Dali Courtyard Restaurant

Dali Courtyard Restaurant is a Beijing Restaurant cooking Yunnan Cuisine with located in Xijiaochang Hutong. Dali Courtyard does not look magnificent, but rather old. However, it is covered with plants and beautifully restored. Specialising in the subtle flavours of the cuisine of southwestern Yunnan province together with the beautiful setting make it one of Beijing's more romantic places to eat.

There may be restaurants that serve slightly more authentic Yunnan-cuisine in the city than Dali Courtyard does but none that captures the atmosphere of laid back Yunnan any where near as well as Dali itself does.

Sitting in this beautiful courtyard restaurant, eapecially in the summer months as the sun streams through the surrounding trees, watching the views in the courtyar, one could easily image sitting in the real town of Dali in the southern province. The friendly service and casual, laid-back atmosphere at Dali Courtyard both help transport the diner away from the stresses of city life.

Influenced by the dishes of its Southeast Asian neighbors, Burma and Vietnam, Yunnan cuisine is light and sophisticated, and makes good use of the region's abundant mushrooms and unusual herbs. Delicious Yunnan sausage, spicy mushrooms or crumbed chilli fish can be among the various dishes that turn up at the table, all 100 percent authentic and prepared by an excellent Yunnan-native chef.

There is no menu at Dali. Diners pay a fixed price of around US $15 for a meal of whatever was freshest when the chef went to the market.