Xian Lao Man

Discover you favourite flavour of the city's best dumplings
Noteworthy for: The word 'jiaozi' (饺子), meaning dumpling, is the homophone for the word for change, which is why they are commonly eaten to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Word to the wise: Prefer to go to somewhere that's easier to order at? Opt for Lao Shi Shui Jiao 老石水饺 (Baochao Hutong) which has an English menu.
The ultimate comfort food in the bitterly cold Beijing winter, Xian Lao Man's jiaozi (dumplings) are well-seasoned parcels of pasta-like dough filled with meat, vegetables or seafood, and widely considered to be the best in the capital.

Pretty unremarkable in terms of décor, the restaurant is clean, classically Chinese and delightfully void of any gaudy distractions. Sadly, this is also the case for the menu; there are no pictures, it's all in Mandarin, and just in case you did recognise some characters, they put it in tiny print.

Here are our favourites:
1.馅老满 - garlic chives, egg, pork mince and shrimp
2.桔肉酸菜 or 桔肉大葱 - pork and pickled vegetables or pork and leek
3.素老满 - the house vegetarian dumplings.