Huajieyiyuan

The restaurant is one of the oldest and most famous on the street. It sits in a private courtyard and has a grand traditional Chinese archway at its gate, painted in red and gold. But it's more expensive than others on the same street.

It won fame with hot and spicy crayfish but then developed other dishes in its own style. For instance, it offers roast duck but serves it with slices of honeydew, pineapple, cucumber and hawthorn fruit as well as sweet soy sauce and wasabi. That's quite different from conventional roasted ducks. The plum juice here is strongly recommended.

It also offers evening performances of traditional Chinese music and drama.

Address: No. 235 Dongzhimennei Street, Dongcheng District

Telephone: 8610-8407-8288

Open from 10:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. next day

Accepts credit cards and has an English menu.

Cost per person: 60 to 100 yuan (US$8.7 to 15)

Xiaoshancheng Hot Pot

Spicy, very spicy. That's the common impression of hot pots here. But you can choose less spicy versions, as it offers seven kinds of hot pot soup base. You can pick two or three kinds of soup base and the restaurant will put them into one pot in separate compartments. They have special pots that have two compartments, which look like the Taichi symbol from above. The one with three compartments looks like a Mercedes-Benz symbol from above and it is named Benz hot pot.

What to "rinse" in the hot pot (a term commonly used by Chinese about boiling raw foods in a soup base) varies widely. It includes fish, beef, mutton, vegetables, toufu, mushrooms and frogs. Frogs, raised specially for eating, are strongly recommended by frequent customers here.

Many red lanterns are hung in front of the restaurant under its huge golden symbol. It is very noisy inside during prime time.

Address: No. 251 Dongzhimennei Street, Dongcheng District

Telephone: 8610-8402-0856

Open 24 hours.

Accepts credit cards and has an English menu.

Cost per person: 50 to 70 yuan