10 yuan
In terms of absolute price, eating in Beijing is cheaper than in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Perhaps it is because of the large number of people in the low-income class - hundreds of laid-off workers a month. In working families, housewives don’t arrange three meals a day? From the fragrant street roasted sweet potatoes (2 yuan per pound), pancakes and fruit (1.5 yuan each), grilled mutton skewers (1.5 yuan for the large, 1 yuan for the small), to the hot sesame pancakes sold in every major supermarket and non-staple food store , scallion pancakes, fried chicken, as well as dumplings and Lanzhou Ramen from fast-food restaurants. If you want to eat for less than 10 yuan, there are still many choices.
In many decent Chinese fast food restaurants, a set meal only costs about 8 yuan, which is absolutely unavailable at KFC and McDonald's. The nutritional mix is ??even more reasonable. Worth recommending is the burrito at SOGO Snack Market, which costs 6 yuan each. It has a layer of eggs, a layer of pancakes, rolled with a variety of fresh vegetarian vegetables, and then smeared with sauce - it is the most healthy fast food. The dumplings on Ximen Street in Xinhua News Agency are all delicious, ranging from 1.5 yuan to 3 yuan a tael, with dozens of fillings - I suggest you try the ones filled with eggs and cucumbers from Qiuxuan. Also, the Korean bibimbap that popped up overnight is 10 yuan a piece, delicious and hot.
50-100 yuan
Beijing does not have the concept of food stalls, but the prices of food stalls are all over the streets. In order to attract business, some simply post menus, that is, price lists, on Outside the door: Fish-flavored shredded pork for 8 yuan, hot pepper and potato shreds for 5 yuan, stir-fried mutton with green onions for 12 yuan... It may shock you. Is this still profitable? Of course, it’s cheap but not good, the shredded meat is shapeless and the mutton is stale, so put more cooking wine to cover it.
Recently, the streets are full of roast ducks priced at 28 yuan each, or you can get a roast duck for 200 yuan - I hope tourists will not eat it, as it would ruin the reputation of roast duck. The Xizhimen Ghost Street is known as the most authentic Shanghainese dish in Beijing - Xiaomingzhu. The layout is that of a food stall, but the price is not that of a food stall. In Beijing, 100 yuan can buy a table of dishes for four people, which are called "home-cooked dishes", but the likelihood of them being delicious is slim. Most of them are salty, greasy, and the beef and mutton are stale. Eating too much is enough to spoil the taste.
If you can tolerate spicy food, it’s better. Sichuan food chain stores like Meizhou Dongpo and Yuxin have more guaranteed products, and the prices are not so cheap that they cut corners. 100 yuan is enough for three people.
Around 200 yuan
The best choices are Shanghai cuisine and Ningbo cuisine, such as Old Ningbo next to Dorset and Xueyuan in Dongdan. Good Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine are exquisite and light. Even if there are only a few items that are good, you will order them every time you go and you will never get tired of them. The bad ones can be very bad. There are some Shanghainese dishes in Beijing that look good and can fool people, but they don’t even taste like glutinous rice and candied lotus root.
Hunan cuisine is originally a little more expensive than Sichuan cuisine. Three people can eat well for more than 100 yuan. Nowadays, there is also a trend of "home-cooked" dishes, which are salty but not spicy. The fish head with chopped pepper is steamed and the bacon is not enough. But in general, Hunan cuisine is not as widespread as Sichuan cuisine, and the cooking methods are more regular. What is more distinctive is Guizhou cuisine, such as the Guizhou Bamboo Bamboo Shoots Restaurant at the intersection of Zhao Dengyu Road and Ping'an Street. The dishes and utensils are unique and refreshing.
300-500 yuan
For Japanese food, if you are willing to pay more than 300 yuan, you can eat raw fish, or just try sushi and eel rice. In Guangzhou and Shanghai, Japanese food is becoming more popular. Dai Fang has a good impression of the Japanese buffet in Shanghai. The level of conveyor belt sushi restaurants in Guangzhou is catching up with Hong Kong, and they are always crowded on weekends. In Beijing, conveyor belt sushi is rare. The biggest concession offered by the store is to offer a set meal for 70 to 80 yuan a piece. Even if it is not a business lunch, who would want to eat that at night? However, the Japanese food is better because of its elegant environment, with small seats and faint background music. People who are used to noisy Chinese food really find it a kind of enjoyment.
Guomao’s Yachuan is almost the earliest Baiyun restaurant in Beijing, recommended by Dai Fang.
Korean food is also similar in price, mainly barbecue, free side dishes, and hot pot noodles as the staple food. There are just a few of them here and there. If you pay attention to the ingredients, you won’t get tired of them.
A portion of roast beef is 70 yuan, which is really not cheap. The Korean boss frequently bows to you to show respect.
Korean food is polarizing in Beijing. At the same time, small restaurants, grilled squid, mixed vegetables, and miso soup are also emerging. The products are completely different and have a different taste.
There are many small Western restaurants in the embassy area. The owners may have lived in France or Spain for a few years, and they are still familiar with foreigners when they come back. The prices are much more scary than the storefront, and some of the dishes may be better than those of a five-star hotel, but they also have a more homely flavor than a five-star hotel, so business is not bad.
FRIDAY is of course the first American-style Western food that more people think of, and it is always lively.
1,000 yuan
1,000 yuan for a meal in Beijing, in Dai Fang’s words, “probably belongs to the Baoji class.” When dining in a high-star hotel, there is a certain gap between the menu and the bill - the difference is the 15 service fee. And it's not delicious. In the past few years when Beijing's catering industry was not very developed, the flavors of some countries could only be eaten in hotels. There was nothing we could do. The need for this is no longer evident. Unless you are getting married and you want to be decent, then don't worry about whether the food is good or not.
The courtyard in Donghuamen is dedicated to the business of foreign lawyers. There is a gallery on the ground floor, a restaurant on the first floor, and old furniture on the second floor. You can see the Forbidden City from the windows. A bottle of red wine is more than 600, and a cigar is more than 200. When Dai Fang went there for the first time, he asked for the dragon emblem. He was told that the dragon emblem is used for cooking here.
This is probably a unique feature of Beijing. It is an inconspicuous little restaurant hidden deep in a small alley. It has a great background and is not accessible to ordinary diners.
3000-5000 yuan
Cantonese cuisine, especially seafood, Shunfeng, Hong Kong Food City. Don't ask what the "current price" is, just order. According to foodies, Shunfeng is indeed doing well, so it’s no wonder it’s still standing.
10,000 yuan
Beijing Hotel’s Tan Family Cuisine, a table of swallow wings for 10 people, starts from 3,000 yuan, with no upper limit, and can easily reach tens of thousands. The Braised Yellow Wings, which costs 330 yuan per person, has a national patent. Ah Yi's abalone, one is worth 4 digits. There is no rule in eating abalone wings. This is another level of "frugality depends on people".
If you are really rich and don’t just show off occasionally, you may be willing to put more effort into joining a more hidden private club or club, so that you don’t have to mix with the public. Isn’t it easy to spend money in Beijing?