Beijing's Best Eats: the Beijinger vs City Weekend

We know, the awards fatigue must be through the roof by now. But all you eaters, drinkers and voters are about to have a rest, so we’ll wave you off into the sunset once we’ve properly compared the City Weekend results with those that you, dear readers, picked for our awards in March. (For a comparison of TBJ’s Readers’ Choice with the Time Out Awards, go here.)

Right off the bat we can tell you that City Weekend’s awards structure is much more similar to ours than Time Out’s (theirs not really being readers’ choice). And the categories our readers seem to agree on are Best Thai and Best Indian, while the ones we differ almost completely on are Best for Families and Best Service.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the winners:

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
TBJ Readers: Home Plate Bar-B-Que (best); Hatsune, Maison Boulud
TBJ Experts: Temple Restaurant Beijing
CW Readers: Maison Boulud (best); Grill 79 – China World Summit Wing (honorable mention)
CW Editors: Terra

Our thoughts: Nothing too surprising here, though it’s the start of what will seem to be a trend: Where CW’s readers are hitting up hotel restaurants, ours seem to be hanging out down that slightly ghetto row behind Xiaoyun Lu (Home Platers, we’re looking at you). What does this tell us?

BEST NEW RESTAURANT
TBJ Readers (non-Chinese): Home Plate Bar-B-Que (best); Susu, Temple Restaurant Beijing
TBJ Readers (Chinese): Nanjing Impressions (best); Green Bites, IFW (Park Hyatt Beijing)
TBJ Experts (Chinese): Nanjing Impressions
CW Readers: Temple Restaurant Beijing (best); Casa Brasil, Susu
CW Editors: Iki Barbeque

Our thoughts: There are the obvious, like Temple and Susu, but that’s all that’s hanging out in the middle of the Venn diagram. On our end, we’ve got more Chinese places (since we do separate the categories), while CW pulls out two places that are not really being trumpeted on our website: Casa Brasil and Iki Barbeque.

RESTAURANT PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
TBJ Readers: Seth Grossman, Home Plate Bar-B-Que (best); Alan Wong, Hatsune/Kagen; Ignace Lecleir, Temple Restaurant Beijing
CW Readers (Chef of the Year): Daniel Urdaneta, Modo/Mosto (best); Thomazini Geraldo, Alameda; Xavier Mauerhofer, Bei
CW Editors: Paulo de Souza, Terra

Our thoughts: As always, it’s hard to criticize anyone who winds up in this category. Restaurant work is tough and we salute the people behind the scenes who get that good food on our plates. Daniel Urdaneta was among our nominees for Personality of the Year too, while the others on CW’s roster – which veers a little South American, no? – were not. Do you think we could convince all these personalities to do a parade? If so, where?

BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT
TBJ Readers: Da Dong (best); Din Tai Fung, Duck de Chine
CW Readers: Din Tai Fung (best); JE Mansion, Dianke Dianlai, Yu – Ritz-Carlton Beijing
CW Editors: Qi – Ritz-Carlton Financial Street

Our thoughts: We’ve been hearing amazing things about JE Mansion, but it’s easy to spend over RMB 1,000 per person there, so we’re still saving up for it. CW readers must have some deep pockets, or some good connections?

BEST WINE
TBJ Readers: Maison Boulud (best); Aria – China World Hotel, Enoterra
CW Readers: Modo (best); Aria – China World Hotel
CW Editors: Pudao Wines

Our thoughts: Cheers to all. Modo is a consistent winner in this category, and we were surprised to not see them win again in our awards.

BEST SERVICE
TBJ Readers (Chinese): Haidilao (best); Da Dong, Din Tai Fung
TBJ Readers (non-Chinese): Maison Boulud (best); Annie's, SALT
CW Readers: Gung Ho! (best); Aria – China World Hotel
CW Editors: TRB Temple

Our thoughts: Interesting that Maison Boulud and Haidilao show up nowhere on CW’s bracket. They always seem the obvious choices (even Time Out agreed with us on these). I will say that Gung Ho does an excellent job with service, so kudos to them.

BEST BRUNCH (STANDALONE)
TBJ Readers: Vineyard Café (best); Chef Too, Element Fresh
CW Readers: Flamme (best); SALT
CW Editors: Vineyard Café

Our thoughts: No surprises.

BEST BRUNCH (HOTEL)
TBJ Readers: Bubbalicious, Seasonal Tastes – Westin Beijing Chaoyang (best); Aroma – Ritz-Carlton Beijing; Bubbly Sundays, Senses – Westin Beijing Financial Street
TBJ Editors: Yi House – Grace Beijing
CW Readers: Bubbalicious, Seasonal Tastes – Westin Beijing Chaoyang (best); Ming Court – Langham Place, Senses – Westin Beijing Financial Street
CW Editors: Vasco’s – Hilton Wangfujing

Our thoughts: Apparently when it comes to brunches, Westin is king. We’ve been digging a la carte brunches, though, so our editors’ pick was a chance to highlight one shining example: Yi House at Grace Beijing. There are movements afoot with brunch in this town, and we have a post coming up that will highlight the new brunches to open. Stay tuned.

BEST AMERICAN
TBJ Readers: Home Plate Bar-B-Que (best); Blue Frog, Union Bar & Grille
CW Readers: Chef Too (best); Element Fresh, Home Plate Bar-B-Que
CW Editors: Union Bar & Grille

Our thoughts: The usual suspects. Home Plate’s one and only nod on CW’s roster this year, compared to our lavish praise for the humble eatery. Do our readers have special pulled pork genes or something?

BEST FAMILY-FRIENDLY
TBJ Readers: Annie’s (best); Element Fresh, Grandma’s Kitchen, The Orchard
CW Readers: 360°– Hilton Capital Airport (best); Din Tai Fung, The Place
CW Editors: The Filling Station

Our thoughts: This one is … strange. 360°is a great buffet, but as a kid I certainly don’t remember frequenting hotel buffets unless we were celebrating Christmas in Las Vegas (Chinese families, what can I say … )

BEST STEAK
TBJ Readers (Standalone): Flamme (best); Chef Too, SALT,
TBJ Readers (Hotel): CRU Steakhouse – JW Marriott Beijing (best); Grange Grill – Westin Beijing Chaoyang, The Cut – Fairmont Beijing
TBJ Editors (All-around): Steak Exchange Restaurant + Bar, InterContinental Beijing Financial Street
CW Readers: Grange Grill – Westin Chaoyang (best); Flamme
CW Editors: The Cut – Fairmont Beijing

Our thoughts: Flamme’s sous vide steak battles it out in the big leagues, as CW doesn’t split their category. If you’re feeling on the spendier side, it seems Grange gets some love from both sets of voters. Great mustard selection, too.

BEST THAI

TBJ Readers: Purple Haze (best); Serve the People, Very Siam
CW Readers: Purple Haze (best); Serve the People
CW Editors: Very Siam

Our thoughts: Apparently Thai is a pretty un-contested category in this town.

BEST MEXICAN/TEX-MEX
TBJ Readers: Luga’s Villa, Peter’s Tex Mex (tie for best); The Saddle Cantina
CW Readers: The Saddle Cantina (best); Tim’s Texas BBQ
CW Editors: Peter’s Tex-Mex

Our thoughts: Same with Mexican. But will newcomers like Q Mex and a mysterious, yet-unnamed taco bar shake things up?

BEST BEIJING DUCK
TBJ Readers: Da Dong (best); Duck de Chine, Quanjude
TBJ Editors: Made in China – Grand Hyatt Beijing
CW Readers: Da Dong (best); Hua’s Restaurant
CW Editors: Duck de Chine

Our thoughts: The King of Duck reigns supreme. All we know is, there’s a lot of good duck in this town, and you could get a lot farther down the list (way beyond just these winners) before hitting a dud. We should all be proud.

ITALIAN – HIGH END
TBJ Readers (high-end): Sureno – The Opposite House (best); Cepe – Ritz-Carlton Financial Street, Tavola Italian Dining
TBJ Readers (affordable): Annie’s (best); Alio Olio, La Pizza
CW Readers: Cepe – Ritz-Carlton Financial Street (best); Bene – Sheraton Dongcheng, Prego – Westin Financial Street
CW Editors: LMPlus

Our thoughts: See our first paragraph regarding hotel restaurants. Now, we agree that a good number of places are underrated (Cepe as a case in point). Their restaurant location and price point make them lesser known quantities among the average reader, but apparently that’s not the case with CW. Unfortunately, our readers’ faves in the affordable section show up nowhere on CW’s roster.

BEST JAPANESE
TBJ Readers: Hatsune (best); Matsuko, Tairyo Teppanyaki
TBJ Editors: Nobu
CW Readers: Hatsune (best); Nishimura
CW Editors: Sake Manzo

Our thoughts: Our usual, no one can touch Hatsune when it comes to its popularity among readers.

BEST FRENCH
TBJ Readers: Maison Boulud (best); Brasserie Flo, Café de la Poste
CW Readers: S.T.A.Y. – Shangri-La (best); Brasserie Flo
CW Editors: La Taverne

Our thoughts: Surprised to see Maison Boulud missing completely from the CW winners on this category.

BEST INDIAN/PAKISTANI
TBJ Readers: Ganges (best); Indian Kitchen, Taj Pavilion
TBJ Editors: Tadka – Beijing Marriott Hotel Northeast
CW Readers: Ganges (best); Khajuraho, Taj Pavilion
CW Editors: Indian Kitchen

Our thoughts: Clearly Ganges and Taj Pavilion are firmly planted in curry lovers’ hearts. The surprise on here is Khajuraho. Good food and enough of a contender in the mid-range but delicious Ganges bracket, but I would have written if off as too new to gather much voting traction in such short time.

BEST MIDDLE EASTERN
TBJ Readers: Biteapitta (best); 1001 Nights, Rumi
CW Readers: Rumi (best); Al Safir
CW Editors: Biteapitta

Our thoughts: Always hotly contested, and we won’t get too involved in the fray. Should be noted that this category demonstrates that CW readers can be found on that back alley behind Xiaoyun Lu as well – only this time for Al Safir. Also a surprisingly new venue to make it into the awards.

BEST KOREAN
TBJ Readers: Saveurs de Coree (best); Ai Jiang Shan, Han Na Shan
CW Readers: Saveurs de Coree (best): Iki Barbeque
CW Editors: Ssam

Our thoughts: Our readers agree on this one. There's Iki Barbeque again. We haven’t made it past the tracks to try it but we hear great things. Good find, CW, good find.

BEST PIZZA
TBJ Readers: Kro’s Nest (best); Gung Ho!, The Tree
CW Readers: Gung Ho! (best); Bene – Sheraton Dongcheng
CW Editors: Nasca Café

Our thoughts: Of our big Pizza War [http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2011/11/21/The-Beijinger-Pizza-Cup-Whos-In-The-Elite-Eight] contenders, only Gung Ho! seems to delight CW’s readers. Bene’s pizza rolls are certainly a draw, but we’re surprised to see it outperform other popular outlets (La Pizza, Sureno, The Tree or even Da Giuseppe now that that’s been open awhile).

BEST SPANISH
TBJ Readers: Agua (best); Carmen, Migas
CW Readers: Migas (best); Niajo
CW Editors: Agua

Our thoughts: And we end with another low-contestation round. Viva Nali Patio!

Well, folks, the upshot of all this is that you now have tons more recommendations for good places to stir the taste bud and stuff the belly. For our comparison between CW's Nightlife Awards and our own Bar and Club Awards, see our post here.

Photo: Brainlesstales.com