Will Beijing Crack the Top 50 Restaurants in Asia List This Year?

Beijing's very own Ivan Li of the diminutive but well-regarded Li Family Cuisine will be feted later this month with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the panel of experts that has heretofore stiffed Beijing in its annual list of 50 Best Restaurants in Asia.

The annual list, the 2014 edition of which will be announced Feb 24, is organized by Restaurant magazine and polls over 900 international restaurant industry experts. Their Top 50 list is heavy on Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo restaurants, with more than half the winners coming from these three cities.

OK maybe – just maybe – you can claim that there's not a single restaurant in our fair city that can hold a candle to these Asian culinary capitals, but take a gander at the other Asian cities that cracked the top 50 while Beijing remained on the outside: Hanoi ... Bangalore ... Colombo ... Mumbai ...

Come on, people!

Beijing may have a long way to go what with food safety scandals and the like, but we here at the Beijinger really feel there's reason to claim at least one of our hometown favorites deserves entry into the hallowed Top 50. China restaurants that cracked the top 50 for 2013 include 5 from Shanghai (Mr & Mrs Bund, Ultraviolet, Franck, FU1015, and Jade on 36 ) and one from Hangzhou (Hubin Road).

Honorary awardee Li, by the way, is a descendent of imperial chefs that cooked for the Empress Dowager at the Forbidden City prior to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty at the turn of the 20th Century. Springing from the tiny hole-in-the-wall eatery that still plies its trade at the far end of Houhai, Li helped expand the family empire to what it is now, with satellite locations in Melbourne, Tokyo, Shanghai and Tianjin.

So what do you think folks: Is Da Dong ready to crack the Top 50 in Asia? How about Temple Restaurant Beijing?

In the mean time, those inclined to sing the praises of our local eateries should hustle on over to our voting page for our 11th Annual Reader Restaurant Awards which is open through the beginning of March.

Image: Asia's 50 Best Restaurants