The Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing

"The hotel offers stellar restaurants, including Yu, serving Cantonese cuisine and decorated with celadon green ceramics and Buddhist stone sculptures and jade pieces in the private-room wing, and Barolo, which offers traditional Italian cuisine with wines by the glass"

"In an area where Ferragamo, Chanel, and other couture practically spills out onto the street, this Ritz-Carlton feels rather at home; the dinky marble lobby, mahogany-decorated rooms, excellent Italian restaurant (Barolo), and Davidoff-sponsored cigar bar feel like something from another age, which is no bad thing if you can afford it"

"Locals mix with guests over the modern Cantonese and Sichuan fare at Yu, or over fritto misto and olive-crusted rack of lamb at the crimson-walled Barolo Italian restaurant"

"You don't have to head to the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star hotel's six restaurants and bars to find a delicious meal — flip through the room service menu to choose from a variety of Eastern dishes (including Shanghai-style fried noodles, ma po tofu with minced pork and chili oil, or fried rice with roasted duck, shrimp, mushrooms and carrots) and Western fare (try seafood spaghetti with tomato sauce or a veal ravioli with mushroom and truffle cream)"

"There are three on-site restaurants: Aroma, with pan-Asian (Indian, Japanese, Chinese) cuisine and a breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet; Barolo, with authentic Italian fare; and Yu, which specializes in Chinese gourmet"