Most eateries with massive menus in Beijing have spelled their downfalls even before guests warm their seats. Tang Yuan, a red and gold banquet-style restaurant, focuses on Cantonese cuisine’s greatest hits that are consistently fresh, flavorful and fulfilling. Our advice is to skip the hard-cover menu, packed with colorful photos displaying expensive delicacies like shark’s fin, and ask for the fill-in-the-box paper dim sum list. Here you can order a hefty pile of fresh, crunchy baichuo jielan (¥20), or Chinese kale, drizzled with soy sauce, or jiuwang xianxia chang (¥22), steamed shrimp rolled in a delicate but chewy rice noodle. A big plate of ganchao niuhe (¥32) is a dream of a noodle dish—fat, flat pasta strips interspersed with beef, green onions, white onions and bean sprouts for a fun chewy-crunchy texture mix sure to fill you up. We enjoyed gansunliu shaobao (¥14), sweet fried bread rolls filled with a sugary paste, as a sweet, finishing touch. Tang Yuan is a good spot for lunch, or brunch if you’re in the vicinity.

-Three stars

209 Jixiangli, CBD/Guomao, Beijing

唐缘朝阳区吉祥里209号

86-10-6553-0198