Private Dining at Beiping 北平食府 臻享私宴@ Beijing

Thanks to all my friends in Beijing, I had a very enjoyable dinner in Beijing. Thanks Nora for footing the bill!

Private Dining at Beiping 北平食府 臻享私宴 is a popular restaurant in the capital specialising in Lu cuisine 鲁菜 and Peking cuisine 京菜. These cuisines are heavy, complicated dishes that are served to impress the guests.

My host prepared a set menu that consisted of the restaurant signature dishes.

Special Set Menu for Eight Pax

Hawthorn Jelly 御膳.锦鲤献瑞

The first appetiser is more a visual treat than a dish. A trio of hawthorn flavoured jelly made into shape of a carp circled a white plate with smoking dry ice. Auspicious, but don’t know what are we eating.

Yellow Mustard Duck Feet 芥末鸭掌

Classic Beijing dish, yellow mustard duck feet 芥末鸭掌 are made with boneless duck feet and yellow mustard. Duck feet are rich in calcium and various amino acids, and their nutritional value is equivalent to bear paws. I know what you are thinking, but do try this wonderful appetiser. I tried it for the very first time at Quanjude and loved it ever since.

Balsamic Vinegar Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs 意大利黑醋排骨

The Wuxi classic dish using balsamic vinegar instead of black vinegar. The fruity taste of balsamic vinegar was perfect with caramelised coating on the pork ribs.

Parmigianno Reggiano Salad干酪薄脆时蔬沙拉

Parmigiano Reggiano is known for its nutty, savoury taste, crumbly texture, and umami crystals. Perfect with this salad with its blueberries and strawberries that were in season and deliciously sweet.

Qianlong Cabbage 乾隆私访小记•白菜小时候

Qianlong cabbage was made famous by the Beijing restaurant, Duyichu 都一处. Legend has it that Emperor Qianlong visited the restaurant in 1753 and named it “都一处” (meaning “The Best in the Capital”) after he tried this Chinese cabbage salad. The main ingredients of the dressing are tahini sauce, Shanxi vinegar, soy sauce and honey, making sweet, tangy, savoury and nutty all at once. This version used baby Chinese cabbage instead of the usual Napa cabbage.

Kaluga Caviar with VIP Roast Duck 臻享卡露伽鱼子酱VIP烤鸭

Next, the main attraction of the evening – Peking duck. Usually the skin around the neck and back of the duck is served first to be eaten with sugar because of its fattiness and perfect crispiness. Here, it has been given a deluxe treatment of caviar and sprinkling of sea urchin powder.

It says Kaluga caviar on the menu, but it came with these orangey balls that tasted weird. Shouldn’t caviar be served raw? Perhaps the locals are not used to having raw seafood, then it shouldn’t even be offered. Totally unworthy of the Kaluga brand.

Another thing that irked me was that they didn’t even bother to show us the roasted duck before going to carve it up. I understand that this is a private dining and privacy of the guests is really important. But at least they should parade the duck before carving it up.

Sorry that I am really picky about the roast duck, but the presentation was not exactly what a professional Peking duck restaurant would be doing. They waited for the duck to be carved completely before serving, which meant that the temperature was not optimal for consumption. Peking duck should still be warm when served – ours were cold. The heating lamb under the plates did not help, they only dried up the duck while leaving the skin cold.

The taste and crispiness of the skin were on spot, but the temperature was not. It could have been one of the better Peking duck I had in Beijing. They should just serve the duck while carving. Instead they were too concerned about the plating and presentation.

Nothing to fault about the condiments, but it would do better if they provide individual portions rather than a communal plate as it can get very messy with the sticky sweet sauce 甜面酱.

Topmouth Cutler in Orange Sauce 倾橙大白鱼之恋.北平

As the poem by Du Fu goes, “白鱼如切玉，朱橘不论钱”, or “White fish like cut jade, red oranges regardless of money,” meaning the fish (Topmouth Culter) and oranges are so exquisite and fresh that the price isn’t the primary concern. Topmouth Culter 翘嘴鲌 is an ancient fish species in the Yangtze River that is currently farmed in the reservoirs of Dajiangkou 丹江口. Be careful, like all freshwater fish, it is quite boney.

Szechuan Spicy Offals with Mediterranean Shrimps 地中海翘虾毛血旺

I have decided that the concept of this restaurant is to put something exotic in every dish. And for this Szechuan spicy offals 毛血旺, they decided to put in Mediterranean shrimps. The shrimps were totally unnecessary and out of place. BTW, the official translation for 毛血旺 is “boiled blood curd”, which totally ignored the other import part of the dish, the offals. And this version had very little offals too.

Osmantheus Crispy Shrimp 臻享舌尖•丹桂酥皮虾

The next dish is the colour of autumn. Osmantheus crispy shrimp 丹桂酥皮虾 is a specialty of Beijing’s nouveau cuisine trend. It takes shrimp as the main ingredient. After frying, it is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It is poured with a special sauce that incorporates the fragrance of osmantheus. It tastes delicious and sweet, and attractively golden in colour.

Sautéed Lamb Mongolian Style 京味儿臻之美味一道鮮羊肉

Served on a cast iron plate shaped like a Mongolian helmet, the sautéed lamb was delicious. Despite its name, the dish is not traditionally Mongolian but rather developed overseas and got back into the Chinese menu as more and more foreigner asked for it.

Sautéed Termite Mushrooms with Air-Dried Pork 大山里的黑鸡枞

I love termite mushrooms 黑鸡枞, something you can’t get fresh in Singapore. The mushroom is sautéed with air-dried pork for a really nice smokey flavour.

Beijing Sweet Pancake with Date Filling SUSU的北京糖饼

Sweet dates filling in Chinese style pancakes pan-fried to a crisp on both side. Nice dessert.

Impressions of Beiping 倍有面子 北平印象

The assortment of desserts called “Impressions of Beiping” include some classic Royal desserts served in the palace. Like “Rolling Donkey” 驴打滚 (glutinous rice roll with sweet bean flavour dusted with mung been powder), sweet pea cake 豌豆黄, broad bean rolls 芸豆卷, etc – these were once only available to the emperors and empresses in the palace. I was never a fan, but I always yearn for it to complete the meal.

Seasonal Fruits 时令水果

And when the seasonal fruit platter was served, you have come to the end of the dinner. Beijing has come a full circle in terms of banquet – from the imperial banquets to business banquets, everything these days is elaborate and emphasise on the pomp and circumstance rather than the taste and quality. Beijing banquet is still about how exotic or expensive the ingredients are, instead of the cooking technique and the balance of texture and flavours. Nevertheless, I am still impressed by the dinner presented.

Private Dining at Beiping 北平食府 臻享私宴
1st floor, No. 22 Jianguomenwai Street
建国门外大街22号赛特大厦写字楼北门东侧1层
Tel : +86 15790884909 / 13810713308

Visited Nov 2025