The 2023 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide Has Been Released

38 Beijing Restaurants Recognized in Black Pearl Restaurant Guide

Katie Coy, Managing Editor | Feb 27, 2023 5:29 pm | Add a comment | 1326 reads

Chances are you’re familiar with the Michelin Guide, the ultimate annual foodie awards giving out much sought after stars, but have you heard of the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide? Launched in 2018 by Meituan-Dianping, it aims to be China’s own version of the Michelin Guide and evaluates restaurants based on culinary skill, consumer experience, and inheritance and innovation.

Instead of stars, the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide awards diamonds: three diamond restaurants are "must visit once in a lifetime", two diamond restaurants are "perfect for special occasions" and one diamond restaurants are "great for family/friends gatherings".

The 2023 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide was released on Feb 9 and saw 38 Beijing restaurants on the list: one three diamond restaurant, four two diamond restaurants and 33 three diamond restaurants. Interestingly, among all 38 restaurants listed, 26 of them are based in Chaoyang District – accounting for 68 percent of Beijing's total. The majority of these are also based in the CBD, Sanlitun and Liangma River areas.

When compared with the 2023 Beijing Michelin Guide it’s interesting to note that the two restaurants to be awarded three Michelin stars, King’s Joy and Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan Nanlu Branch), were only awarded one diamond in the 2023 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide. Another big difference is that restaurants LES MORILLES and Refer which both received two diamonds, didn’t receive any Michelin stars and were instead included in the “Michelin-Selected Restaurants” list. Similarly, the only restaurant to be awarded three diamonds, Gastro Aesthetics DaDong only received one Michelin star.

You can see the full list of restaurants below. Restaurants that were also awarded stars in the 2023 Beijing Michelin Guide, have been highlighted in bold.