooking and offers other meat, seafood and vegetable items. The restaurant, in a casual and lively atmosphere, is popular especially among the beer drinkers.

Come and try Robatayaki cuisine.

Open for Lunch 12.00am to 2.30pm and Dinner 6.00pm to 12.00 (Midnight) daily and sits up to 56 diners (40 in smoking section and 16 in non-smoking section).