Cook who's talking

Ten of Time Out’s favourite chefs pick their top Beijing dining experiences. Their choices may surprise you.

Andrew Ahn Chef de cuisine, Ecco

Andrew Ahn is a Korean chef who has become a master of Italian cooking, heading up the restaurants at Dubai’s lavish seven-star Burj Al Arab Hotel and W Hotel, among others. He has one up on most of our chefs here as his recipes have made it into the world of Nintendo – he created 250 Korean recipes for the Korean Nintendo DS recipe game, Healthy Dining. At Ecco, in the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, his Italian-meets-Chinese cuisine includes Peking duck and Chinese lamb pizzas (both 120RMB) as well as tortellini with Sichuan peppers (60RMB).

Favourite Chinese restaurant

I recommend Made In China, partly because it combines a Western hotel concept with Chinese culture so well, but mainly because of the quality of the duck. The duck is really crispy and flavourful, and the bean paste they use is exquisite – it’s not too sweet.

Favourite international restaurant

Ristorante Sadler, because of how they give classic Italian a twist. The beef carpaccio comes with balsamic foam and Isomalt potatoes. But they don’t overdo the molecular cuisine – things like the Parmesan cheese foam are used subtly, and only add to classic dishes.

Hidden gem

I love Gaon, a Korean restaurant in the Twin Towers. It’s classic Korean, not the barbecue that most people think of, but the best thing here is the rice. It’s put in water for 90 minutes, frozen, then cooked in a special clay pot that gives it the perfect texture – glassy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Favourite dish

I love the amuses bouche at Bei, particularly the pork trotter with plum sauce and smoky tofu. It’s a beautifully balanced dish, with both Chinese and Japanese flavours present in the meat. The pork is made into a confit, which is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Max Levy Chef de cuisine, Bei

Bei’s Max Levy is an unusual proposition: an American sushi master who’s the only non- Japanese chef ever to make sushi at renowned New York sushi joints Jewel Bako and Sushi Yasuda, the latter of which has long been considered to have America’s best sushi counter. New Orleans-born Levy began his sushi journey while working at a Tokyo fish market when he was just 17, and is obsessive about his craft. Still only 30, he’s the brains behind Asian fusion restaurant Bei, winner of the ‘Most Innovative’ award at the 2009 Time Out Eating awards.

Favourite Chinese restaurant

No 4 Kitchen is a bunch of young guys who really play around with famous Taiwanese and Chinese dishes. You get dishes like pork marinated in Coke, where the soda pops and crisps up the meat, and short ribs stewed in coffee. Their salted sour drinks, such as salted plum and lime, are brilliant too, and there’s just a great atmosphere, with a hip young Chinese and Taiwanese crowd.

Favourite international restaurant

I like Union Bar and Grille because it does US bar food well. The thing that sets it apartis the quality of the bread – the rye and wheat breads in particular are really good, and the Reuben sandwich (pastrami on rye bread) is my favourite sandwich in town. It’s not quite as good as Katz Deli in New York [considered NYC’s best deli], but it’s not far off.

Hidden gem

No 44 Private Kitchen says it serves Guilin food, but if you like Southeast Asian cuisine, you’ll love it. It’s like spicy Thai food but hardier, because it comes from the mountains. Their speciality is the suan tang yu [sour fish soup], which you have to reserve ahead of time. Its flavour is incredible because, like everything else there, it’s made with homemade pickles which they make at the restaurant. It’s the pickles that really make this place what it is; even the scrambled egg with tomatoes is really good because of the pickles it’s cooked with, and the pickled beef dishes are excellent.

Favourite dish

I love the xiaobing at Pingwa Xiaomian, near Q Bar. It’s just dry pork belly on a bun, but the meat is so soft and stewy, and contrasts really well with the crispy bun.