Xin Rong Ji (Jinrong Street)

This is the first Beijing branch of the Taizhou brand famous for its fresh seafood shipped from the East China Sea daily. The dimly lit dining room dotted with bird cages and other Chinese motifs feels chic and sophisticated. The menu changes according to availability, but the star of the show remains the wild-caught yellow croaker – pre-order the flavourful and umami-loaded yellow croaker soup with matsutake mushrooms, as it takes hours to double boil.

• Seafood-forward Taizhou restaurant where the daily menu follows what is shipped in from the East China Sea.
• Yellow croaker is the house anchor ingredient, with brown croaker worked into dumplings that burst with juices and into lion head meatballs.

• Wild-caught yellow croaker
• Brown croaker, including dumplings and lion head meatballs
• East China Sea seafood, selected to match availability

Taizhou cooking built around live, daily-shipped seafood from the East China Sea. The menu moves with the catch, wild yellow croaker is a mainstay, with brown croaker also turning up in juicy dumplings and springy lion head meatballs.