The Best Restaurant in Beijing. Fact.

Now that you've had some time to savor our 2013 Reader Restaurant Award picks, we thought we'd give readers another taste of this year's winners. We'll take a closer look at the best Beijing dining spots in each category, starting with Restaurant of the Year (Non-Chinese, Fine Dining).

Temple Restaurant Beijing took top honors as Restaurant of the Year for the category. TRB diners can feast their eyes on centuries-old scenery in a stunning compound containing a 600-year-old Buddhist temple and renovated Mao-era factories. While the restaurant sits amid ancient Chinese relics, the menu is contemporary European, with mains like rack of lamb with mint sauce and clay-baked red snapper, served a la carte or as part of TRB's prix fixe menu. The emphasis on service at the restaurant, which is managed by Ignace Lecleir, formerly of Maison Boulud, is a hot topic in user reviews on TheBeijinger.com. One user writes that "service by Ignace and his efficient staff, also very attractive I'd like to add, is simply flawless," though another reviewer claims that "the waiters were almost too attentive." Beijing's oenophiles have TRB on their radars as well. We've noted their “extensive Francophile wine list” in the past, and wine authority Fongyee Walker of our experts' panel singled out TRB for this year's Restaurant of the Year and Best Wine List awards. Their bar also features an exceptional list of boutique whiskeys and cocktails. Our readers and experts weren't the only ones to honor TRB with top accolades this year. Time Out named them Best International Fine Dining establishment for 2013.

Lido-area eatery SALT was honored an Outstanding award in the category for 2013. They're no strangers to the Reader Restaurant Awards, having been voted Outstanding Steak, Outstanding Value, and Outstanding Business Lunch in recent years. In addition to stand-out steak, SALT has a weekly Brazilian feast featuring feijoada – Brazil's national dish – and caipirinhas. While the restaurant is open for lunch, brunch, and dinner, it's the daytime dining options that our readers rave about most. “If I could have a lunch date with SALT on a daily basis, I would pick a different set menu and do repeats and still wouldn't get sick of the food there,” writes one of our users. Others are partial to SALT's free-flow prosecco brunches, when weekend guests can pair their bubbly with options like pan-seared hamachi, grilled tiger prawn salad, and buckwheat gnocchi with split pea mascarpone sauce.

Mosto rounds out our trio of winners in this category with an Outstanding award, a title it last claimed in 2011. The Sanlitun spot was opened by Venezuelan chef Daniel Urdaneta in 2008, and like its fellow Outstanding Restaurant in the category, Mosto is known for its contemporary South American-influenced cuisine. TheBeijinger.com reviews draw attention to Mosto's crowd-pleasing beef tenderloin and creme brulee, described by a user as "large enough for two to share, but you won't want to!" Mosto popped up several times on our panel of experts' list of superlatives, with Beijing Foodies founder Xixi Cheng naming it Best for a Romantic Dinner, while food writer (and former Dining Editor for the Beijinger) Tom O'Malley chose it for the Best Value (Fine Dining) title, and Fongyee Walker declared Alex Molina, Co-owner and Restaurant Manager, the city's Best Restaurant Entrepreneur.

So, what do you think of this year's winners? Check out the rest of the results here, then check out these spots (or your own favorites) in the directory and leave your own review.

Photo: Meiguoxing.com