It’s every foodies’ favorite time of year again: Restaurant Week! For those not in the know, Restaurant Week is a biannual event put on by Dining City that sees numerous restaurants across Beijing and other cities across China offering up delectable set menus at amazingly discounted prices.
Bookings are now open for the Autumn 2024 edition which will run from tomorrow, Aug 29 until Sep 29 and yes, we know that’s actually a month not a week but hey, you won’t hear us complaining about having longer to enjoy the deals!
This time around sees about 200 restaurants/restaurant branches participating offering exclusive menus at a special fixed price, with four price categories to choose from:
- Elite: Price determined by restaurants
- Category A: RMB 148 for lunch and RMB 298 for dinner
- Category B: RMB 118 for lunch and RMB 198 for dinner
- Category C: RMB 78 for lunch and RMB 118 for dinner
These promotional prices allow you to dine in some of the top restaurants in the city which otherwise can be quite expensive. You can filter restaurants through a variety of categories such as “Fine Dining,” “New Joiners” or “Best Value,” or filter results by a specific cuisine or price category.
Included in this year’s participating restaurants are 22 Michelin Star- or Black Pearl-awarded restaurants, so if you’ve had your eye on one, now is the time to go! This year they’ve also got an impressive 52 “New Joiners” which are eateries joining Restaurant Week for the first time. Here we’ve picked out a few of our personal recommendations to try.
Bollywood Tales by Dastaan
Opening up in April this year, Bollywood Tales will be offering Category B lunch and dinner deals. Both are sharing set meals for two* and include an appetizer, starter, main (two for lunch, three for dinner), two staple dishes and dessert. For the mains they’ve got dishes like Chettinadu Kozhi Tikka, Purani Delhi Wali Murgh Makhni and Mutton Chukka.
Along with Bollywood Tales, Dastaan and the group’s newest restaurant Mumbai Impression (we’ll have more details on this new spot later in the week) are participating in Restaurant Week too, with both offering Category B lunch and dinner deals.
Bollywood Tales 宝莱坞故事印度餐厅
1F, 10, Bldg 2, 32 Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区百子湾路32号院2号楼1层10号
Lunch hours: 11.30am-2.30pm
Dinner hours: 5pm-9.30pm
uh-huh
Self described as a “a chic, homely, and a bit funky wine bar and eatery”, uh-huh opened up in the hutongs towards the end of last year. Here they’re doing a Category B dinner sharing menu for two* from which you can select your choice of appetizers like Goose Liver Crackers and Pink Hummus, plus bigger dishes such as Yunnan Roast Pork and Gnocchi Sardi with Sausage Ragú.
uh-huh Wine Bar and Eatery
146 Jiaodaokou Nandajie, Dongcheng District
东城区交道口南大街146号
Dinner hours: 6pm-9.30pm
Rôti by Flo
Boasting what is undoubtedly one of Beijing’s most beautiful terraces, this is the perfect time of year to visit Rôti by Flo. They’re doing a Category A dinner set with a cold starter, hot starter, main and dessert. Choices include some of their signature dishes like Half Roasted Chicken with Truffle & Foie Gras Stuffing and Caramelized Shallot; Roasted Whole Dried Threadfin, Herb Salad and Muhammara; and Cured Salmon Ceviche, Salmon Roeand Avocado Mousse.
Rôti
16 Xiaoyun Lu S3, Chaoyang District
朝阳区霄云路18号S3单元
Dinner hours: 5.30pm-9.30pm
Sediment Wine Bistro
Located along Xiushui Nanjie just off Jianguomen Waidajie lies Sediment Wine Bistro. For Restaurant Week they’re doing Category B lunch and dinner sets which are both comprised of a first course, second course and dessert plus you can add on a glass of house sparkling, white or red wine for an additional RMB 45.
Diners have a choice of three options for each course with a mainly Italian menu featuring dishes like Tonnarelli Vongole e Limone (lemon flavored tonnarelli with clam sauce), Salsiccia e Friarielli (sausage and Napoli style pickled green chards) and La Bomba Di Maradona (fried pizza bun with mozzarella and tomato sauce).
Sediment Wine Bistro
2-111, Bldg 28, 17 Jianguomen Waidajie, Chaoyang District
朝阳区建国门外大街17号28号楼底商2-111室
Lunch hours: noon-2pm
Dinner hours: 5pm-8pm
Malty Tiger
For fans of American barbecue, then Restaurant Week may well be the perfect time to try out Malty Tiger, which recently relocated to Xingfucun. This is another spot doing a Category B dinner sharing menu for two* and as you’d expect this involves a whole lot of barbecue with everything from Australian Beef Brisket to American Pork Ribs, American Pulled Pork and more. There are also classic sides like Homemade Mashed Potato Salad, Roasted Corn and other nibbles.
Malty Tiger 麦芽虎美式烤肉酿
39-9 Xingfuercun Chaoyang District
朝阳区幸福二村39-9
Lunch hours: 11.30am-1.30pm
Dinner hours: 5.30pm-8.30pm
*Sharing sets for two are the price of the selected Category per person, for example, a Category B lunch sharing set for two would be RMB 236 altogether (RMB 118 p.p.).
To see all the restaurants participating in Autumn 2024 Restaurant Week, and to book, you can go to the official website (https://restaurantweek.diningcity.cn/lang/en/cities/beijing/restaurants), download the Dining City APP, or access the Dining City WeChat mini program by scanning the QR code below. It will be running from Aug 29 until Sep 29 and bookings are open now.
READ: Get Your Tickets! Belt & Road Food Fest Returns Sep 15-17!
Images: Unsplash, courtesy of Dining City and the venues