Old Beijing Dinner Tour: An exploration of traditional Hutong neighborhood cuisine
4.9
237 Ratings
Dongcheng
Experience the authentic flavors of Beijing's traditional Hutong neighborhood cuisine on this small group food tour. Discover delicious dishes perfected over thousands of years and dine shoulder-to-shoulder with locals.
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- UnTour Beijing Food Tours - Our walking culinary tours are designed to get visitors off the beaten path and into authentic local shops where they can eat shoulder to shoulder with locals. Since 2010, UnTour Food Tours has taken thousands of guests to our favorite mom-and-pop-owned shops.
Beijing’s dinnertime cuisine is so much more than the crowded tourist markets featuring bugs and mystery meat on sticks! Instead, join our small group food tour and explore delicious, local dishes shoulder-to-shoulder with Beijingers in a traditional Hutong neighborhood. You’ll try authentic dishes that Chinese chefs have been perfecting for thousands of years, and learn about the history and culture of Beijing along the way.
- Hutong Tour - Head deep into the hutongs with us as we explore some of the best food in the city. These wandering alleyways are bustling with local neighborhood life, and some of the best mom-and-pop shops are buried deep down the lanes.
- Nuoyan Rice Wine Shop - Historians believe rice wine (mijiu) was first brewed by the Chinese in 1,000 BC. The rice wine method then spread from China to other parts of East Asia; in Japan it was made into sake, in Korea, cheongju and makkoli. We’ll head to a modern, local boutique mijiu producer to try a six-cup sampler of their craft rice wine. The delightful flavors range from osmanthus to rose to the beguiling original flavor.
- Ghost Street (Gui Jie) - Meet your guide at the end of Guijie, or Ghost Street, and see why this is one of the most popular streets in the city to come to for snacks.
What's Included
- Expert guide leadership
- Comprehensive post-tour packet with local recommendations and tips
- Refreshments, including bottled water, soft drinks, and local alcohol
- Dinner featuring local cuisine
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information
The evening meals in Beijing go beyond the busy tourist markets showcasing insects and unknown meat skewers! Participate in this intimate food excursion as you dig into appetizing, established food alongside the locals in a customary Hutong area. You’ll connect with your multilingual guide and small assembly at an easy-to-find spot, then set off to sample time-honored dishes which Chinese culinary experts have been fine-tuning for millennia.
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking advanced notice is required to be able to cater to any dietary restrictions.
- Standard group size is 8, but in some cases groups can be up to 12 people with a second guide
Location
Beixinqiao station
Departure Point: Beixinqiao Metro Station (Line 5) - Exit B. Taxi Directions: 北新桥地铁站B出口在东直门内大街和雍和宫大街路口的东北角. Public Transport Directions: By metro, take Line 5 to Beixinqiao. Walk out of Exit B of Beixinqiao Metro.Your guide will meet you at the street level entrance to Exit B.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(237 Ratings)
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610ejm
Apr 2, 2024
Superb - Brilliant tour, highly recommend it. We went on our first night in Beijing and i'm so glad we did. Our tour host Garth was great, very informative and good company.
We were shown how things work out there and what their different ways of eating are etc... which really helped for the remaining duration of our trip. I would suggest doing this on the first day/night of the trip.
oh and the food was great and kept us guessing!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sandypq8426fy
Mar 31, 2024
Delightful Experience - This tour took us to the hidden gems of Beijing’s Hutong, where we sampled so many of the local snacks and food. Not only was it a thrilling experience for the tastebuds, Garth also took us on a journey of tales and history about each of the foods we sampled. He was knowledgeable, is clearly passionate about the food and the culture, but above all he was sensitive to his customers’ needs (thank you again for those cough lollies).
We ended the experience in a lovely old man’s home, where he cooked us the most delicious dish, showed us his crickets and birds and shared with us snippets of his very colorful life. This element alone made this wonderful food tour so much more than meets the eye. Absolutely the highlight of our trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Vinc678
Feb 28, 2024
Best experience in Beijing! - Thanks to this tour, I had the pleasure of sampling some of the best foods I've had in Beijing, most of which I could never had found on my own.
Garth was extremely knowledgeable, not just about the food, but the history and culture of Beijing as well. Not to mention, a stellar conversation partner and dining buddy!
I highly recommend this tour for anyone with a big appetite and a hunger for adventure!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
742juliay
Nov 23, 2023
Fantastic food tour!! - I had such a great time on this tour! Each stop was authentic and delicious. It was clear that locals truly eat at these restaurants. Garth was an incredible guide, sharing history about the food and China. Not only was it informative, but a very fun dinner!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Michaele5
Oct 29, 2023
Outstanding culinary and cultural experience - Our guide - Garth - showed us places only a long-time resident like him could know: Small restaurants and snack shops serving the most delicious, typical and varied food (and plenty of it, too). Most of the dishes were prepared on order within minutes right in front of us. The pace of the tour was well-planned, no wait-time and no haste either. Food was a well-balanced mix of street food and sit-down restaurants plus a stop at a unique rice wine distillery.
In addition to enjoying a great culinary experience we gained insight into Chinese history, society, economy, culture; Garth has deep expertise on these matters and shared it in a considered, articulate manner.
Fyi, we also booked the Hutong Breakfast Tour with Garth before and posted a review on TripAdvisor, and two more tours in Shanghai with the same company Untour Foods.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
930amritav
Oct 25, 2023
Great food and guide! - We had a great Old Beijing Dinner Tour with Garth! The food was delicious, and we explored many local places that we never would have found on our own. Garth was an excellent guide, sharing his experiences and Beijing history, while creating a really unique and authentic experience for us. We had such a good time that we booked another UnTour experience in Chengdu for the following week. We would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to go a little deeper in terms of Beijing food culture and eat really yummy food!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
181harrya
Sep 5, 2023
Awesome & authentic tour - I had the pleasure to have this tour on Saturday of my business trip.
It was really really really good!!
First, the food was phenomenal! Like really good, authentic Chinese food, a couple of surprises... but also not too crazy.
Second, the locations were the real deal. I would never have entered most of them, and I really would have missed out. I saw no other tourists at all.
Third, the explanations and talk were genuine, and very interesting.
Cannot think of one thing that could be better.
10 out of 5 from me.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
925ankurd
Aug 7, 2023
Best Beijing time for the hungry and the curious! - Wonderful dive into the amazing food and history of Beijing. So satiated, some of best meals I’ve ever had. Our tour guide Garth was friendly, knowledgeable, and a great dining companion for my wife and I. From small local family joints to street stalls to a trendy rice wine bar, a great variety. Easy to get to meeting point by subway. Very accommodating of dietary preferences. Good pacing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pblyth
Apr 9, 2020
Terrific Dinner Food Tour - The best food tour we took in China. Our guide was Celia who met us at the entrance to the Metro. We found her to be very friendly, fun and quite knowledgeable about her city and its food. We first grabbed some takeout dumplings with skin so thin you could see thru it and brought them to a loud and authentic Mongolian hotpot place. The lamb and vegies were all good. From there it was onto an upscale rice wine bar for some delicious wine sampling. Yum!!!! Then onto donkey burgers - like small hamburgers except sweeter. She also introduced us to a favorite couple of street foods - one a crepe with fried tofu skin - out of this world and Mongolian yougert with honey. I would eat both of them every day if I could. After that we ate biang biang noodle soup with pork belly and vegies - good and the last was an old gambling den converted into a chicken wing place with fiery hot fried chicken wings. By the time we were done I was stuffed with great food and we were sad to say goodbye to Celia who was a terrific food guide! Do not miss this food tour! It is great!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pannsen
Jan 22, 2020
Super tasty local food -- lots! - We booked this tour due to a recommendation of a colleague of mine. We did not regret this. Our tour guide Celia (a local from Beijing with perfect English skills) led us to places we usually wouldn't have entered or even recognized as a restaurant. The choice of food an drinks was superb. Our favourite was the Mongolian Hot Pot.
Celia was really nice and added much to the atmosphere by explaining local customs, stories about the Hutongs and the history of the meals served.
At the end of the day we ware totally stuffed and happy.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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