A Closer Look: Beijing's Best Value Restaurants
A Closer Look reviews the winners from the Beijing 2015 Reader Restaurant Awards, which were announced March. Here we take a look at the winners of the Best Value category.
Beijing’s perpetually-evolving F&B scene is offering more quality options than ever before. While soaring standards have upped the city's culinary game, prices have gone up as well. However, dining out in Beijing circa 2015 does not mean breaking the bank: there's still tons of value to be had out there. Voters in the Beijinger's 2015 Reader Restaurant Awards recently selected their spots for where to get the most bang for your buck:
Winner: Annie’s
Salmon usually costs a fortune in China. But at this beloved Italian chain, the smoked salmon affumicato appetizer is a mere RMB 38. Droves of value-conscious pasta, pizza and salad fiends have frequented Annie’s over the years thanks to its affordable menu. Though its upscale offerings have increased over the years, Annie's remains a great place for a bargain meal: a cup of minestrone soup is RMB 20, a small Mediterranean salad is RMB 18, an order of fetuccini alfredo is RMB 28 and a small margherita pizza is RMB 38. Add to that a set of four kids meals for RMB 26 each and you have the recipe for a great deal. The menu is rounded out by numerous other bargains, and many patrons have saved enough from their cheap order to finish the meal off with an authentic cannoli for RMB 25. Extra bonus: Annie's delivery is prompt and comes at no extra charge.
Outstanding: Biteapitta
Countless restaurants have come and gone on the bar streets in the vicinity of Tongli Studio. But after a decade in business, Biteapitta hasn’t just survived in this tumultuously competitive neighborhood., it has thrived. This year it nabbed not only the Best Middle Eastern title in our 2015 Reader Restaurant Awards, but also an Outstanding nod in the Best Value category. Its strong showing in the latter category can be chalked up to its menu deals such as the sandwich set, in which a falafel and humus or shawarma can be purchased for RMB 55 with a side of fries and a soft drink. But perhaps most reasonable (and gluttonous) of all is the Pitta Feast, where a more than generous serving of 10 Mezze appetizers can be added to any salad, main course, or Biteapitta signature dish for RMB 55, along with a soft drink, Middle Eastern coffee, or mint tea. The “Kid’s Corner,” where younger guests can choose a main such as the toasted mozzarella pitta or the beef sausage or chicken schnitzel, along with a side of french fries or mashed potatoes and a soft drink is a mere RMB 46.
Outstanding: Great Leap Brewing
These craft beer masters also have become famed for their fresh, hearty pub fare, thanks in no small part to their cheeseburger, made with single-source Inner Mongolian beef, and laced with American cheese and house-made pickles, helping GLB make a strong turn in the Bejinger’s Burger Cup. This popular menu item, along with others like the chicken burger, range in price from RMB 45-55, satisfying patrons appetites and budgets. But GLB has also worked to diversify its menu as of late, serving up several salads, like Cobb and Caesar, that cost between RMB 40-50. Those menu items are augmented by their flagship #12 location’s weekday lunch special, where any burger or salad comes with a free juice, soft drink, Pale Ale #6, or Edmund Backhouse Pils from 11.30am-2pm. GLB also just launched a lunch special on offer at its recently opened #45 brewpub on Xinyuan Jie. This deal, available between 11.30am-2pm, gets you two daily selections of 18” pizza slices, or any sandwich or salad, plus a soft drink, Pale Ale #6, or Edmund Backhouse Pilsner.
Outstanding: Home Plate
The Americana flavor at this southern barbecue stalwart is apparent from the wood-grain decor, the country tunes playing in the background, and – above all – the smoke tinged, meaty eats. Those tasty menu items make customers moths water, but those patrons often drool outright at the prices: RMB 40 for the signature pulled pork sandwich, RMB 20 for soups and and RMB 25 for a good ‘ol fashioned American corndog (one of these ‘dogs goes especially well with the tomato okra soup). Other entrees range in price from RMB 70-90. Any of these meals are perfectly complimented by Home Plate’s happy hour, which runs daily from 11am-7pm and features sterling deals on a range of drinks, the best being a half price discount on glasses of house wine and well drinks like gin and tonic and rum and coke.
Hungry for more? Follow all of our 2015 Reader Restaurant Awards coverage here.
Photos courtesy of the venues
