Restaurant in Beijing, China
King's Joy
1,980Pearl PointsSerious vegetarian tasting menu. Book early.
About King's Joy
King's Joy holds 2 Michelin Stars and a Green Star for its plant-based tasting menu in a bamboo-shaded Dongcheng hutong courtyard. Chef Gary Yin's kitchen, anchored by seasonal mushrooms and full culinary technique, is the strongest vegetarian fine dining argument in Beijing at the ¥¥¥¥ tier. Book months ahead — availability is extremely limited.
King's Joy, Beijing: The Verdict
At the ¥¥¥¥ price tier, King's Joy asks you to spend serious money on a vegetarian tasting menu in a hutong courtyard near the Guozijian. What you get back is a 2-Michelin-Star, 1 Green Star experience that ranks among the most technically accomplished plant-based restaurants in Asia, rated #194 on Opinionated About Dining's 2025 Asia list and awarded 77 points by La Liste in 2026. If vegetarian fine dining is what you are after, this is the clearest yes in Beijing. If you need meat on the table, go elsewhere — this kitchen does not compromise its format.
Portrait: What King's Joy Actually Is
King's Joy sits on Wudaoying Hutong in Dongcheng, one of Beijing's better-preserved historic lanes running close to the Lama Temple and the old Imperial Academy. The address matters: this is not a restaurant that landed in a hotel corridor or a mall complex. It is rooted in a neighbourhood that still carries the texture of old Beijing, and the courtyard setting — bamboo-shaded, according to the venue's own highlights , reinforces that the meal you are about to eat is deliberate, place-specific, and unhurried. For a special occasion dinner or a serious business meal where atmosphere carries weight, the setting does real work before the first course arrives.
The cooking is led by Gary Yin, a third-generation chef, and the kitchen's signature move is mushrooms. The awards database describes a kitchen that applies every available culinary technique to seasonal vegetable ingredients, using mushrooms as a central protagonist rather than a supporting element. The result, according to the World's Leading Wine Lists accreditation panel that awarded King's Joy a 2-Star accreditation, is genuine variety in taste and texture , the kind of range that makes a fully vegetarian menu feel complete rather than restricted. This is the technical argument for the price: the kitchen is working as hard as any meat-forward operation to generate contrast and depth from plant-based ingredients alone.
Michelin awarded 2 Stars in both 2024 and 2025, which means the quality is not a recent spike , it has held across back-to-back cycles. The Green Star sits alongside those, recognising the restaurant's commitment to sustainability within its vegetarian framework. For diners who track credentials before booking, that combination , two consecutive 2-Star awards plus a Green Star, a La Liste top-100-range score, Les Grandes Tables du Monde membership, and a strong OAD ranking , is an unusually dense cluster of external validation for a single Beijing restaurant. Google reviewers back this up at 4.4 out of 5 across 130 reviews, which for a fine dining venue at this price point is a reliable signal of consistent execution.
The neighbourhood anchor here is worth taking seriously. Wudaoying Hutong sits between the Lama Temple and Guozijian Street, a part of Dongcheng that draws visitors who want historical Beijing rather than the Sanlitun dining strip. If you are staying in central Beijing or visiting the area's temples and museums, King's Joy functions as both a dining destination and a reason to spend more time in this specific part of the city. For visitors comparing how to allocate a fine dining budget in Beijing, the setting gives King's Joy an experiential dimension that hotel restaurants at the same price tier cannot replicate. Compare this to [Jingji (Beijing Cuisine)](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/jingji-beijing-restaurant) or [Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road)](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/xin-rong-ji-xinyuan-south-road-beijing-restaurant), both strong ¥¥¥¥ options, and King's Joy's courtyard setting and hutong location are genuinely differentiated assets.
For context on how King's Joy sits within the wider China fine dining tier, consider that comparable vegetarian-forward multi-star restaurants are rare at this level. [Ru Yuan in Hangzhou](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/ru-yuan-hangzhou-restaurant) and [102 House in Shanghai](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/102-house-shanghai-restaurant) operate in comparable prestige brackets, as do meat-forward benchmarks like [Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/chef-tams-seasons-macau-restaurant) and [Imperial Treasure Fine Chinese Cuisine in Guangzhou](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/imperial-treasure-fine-chinese-cuisine-guangzhou-restaurant). Within Beijing specifically, King's Joy occupies a category of its own for plant-based cooking at Michelin 2-Star level. [Lamdre](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/lamdre-beijing-restaurant) is the only other ¥¥¥¥ vegetarian option worth comparing directly, and King's Joy's award density gives it the stronger external case. For non-vegetarian ¥¥¥¥ alternatives, [Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang)](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/chao-shang-chao-chaoyang-beijing-restaurant) and [Lu Shang Lu](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/lu-shang-lu-beijing-restaurant) cover Chao Zhou and Shandong traditions respectively at comparable spend.
If you are planning a Beijing trip around serious dining, our [full Beijing restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/beijing) covers the full range of options. For where to stay, check our [Beijing hotels guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/hotels/beijing). The [Beijing bars guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/bars/beijing), [wineries guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/wineries/beijing), and [experiences guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/experiences/beijing) round out planning for the broader trip.
Booking King's Joy
Booking difficulty is rated Near Impossible. At 2 Michelin Stars with an internationally recognised profile, King's Joy draws demand from both local and international diners. Reserve as far in advance as your plans allow , weeks rather than days. Walk-in availability at this level is not a realistic option. Phone and website details are not confirmed in our database; contact the restaurant directly or use a hotel concierge if you are staying at a property with strong local connections. [Dai Yuet Heen in Nanjing](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/dai-yuet-heen-nanjing-restaurant) and [Xin Rong Ji in Chengdu](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/xin-rong-ji-chengdu-restaurant) operate at similarly high demand levels and require the same lead time, so if King's Joy is unavailable, plan your fallback early.
Quick reference: 2 Michelin Stars (2024, 2025) + 1 Green Star | ¥¥¥¥ | Vegetarian tasting menu | Dongcheng hutong setting | Booking: Near Impossible , reserve weeks in advance.
How It Compares
Frequently Asked Questions
Is King's Joy good for solo dining?
Solo diners can eat well here, but the format is a set tasting menu, so you're committing to the full progression regardless of party size. The courtyard setting and counter-style service points make solo visits workable. That said, booking difficulty is near impossible — a solo seat may actually be easier to secure than a table for four. At ¥¥¥¥, the per-head cost is the same whether you're alone or not.
Is the tasting menu worth it at King's Joy?
Yes, if plant-based cooking at this level of technical ambition is what you're after. King's Joy holds 2 Michelin Stars and a Green Star, with OAD ranking it among Asia's top 200 restaurants in 2025 — the awards reflect consistent kitchen performance, not novelty. The menu's focus on mushrooms and seasonal vegetables across multiple techniques is the core proposition. If you want meat or a flexible à la carte format, this is the wrong room.
Is King's Joy worth the price?
At ¥¥¥¥, it is one of Beijing's most expensive vegetarian experiences, but the 2 Michelin Stars and World's Best Wine List 2-Star accreditation (2024–2025) give you credible external benchmarks for what you're paying. For comparison, Xin Rong Ji in Beijing charges at a similar tier for Cantonese seafood — King's Joy makes more sense if vegetarian cuisine is genuinely your preference, not a dietary compromise. The hutong courtyard setting adds atmosphere, but the kitchen performance is the actual justification for the price.
Can King's Joy accommodate groups?
Groups are possible, but the booking difficulty is rated near impossible even for couples, so coordinating a large party requires significant advance planning. The hutong courtyard format at Wudaoying suggests limited large-table configurations. For a group celebrating a specific occasion, check the venue's official channels well in advance — private dining arrangements at this tier are standard practice in Beijing fine dining, though specifics are not confirmed in available data.
Can I eat at the bar at King's Joy?
Bar seating is not documented for King's Joy — the venue's format is a set tasting menu in a courtyard restaurant, which points to a seated dining-only structure. Walk-in bar access at a 2 Michelin Star hutong restaurant in Beijing is unlikely. If informal access or à la carte flexibility is what you need, Jing or Lamdre would be more practical options in the city.
Location
2 Wudaoying Hu Tong, 国子监 Dongcheng, Beijing, China, 100027
Compare King's Joy
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| King's Joy | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Jing | ¥¥¥ | — |
| Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road) | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Lamdre | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
| Jingji | ¥¥¥¥ | — |
A quick look at how King's Joy measures up.
Also Consider
- Jing — French Contemporary, ¥¥¥
- Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road) — Taizhou, ¥¥¥¥
- Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) — Chao Zhou, ¥¥¥¥
- Lamdre — Vegetarian, ¥¥¥¥
- Jingji — Beijing Cuisine, ¥¥¥¥
At the ¥¥¥¥ tier in Beijing, King's Joy competes on a different axis from most of its peers: it is the only Michelin 2-Star vegetarian restaurant in the city, which means the comparison question is less about which is better and more about what kind of meal you are after. Against Lamdre, the other serious vegetarian option at ¥¥¥¥, King's Joy has the stronger external credentials — two consecutive Michelin 2-Star awards versus Lamdre's profile — making it the default choice for vegetarian diners with one high-spend meal to allocate. Lamdre may be marginally easier to book and carries its own Tibetan-influenced identity, but if award validation matters in your decision, King's Joy is ahead.
For diners choosing between King's Joy and the meat-forward ¥¥¥¥ options, the decision comes down to format and cuisine style. Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road) delivers Taizhou seafood at the same price point and is the stronger pick if pristine product-driven cooking with ocean ingredients is the goal. Chao Shang Chao (Chaoyang) covers Chao Zhou cuisine and suits diners who want recognisable Chinese regional cooking rather than a tasting menu concept. Jingji gives you Beijing cuisine in the same price bracket. None of these competes with King's Joy on plant-based technique or setting — the hutong courtyard on Wudaoying is a genuine differentiator that hotel-based ¥¥¥¥ restaurants cannot replicate.
If budget is a factor, Jing at ¥¥¥ drops the price tier without dropping seriousness — it is a French Contemporary option with its own credentials and a more accessible booking window. For diners who want one high-stakes Beijing meal and are open to vegetarian, King's Joy is the recommendation. For those who need meat and want the same level of prestige, Xin Rong Ji is the closest peer in terms of award weight and booking difficulty.
Recognized By
Explore Beijing
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