Restaurant in Beijing, China
Serious Chiuchow cooking, easy to book.
One of the few places in Beijing where Chiuchow cooking is taken seriously, Howard's Gourmet holds an OAD Top 133 Asia ranking (2024) and a 4.3 Google rating across 371 reviews. Book if you want precise regional Chinese cooking — cold marinated dishes, braised preparations, refined seafood — rather than another Cantonese or Sichuan option. Straightforward to book, and worth at least two visits to cover the range.
Howard's Gourmet is one of a small number of restaurants in Beijing where you can eat serious Chiuchow cooking — the cuisine of Chaoshan, the coastal region straddling eastern Guangdong and western Fujian. That specificity is the reason to book. Chiuchow is a distinct culinary tradition from Cantonese, and Beijing has very few kitchens treating it with this level of care. The Opinionated About Dining (OAD) Asia rankings placed Howard's Gourmet at #107 in 2023 and #133 in 2024, a ranking set compiled from votes by experienced diners and chefs across the region — so the audience here knows what they're eating. If you're building a serious Beijing dining itinerary and want to go beyond the city's dominant Sichuan and Cantonese options, this is one of the most justified detours you can make.
Exact seat counts and layout details are not published, but Howard's Gourmet operates at a scale consistent with focused, deliberate dining rather than a high-volume banquet house. Chiuchow restaurants at this level typically divide space into a main dining room and private rooms, allowing the kitchen to operate with consistency across both intimate meals and small group occasions. The cuisine itself shapes the spatial rhythm: Chiuchow cooking is known for cold dishes, braises, and precise knife work rather than wok-heavy theatrics, which tends to produce a quieter, more considered dining atmosphere than, say, a Sichuan hotpot hall. Google reviewers rate it 4.3 across 371 reviews, which is a solid signal that the experience holds up across different types of visits.
Chiuchow cuisine rewards repeat visits more than almost any other Chinese regional tradition. The range of the kitchen , cold marinated meats, braised goose, seafood preparations, rice congee, and intricate dim sum-adjacent snacks , means a single meal only covers one corner of what the cuisine offers. A productive multi-visit strategy would be to use a first visit to anchor around the cold and braised dishes that define classic Chiuchow cooking: these are the benchmark preparations that show you whether the kitchen is technically sound. A second visit is the right time to explore seafood, where Chiuchow cooking distinguishes itself from other southern Chinese traditions, and lighter courses that require more seasonal or ingredient-driven decision-making. If you are travelling with a group of four or more on a third visit, a private room allows for a broader spread across the menu , Chiuchow banquet-style eating, with dishes arriving in a structured sequence, is how the cuisine is designed to be experienced at its fullest. For comparable Chiuchow and Chao Zhou cooking in Beijing, Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) offers an alternative reference point at a similar price level. Beyond Beijing, Pak Loh Chiu Chow in Hong Kong is the obvious benchmark if you want to understand where Howard's Gourmet sits in the broader Chiuchow dining context across Asia.
Booking is rated easy, which is consistent with Howard's Gourmet not operating on the tight reservation windows of a Michelin-starred tasting menu. No phone or website details are currently listed in Pearl's database, so the most reliable approach is to contact the restaurant directly through search or a local concierge. Price range is not published, but an OAD Top 133 Asia restaurant in Beijing with this cuisine profile will typically sit in the mid-to-upper range for Beijing dining , expect to spend meaningfully, though not at the level of a formal tasting menu venue. For broader context on what to book around it, see our full Beijing restaurants guide, as well as our Beijing hotels guide and our Beijing bars guide.
Chiuchow cooking is one of the more specialised regional cuisines in China, with a strong diaspora tradition across Southeast Asia and a smaller but dedicated following in mainland Chinese cities. For comparison, serious Taizhou cooking in Beijing is represented by Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road), which operates at ¥¥¥¥ and draws a similarly informed dining audience. Outside Beijing, the Chiuchow and fine Chinese regional tradition extends to venues like Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau, Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Guangzhou, and Dai Yuet Heen in Nanjing , useful reference points if you're building a broader understanding of serious Chinese regional cooking across the country. For a different register of Chinese fine dining in Shanghai, 102 House in Shanghai is worth noting, and Ru Yuan in Hangzhou offers another regional counterpoint.
The cuisine is Chiuchow , a distinct regional tradition from eastern Guangdong, not standard Cantonese. First-timers should expect cold marinated dishes, braised preparations, and refined seafood rather than wok-heavy cooking. The restaurant holds OAD Top 133 in Asia (2024), so the audience skews toward experienced diners. Book in advance, arrive with appetite for multiple courses, and don't treat it as a quick weeknight dinner , this is a kitchen worth spending time in.
Yes, with the right group. The OAD ranking and cuisine profile make it a credible choice for a serious dining occasion , an important client dinner, a food-focused celebration, or a meal you want to remember. It is less suited to a flashy birthday dinner where visual drama and wine theatre are the priority. For that, Jingji or a hotel dining room may be a better fit. Howard's Gourmet rewards guests who are engaged with what's on the plate.
For Chao Zhou cooking at a similar level, Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) is the most direct peer. For a different regional Chinese tradition at the leading end, Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road) focuses on Taizhou cuisine and operates at ¥¥¥¥. If you want vegetarian fine dining, Lamdre and King's Joy are both worth considering. For Beijing-specific cooking rather than a regional import, Jingji is the clearest alternative.
Chiuchow restaurants at this level typically offer private dining rooms, which makes group bookings practical. A table of four or more is actually the better format for Chiuchow cooking , the cuisine is built around shared dishes arriving in sequence, and a larger spread gives you access to a wider range of preparations. Contact the restaurant directly to confirm private room availability for larger parties. Booking is rated easy, so group reservations should not require significant lead time.
Bar seating is not a standard feature of Chiuchow restaurants at this level, and no layout details are available in Pearl's database. If bar or counter seating matters to you, confirm directly with the restaurant before booking. The dining format here is table-based, with the meal structured around shared courses.
No specific dietary accommodation information is available. Chiuchow cooking relies heavily on seafood, pork, and marinated meats, so it is not naturally suited to vegetarian or vegan diets without kitchen cooperation. If you have significant dietary restrictions, contact the restaurant directly before booking. For Beijing vegetarian fine dining with confirmed credentials, Lamdre or King's Joy are purpose-built alternatives.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard's Gourmet (Beijing) | Chiuchow | Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Asia Ranked #133 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Asia Ranked #107 (2023) | Easy | — | |
| Jing | French Contemporary | ¥¥¥ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road) | Taizhou | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) | Chao Zhou | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 3 Star | Unknown | — |
| Lamdre | Vegetarian | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Jingji | Beijing Cuisine | ¥¥¥¥ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Howard's Gourmet (Beijing) and alternatives.
Chiuchow cuisine involves a wide range of ingredients — cold marinated meats, seafood, offal, and braised dishes are central to the tradition — so pescatarians and those avoiding pork will find the menu narrower than average. No dietary accommodation policy is published. check the venue's official channels before booking if restrictions are a factor, as this is not a cuisine that pivots easily to substitution menus.
Booking is rated easy and there are no published restrictions on group dining, which suggests Howard's Gourmet can handle tables beyond the two- or four-top standard. Chiuchow cooking is well-suited to group meals — the cuisine's range of cold dishes, braises, and shared plates means more people means more of the menu covered. For larger groups, call ahead to confirm table availability.
No bar seating is documented for Howard's Gourmet. The restaurant operates in a format consistent with table dining rather than a counter or bar experience. If bar seating is a priority, this is not the venue for it.
It works for a special occasion if the occasion calls for serious food rather than spectacle. Howard's Gourmet ranked #107 and #133 in Opinionated About Dining's Top Restaurants in Asia in consecutive years — that's a credible signal for guests who want to mark an event with a meaningful meal. It is not the choice if you need a private dining room, theatrical presentation, or a Michelin-style tasting menu format.
For Chiuchow specifically, Chao Shang Chao in Chaoyang is the most direct comparison in Beijing. For broader high-end Chinese regional cooking, Xin Rong Ji on Xinyuan South Road covers Zhejiang cuisine at a more formal register. Lamdre and Jingji offer different regional focuses. Howard's Gourmet is the clearest choice if Chiuchow is what you are after — it has the OAD ranking to back that up where most alternatives do not.
Chiuchow cuisine is not well-known outside of the Chaoshan diaspora and Southeast Asian communities, so expect a menu that rewards curiosity — cold marinated dishes, long-braised meats, and light seafood preparations are the tradition's signatures. Booking is rated easy, which means you do not need to plan weeks in advance. Chef Howard Cai has built a reputation specific enough to earn back-to-back OAD Asia rankings, so treat this as a destination for the cuisine itself, not a general Chinese restaurant visit.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
