Three Chinese Restaurants That You Have To Eat At

Allison Reibel | May 11, 2013 11:00 am | Add a comment | 3221 reads

We’ve revealed all your 2013 Reader Restaurant Award picks and now it’s time to take a closer look at your favorite places to eat. With seemingly endless choices, our readers have shared their favorite spots for Chinese Restaurant of the Year. If you've been before, it's never a bad time to revisit the popular mainstays. If you haven't, then finish up reading and get on it.

Winner: Da Dong Roast Duck

Something would be wrong if roast duck didn’t take the top spot in this category and Da Dong is the place that continually comes out on top. Da Dong offers consistently crispy skin and attentive service at all three locations. With its impressive atmosphere and the leanest duck in town, it’s no wonder reservations are necessary.

One user likes Da Dong for impressing guests:

“It's really a treat to take visitors to Beijing here and watch them be astonished by the massive menu.”

Another enjoys their service:

"The staff are attentive and offer good service levels. The duck is carved near your table so you can watch them as they prepare the food for you as your taste buds start to moisten."

And another might be enjoying it almost too much:

“It isn't just Da Dong's duck that's great, the entire menu serves as an excellent example of modern Chinese food and would make a hell of a food porn book.”

Da Dong also won top honors for Best Beijing Duck, Best for Impressing Visitors (Chinese Cuisine), and was named Outstanding in the Best Service category this year.

Outstanding: Haidilao

Haidilao is the place to go for hotpot, impeccable service, and a pedicure while you wait. If you’re worried about your things getting sullied by boiling broth, they will provide you with an apron, a protective baggie for your cell, and a cloth to clean your glasses after eating. The atmosphere is further enhanced by the waitstaff’s noodle-pulling dance routines.

As users point out, the reasons to love Haidilao are endless:

“The condiment bar is amazing as well, with easily the widest selection of additions to one's dipping sauce than any hot pot place I've seen, plus some additional freebies like small veggie appetizers and fruit.”

“The DIY sauce bar is a lot of fun and has a lot of snacks and fruit on it as well, you can get an excellent, all you can drink lemonade or liang cha for RMB3/person, plus all your hotpot favorite fresh ingredients to dip in their excellent spicy (or regular) hotpot.”

Haidilao won the top honor in the category of Best Service (Chinese), as well as being named Outstanding in the categories of Best For Impressing Visitors (Chinese Cuisine) and Best Late Night Cuisine.

Outstanding: Din Tai Fung

The famous Taiwanese dumpling chain has made an impression on our readers by packing a meal’s worth of flavor into one delicate little dumpling. It’s not the first time Din Tai Fung has been honored by our readers and likely not the last.

User reviews offer advice on why you should come and what you should try:

“For two people dining here, I'd recommend ordering a large classic Xiao Long Bao, and a large size of whatever else looks good to you. The Tang Cu Pai Gu (sweet and sour ribs) is one of the best cold appetizers. The stir fried Dou Miao makes a good vegetable accompaniment.”

“Its delicious, the service is stellar, and its a nice atmosphere. I could not say one bad things about this establishment.”

The experts were also impressed with Din Tai Fung’s xiao long bao:

Fongyee Walker chose it for Best Dumplings.

Din Tai Fung was also the winner of the Best Dumpling category and an Outstanding award for Best Service (Chinese).

The other nominees in the Restaurant of the Year (Chinese) category this year were:

Do you agree that these are the best Chinese restaurants in town? Leave your own comments below to rate the winners or add a reader review yourself.

Photos: Josh Ong, Chinadaily.com.cn