Maison Boulud offers French Fine Dining in Beijing. The majestic manor house setting is the former United States Embassy in a wall compound adjacent to Tiananmen Square. Here Daniel Boulud expert team led by Executive Chef Brian Reimer and General Manager Nicolas Socquet serves French cuisine prepared with local and Pacific Rim ingredients. The Restaurant,Bar or Private Dining Room will offer you an exquisite journey in France.

Whether the location—meters from Tiananmen's southeast edge—or the turn-of-the-century stateliness first enchants, an evening at Maison Boulud à Pekin sustains a sophisticated grandiosity. Thanks to Parisian design firm Gilles & Boissier, grays, tans and blacks come together in the reflective table tops, black-and-white tiled floors and outlandish lighting fixtures, whose Dali-esque curves throw the uptight perpendicularity of the former U.S. Embassy into slight disarray, conjoining Alice in Wonderland mischief with regal Lady Di.

Dishes, such as Alaskan King Crab Salad with Mango, Cucumber and Lime and Mint-Coriander Dressing (RMB210) and Terrine of Foie Gras with Apricot Chutney, Candied Bitter Almonds and Raw Celery Salad (RMB245), are made with top-end ingredients. The delicate, deft innovations are also based upon local ingredients and techniques, which Chef Daniel Boulud is widely recognized for weaving thoughtfully into native French know-how. Spice Crusted Tuna with Aioli Sauce, Summer Radish, Fresh Soya Beans and Quail Egg (RMB230), though served almost as sashimi, is not entirely Asian—but then again, neither is it a western standard, given the ingredients and delicate presentation. Crispy Suckling Pig makes a knock-out appearance, served with Daikon Sauerkraut, Apple Coleslaw, and Dijon Mustard Jus (RMB230). Executive Chef Brian Reimer's time at Daniel in New York and recent months in Beijing have paid off.

Service was so unobtrusive—waiters, black-clad and silent—it shouldn't be mentioned. Dishes enter and exit in unison, as though the entire evening were a choreographed performance and the diners mere mad hatters and frocked ladies-in-waiting at play.